Mark 1: 21-28
Dear Friends, This opening exorcism of Mark’s Gospel, the first of Jesus’ signs and miracles, goes far beyond an act of kindness to a deeply afflicted individual. 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 righteousness in the apparent defeat of Jesus in his death on the Cross. Of course, in the Resurrection, we have the final and absolute victory over evil and the source of eternal hope.For the Jews at the time of Jesus, the demons were much more pervasive expression of evil than depicted in the possession of an individual. Demons represented all that was evil, all that restrained the freedom of the people. This bondage was especially manifested in sickness, the disasters of nature and the brutal power of the repressive 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. Equally important in today’s Gospel story is the teaching of Jesus. The goodness and truth of God were so much part of Jesus’ teachings that the demons cried out in fear and horror.
The entire first half of Mark’s Gospel will build upon this diabolic encounter. It will develop the growing question of the identity of Jesus (Mk 1:21-8:21) Just as for the first followers of Jesus, we today are all being invited to respond to the awesome question, “Who do you say that I am?” (MK 8:21)
When Jesus 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 release us from oppressing diabolic presence 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 lure of power and money, the expression 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 lives destroy our freedom: unemployment, economic injustice in the distribution of society’s goods and opportunities, the violence bred by the abuse of drugs. Just think of the billions of dollars wasted on the tragedy and insanity of the wars in Gaza and Ukraine. This money could go the alleviate poverty and fund our efforts to create a clean environment. These evils, 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 for us that opportunity of freedom also when He proclaims, “The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel.” (Mk 1:15) So often, the burdens and conflicts of our lives 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 whether personal and social and economic. Today’s Gospel tells us all is not lost. Hope opens the way to new positive horizons. We need to turn to Jesus in faith, trust and surrender. He will, again, set us free of the demons that oppress us. True gospel freedom demands that we listen to 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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