They were astounded at his teaching, for Jesus taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, ‘What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.’ But Jesus rebuked him, saying, ‘Be silent, and come out of him!’ Mark 1:22-25
Jesus spoke with authority.
It is a little dangerous to leave this undefined. It can be different things to different people. An authoritative figure can mean someone who is knowledgable and reliable to guide us. At the same, it could mean someone who is a tyrant and demeaning. Once I read this very passage with a homeless youth and he was confused. He asked if Jesus was like the police. Unfortunately, in the streets, the police establish their authority through violence and intimidation. It is not just the police but society in general also does this. Well, it is the way of the world. Wars present and past are about establishing one’s authority over another one. Violence and authority are often indistinguishable.
Jesus acted with authority but it was unlike that of the scribes. These people are the ones who were supposed to define the proper and right behavior of the people according to God’s Law. In other words, they were the ethical teachers of that time. They knew their stuff but it lacked authority. Knowing something does not suffice.
Before proceeding, there is an important question to consider; what is the purpose of authority or rather, what role does it play in our lives? It seems like we, as humans, need someone to guide us. Even the most independent person has someone as their guide in life. We need someone to trust and guide us. Trust is voluntary. No one can force us to trust but we can be forced to obey. This is the problem. The scribes had authority. They demanded trust but, most likely, the people just obeyed them. It is probable that this was achieved through social pressure and manipulation, something which is still very present in contemporary religious practice, unfortunately. Jesus was different. There was no pressure nor social manipulation. The people heard him and trusted him with their lives. The scribes were trained in the scriptures but their words did not inspire Life in the people. The people heard Jesus say the same words but something stirred within their souls. These words brought forth healing and life in their souls and also exposed the agents of death in their midst.
In the gospels, these agents are sometimes identified as demons.
Most of us live in a world where demons do not play a crucial role in our daily life. Therefore, our minds might be tempted to ignore this gospel passage or not give it too much attention. However, demons do exist. Perhaps not in the caricatural manner in which they have been frequently presented. We need to interpret demons in a manner relevant to our daily spiritual life. The demonic manifestations recorded in the gospels today can be defined as mental illness in some cases and epileptic episodes in others. Back then, medical science was in its primitive state. It is understandable why anyone would define these symptoms as demonic attacks. We have seen many epileptic episodes in the streets. It did seem like the person’s body was taken over by something strange. However, medical knowledge has advanced since then and it has given us different names and medications to address these conditions. Perhaps, indirectly it has helped us to discern true demonic presence in our midst.
What comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. Matthew 15:18-19
Demonic manifestations come from within us. They are words and thoughts which not only inspire but result in death producing actions. They also seek to contaminate the people around to adopt these destructive attitudes. Even in the passage in the gospel reading, the demons, despite confessing the Lordship of Jesus, tried to entice him to destroy them just like they destroyed everything in their path. They wanted to reduce Jesus to be just like them. Our Lord refused to succumb to their temptation. Instead He demanded their silence and ordered them to abandon their death inducing activities. If He was of this world, He would destroyed them because this world only knows one form of authority. Jesus is the Savior, in other words, He is a Healing presence and refuses to destroy even those who are perceived as deserving of destruction such as the demons.
The scribes were just like the rest of the world. All their knowledge and spiritual wisdom did not inform them how to act differently in society. They had authority in their community but it wasn’t a life giving one. Jesus was different and He is the One whom we need to follow. After all, if we say that we worship Him, then the highest form of worship is imitation. This then beckons the question on how can we live out the kind of authority Jesus manifested. It is not something we can learn from a book. It is not something we can gain through our actions. We can only receive this through His grace. The only thing we can do is to be open and available to the Holy Spirit to bestow this authority in our lives.
I always wanted to share this story about one of the most unlikeable boys in the streets. I don’t want to create any expectation that he eventually became our favorite boy. This never happened so there is no traditional happy ending here. I will say that he became slightly less unlikeable. However, through him we learned an important lesson.
His name is Davi just like the Psalmist King in the Old Testament but without the charm and poetry. He always was an antagonistic boy and never really respected us. We never had any falling out with him. He was just an aggressive and difficult boy. One day we were coloring with the other teens and he asked if he could join us. Naturally, we welcomed his participation. He took a page from our book and ripped it off. Then he proceeded to do the same with other books. I stopped him and asked him what he was doing. He did not respond and continued destroying our books. Of course, we stopped him by taking away the book. My mind ran through a series of actions which would teach this young boy a lesson or two on who is in-charge. The only reason I did not act on them is because I am an older person and should act according to my age. The thing which made me really angry is that we were having a rarer peaceful moment with the teens before he joined us.
All the other teens were a little shocked by his utter disrespect and they left without creating a scene. The whole incident disturbed us and increased our dislike for this boy more. Thankfully the following day he was gone and we did not see him for weeks. However, he left a bad taste in my mouth. I sensed bitterness building up in my heart towards him whenever I thought about him. A few weeks later, he returned. We were doing the same activity and he wanted to join us. We were quite weary but decided to give him a chance. This time, he sat down and said that he had acted very disrespectfully towards us and he didn’t know why. He asked for our forgiveness. We did not expect this from him. In a way, it melted our hearts and took away all ill feelings towards him. I told him that we forgave him and thanked him for having the courage to ask for forgiveness. He shook our hands and said that he wasn’t in the mood to color but he really just wanted our forgiveness. We did not see him after that time. However, after some time, I got a friend request from him on Facebook. I did think twice before accepting it.
Demons slipped into Davi’s life since he was young. He has always lived according to their bidding. However, something happened that day, not just in his life but in all of us including the teens who were with us. We saw how God can move and bring Life into the most hardened hearts. At first, Davi rejected Life and then he decided to open his heart to it. He is far from being a saint but he has shown us that he is not beyond the grasp of Divine Love. We were invited by the Holy Spirit to participate in this process through the simple act of forgiveness which is the most precious fruit of Love. It is the principal way we can open and avail ourselves to do what God is doing in this world. It is the way we can recognize His authority in this world. This age seeks to repay an eye for eye. Our Lord seeks to heal and restore and the very first step is forgiveness. If we cannot forgive, then we will never understand the authority which Jesus has in this world. Then we can never be open and available in this world to reveal the true nature of Jesus’ authority. It is not easy but nothing good is.
