Fourth Sunday In Ordinary Time

MARK 1:21-28 (Deuteronomy 18:15-20; Psalm 95:1-2, 6-7, 7-9; 1 Corinthians 7:32-35)

In last Sunday’s gospel reading Jesus chose his first four disciples at the Sea of Galilee. Now the five companions went north to Capernaum, which was situated on the NW shore of the Sea of Galilee. The Sabbath (a Hebrew word meaning “rest”) Day was at hand. Like other faithful Jews, Jesus went to synagogue on the Sabbath, “and there he taught.” It was a custom, that when a well known man came to synagogue, the presiders at the synagogue would invite the visitor to speak to the gathered crowd. We see this happening to Jesus in Luke 4:16-28 in a visit to his hometown after he had acquired some fame as a teacher and healer.  A scroll was presented to the visitor. He unrolled the scroll to a certain passage, read it, then commented on it in a homily. Mark notes that the people were astounded at his teaching, so different from their usual fare. 

At that time it was the custom to present the teaching of authorities from the past. Jesus did that, but did more. “He taught them as one who had authority, and not like their scribes (scholars).” If Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount accurately reflects Jesus’ method of teaching, it could have been as follows. “You no doubt have heard that they used to say,” or “Such and such a scholar (scribe) said…” or a quote from Scripture followed by comments. Jesus had a new approach. His response to the quote did not consist of some generic comments, but in a very authoritative statement, “But I say to you….”   This approach was bound to arouse opposition in one’s hometown, and it did. But in today’s gospel reading Jesus is in Capernaum in the synagogue next door to the house of Simon and Andrew. They were engaged in a successful fishing enterprise and were therefore of importance to their community. The people knew that Jesus was with these respected citizens. Therefore they gave him a respect which he, later in Mark’s gospel, would not get in his hometown synagogue at Nazareth.

But trouble was brewing. “And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit….” This means the man was possessed by some demon, at least according to a diagnosis of strange behavior in the time of Jesus.  The demon in the man shouted, “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.” The demon knows that this visitor is the One whom the Gospel of Mark has already called “the Son of God.”  Politicians would pay for this kind of publicity, but Jesus wanted none of it. Such publicity could be dangerous and destroy even the little peace that Jesus still had from crowds following him around. Jesus rebuked the demon, “Muzzle yourself, and come out of him!” The creature, even the fallen creature, cannot resist the command of his Creator. With a scream the demon sent his victim into convulsions and took his leave.

Now the people were even more amazed than they had been by Jesus’ teaching. They attributed Jesus’ power to his teaching. He “taught with authority,” and confirmed his authority with an astonishing miracle. The crowd responds to the deed, “What is this ? A new teaching with auth-ority? He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.” What was so different about Jesus’ method of exorcism? Exorcism was as common at the time as was the commonly accepted activity of demons. In Acts 19:13-16, seven sons of a Jewish high priest were imitating St. Paul’s method of exorcism. It ended very badly for them. They had no authority, no power. The possessed man overpowered them, and they fled naked and wounded. What a laugh Christians must have had from that story.

There were elaborate rituals for exorcisms. Here is an example given by Flavius Josephus, a first century A.D. Jewish historian.  He claimed that the following ritual originated with King Solomon (died 922 B.C.). “I have seen a certain man of our country, whose name was Eleazar,  releasing people from demons….  The manner of the cure was this: he put a ring that had on it a root of a kind mentioned by Solomon. Eleazar held this root to the nostrils of the one possessed by the demon. When the possessed man fell down immediately, the exorcist commanded the demon to leave and never return. While commanding the demon, the exorcist mentioned Solo-mon and recited the incantations which Solomon composed. To demonstrate to the spectators that he had such power, Eleazar set a cup of water at some distance. He commanded the demon as the latter left the man to upset the cup of water. Thus he let the spectators know that the demon was gone.”

Josephus explains how the magic root attached to the ring was obtained. This root grew only in a certain place. The root was flame-colored. Toward evening it sent out rays of lightning. It cannot easily be taken out of the ground, and can kill anyone who attempts to take it. One way to obtain the magic root: dig a trench around it until the hidden part of the root is minimal. (The rest may be offensive to folks who love their dogs.) Tie a dog to the top of the plant growing from the root. Walk away. Call the dog to follow. When the dog obeys, the root pulls out easily but the dog dies in place of the man who wants to take the root away. “After this, no one need be afraid of picking up the root. This root is good for only one purpose. If it is brought to sick people, it quickly drives away those called demons.” With nonsense like this current in the first Christian century, it is no wonder that the people who witnessed Jesus’ simple words of exorcism in the synagogue said, “He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.”