“He is out of his mind,” they said. Meanwhile, the teachers of the law, who had come from
Jerusalem, said, “He is in the power of Beelzebul: the chief of the demons helps him to drive
out demons.” Jesus called them to him, and began teaching them by means of stories, or
parables. “How can Satan drive out Satan? If a nation is divided by civil war, that nation cannot
stand. If a family divides itself into groups, that family will not survive. In the same way, if Satan
has risen against himself and is divided, he will not stand; he is finished. No one can break into
the house of a strong man in order to plunder his goods, unless he first ties up the strong
man. Then indeed, he can plunder his house. “Truly, I say to you, every sin will be forgiven
humankind, even insults to God, however numerous. But whoever slanders the Holy Spirit will
never be forgiven. He carries the guilt of his sin forever.” This was their sin when they said,
“He has an unclean spirit in him.” Then his mother and his brothers came. As they stood outside,
they sent someone to call him. The crowd sitting around Jesus told him, “Your mother and your
brothers are outside asking for you.” He replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?”
And looking around at those who sat there, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers.
Whoever does the will of God is brother and sister and mother to me.”

READ: The crowd gathered around Jesus. Some thought that Jesus was out of his mind.
Teachers of the law from Jerusalem accused Jesus to be under the power of Beelzebul. Jesus
taught them that Satan cannot go against Satan. He further explained by saying that a family
divided by itself cannot last. Jesus also said that no one can break into a strong man’s house
unless that strong man is tied up. Jesus’ teaching also includes the unforgivable sin against the
Holy Spirit. Jesus said this because they accused Jesus of being possessed by an unclean spirit.
In the end, Jesus told them that whoever does the will of God is Jesus’ brother, sister and mother.

REFLECT: The will of God leads to unity. But the unity we refer to needs to be qualified.
The unity that God wants for us is none other than a unity that is built on truth and goodness.
If people work together based on deception and evil intent, their coming together runs contrary
to God’s will. True unity is always guided by the Holy Spirit. False unity is based on the
deception of Satan. As Christians, we are called to commit ourselves to the promotion of unity
that is under the guidance of the Holy Spirit while standing against any group that is formed,
based on lies and evil purpose.

PRAY: We pray that the Holy Spirit will always guide us to true unity.

ACT: As an expression of the unity of our family, we go all together to Church.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2024