Hebrews 9:15, 24-28 / Mark 3:22-30
It is amazing as well as astounding how much words can come out of our mouths and what effect it has on others.
Good words of encouragement and support are pleasing to hear and we will have a feeling of peace and joy as those words resonate in our hearts.
On the other hand, we are also capable of saying very bad words that hurt and break the hearts of others and will also cause them to get angry and retaliate with violence.
In the gospel, we heard the scribes saying something very disgusting as well as evil. They said that Beelzebul (the devil) is in Jesus, and that it is through the prince of devils that He casts out devils.
It is disgusting because, if there is nothing good to say, then it would be better not to say anything.
But to say that the devil is in that person when that person is doing something good is certainly very vicious and evil.
Yet Jesus did not react with anger or retaliation. Rather He reasoned out with them that Satan won't fight against himself and cause his own destruction. Of course whether the scribes will listen or not is another issue.
In fact the devil would only want to make us fight against each other by spewing vicious and hurting words at each other and causing us to fight against each other and be divided against each other.
Hence we need to learn from Jesus as in how He handled the situation when those scribes accused Him of being possessed by the devil and working for the devil.
We need to be calm and vigilant because the devil is prowling around looking for someone to eat (1 Peter 5:8). We need to stand by Jesus who will keep us firm in faith and be at peace.