Mark 9:38-40
9:38 John said to him, "Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us." 9:39 But Jesus said, "Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. 9:40 Whoever is not against us is for us.9:41 For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.
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There is a profound and popular view about demons, that they are like mythological and very scary entities, monsters who want to devour people or at least to do damage and causing injury. Although they are supernatural beings, still they can have visible forms as well, beyond their ability to possess people using their body as host.
Albeit the very word comes from the Greek "daimon", which does not have demonic characteristics, however the very phenomenon does, because the actual characteristics of demons came from the Ancient Persian belief system, the so called Zoroastrianism, and from there with all the negative connotations and the structured stratification of the world of the demons went to the Jewish religion and philosophy, including the widespread practice of the so called exorcism, aka the casting out of demons.
Although the Biblical understanding of the phenomenon of the demons, comes from the Old Testament sages, influenced by the Babylonian captivity and the liberation by the Persian Empire, still there is no specific account of demons in the Old Testament. Like not even a single one, at least not with this phrase of demon, because the very Greek phrase of demon, simply borrowed into the English, does not have an equivalent one in Hebrew, or technically in any other languages in the Middle East.
Nonetheless, in the Hebrew Bible the phrases with some similarity to the demon term are the seirim and shedim. Seirim appears once regarding the Assyrian goat idols, shedim as a term depicts the foreign gods as evil spirits, always in relation of sacrificing children or animals at the pagan altars. Other than these there is almost a complete silence in the Old Testament, though the ancient and medieval wisdom literature of the Hebrews is very busy to identify, classify, categorize demons in the frame of a sophisticated pseudo-science called demonology, where already the Sumerians had asserted that at least seven classes of demons do exist in the spiritual world.
In summary, demons are evil spirits hostile to God and humans. They are in a permanent revolt against God, but they are not able to overcome the Power of Heaven. In the first three Gospels demons are mentioned mostly in regard of a casting out by Jesus, or when John the Baptist or Jesus were personally accused that they have a demon inside of them. In the Gospel of John demons are mentioned only in regard that Jesus was accused by the authorities that he has a demon inside him.
It famously happened that once Jesus was casting out a demon, it was mute, and when the demon had gone out, the mute man began to speak again; and the crowd was amazed.
It is written in the Gospel of Luke chapter 11 that ”some of them said, "He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of the demons." Others, testing him, sought from him a sign from heaven. But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation. A house divided against itself falls. If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul. But if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore will they be your judges. But if I by the finger of God cast out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come to you.”
Harmful and dangerous spirits do exist out there in the world. Scientists say, for example, that the deep space itself is very hostile against life, and it is as such, because this is its own nature, which is depicted in a set of hostile laws of physics, and manifested in a hostile physical existence. The immemorial experience of humanity holds that dark spirits and evil entities can dwell in cursed places, abandoned settlements, haunted houses and castles, deserted areas, battlefields and other doomed places.
However, all is nothing, to whom, who places one’s trust in the almighty God. Because to the Lord demons are fragile porcelain figures, that shatter in his hands, or just like the smoke which is scattered by the breath of the Holy Spirit.
Once Jesus was rebuked by the scribes, being accused that he and his disciples do not wash their hands and the utensils before eating as it is required by the religious tradition of the era. Jesus famously answered them, summoning also the multitude, that, “Hear, and understand. That which enters into the mouth doesn’t defile the man; but that which proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.”
Of course we know that washing hands and the utensils are very important, Jesus obviously knew the health benefit of it. However, by placing the importance of the proceedings out of the mouth over the procedure of dining, he had a significant message. The dispute was not about hygienes but about the religious impurity. In that immorality must have a higher though negative importance than physical washing or not washing.
Also, by stating that the real bad things are coming from the inside of the heart, he might have indicated that demons are not only out there, coming to attack us from the outside, but we do create our own demons, and we do feed them with our desires and we grow them by our wrongdoings and sins.
It happened even to Him, in the desert where he spent forty days, that even Him, he had to face his own demons, personified by a snake creature, and summarized as Satan or the Evil one. We can be almost certain, that the snake dwelt inside Him, and even Jesus the Son of Man was cured of the ultimate temptations, only by the Word of God as he chased away the demons within, by quoting the Hebrew Bible three times, by saying that “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of God’s mouth.’
We have to understand that the temptation was born inside him, and he had to fight with himself to withstand the desire to use his powers for personal gain.
Secondly, he said on the top of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem, that “Again, it is written, ‘You shall not test the Lord, your God.’ The temptation just went into the insane and ultimate level. Because thirdly, he had to refuse to become the Emperor of the world, when according to the Gospel of Matthew chapter 4, "the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 'All this I will give you,' he said, 'if you will bow down and worship me.'
Jesus said to him, Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.' "
He had to face his own inner demons. He fought them off by the word of God.
We all have to fight our demons inside and outside, but we are not alone. We have a powerful ally, who overpowered all demons inside and outside.
He is our Master and Brother, and we shall not hesitate to call upon Jesus, to cast out all of our demons, according to the will of God the Father and by the Power of the Holy Spirit,
AMEN.
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