Gospel in Art: If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot last

Peace not War, Street Art by MAD. Sprayed in 2011. Spray paint on wall, Iran © Mad, artist

Source: Christian Art

Gospel of 22 January 2024
Mark 3:22-30

The scribes who had come down from Jerusalem were saying, 'Beelzebul is in him' and, 'It is through the prince of devils that he casts devils out.' So he called them to him and spoke to them in parables, 'How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot last. And if a household is divided against itself, that household can never stand. Now if Satan has rebelled against himself and is divided, he cannot stand either - it is the end of him. But no one can make his way into a strong man's house and burgle his property unless he has tied up the strong man first. Only then can he burgle his house.

'I tell you solemnly, all men's sins will be forgiven, and all their blasphemies; but let anyone blaspheme against the Holy Spirit and he will never have forgiveness: he is guilty of an eternal sin.' This was because they were saying, 'An unclean spirit is in him.'

Reflection on the Street Art Graffiti Wall

Our street art work was sprayed in Iran, where graffiti is still considered to be a crime. Street art and graffiti are not recognised as art, and are considered to be serious acts of vandalism against the nation, punishable with long prison sentences. For this reason Iranian street artists live and work anonymously. They use names that don't identify who they are. Our artist today is called 'MAD'. Other prominent street artists in Iran include Icy, Sot, CK1, some of whom have now emigrated to the USA. We know very little about our artist, MAD, except that he grew up in Tabriz, where his work flourished especially during the street troubles that followed the elections. Our work depicts two soldiers carrying a peace sign. It is a poignant anti-war work.

There is goodness and badness in our world. Sometimes goodness can be very obvious, Jesus being the best example of this. Sometimes badness can be very obvious too, when we think of wars and people getting killed. But sometimes it requires much more subtlety to assess certain situations and to decide whether something is good for us or bad for us. It requires discernment. What Jesus is teaching us in today's Gospel reading is that he judges very harshly those people who see goodness and yet portray it as being evil. That is what the devil's work is: turning a good thing into a bad thing.

Some of the religious experts in our Gospel reading held the view that the spirit at work in Jesus was an evil spirit, not the Holy Spirit. 'It is through the prince of devils that he casts devils out'. It is hard to imagine a more serious misjudgement of others that to confuse the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives with that of an evil spirit. It is what Jesus calls in the gospel reading, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. We might be tempted to think that we could not be so blind. Yet, we too can fail to recognize the presence and working of the Holy Spirit in the lives of others. We can be so focused on what we perceive to be their failings that we fail to see the presence of the Holy Spirit in them.

LINKS

Gospel in Art: https://christian.art/
Today's Reflection: https://christian.art/daily-gospel-reading/mark-3-22-30-2024/