Mark
1:21-28
Today, as we think about this story of
demon-possession and exorcism which makes up the story in our gospel text, let
us remember what Jesus has already told us, earlier in this gospel – that the
reign of God has come: the kingdom of God has broken into the world and God,
through Jesus, has defeated the power of evil and death.
Most of us base our understanding of
demon possession and exorcism on popular books and movies like the classic, “The
Exorcist” and its sequels, or the more recent “The Exorcism of Emily Rose”. And
I’ll bet that, while a lot of us have seen one or more of those movies, many of
us have avoided them like the plague. They scare us, and some of us find
everyday life scary enough, thank you very much.
Whether you’ve watched those movies or
read the books or not, however, you’ve probably heard some of the details, about
things like spinning heads and other-worldly voices coming forth from little
girls, and of course the whole green-pea-soup-spewing-forth incident.
Perhaps you, like I, picture the
driving out of evil spirits as events surrounded by unearthly winds swirling
around inside closed-up rooms, and other unnatural events. But for most of us, I
suspect the whole topic of demon-possession just seems fantastical, and fictional,
and wholly unbelievable. And so, we find this gospel especially perplexing.
Listen to this as a first person account
about that day, courtesy of Paul S. Berge. Imagine it coming from a friend:
“Were you at the synagogue in
Capernaum today? I wasn't sure I saw you and so I will tell you as clearly as I
can what happened. I can only explain that something occurred that has never,
yes, never ever happened before in our hometown synagogue where our people
"gather together." What took place is unlike anything our rabbis have
instructed us in over the years. This was far beyond their teaching and authority.
Shabbat worship started out like a
routine, very normal gathering. We all came with the usual expectation. Now
don't get me wrong, our rabbis are faithful interpreters of the Torah as they
instruct us in the Word of the Lord, but their teaching does get to be routine.
Everything was progressing as usual,
the prayers, the Psalms, the reading of the Torah, when a newcomer "immediately"
entered the synagogue and began teaching and instructing us, dare I say, with a
new "authority" (Greek, exousia). His authority was not as our scribes. When I
use the word "authority" about his teaching, you know that the word also includes the
power to "exorcize" demonic spirits.
I am still in shock as to what
happened next. "Immediately" a deranged person screams out. No
one in the synagogue had a clue as to what brought forth this outburst. It
appears an unclean spirit had identified this rabbinic-like teacher as one who
had authority to exorcize and called out to him by name:
"What have you to do with us,
Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?" The voice was a shrill
demonic-like scream. How did this spirit know the name of the rabbi from
Nazareth? Did the voice really assume that this teacher has the authority
to exorcize demonic or unclean spirits?”
But then, “the scream continued with
words of blasphemy using the name of
God: "I know who you are, the Holy One of God."
With this a hushed silence came over
the entire synagogue as these words were spoken. The rabbi named Jesus from the
hill country of Nazareth sensed the offense
of these words, the identity of the Holy One of God. He addressed the possessed man and
rebuked him with exorcizing words which likewise silenced the entire
synagogue, "Be silent, and come out
of him."
What occurred next was a demonstration
I have never, ever, witnessed before. The man was writhing on the floor like he
was in conflict with the spirits possessing him. Then the voice of a demonic
spirit cried out with the same shrill demonic-like scream. The unclean spirit
came out of him and he appeared to be calm. He stood up and in his right mind
looked as normal as any of us.
Needless to say we were all overcome
and amazed and kept saying to one another,
"What is this? A new teaching --
with authority he exorcizes a demon possessed person!" We saw with our own eyes that he
commanded even a host of unclean spirits and they were obedient to him. On my oath this is what took place on this
Sabbath day.
I can't explain what came over us, but
it was like we gave witness to the rabbi from Nazareth as our praise to the
one, holy and righteous God in our midst. We have no other experience like this
to compare. We have since heard that what took place in our synagogue "immediately"
spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.”
From the beginning of the gospel of
Mark, we have been hearing that the reign of God has come, and not just come, but has been inaugurated,
and broken forth into the world in the person of Jesus Christ.
We have heard witness of the
boundary-breaking Son of God, the one for whom the heavens ripped open, the one
who has broken the hold of those powers that would wish to separate us from God
and claim us.
This text today reminds us Jesus has
entered the fray with purpose, and
with power; in a word, with authority. And we are reminded that the
kingdom of God has come. God’s reign has begun. Jesus has come to proclaim the good news of the Kingdom, and in this
Gospel lesson he demonstrates how that Kingdom opposes and conquers the forces of evil. In Jesus Christ, God has
come to break the hold of possession by any force which robs the children of
God of all that God intends for them – for us.
Each
day, when we read the newspaper, watch the news, listen to the stories that
surround us, we can easily believe that our world is inhabited by evil. In the
midst of rocket launches aimed at innocent civilians in Syria and Libya,
massacres and the kidnappings in Nigeria, missile attacks in Ukraine, massive
drug-cartels terrorizing citizens in Mexico, not only might we come to
understand anew that evil is
at work in the world, but we might feel hopeless that it might ever be
overcome. Yet the Word of God reminds us, the reign of God has come. And through Jesus and the cross, God overcomes the power
of evil to destroy.
Closer to home, riots and protests
in the wake of racially motivated violence, crime in our communities and the
scourge of poverty and homelessness in our cities and towns bring us the
realization that evil is not just a far-away problem but is universal - and is reflects
inherently sinful world, in which none of us is truly guilt-free.
The
truth is that possession is not as foreign an event as we would like
to think. If I am honest, it is something of which I have intimate, first-hand
experience. Because, you see, I’ve experienced
possession when I have reacted in anger and lashed out, hurting someone, saying
things I later regret; I’ve experienced possession
whenever I’ve been driven by envy or greed or used resources in ways that deny
others a future.
I’ve
experienced possession when I’ve made promises I have no intention and little
chance of keeping, because I wanted to look good, or desired praise, or glory,
or wanted to gain an edge over someone else. I’ve experienced possession when
I’ve looked the other way while someone has suffered discrimination and worse, because
of their race, age, gender, religion, or sexual orientation. I’ve experienced
possession when I have confessed my faith in God yet made choices that
are ungodly. When I’ve gossiped, been
impatient, or behaved in ways that have torn down rather than built up another
person. Still, our gospel promises that the reign of God has come, and God will
overcome even the sin of my own possession, through the love of Jesus Christ.
I
wonder where you might feel possessed by something that is clearly not the
spirit of God blessing you to be a
blessing to others. When might you have behaved in an ungodly way? When have your words of faith not matched your
walk? The words of our gospel are for you even when you despair that the evil
that possesses you seems too strong to deny.
Here
we are, not yet out of the first chapter of the Gospel of Mark, and Jesus is
challenging us to see ourselves in
this story. We remember that recent gospel, in which Jesus proclaimed
that the Kingdom of God has come – and then commanded us to repent, and believe in the good news.
The good news is that despite all
the powers that would distract us, despite the reality that evil does sometimes
possess our hearts and minds, and despite all the world events that confuse and
confound us, God speaks the Divine
Word into the chaos of the world, changing hearts and building community; The
good news is that God has not left us to our own devices, but is still acting
in this world.
The good news is that despite
ourselves, and the many ways we are inconsistent
in word and action, it is God’s Word
that has ultimate authority in our lives and in this world. The good news is
that through the Spirit, God’s Word can and does still drive the unclean spirit
away each time we remember our Baptism, each time we confess and receive the forgiveness of
our sins; each time we come before the Lord’s table and receive the bread and
the wine – the body, broken for us, the blood outpoured.
The good news for us today is that
Jesus is at work, day by day, cleansing us, forgiving us, showing us God’s
mercy and grace and filling us with a new spirit through the power of God’s
love, which has authority to rule our lives this day and every day. Thanks be
to God!
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