Week 33: Day 3
Join Gemma for today’s Orbit, as she reflects on Mark 3:22-27.
And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.”
So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house.
Intro: Hi, my name’s Gemma Milligan and it’s great to welcome you to Orbit - a short daily reflection from the team behind Satellites, which aims to help you put God at the centre of your life. Each weekday we reflect on a bit of the Bible, pray, and give you a practical challenge to help you live out your faith.
Bible: Today’s reading comes from Mark 3:22-27:
But the teachers of religious law who had arrived from Jerusalem said, “He’s possessed by Satan, the prince of demons. That’s where he gets the power to cast out demons.”
Jesus called them over and responded with an illustration. “How can Satan cast out Satan?” he asked. “A kingdom divided by civil war will collapse. Similarly, a family splintered by feuding will fall apart. And if Satan is divided and fights against himself, how can he stand? He would never survive. Let me illustrate this further. Who is powerful enough to enter the house of a strong man like Satan and plunder his goods? Only someone even stronger – someone who could tie him up and then plunder his house.
Thoughts: I am ridiculously competitive, and I know it’s a little bit weird, but this tends to come out the most when I am playing board games. It’s so bad sometimes that it’s actually embarrassing to play with people I don’t know very well as I don’t want them to see the worst side of me – the side that gets sulky and grumpy if I don’t win (and has even been known to overturn the board) – before they know me properly. I hate to lose, and I feel as if the absolute worst parts of my character tend to be displayed when I do.
Fortunately, though, when it comes to the spiritual realm, I know that I am always on the winning side, so I can keep the sore loser at bay. Throughout the Bible it is very clear that there is a spiritual realm. This is the realm in which spiritual beings like angels and demons, and of course God himself, reside, and although it is a different space to the physical realm in which we live, the two can and do overlap, which is how we see God, as well as other spiritual beings, at work in our world. The person of Jesus is God taking a step even further and entering the physical realm, which means that he is still fully God, with all the power and authority this involves, but he is also fully human, which means he is fully aware of and able to understand how the spiritual realm can impact us.
There is spiritual evil – what we call Satan and demons – at work in our world, and this evil does impact our lives. I’m not saying that everything that goes wrong in our world is due to this, but where people go against God’s ways, treat each other badly, act selfishly, and look to build their own empire rather than God’s, we can be sure that spiritual evil is lurking in the background.
But that isn’t the end of the story, and no matter how difficult life gets or how much it feels as if the whole world is against us, as I said, if we are following Jesus, we are on the winning side. He has already defeated Satan, and he will continue to do so again and again and again, until his final victory on the day when he returns to earth.
Prayer: Jesus, you are the ultimate victor, and no source of spiritual evil has any power over you. Thank you that by following you, I know that I am on the winning side. Please help me to remember this even when life is difficult, and it feels as if the world is against me. Amen.
Challenge: Here’s today’s practical challenge to help you put what we’ve reflected on into action:
Go out into nature at a time of sunrise or sunset and watch as the sky changes colour. God is the one who created this beauty, and as you take it in thank him for who he is: Creator, Healer, Provider, Strength, Shield, Lover of our soul, Victor, King, Lord of all etc. Remind yourself that whatever you may be facing in life right now, the God who created the beauty you’re witnessing has won the victory over evil, and he is walking beside you.
Outro: Thanks so much for joining us for Orbit today! We hope you found that helpful, and we’ll be back with another reflection tomorrow.