“And when they were gone out, behold they brought him a dumb man, possessed with a devil. And after the devil was cast out, the dumb man spoke, and the multitudes wondered, saying, ‘Never was the like seen in Israel.’ But the Pharisees said, ‘By the prince of devils he casteth out devils.’”
It is a type of dumbness to not rejoice in the Lord: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I say, rejoice” (Philippians 4:4), for everything proclaims God’s infinite merciful love and should lift the heart to perpetual praise: “I will bless the Lord at all times, his praise shall be always in my mouth” (Psalm 33:2); “Praise the Lord, O my soul, in my life I will praise the Lord: I will sing to my God as long as I shall be” (Psalm 145:2). Because every thing God made is embodied love, upheld by love, and given to you at the specific moment in time in which you encounter it, it is a gift of love to you: “The Lord is gracious and merciful: patient and plenteous in mercy” (Psalm 144:8), which should fill your mouth with thanksgiving and songs: “Speaking to yourselves in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual canticles, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:19). The lies of the enemy block this: “They have spoken against me with deceitful tongues; and they have compassed me about with words of hatred; and have fought against me without cause” (Psalm 108:3), assaulting your heart with terror, scruples, shame, lies, temptation, anything to keep you away from knowing the love of God: “But Holofernes on the next day gave orders to his army, to go up against Bethulia” (Judith 7:1); Bethulia meaning “house of God,” which you are. Therefore, when one is trapped by such wiles, others should bring that person to Jesus in prayer, so that they can be freed by encountering the love of Jesus: “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and strengthen me with a perfect spirit” (Psalm 50:14). This man could not ask of himself, for his mouth was chained by the malicious serpent, and so is the one wrapped in lies hesitant to ask for anything: “He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath inebriated me with wormwood. And he hath broken my teeth one by one, he hath fed me with ashes” (Lamentations 3:15-16). Yet, in an instant, Jesus casts out the devil, and this lifts up the hearts of the possessed man and the others in praise. Love breaks bonds, sets the captives free, and raises them to new life: “For we are buried together with him by baptism into death; that as Christ is risen from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also may walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4), and by the one drawn by love making themselves better, they too make everything better around them: “If one member glory, all the members rejoice with it” (1 Corinthians 12: 26). The Pharisees, not knowing this love but only the rules of the Law, sought to attribute the power of Jesus to anything else, even saying that by the prince of devils he cast out devils. Now, this is to attribute to hate the power to overcome hate, with force fighting force, rather than letting love have the victory: “But thanks be to God, who hath given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57); “You are of God, little children, and have overcome him. Because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4). Only love can cast out hate, only truth can overcome lies, only Jesus can carry you through the enemy’s attacks: “Thou hast prepared a table before me against them that afflict me” (Psalm 22:5); “Our king shall judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles for us” (1 Kings 8:20). Therefore, Theophila, let love be your commander and rescuer, not overwhelming the hate in the world with force or bitterness, but with the Spirit of Love: “Not with an army, nor by might, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts” (Zacharias 4:6).