Mark 3:13-35

I can see the scene in my mind. The teachers of the law came. They were the experts, the doctors, the highly trained and respected ones. “We have been watching this Jesus and observing his actions. After much consideration and a lot of learned consultation we have reached a diagnosis. We can now state with a high degree of accuracy what is going on here. He is, unfortunately, demon possessed by the chief demon Beelzebub.”

Of course! Why didn’t we think of that? No wonder you guys get the big bucks. It’s so clear now. He has been healing the sick and the paralyzed; always a sign of satanic activity. He has been unfolding the Scriptures with powerful clarity. That’s got to be the devil. And of course the real give away, He has been casting out demons. It all so clearly points to the work of Beelzebub. (In case you missed it, there was a touch of sarcasm in this paragraph.)

I wonder if Jesus ever looked at us and wondered, “Are they really that thick?” Actually, I believe that He knew we were all that but He just loved us so much that it didn’t matter. He loved us so much that He made salvation so simple and so easy (at least from our side) that the youngest child could understand it and the most guilty sinner could access it. And I’m especially glad that I fit somewhere in that mix of thick guilty sinners who was just child like enough to believe God is good and the devil is bad.