Jesus the exorcist in 21
st
scientific world? We have cured or at least diagnosed many diseases that the ancient people regarded as demon caused. We have also developed psychiatric medications such as Prozac, Sarfem, Ativan, intuiv for schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder.
We are comfortable with the image of Jesus as the teacher, prophet, shepherd, redeemer but many people find it hard to accept Jesus as the exorcist. Many people, thinking of Jesus as an exorcist, are reminded of a horror movie, “The Exorcist,” a scary film.
But I have still no problem with believing Jesus as the exorcist. Jesus for me looks like a mirror that reflects me clearly whenever I am before him: “my spectacles, my obsessions, fixed ideas, complexes, emotional confusion, blocks in our thinking, an inability to think clearly, a split inside me.” (A. Grun)
Jesus went into the synagogue on the sabbath and taught them. (Mark 1) People were so amazed at his teaching. Just then a man in the synagogue cried out: “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?”
Jesus’ teaching brought out the unclean spirits in us. When Jesus speaks, the truth of a person appears. The demons in us are stirred up. The demons are brought to light. When we are standing before Jesus, our false and distorted views are shown clearly. We cannot hide in the bushes of hypocrisy as Adam and Eve did.
Jesus stopped and spoke directly to the unclean spirit and to all of us: “Be silent, come out of him or leave him alone!” We all have our demons. Jesus casts them out. Jesus frees us from demons inside us that hold us captive. The demons leave us with a loud cry. We are free at last. We are healed finally. We see the true light and begin to live life fully after a long time. Praise the Lord! Hallelujah
Reflection:
Frightful Miracle
(Steve Garnaas-Holmes, pastor of St. Matthews UMC in Acton)
From madness and anguish, self-harm and shame,
from rejection and exile to life among the dead,
from a legion of demons not of his own choosing,
Jesus restores a beloved.
And you?
In the graveyard outside your village,
unwhole and frightful, poorly chained, a wordless voice cries out.
Listen... Draw near...
The people are afraid.
Of what? Change? Damage to their profit?
A threat to their settled way of thinking?
The subjection of their values to God's?
Proximity to such uncontained, uncontrollable power?
The thin, porous boundary between sanity and insanity?—
the possibility that if the man is now like them, they could be like him?
Yes, at least.
Maybe our fear itself is the demon, the chains, the exile.
When the grace of God tears apart your awful world
and wrenches it into health, what frightens you?
If Jesus were to heal your enemy what would you fear?
If Jesus were to expose your demons
and fling them into the primordial abyss
What would you be afraid of?
You are already afraid.
Let the Healer come close, and name the demon, and reach out a hand...
We all have our demons.
Let the Healer come close, and name the demon, and reach out a hand.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
Pastor Seok-Hwan
