Chapter 8 - Immediately

The Exorcist

St. Mark’s Gospel has long been my favorite of the four gospels.  Because it was the first of the four gospels to be written down, it has the mark (no pun intended) of an original.  Mark is terse, dramatic, action-packed and right to the point.  Unlike John’s Gospel, there is no beautiful prolog.   Unlike Matthew and Luke, we do not hear at all of the birth of the Son of God.  There are no angels, no manger, no magi.  Instead, Mark plunges right into our Lord’s public ministry.

In Mark’s gospel, the repeated use of the Greek word, euthus, “immediately” adds to the picture of Jesus who acts decisively and with power.  The power of the Word.

In the encounter with The Word, demons are put in their place.

Of the many things that come to mind as I read chapter 8, let me mention two:

Then, strangely, the possessed man says, or shouts, something sensible.  “I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” Here, in the first chapter of Mark, someone speaks the identity of Jesus.  “Have you come to destroy us?”  The demons who inhabit the man intuit something essential about Jesus (page 148).

Bible readers often miss the incredible irony in the four gospels.  Here, in the encounter with the possessed man, the demons, unlike the disciples, are crystal clear about who Jesus is as they confess that he is “the Holy One of God.”  Here at the very beginning of his public ministry, long before the 12 apostles come to terms with who Jesus is, the demons are the ones who are crystal clear as to the Lord’s identity.  Not only do they confess that He is the “holy one of God” but their question—“Have you come to destroy us?”—is also an admission of the Lord’s perceived power over evil. 

Later on, Jesus will have to ask his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?”  And they will struggle with their answer.  Long before Peter confesses that “You are the Christ” the demons know and are in no way confused about who Jesus is.  The Evil Foe is no dummy…

Jesus’ healing of the man in the synagogue was immediate.  Our own healings, however, usually don’t happen euthus.  And this is a source of sadness for many of us.  We desperately long for something as instantaneous as what Jesus offered to the man.  And I’m not talking simply about physical healings (page 153).

When speaking about others, in casual conversation, we often say, “he has his demons” or “she has her demons.”

And if we dare look within, we have an uneasy sense of the demons who possess us.

For many of us, the struggle with our demons is life-long.  Father Martin speaks about participating in years of personal therapy and spiritual direction in an effort to experience the healing which comes almost instantaneously to the possessed man in the synagog.  In addition to personal therapy and spiritual direction, I would also add that the best weapons to overcome the evil within are the same weapons used to heal the man in the synagog:  the Word of God.  And, as a Catholic, I would add, the graces of the sacraments, particularly the Eucharist.  In the Mass we all say, “only say the Word and my soul shall be healed.”  

It was St. Ignatius of Antioch who referred to the Eucharist as "the medicine of immortality."  Word and Sacrament are the best weapons I know against the demons within.

  

Questions for Discussion:


1.  John Meier notes that claiming that Jesus was an exorcist has a much "historical corroboration" as almost any other statement we can make about the historical Jesus.  Given that, how do you see the role of the exorcisms and the confrontation with the demonic in his public ministry?

2.  William Barclay posits two approaches to exorcisms:  either we relegate possession to the realm of primitive thought, or we admit the possibility of the demonic both then and now.  Which approach do you prefer?

3.  Have you ever asked the Lord to free you of your "demons" or things that kept you unfree?



Steven Olson

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