DEMON-POSSESSION IS AN UNCOMFORTABLE subject matter for modern people. Through the growth in understanding of mental aberration, medical and psychiatric views on such a thing have been relegated to the realm of the superstition of primitive minds. Demons have been removed from science and medicine and sent to the realm of Hollywood’s horror film genre—where they have captured an average 10% annual portion of the market share. Meanwhile, science and medicine offer a couch, a rainbow rainstorm of pharmaceuticals, and have a history of performing lobotomies—and have shown a low percentage of success in relieving mentally oppressed people.
But demon-possession permeates the bible, O.T. and N.T. In the gospels alone there are 12 instances of people afflicted in this way. It is in the gospels that we find the master of spirits, Jesus, casting out demons and restoring people to sanity. In perhaps the most graphic example, recorded in all three synoptic gospels, a “demon-possessed” man (Mark 5:18) who had been inhabited by a “legion of demons” (Mark 5:15) is cleansed by Jesus. He casts the demons into a herd of pigs, and “about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.” (Mark 5:13)
In this gospel the terminology for ‘demon-possession’ (4 times) is used interchangeably with the term “impure spirit” (3 times – v. 2, v. 8, v. 13) The interaction between the demoniac and Jesus opens with his screams of fear and anguish. “He shouted at the top of his voice, ‘What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!’” (Mark 5:7) Jesus responds, “ Come out of this man, you impure spirit!” (Mark 5:8) This story ends with the cleansed man “sitting there, dressed and in his right mind.” (Mark 5:15c)
No couch, no medication; spiritual surgery. The Greek word used for spirit is ‘pneuma,’ *which in this case is translated in the context of an evil spirit. ‘Akatharto’ is the word used for impure. In this specific usage, it is employed in a moral sense as **unclean in thought and life.” Though there are other forms of demon-possession, in most of the gospel cases this is the condition; people have become bound by their sin, and have become unsane. Jesus does not deal with demons through talk-therapy. He deals with them in the power of God; he forces them out: “a man who was demon-possessed and could not talk was brought to Jesus. And when the demon was driven out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowd was amazed and said, ‘Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.’ (Matt. 9:33)
In the modern age of reason and intellect, an ‘impure spirit’ is much easier to deal with than the idea of ‘demon-possession.’ And certainly, Jesus had a power that science and medicine do not recognize. This power is one that the faithful acknowledge, but seldom see in practice in the local church—it is a largely unemployed facet of the knowledge and practice of spiritual disciplines. Admittedly, few wield it well; perhaps because of the age of skepticism in which we live. But there is also a story in Matthew’s gospel where the disciples, given such power, are unable to effect an exorcism. They question Jesus as to why not. He tells them, “Because you have so little faith.” (Matt. 17:20) A variant verse adds, “This kind only comes out through prayer and fasting.” (Matt. 17:21)
Many people have a morbid fascination with horror movies. Perhaps these provide a seemingly ‘safe’ fictional place where the terror of evil can be experienced. From a biblical perspective, there is a danger of the mind becoming what the mind perceives and allows. The horror scenes in the movies are designed to heighten the emotions of sheer fright in a twisted form of catharsis, a way of experiencing hell without the consequences. Proponents would do well to heed Jesus’ words: “I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.” (Luke 12:4-5)
The first words accorded to Satan in scripture are to Eve, a question that injects doubt into her mind: “Did God really say..?” (Gen. 3:1) Prior to this, she had a pure relationship with God; immediately after, she developed an ‘impure spirit,’ and the consequences of her moral failure, then Adam’s, became an intrinsic part of human DNA. James tells us, “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.” (James 2:19) Paul urges Timothy, and by extension you and me, to “hold on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and so have suffered shipwreck with regard to the faith.” (1 Tim. 1:19) intrinsic
Q. How is my conscience doing in preserving the purity of my mind and spirit?
*Strong’s #4151
**Strong’s #169
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