Worse Than at First

Matthew 12:43-50 The gospel reading for today shares some troubling words from Jesus. “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it wanders through waterless regions looking for a resting place, but it finds none. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ When it comes, it finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and live there; and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So will it be also with this evil generation” (Matthew 12:43-45). My first thought when reading this passage was of something that comic Rodney Dangerfield used to say: “You think I look bad now, you should have seen me yesterday!” But Jesus’ words are far more serious than a standup gag.

The truth is that evil is an ongoing problem for humanity. Whatever it’s cause, sin is something that we can’t outgrow or outrun. If we believe that we have cleanses ourselves of evil, or have “learned not to sin,” we are probably even more vulnerable than we were before, open to all the inclinations that serve to lead us astray. Jesus’ concern is for those who will ignore his words or who will fall into bad habits once they believe themselves to be “healed.” In this regard Jesus’ words are similar to the parable of the sower which Matthew relates in a later chapter. There the seeds that fall on rocky soil or among thorns experience short-lived growth before they are consumed by their surroundings (13:5-7).

Jesus’ invitation to us is to hear the good news and by God’s grace to abide in it so that we may experience the hope and the joy that come from discipleship. There is no inoculation against sinfulness, but there is a recognition of the challenges we face and our constant need for God’s forgiveness. There is also the grace which carries us forward toward the coming reign of God. Jesus’ words are good news because they remind us to be alert and to trust, not in ourselves, but in the love of God.

Prayer: Lord help us to trust in you and not in ourselves or in the world, for from you alone come the grace and forgiveness that we need. In Jesus’ name. Amen.