Matthew 12:43 – “When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, seeking rest but finding none. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to the person I came from.’ So it returns and finds its former home empty, swept, and in order. 45 Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before. That will be the experience of this evil generation.”

46 As Jesus was speaking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. 47 Someone told Jesus, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, and they want to speak to you.”

48 Jesus asked, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” 49 Then he pointed to his disciples and said, “Look, these are my mother and brothers. 50 Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother!” (NLT) 

In today’s passage, we have two difficult teachings of Jesus.  In the first teaching, in which Jesus spoke of a multitude of evil spirits returning to a person, Jesus was not just pronouncing a judgment upon of those in his day.  Jesus was speaking a word of warning to us all!  Our spiritual lesson is to remain on guard, remembering that in this life we will always be in a spiritual battle.  When we overcome an obstacle of life, we often become comfortable.  However, we must remain ready.  1 Peter 5:8 tells us that our great enemy prowls around like a lion, looking for someone to devour.  When we are feeling comfortable and at ease in our Christian walk, we have opened the door for evil.  And evil won’t come creeping back in, it will come roaring in like a lion! 

The second difficult teaching in this passage has Jesus seemingly overlooking his close family members.  Not so!  Jesus was not overlooking them, but including all who seek to do the will of God.  The Word of God tells us that we are “temporary residents and foreigners” of this world (1 Peter 2:11).  In other words, our true home is with God.  Just as our true home is with God, our true family members are those who seek God’s will.  We need not reject our earthly families, for they are God’s gift to us, but we are members of a larger family.  Perhaps, in light of this, we should all start trying to get along a little better! 

These two short teaching can be connected spiritually.  We should remember to stay alert, for the evil one comes like a lion to devour – and, we should always be ready to encourage and support our brothers and sisters in our struggle to stay alert, for we are all members of God’s family. 

Today, stay alert, and help your brothers and sister to stay alert, as well!

Posted by Ramón Torres