"Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name." [January 26, 2018] Luke 10:17...
"Lord, even the demons submit to
us in your name"
Luke 10:17
JESUS' Uniqueness as an Exorcist
Searched and read by: Fr.
Danboy18
Unlike other Jewish exorcists,
Jesus never uses secondary means in his exorcisms, such as fumigations, rings,
roots or herbs. Nor does Jesus use incantations, liturgical prayers or
specially-composed psalms of praise as part of his exorcist practice. When the
disciples were unable to to drive out a demon, Jesus explains that there are
different types of demons, and some of these can only come out by prayer
(Mark 9:14-29 = Matt 17:14-21 = Luke 9:37-43a). But there is no indication that
Jesus himself used prayer as a means of exorcism. Rather, Jesus drives out demons simply by
directly commanding the demon(s) to come out of a person. When exorcizing the
boy with the demon that caused him to be deaf and dumb, for example, Jesus
says, "You deaf and mute spirit ... I command you, come out of him and never enter
him again" (Mark 9:25). Moreover, unlike other Jewish exorcists, Jesus
does not appeal to any authority for this exorcisms other than himself, not
even to Yahweh. This is different from the exorcist whom the disciples discover
casting out demons but who was not one of their group (the so-called
"strange exorcist"): "Teacher, we saw someone casting out
demons in your name,
and we tried to prevent him because he was not following us" (Mark
9:38-41). This unidentified exorcist did indeed cast out evil spirits but did
so only on the basis of Jesus' authority. Likewise, the disciples themselves
practiced exorcism, but they also did so by Jesus' authority: "He summoned
the twelve and began to send them out in pairs, and gave them authority over
the unclean spirits" (Mark 3:15; 6:7). When they returned from being sent
out to announce the Kingdom of God, they marvelled that demons submitted to
them because of Jesus: "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name" (Luke
10:17).
Clearly Jesus was also unique among exorcists because evil spirits submitted to
him without opposition or much struggle. Sometimes the demons engaged Jesus in
dialogue and in one instance they appealed to him for leniency. The legion in
the Gadarene demoniac sought to have Jesus swear by God that he would not
torment them (Mark 5:8; see Luke 8:31 "And they begged him repeatedly not
to order them to go into the Abyss, or Pit"). But there is never a sense
of a real power struggle between Jesus and the evil spirits that he removed
from people, unlike other Jewish exorcists. The fact that Jesus exorcized
without opposition probably explains why witnesses of his exorcists were
astonished at what they experienced: "He even gives orders to evil spirits
and they obey him" (Mark 1:27; Luke 4:36; see Matt 9:33 "The crowds
were amazed, and were saying, 'Nothing like this has ever been seen in
Israel'"). Jesus' complete authority over evil spirits also explains the
alarm and terror that they exhibit when they encounter him; they fear for their
continued well-being because they believe that Jesus has the authority to
torment them and send them to the Abyss, or pit, where they do not want to go
(Mark 5:10; Luke 8:31). In fact, the demons recognize Jesus as the Davidic
Messiah, as the one to whom has been given authority over the spiritual world;
they address him appropriately by the messianic titles of "son of
God" (Mark 3:11; Luke 4:42), "son of the most High God" (Mark
5:7 = Luke 8:28; see Matt 8:28 "son of God"), and "holy one of
God" (Mark 1:24; Luke 4:34).
Jesus
interprets his exorcisms as a manifestation of the Kingdom of God. In
continuity with second-Temple Jewish expectation, he sees the time of Israel's
eschatological expectation as a time of freedom from evil spirits and Satan who
rules over them. In the Messianic expectation in the Old Testament, the
eschatological Davidic king reigns over Israel and the nations, but nothing is
said of his subjugation of evil spirits and his assault on Satan's kingdom,
what the Qumran sectarians called the"dominion of Belial." As
indicated, in one Essene text, it is the angel Melchizedek who will
eschatologically judge and punish Belial and the spirits of his lot (11QMelch 2.11-14).
Similarly, in T. Levi 18
the eschatological priest is given authority over Belial and the evil spirits
under his authority. It should be noted that Jesus' success as an exorcist
caused the people to wonder whether he might be the Messiah, the "son of
David" (Matt 12:23). This is not surprising given the expectation that the
eschaton would see the removal of Satan and spirits under his control from
Israel and the world generally. It seems that some drew the conclusion that it
is the Davidic Messiah who will bring an end to kingdom of Satan, even though
not every Jew shared this view apparently.
In JESUS
name I command you…
[http://www.mycrandall.ca/courses/ntintro/lifej/exorcismjesus.htm]
