Jesus’ First Healing is an Exorcism, but begins with Teaching
Today’s Bible story is about exorcism – or healing by removal – in this case the removal of an “unclean” spirit from a man in the synagogue, but it begins and ends with comments about Jesus’ teaching. It says that Jesus went into the synagogue to teach on the Sabbath. Now, a synagogue was the place reserved for teaching and learning

about the sacred scriptures. Rituals, especially sacrificial rituals, took place in the temple. There might be one temple for a given community of the faithful, while the same area could have several synagogues, some may even have been in private homes.

Teaching from the scriptures was undertaken by men who felt a special calling to do so and some went on to become official teachers known as scribes. Any day of the week might find people in a synagogue engaging in study, but the Sabbath would have been the most active day, drawing more people who wanted to learn from the scholars about the traditions and laws of their faith.

Jesus teaches with Authority
Jesus begins his public teaching in a synagogue on the Sabbath – indicating a great reverence for tradition and, as we will see, a strong identification with the source of the scripture and its traditions. Even before the exorcism, the people in the synagogue are amazed by Jesus’ teaching for one reason – because of the authority with which he teaches. He talks about the scriptures not as one who has studied them well, but as one who intimately knows their source, as if they are a part of him.

I came across this old story in a source written by the Rev. Richard Fairchild about a gathering in which a noted actor was called upon to give an oration:

He stood, cleared his throat, and recited the 23rd Psalm, with perfect dramatization, inflection, and so on. When he finished, the room was filled with applause. Then, an elderly priest stepped forward, and proceeded to recite the same words. When he finished, there was not a sound in the room. But nearly every eye was filled with tears.

Someone asked the actor what the difference had been. He said, “Well, you see, there’s no doubt that I know the 23rd Psalm backwards and forwards. But the Padre here, he knows the Shepherd.”

Jesus Acts with Authority by Exorcising an Unclean Spirit
The people who heard Jesus teach that day in the synagogue heard that kind of difference – they heard a teaching that came out of who he was. He taught not as one who knew the Word, but who was the Word. Mark did not want this point to be lost, so he told what happened next to underscore Jesus’ identity as the source of his authority in teaching the scriptures and, for that matter, for everything else he would say in the rest of the gospel.

After he has been teaching, he sees a man with an unclean spirit. An unclean spirit was basically something that was not human and that had a negative influence over a person. They were also known as demons – spirits working against God and God’s kingdom of justice and peace. In the tradition of that time, these were spirits that could overpower and possess people, make them ill and keep them from doing the work of God and from enjoying a full relationship with God. The name “unclean spirit” was meant to show that these spirits were the exact opposite of the Holy, completely pure spirit of God.

Exorcism; Clean and Unclean

The practice of the time was for exorcists to call upon a more powerful and good spirit to overwhelm and cast out the less powerful, bad spirit that had possessed someone. Methods of exorcism varied from a few words to elaborate rituals. In this passage and in every other exorcism by Jesus, it is significant that Jesus never used such rituals, but cast out the unwanted spirits by his commanding word and with no apparent appeal to any authority beyond himself. (Eerdman’s, “Exorcism”)

One of my favorite resources, Eerdman’s Bible Dictionary, defines “Clean” as something that is in its place, where it belongs, and “Unclean” as something that is “disgustingly out of place,” that does not belong.

In terms of our relationship with God, holy and unclean are incompatible. So, in Biblical times, it was “necessary for the sacred to be protected from pollution” meaning anything considered to be unclean – such as illness, normal bodily functions, and behaviors or problems that may have been associated with evil or unclean spirits. There were many intricate rituals for cleansing to maintain the protection of holy places and people from anything that was unclean. This is the tradition from which Jesus and his followers come and, as will happen many more times in Mark’s gospel, Jesus’ action in the exorcism begins a new teaching that goes against that tradition.

It has already been made clear who Jesus is and so we know that he embodies the holy and pure spirit of God plus he is teaching in a holy place, the synagogue. But he does not follow any of the rules to protect himself or that place from the unclean spirit. He does not banish the man or even require him to go through a ritual cleansing before he comes in contact with him. Jesus is not afraid that the man’s unclean spirit will contaminate his own, as was the common belief in the religious community. He comes right to the man and instead the unclean spirit is purified by the spirit of God in Jesus. This is why the people say at the end of this passage that he brings a “new teaching with authority.”

Modern Day Demons
Now, we today may not believe that there are literally invisible, non-human entities that exist and work against us – or maybe we simply see normal problems and struggles in that light. No matter what we call them, I think we all know what it means to wrestle with demons, and we certainly are acquainted with forces in the world that work against God’s kingdom of justice and peace.

My Demons as a young adult
In high school and as a young adult, I wrestled with my own demons and just like the definition says, they were things that did keep from coming close to God. One of my greatest demons or struggles was a considerable lack of self-esteem and sense of purpose. I felt “disgustingly out of place” and like I didn’t’ belong in my own skin let alone in God’s presence. I think I felt like I had to fix what was broken inside of me before I could dare to even approach God.

But it turned out that it was approaching God in my brokenness that allowed Jesus to Speak to what was out of place inside of me. Jesus was able to see me for who I really was, demons and all. In my encounter with him, the power of His Holy Spirit became the healing balm I needed to begin to enjoy a full relationship with God and start to learn who I was in God’s eyes. There was still a great deal I would have to face and learn and work through, and I suppose there always will be, but the difference was in knowing I would never again have to hide anything from God’s sight or face alone any of the demons that might come my way.

This was a kind of healing for me – a restoration of what had felt incomplete and out- of-place. Jesus brought a new kind of teaching and a new kind of healing and the two were intimately related. Jesus’s teaching about God came from his direct knowledge of God’s love and mercy; that kind of teaching brought about its own kind of healing and restoration to those who had been suffering because of a condition or situation that had left them literally or figurately out of place from everyone else.

The African American Spiritual, There is a Balm in Gilead, refers to a the Old Testament plant or balsam that was highly valued because of its physical healing properties and named for the region in which it was produced, Gilead. But the song goes beyond the practical element of the plant to talk about the spiritual healing that comes not only from knowing Jesus but being known by Jesus – being known for who we are as we are.

Jesus Heals us Because he knows and loves us
When the man in the synagogue encountered Jesus, Jesus was able to see him for all that he was. He was able to see to the depths of his heart as well as all in him that was “out of place” and keeping him from fullness in God. Jesus healed him because of the very power of God working from the core of who he is.

When we encounter Jesus, when we let ourselves be seen for all that we are, including the demons that we wrestle with, God’s healing spirit will speak to us through Jesus’ voice, address what we need the most and call out of us that which is holding us back from fullness of life and a full relationship with God.

May God help us all to approach God with honesty and confidence in the power of the One who is Creator, Christ, and Holy Spirit.