HOMILY FOR FRIDAY OF THE TWENTY-SEVENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR A.
HOMILY THEME: THE FINGER OF GOD
BY: Fr. Benny Tuazon
HOMILY:
(Lk. 11:15-26)
In the day’s Gospel Jesus is being accused of driving out demons via the power of the prince of demons itself, Beelzebul. It was a clear desperate move on the part of the crowd. For indeed, how can Beelzebul go against itself as shown by the analogy of Jesus. That is only possible unless Beelzebul wanted to deceive the crowd through Jesus. But for what reason will Beelzebul make Jesus look good before the people? Thus, Jesus made the challenge that will be best understood by the Jews, “But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”
The phrase “the finger of God” had been used in Scriptures so many times. It was by the finger God that creation was made. Prophets had referred to it to describe the power of God at work. God is so powerful that His mere finger can do the work. In the Gospel Jesus was leaving the decision to them. Do they believe their accusations that He was working through the power of the demon? Or He was casting demons by the finger of God, by God’s power? It is really a case of people who do not want to believe. In the process, they think of so many reasons to discredit Jesus. I think we are aware of this attitude. Once we have made up our mind on anything and anyone, there is no way that our mind set can be changed, even a miracle is not enough. To think that it is already the Lord Jesus who was preaching to them!
God only needs His finger to defeat the devil. The devil is no match to God. Remember, the devil was once under God. Thus, our fear of the devil should be put in proper perspective. Yes, we fear the devil because it can bring us harm and may even recruit us to be part of its army. But we should never arrive at the thinking that the devil is more powerful and strong. It should never occur in our minds that it can prevail over our God. For that reason, being with God is our safest side and God alone should have our trust. Let us continue to reflect on God’s power. At times we equate it with human power. Our minds cannot fully grasp divine power. If God can dispose of the devil with a mere finger, how much more if He used His hand, or His whole being?
