(Mark 1: 21-28)
Mark uses today’s passage to set the scene for the dramatic story of his Gospel. It is a story of the ultimate conflict of good and evil. It will conclude with the drama of the final victory of good in the apparent defeat of Jesus’ Death that, in truth, only strengthens the power of the victory of all that is good in the Resurrection.
For the Jews at the time of Jesus, the demons were much more than depicted in a single possession of an individual. They were the expression of all that was evil, all that curtailed the freedom of the people. This was especially true for sickness, the disasters of nature and the destructive power of the oppressive Roman regime.
Jesus’ casting out of the devil from the man possessed was a powerful sign of the coming of the new age. It was an expression of God’s rule coming in the person of Jesus.
When He said, “This is the time of fulfillment. The Kingdom of God is at hand.” (Mk 1:15) the battle between good and evil was on. He came to cast out all that restrains the freedom of all of us. He came to free us from oppression and possession in all levels of their power in our midst. The “devils” of our day come in all different sizes and forms in our personal lives: the seductive illusions of consumerism, the grandiosity of our egoism so often out of control, the ambitions of power and money, the use of sex that neither enhances life nor love, the horror of addictions to drugs, alcohol, gambling and so many other false gods of our day. Then there is the area of mental health that can be so fragile and so destructive when it fails to be an expression of healthy freedom.
Likewise, the “demons” of our social and economic life destroy our freedom: unemployment, economic injustice in the distribution of society’s goods and opportunities, the insanity and waste of war, the violence bred by the abuse of drugs. These and so many more are symbolized in the conflict of Jesus and the demon.
The key component of this conflict of good and evil is the freedom that Jesus brings to the possessed man. He opens us to that opportunity of freedom also when He sets before us once again, “The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel.”
So often, our life’s burdens and conflicts seem so out of control, so beyond our ability to manage them. It seems our freedom is lost and we are possessed by the circumstances of our broken relationships both personal and social and economic.
Today’s Gospel tells us all is not lost. Hope is more than possible. We need to turn to Jesus in faith, trust and surrender. He will, again, cast out the demons of our oppression and possession. To do this we need to listen and accept the One who offers “a new teaching with authority.” ( Mk 1:27) We need to ‘Repent, and believe in the Gospel.” ( Mk 1:15).
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