If it is by the finger of God that (I) drive out demons

11 OCTOBER (Lk 11,15-26)

In Ancient Scripture only three times it is said that it is the finger of God the one to work. The plagues of Egypt and the powerful deliverance of the Israelites from the land of their bondage were carried out with the finger of God. With the same finger of God the Law has been written, on the foundation of which the Covenant at Sinai between the Lord and his people was signed.

Thereupon the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron to stretch out his staff and strike the dust of the earth, that it may be turned into gnats throughout the land of Egypt.” They did so. Aaron stretched out his hand, and with his staff he struck the dust of the earth, and gnats came upon man and beast. The dust of the earth was turned into gnats throughout the land of Egypt. Though the magicians tried to bring forth gnats by their magic arts, they could not do so. As the gnats infested man and beast, the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” Yet Pharaoh remained obstinate and would not listen to them, just as the Lord had foretold (Ex 8, 12-15).

The Lord said to Moses, “You must also tell the Israelites: Take care to keep my Sabbaths, for that is to be the token between you and me throughout the generations, to show that it is I, the Lord, who make you holy. Therefore, you must keep the Sabbath as something sacred. Whoever desecrates it shall be put to death. If anyone does work on that day, he must be rooted out of his people. Six days there are for doing work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of complete rest, sacred to the Lord. Anyone who does work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death. So shall the Israelites observe the Sabbath, keeping it throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. Between me and the Israelites it is to be an everlasting token; for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, but on the seventh day he rested at his ease.” When the Lord had finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the commandments, the stone tablets inscribed by God’s own finger (Ex 31,12-18).

“Bear in mind and do not forget how you angered the Lord, your God, in the desert. From the day you left the land of Egypt until you arrived in this place, you have been rebellious toward the Lord. At Horeb you so provoked the Lord that he was angry enough to destroy you, when I had gone up the mountain to receive the stone tablets of the covenant which the Lord made with you. Meanwhile I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights without eating or drinking, till the Lord gave me the two tablets of stone inscribed, by God’s own finger, with a copy of all the words that the Lord spoke to you on the mountain from the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly. Then, at the end of the forty days and forty nights, when the Lord had given me the two stone tablets of the covenant (Dt 9,7-11).

With Jesus, everything changes. With the finger of God, he writes all his history, his every word, gesture, behavior and action. Everything he says and does is the work of God in Him.

Some of them said, “By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he drives out demons.” Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven. But he knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house. And if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons. If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own people drive them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the finger of God that (I) drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man fully armed guards his palace, his possessions are safe. But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him, he takes away the armor on which he relied and distributes the spoils. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. “When an unclean spirit goes out of someone, it roams through arid regions searching for rest but, finding none, it says, ‘I shall return to my home from which I came.’ But upon returning, it finds it swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and brings back seven other spirits more wicked than itself who move in and dwell there, and the last condition of that person is worse than the first.”

The magicians of Egypt were able to see the finger of God in Moses. Scribes and Pharisees, experienced professionals and teachers connoisseurs of the work of God, attribute Jesus’ miracles to the devil. The expert God does not know God. A really stupid and ignorant wisdom!

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels and Saints make us true experts of God.