The Good News for the 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sunday, January 30, 2000
Deuteronomy 18:15-20
1 Corinthians 7:32-35
Mark 1:21-28

On your first day on the job as a teacher, the biggest, meanest, loudest kid gets in your face. By the force of your words, you get the kid to shut up.

On your first day on the job as president of a small corporation, the biggest, meanest, loudest leader of the opposition gets in your face. By the force of your words, you muzzle your adversary.

Meet Jesus. First day on the job at Capernaum. He goes to the synagogue to teach. You'd think he'd be safe there. But a potent enemy materializes: a man possessed by a demon. By the force of his words, Jesus silences the demon. As Mark introduces Jesus to his reader, he presents someone with two tremendous skills: teaching and exorcizing (Mark 1:21-28). People gape open-mouthed at his deftness with both crafts.

As teacher, Jesus immediately impresses his listeners because of his distinctive style. People contrast him with the scribes. The scribes may teach, but they do so without authority. They sermonize a toothless legalism. They know what to say, but their words carry no clout. Jesus, a persuasive teacher, brings more than pizzazz. He shimmers with authenticity, and it leaves the crowd speechless.

Speechless, that is, except for one. A man possessed by a demon speaks out that he knows Jesus of Nazareth as "The Holy One of God." No one is bringing this man to Jesus for a cure. He speaks up entirely on his own, not as friend, but as foe. Jesus is new on the scene, so no one has had the opportunity to figure out his identity. The revelation comes slowly in this Gospel; about halfway through we hear Peter's powerful proclamation, "You are the Messiah." The whole first part of Mark presents the question, "Who is Jesus?" The first one to answer is no mortal, but a demon.

This encounter with the demon presents the first opportunity for Jesus to work a miracle in Mark. Usually we think of the wedding at Cana as Jesus' first miracle, changing water into wine. So it is in John's Gospel. But in Mark, the first miracle is something completely different. Jesus does not respond to the pleading face of his holy mother. He encounters instead the face of evil.

The demon knows who Jesus is. But even more, the demon knows what Jesus wants. "Have you come to destroy us?" the demon asks in fear. From the very beginning of Mark's Gospel we discover the real battle that Jesus will wage. It's not a battle against sluggish disciples, misinformed authorities, or a clueless family. It's a battle against all the primal forces of evil.

Several times throughout Mark's Gospel, Jesus acts as exorcist. He casts out many demons (1:34), not permitting them to speak. But this one does.

The demon speaks in the plural ("us"), figuring out that Jesus has come not just to cure one lonely case of possession, but rather to rout all the powers of evil. This is the big picture of Jesus' mission. Mark puts it up front on day one of Jesus' ministry in a dramatic encounter, so the reader will not forget.

Jesus' final victory over evil comes with his death. Then, in what ap-pears to be a subtle allusion to next Sunday's episode, Mark says that Jesus died "with a loud cry" (15:37). A similar "loud cry" issued from the demon in Jesus' first miracle. The death of Jesus finally expelled all the power of evil, leaving behind the mighty Spirit of the Holy One of God.

Exorcisms still appear in the Catholic liturgy. The most common ones come during the scrutinies each Lent and during the baptism of infants. Catechumens may also receive exorcisms at any spiritual gathering. All these prayers sound fairly tame. They free up the person from the influence of evil and strengthen the power of good. The full-blown, Hollywood, hyperventilating exorcism is pretty rare any more. We now understand as mental illness many conditions which previous generations concluded were demonic possession. Nonetheless, the Vatican issued a new version of the rite of exorcism last year.

The story of Jesus' first day on the job will continue in the following week's Gospel. Then he reveals his ministry as healer. But early on at the job, he displays these two skills: teaching and exorcizing. The crowd stands in awe at them both.

Father Paul Turner is pastor of St. John Francis Regis Parish, Kansas City.