Daily Reflection Monday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time

The scribes who had come from Jerusalem said of Jesus, "He is possessed by Beelzebul," and "By the prince of demons he drives out demons."
Summoning them, he began to speak to them in parables, "How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand; that is the end of him. But no one can enter a strong man's house to plunder his property unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can plunder his house. 
Amen, I say to you, all sins and all blasphemies that people utter will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin." For they had said, "He has an unclean spirit."

• Passages such as this remind us that the world-view shared by Jesus and his critics was very different from ours in the twenty-first century. We may need to ask, even more insistently than usual, for grace to understand how the story is relevant for us today. Always remember that Mark is trying to explain (as are the other evangelists) who Jesus is and what itmeans to call him Savior. That is the heart of the gospel.