I often read the gospel scheduled by our church each day. Some readings strike me as relevant and truthful in new ways as I grow, mature and change.. On September 3, 2019 the Gospel of Luke Chapter 4 verses 31-37 was the Gospel reading. I read the same story again on January 14, 2020 from Mark 1:21-28 and added some new insights as well.
"Jesus went down to Capernaum, a town of Galilee.
He taught them on the sabbath, and they were astonished at his teaching
because he spoke with authority.
In the synagogue there was a man with the spirit of an unclean demon,
and he cried out in a loud voice,
"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, "Be quiet! Come out of him!"
Then the demon threw the man down in front of them
and came out of him without doing him any harm.
They were all amazed and said to one another,
"What is there about his word?
For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits,
and they come out."
And news of him spread everywhere in the surrounding region."
This reading hit me in a new way at this time in my life.
Jesus taught with confidence. The ability to convey certainty was key to the spread of his teachings. He taught confidently even in his home region of Galilee. Real courage was needed to speak truth to friends and relatives. So confidence is key. What if there is confidence in the wrong methods? Confidence alone is not enough.
In this event depicted by two different gospel accounts Jesus frees a man from "demons" publicly in a church. I am not a theologian or expert in ancient Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek terms so I use context available in the story. What I do have is experience. I have experienced a mentally ill person "helped"with memory based therapy who screamed out outlandish accusations to secular and church authorities in a very similar manner about me. It was quite intimidating and resulted in immense disruption to my life, the loss of my professional position, my computer being frozen, my house being searched, my minor child being interrogated for hours in a counselor office and my adult children being questioned aggressively. In the end they were unable to substantiate any of the accusations. I was lucky as I have learned that thousands of innocent men like me are cornered into "pleas" or found guilty on the word of a person disconnected from reality, in psychosis and suffering from hallucinations (as my accuser was found to be). I have since learned that many are in prison because someone screamed accusations and that was all that was needed. I was lucky as I was able to get help to my accuser and return her to reality. So this story has immense meaning for me. I pondered if Jesus himself faced emotionally fueled and false accusations in that church. So reading this captivated my attention. How did Jesus handle this situation?
The scripture depicts a person with "problems" yelling out at Jesus in the church. The unstable person identifies Jesus by name and refers to himself as "us" rather than as the person speaking. Possibly there is more wrong than any one malady (just as in the case of my mentally ill accuser). Jesus is not his malady but he is the one being screamed at. Jesus ends up facilitating his cure. What did Jesus do?
It is interesting what Jesus did NOT do. Jesus could have talked and inquired about the details of the charges and topics of his rantings. Jesus could have asked about when, how and by what mechanism the demon had taken control. Jesus could have asked the person about the possibility of misguided parenting, neglect as a youth that made him vulnerable to mental illness or demonic activity. Jesus could have suggested he was abused "like so many others have been" and then got him to retell his tales that so many in psychosis generate. Jesus could have referred the man to others in the community who specialized in handling crazy people to help them "remember" what caused them harm. Jesus could have attempted to offer him money to stop his rantings. Some might think that Jesus appeared to have what seemed to be a lack of empathy and compassion because Jesus made no attempt to clarify his reasons for screaming at all. Instead Jesus provided deliverance and then healing.
The two things Jesus did prior to the deliverance and miraculous change it explicitly described. Jesus commanded the screaming person to "be quiet". Jesus did not seek to be entertained with lurid tales that detailed why he was screaming at him. Jesus followed the command to be quiet with a rebuke. It seems to me that the common response to demons screaming out false accusations is one that harms the innocent (by minimizing their real experience), it harms the innocent who are falsely accused with public media attention that amplifies the screams and rewards the demon screams with large payouts. It is hard to imagine anything doing more harm than our present reaction.
Could it be that Jesus is driving out the "demons" in a false accuser?
After the man is quieted Jesus "rebukes" and the "demon" is not specifically spoken of by Jesus. Only after quiet and rebuke is the unnamed demon ordered to "come out" of the afflicted man. Does anyone reading this see the quieting and rebuking a sign of Jesus' anger, guilt or ignorance of his past that could have made emotionally afflicted man this way? If so they may have a wrong perspective. Such a misunderstanding may be empowering the screaming of false accusations.
The accuser fell to the ground as if humiliated. The "unclean spirit" left and that crazy acting man acted different after he got up.
The news spread because what Jesus did worked. It was not because Jesus provided a satisfactory or detailed explanation of why the man acted crazy. Jesus spoke and acted with authority, rebuked, commanded and caused a crazy man to throw himself down in front of others. That man became better because of the words Jesus used focused the man on ceasing his rant and then becoming different. Jesus did not focus on what he was "screaming about" during or after the event. Clearly the crazy acting person was a different man after he picked himself up. You can tell by the fruit of this interaction.
The kingdom of God spread like wildfire as a result. Maybe others will be moved and changed by the power of his word and example. I have seen it personally. I can tell you this story is truly how Jesus works.
This was so worth pondering.
If we are unstable and emotional and screaming in anger why not be quiet, accept rebuke and throw ourselves down in front of Jesus? Then why not get up a different person?
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