So, after all, does a miracle convince? As it turns out, not everyone and not always. Faced with manifestations of God's power, the power of the Kingdom, that Jesus made entirely obvious to everyone, it would seem impossible not to believe in the miracle. But apparently one can bear witness to the Kingdom, yet it is impossible to prove its reality to someone who does not want to believe. The Pharisees, for example, invent ever new explanations for something that, in essence, needs no explanation at all but only needs to be accepted. They have no wish to accept it, and therein lies the whole problem.

One might think that the Pharisees, of all people, since they professed messianic hope, should only have rejoiced at the appearance of the Messiah and the Kingdom in the world. And they probably would have, had Jesus acted as the Messiah was supposed to act according to those same Pharisees' ideas. But the problem was precisely that Jesus did not conform to those ideas and had no intention of doing so.

Then what could not fail to happen did happen: the logic of opposition demands escalation, and eventually escalation came. Previously the leaders of the Pharisaic movement had tried to explain Jesus' miracles and healings in more or less neutral terms. Now they move to direct and very serious accusations, in effect accusing the Savior of paganism and demon worship. The calculation is simple: if you strike, strike with all your strength and without restraint; if you accuse, make the accusation as difficult as possible to answer.

Nor is this merely a desire to rid themselves of Jesus. His accusers, it seems, are trying to convince not only others but themselves that they are right. To do so they need the gravest possible accusations, and it no longer matters how plausible those accusations are. In such a situation the mind will accept any argument as long as it justifies rejecting what cannot reasonably be rejected. They seek to frighten not only others but themselves, and to frighten themselves so thoroughly that there can be no road back and no one will even dare think that this Man might be from God.

Such intimidation requires a taboo that blocks, even at the subconscious level, every attempt to view the situation differently. The accusation of demon worship was just such a taboo—a taboo that became the last refuge of religiosity opposed to the Kingdom.

The apostles, proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God, come also into our house and say, "Peace to this house!" But for God's peace to remain in our house - in our heart, in the family, in the community - it is very important to prove worthy of this good news. But how can we do this if, according to the apostle Paul, the sin living in us does not let us fulfill God's commandments?

The apostle gives us a clear answer to this: the law of sin is overcome only by the law of the Spirit, by new life in Christ; only with His gracious help can we change and worthily receive the blessing of the Lord Jesus.

These are the verses that are usually read with extreme inattention: a list of names - what is more boring? Who remembers the names of all twelve apostles? Twelve seconds, time starts now. Hard to remember? There is no harm in that. The main thing is that the Lord remembers them.

Yet it is important that the evangelist considered it necessary to name each one. He could simply have said that there were twelve - and that would have been all. He could have. But then they would have remained completely faceless. By naming each one, the evangelist reminds us that every person is important and dear in God's eyes precisely because he is himself. The Lord does not love "everyone in general"; He does not choose "someone," but concrete people.