"They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, ‘What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.’ But Jesus rebuked him, saying, ‘Be silent, and come out of him!’ And the unclean spirit, throwing him into convulsions and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, ‘What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.’ At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee." Gospel of Mark, ch. 1.
What a crazy story. Jesus’ first miracle in Mark’s gospel is the exorcism of a demon-possessed man in the synagogue. After his baptism in the Jordan river, at which he is named God’s beloved son, he is cast out into the wildernesss, presumably with the rest of us, to live as the bearer of a new message: the powerful reign of God is near, repent and believe the good news. This is Jesus’ mission statement. The rest of the gospel is how Jesus enacts this one mission statement. And in this first scene, Jesus is confronted. A conflict ensues during synagogue services, at which Jesus is teaching. A demon-possessed man shouts at him: what have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us, we know who you are, the holy one of God. A heckler in the crowd-- sounds more like a political rally than a religious gathering. Jesus rebukes the spirit, saying, be silent and come out of him. So, according to the bible Jesus has power to exorcize demons. Exorcism and demon-possession are outside my realm of experience. We may wonder why this man was not in his right mind. Was he a paranoid schizophrenic? By speaking in the plural, we suspect he is hearing voices in his head. We might wonder if he suffers from multiple personality disorder. In the 21st century world, we turn to medication and other forms of medical/psychiatric treatment to address such things. We realize that in a pre- modern society, in which the same diseases that threaten us, threatened them, people had no recourse, no possibility for healing. Often diseased people were isolated, quarantined, or imprisoned. These people were abandoned to their disease, left to die or suffer without treatment, without opportunity for healing, without any hope. I realize that In a world without corrective lenses, I am practically blind. At the age of four I contracted a rare disease called epiglotitus. My windpipe swelled shut. Without a trachiochtomy and powerful antibiotics I would have died. We have the ability to cure measles and wipe out malaria. Vaccines and other medicines have changed the way we moderns experience disease. We expect medicine to fix us, heal us, reduce suffering, manage pain for us. We expect the medical professional to make a plan of treatment that will work. We expect miracles, because they happen in our world through modern medicine every day. People who have heart attacks, live. 50 years ago, bypass was new. Now people survive for years after open heart surgery. Despite our advances, we know that there are people who suffer around the world for lack of access to medical treatments and clean water. We wonder how thousands of children can die from diseases that require a simple vaccine or course of antibiotics, things we take for granted here. In the globalized world, people still die from curable and preventable diseases. We cannot cure or heal everything.
The stigma of mental illness, however, still plagues our world. We have a friend who, in his early 20s, had his first manic episode followed by a deep depression. After a lot of prayer and counsel, it was concluded that he needed psychiatric attention. I went with him to the hospital to admit him to psychiatric treatment. He was a new father and his world was coming undone. 7 years later, he is still battling bipolar disorder. We have seen him occasionally. They have two boys and a third on the way. I’d like to say that life has improved and he has been healed. But, he is in prison and they are getting divorced. I'd like to "exorcize" his "demons".
