Teaching with Style and Substance

These next four Sunday-Gospels leading up to Lent, picture Jesus healing individuals from their various illnesses. Today we watch His healing of a man with an unclean spirit. This most likely is an emotionally disturbed person whose behavior is not appropriate to being in a synagogue. Physical illness or any irregular behavior was attributed to personal sin or presence of evil.

This is the first of Jesus’ healings and His authority is manifested within the walls of the Holy. There is taking place a public/private announcement of Who Jesus really is. The first to recognize Him is, guess who, the devil or force of evil and destruction. That unclean spirit knows first hand, the presence of the eternal Good. There is a bit of a private conversation, which we hear. Jesus commands the Evil Spirit to be “quiet”.

Jesus is saying, “I know that you know, but I do not want evil to announce My Name and mission.” There is a simple form of secrecy going on in Mark’s Gospel. Jesus desires that individuals themselves come to the awareness and acceptance of Him as Lord and Savior. The fullness of this revelation is to follow the death and resurrection of Jesus. As for now, we the audience of this Gospel-play, are allowed glimpses of Who this is Who speaks with a new authority. Be sure to listen to the statements made by those watching and listening throughout the Gospel. They make statements of faith without even knowing it. “He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.” They say such things in amazement, but we, the listeners, are to hear them as statements of faith.  

Whether or not we appreciate it, babies’ crying or talking out loud in church is actually quite appropriate. A few years ago, during the quiet period after Communion, we all heard a worried voice of a little child. It had been announced that there were doughnuts and coffee available after mass in the social hall. During the second collection for the building fund, we all heard, “No Dad, that’s for the doughnuts!” It was appropriate for us all to laugh at the child’s fear that the dollar held in the parent’s hand was the last one.

The teachings of Jesus which lead to His death are not all easy to live. We have unclean spirits which naturally tend us toward disorder. It is not easy to figure out and then abide what is appropriate for us as humans. Our parents tried so hard to conform us to certain standards of behavior. God is still “appropriating” us, but as we resisted our parents, teachers, coaches, so it is that we appropriately resist God and God appropriately continues “casting-in grace” and assisting us to cast out all that can destroy us.