Amos 5: 14-15.21-24,
Psalm 50:7, 8-9, 10-11, 12-13, 16BC-17
Matthew 8:28-34 Full Readings
Conquering the Evil One.
In yesterday's reflection, we saw that Jesus has power over all natural forces. Today's Gospel presents to us Jesus's Power over the demons and the demonic kingdom. When the devils that possessed two men saw Jesus, they knew He was very powerful and had come to destroy them. They then pleaded with Him to send them to the pigs (swine), and then commanded them with only two words, "Go then" just as He commanded the storm, "Be still" and to Lazarus, "Lazarus arise". This really shows Jesus' power over everything for the Father loves the Son and has entrusted everything to Him (John 3: 35).The demons quickly ran into the pigs and the pigs were drowned in the lake. The unfortunate thing is that people could not withstand this and they told Him to leave their town. Not all who hear about Jesus believe in Him, that is why we need to keep fostering the work of evangelization wherever we go so that all will come to believe in Him.
This passage in Matthew's Gospel tells us that in reality, the devil exists, it is very strong and it is trying everyday, using many ways, to establish its kingdom. The Gospel tells us that nobody would pass where those two possessed men were. Brethren, the evil one is real and very powerful and if we joke around with it we shall be possessed by it and then lose our souls to hell. The good news is that Jesus is very and more powerful than them, which means if we have Jesus, we can conquer the evil one as He did.
The experience of demons possessing people is not a far from us experience but it happens today even among the people we know. You will agree with me that the state of those possessed by demons is not pleasing to live because it's very violent. Nobody wishes to live in that state. That's why we pray to God to deliver and protect us from evil otherwise our lives will become miserable. The evil of today is very cunning and provides very pleasurable things that if we are not spiritually strong we can give in to its traps. Therefore brethren, let us be alert to fight evil when it comes our way.
We shall do this if we trust in Jesus Christ and follow his teachings. We are sure that Jesus has power over everything and so he will surely help us to conquer the evil when we trust and call on Him to be on our side. However, sometimes, we think that we can use other ways to conquer the evil for instance by going to witchcraft, but these ways cannot help us, instead they will add more legions of demons in our lives. Even Jesus says that Satan cannot fight against itself, otherwise its kingdom will collapse (Matthew 12:26). It's only Jesus who can enable us to conquer that evil one.
Another way to conquer the evil one is to live a life which does not invite the evil one to come to us. As Amos tells us in the first reading, we can live such a life by seeking only good not evil that we may live in the Lord, by hating evil and loving good, by maintaining justice at all times and living a life of integrity. This is a life guided by Christian values and if we live like this, the evil will stay far from us and will fear us as the demons feared Jesus and begged Him.
Reflect today on Jesus' power to conquer the evil one. Have you invited Jesus to fight for you in your fighting the evil one? Are there evil ways in your life that are inviting the evil to come in your life and use you as its element? Pray and stay alert so that the devil will not take you away for it's always roaring like a lion looking for whom to devour (1 Peter 5:8).
Let us Pray.
Almighty God, send your Holy Spirit to me so that I may always discern between what is good and evil and do what is good. May you be with me as I fight the evil and also protect me from it. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Be blessed
Deliver us from Evil Lord
ReplyDelete