[Deut. 18:15-20; i Cor. 8:1-13; Mk. 1:21-28]
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Who of you has ever seen the Exorcist, or any other horror film or programme about demonic possession?
They’re the sort of scary movies or tv series that would make even the staunchest atheist believe in Heaven and Hell, complete with howling and screeching, hovering beds, things residing in the walls and spinning heads. They’re films and series that tap in to our deepest fears, more so because they use Biblical themes.
You might be surprised to hear that for people in Jesus’ lifetime the belief of possessions by impure spirits as we read today was a fact of everyday life, no one would doubt it, it was part of their world, often very much influenced by their Greek-speaking non-Jewish neighbours. That’s why Mark had no hesitation in setting this narrative in a place you’d least expect it, the local synagogue, a house of worship.
Ill health was connected to the belief in these entities, but modern medicine would diagnose a lot of these possessions as epileptic fits or mental health issues.
We must read our Scriptures in their historical context.
However, our story this morning tells us about much more than the unclean spirit, whichever way we in 21st c. Kortrijk wish to interpret that.
Unlike Matthew and Luke, Mark doesn’t start his gospel with Jesus’ family tree or the story of His birth. Mark’s book is the shortest of the four gospels and he sets his readership off with the events surrounding John the Baptist and Jesus’ own baptism in the River Jordan. Chapter one is then all about preaching and healing.
Galilee, where Jesus’ family was from and where He grew up, was situated in the north of the country, and Capernaum was a village on the Sea of Galilee with fishing as its main industry.
People in the south, mainly in the capital Jerusalem, looked somewhat down on these northerners with their funny accents.
It was a remnant from the north-south divide so many centuries before. Only under Greek-Hellenistic and later under Roman rule had the country been reunited again, but that didn’t mean the Jewish people were free to govern themselves; they were eagerly awaiting the Messiah to truly reunite and liberate their nation.
At the centre of village life stood the synagogue, the place of assembly.
Synagogues were still in a developing stage; the Temple in Jerusalem with its daily sacrifices was after all the epicentre of Jewish religious life and would remain so for another 40 years.
It also happened to be the sabbath, the weekly compulsory holy day of rest, and very often Jesus’ healings happened on that day which landed Him in trouble with the religious authorities.
It’s against that backdrop our Lord walked in to the house of prayer that evening at the beginning of the sabbath and started to preach. Apparently He was licensed to do so.
He spoke with authority, an authority not only His public recognised but also it seems the impure spirit.
This raises the interesting question: by whose authority?
At His baptism, the Father had spoken and said “This is my Son, my beloved.”
Just as at any other baptism, including our own, the Father had sealed His child for Himself, in this case His only begotten Son.
That’s why the authority of Christ was different from that of the scribes or elders or soldiers for instance, because His authority was not based on duty or coercion but on trust and conviction.
When God speaks God speaks truth, and God speaks truth out of grace and love. Always!
This is what the unclean spirits recognised in Jesus when they encountered Him, as does the spirit in this chapter. “I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” He shouts.
Evil recognised good.
It’s a lesson for us all: by calling out things or situations for what they really are -good or bad- we can be part of the solution, not remain part of the problem.
But remember, Christ never purposefully went out looking for unclean spirits, He never got up in the morning saying to Himself “Let’s do an exorcism today.”
But when confronted with evil, with pain and hurt, He decisively stepped in and restored the person before Him to their full worth, to their full humanity, in relationship with God, with others and with themselves.
“He preaches a new teaching with authority”, our reading goes on to say. People were astounded.
Which new teaching are we talking about?
“The gospel of Jesus Christ” of verse 1 in our chapter.
Which gospel?
“The blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.” (e.g. Mt. 11:5)
It’s the gospel of God’s kingdom of hope and wholeness on earth. God will do this for us.
Teaching and healing.
We too are called to acknowledge these struggles, these personal demons in others, to acknowledge when people’s minds are clouded by darkness like depression or addiction, when their bodies are violently shaking as it were from long term illness or poverty, loneliness or exclusion.
God set the example.
God always sets the example and takes the first step so that we too can and should make that step and enter people’s lives as Christ entered the synagogue in Capernaum that day with only good intentions and in all openness.
God looks after our justification, our being put right with Him so we can look after others and ourselves. We’re set free to serve.
We too must speak with truth and conviction not with coercion and arrogance.
Perhaps we could say that the speaking of a Christian should first and foremost actually be listening.
And when we speak we must preach the good news and tell people that God sees and hears them, God acknowledges their happiness and their pain, God will restore them to the fullness of their be-ing human out of sheer fatherly mercy.
The good news that they can rely on God to be true, that God forgives and that God is always present.
The good news that Jesus said “Be quiet,” so God’s words of mercy and healing will be heard.
And the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.