A Reflection for Monday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Find today’s readings here.
The exorcisms that Jesus performs in the Gospels are some of his most dramatic miracles. They are also some of the most difficult for me to understand spiritually.
I can certainly understand the narratives in their own context. Jesus’ work as an exorcist was pivotal in establishing his identity as the Christ. Although teachings about evil spirits were not “official” beliefs of first-century Judaism, in popular religion there was a widespread understanding that God had created all spirits and retained authority over them. Spirits were like animals who could sometimes go feral and run amok. God’s own voice could still command them, however. God could share that power with human healers who conformed their own lives to the wisdom of God communicated through the law of Moses. Many Jewish healers also worked as exorcists and even many Gentiles appreciated their skills. Matthew, Mark and Luke describe Jesus’ work as an exorcist to emphasize his unusual power over even the most troublesome evil spirits. In doing so, they affirm his unique relationship with God.
The deliverance of the Gerasene demoniac (Mk 5:1-20) is one of four great works of power that Jesus performs at this juncture of his ministry. These include the calming of the storm (Mk 4:35-41, the healing of the woman with a hemorrhage (Mk 5:25-34) and the raising of Jairus’ daughter (Mk 5:21-24, 35-43). In each of these miracles, Jesus exercises divine authority that goes beyond any kind ever seen before. He has power over weather, power over illness, and power over death itself.
Mark’s account of the Gerasene demoniac includes details that emphasize Jesus’ unique power. He had no fear of a man with superhuman strength who had driven so many others away. In fact he renders the man docile and even pitiable: “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me!” (Mk 5:7). Within all this drama, it is easy to miss context clues that emphasize Jesus’ authority further. The territory of the Gerasenes was part of a Greek colony called the Decapolis. In the mind of many Jewish people, such areas were by definition under the control of evil spirits, embodied in the foreign gods that people there worshiped. The man lived among unclean tombs and kept company with unclean pigs. This environment should have been completely under the authority of evil powers.
One can imagine the disciples’ deep foreboding as they followed Jesus into this foul place. It was only the night before, after the sea had become calm, that Jesus challenged them, “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?” Now he was forcing them to face even more of their deepest fears. Yet at every moment, Jesus was in charge of the outcome. This unclean and terrifying place became a locus for God’s merciful power and presence.
But what does this mean for my own discipleship? I myself do not understand illnesses of the body and mind in demonic terms. I don’t see any person, place or thing as an inherent realm of evil spirits, and I don’t have an aversion to pork.
That challenge, though, still resonates with me. “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?” I don’t have to put out to sea or wander through hostile lands for Jesus to bring me to places I’d rather avoid. Just saying “yes” to discipleship day after day forces me to face my fears and overcome my lack of faith. In addition, as someone in recovery from addiction, I have all my own shattered psyche and broken body for Jesus to heal, which he does, every day. If there is a way to enter this biblical passage as a disciple, it is to own my own foreboding and remember that Jesus is Lord even of my own brokenness and a world that can inspire terror.
