What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?
“Jesus came to Capernaum with his followers, and on the sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught. The people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes. In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit; 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!” Jesus rebuked him and said, “Quiet! Come out of him!” The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him. All were amazed and asked one another, “What is this? A new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” His fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee.” (cf. Mk 1: 21 – 28)
St. Mark wrote his Gospels for catechumens; hence the important place in it is the fight against evil, against demons. The first miracle he describes is the healing of a man with an evil spirit. In Jesus' day, many diseases, especially mental ones, were attributed to the influence of evil spirits, i.e., demons.
Jesus does not cut himself off from the mentality of his time, he even seems to share it. The diagnosis made by Christ, goes back to the roots of evil, is not, however, a medical diagnosis. The possessed person is, above all, a weak, defenseless man, enslaved by evil, broken. In the possessed person lives a demon, an enemy who appropriates man, that is, what belongs to God. Therefore, the unclean spirit must come out so that the possessed person can come out of his prison and find the lost unity and harmony. The way of man to God begins with forcing various parasitic demons to come out.
Casts out an evil spirit is the removal of evil forces, "cleansing the poisoned organism, the terrain, the environment". Ernst Käsemann wrote: "where Jesus passes, the earth is set free." The land freed from the power of evil can once again become a human dwelling, a space of freedom and a place of community.
Evagrius Ponticus, a representative of Eastern monasticism, who lived in the 4th century, writes about eight demons who can take over a monk's heart. Experience teaches that not only the monk. These are demons: pride, vanity, anger, sadness, greed, uncleanness, gluttony and acedia, that is, spiritual emptiness, apathy, laziness. In our time, these captivating outside and inside demons are more subtle and refined. They are "rooted" and result from human, sensual and consumer thinking. Their external manifestations are contemporary idols: social rank, success, money, relationships, sensuality, culture ...
Jesus casts out demons with the word. He even commands unclean spirits and they obey Him. People who witness the miracle are amazed. Jesus works, works miracles with the power of the word that heals and makes man free. Jesus' word does not resemble the rhetoric of the Pharisees and scribes. It flows from within him, from his person, from the divine source. The Desert Fathers and the Church Fathers advise us to do likewise. Cast out demons with the word of Scripture. It is a simple method that consists in opposing to negative thoughts, temptations and words, the sentences taken from the Holy Scriptures.
Until Tomorrow
fr. george