Tag Archives: exorcism

Matthew 9: 32-38 Never Has Anything Like This Been Seen in Israel part 3

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James Tissot, Healing the Blind and Mute Man, late 19th Century

Matthew 9: 32-38

Parallels Mark 3:22, Luke 11: 14-15; Mark 6:6b, 34; Luke 8:1; 10:2

32 After they had gone away, a demoniac who was mute was brought to him. 33 And when the demon had been cast out, the one who had been mute spoke; and the crowds were amazed and said, “Never has anything like this been seen in Israel.” 34 But the Pharisees said, “By the ruler of the demons he casts out the demons.”

35 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

This third miraculous story of the third set of stories brings this section to a close and prepares us for the time when the apostles are sent out into the fertile fields to collect the waiting harvest. Even though Jesus has ordered people not to discuss the healing they have received the word has been shared and the crowd is now watching Jesus. With this final story of an exorcism in this section we also see the Pharisees again enter the scene and challenging the authority that Jesus is demonstrating. The seeds have been planted, the good news of the kingdom is gaining a hearing, the demons holding people in bondage are being expelled and surrounding Jesus is the harassed and helpless crowd looking for a shepherd to lead them in their confusion. Like a skilled composer Matthew has brought us to this point in the narrative, rhythmically setting us up to contemplate what following Jesus will mean, preparing us for the calling to go out with the apostles as laborers in the harvest, as shepherds helping to gather the harassed and confused flock, and as emissaries of the kingdom of heaven.

The man’s muteness is attributed to demon possession, and while we in our scientific worldview might look for medical explanations of a person being unable to speak the narrative views the man’s muteness as symptomatic of demonic possession. Whether we consider this narrative a healing or an exorcism matters little in relation to the person healed, but it is key to the question of authority that is put to Jesus by the Pharisees. In Mark’s gospel this challenge is met by Jesus’ response about Satan casting out Satan and brief parable of binding the strong man, but in Matthew the Pharisees challenge merely contrasts with the amazement of the crowds. In each of the reflections on discipleship that come after each trio of miracle stories in these chapters the scribes and Pharisees find themselves on the outside looking in at Jesus and his disciples. They, unlike the crowd, remain unconvinced that Jesus’ authority is coming from God and they continue to find themselves unable to see Jesus as one who can act as the shepherd of the lost sheep of Israel. Jesus, in Matthew’s telling, seems unperturbed by the resistance of the Pharisees and doesn’t consider their challenge worthy of an answer.

Jesus has already been in motion but here the pace quickens as the intensity increases. The narrative speeds up as the we learn that the harvest time approaches, and we quickly move to the instruction Matthew feels is important for these heralds of the kingdom.

The identification of the crowd as ‘sheep without a shepherd’ echoes Moses’ concern in Numbers about the need for a leader for the people after he is no longer with them:

“Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint someone over the congregation who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the LORD may not be like sheep without a shepherd. Numbers 27: 16-17

This language gets echoed in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Amos, Micah and Zechariah[1] where the image of the shepherd is sometimes the faithless leaders, sometimes the hoped-for Davidic leader and frequently the LORD acting as the shepherd (often to gather and sometimes to scatter). Matthew probably hears not only Jesus acting in concert with Moses and the hoped-for Son of David but also probably in terms similar to Ezekiel 34:

I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the LORD God. Ezekiel 34: 15

In addition to the image of the Lord acting as shepherd is the additional image of the Lord of harvest. The harvest is often an image of hope in the midst of judgment where there is both accountability for those who have led the people astray and a hope for a new beginning. For example, Hosea can state:

For you also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed. When I would restore the fortunes of my people. Hosea 6:11

 Joel can see the image of harvest as a time where God restores Israel and judges all the surrounding nations that have oppressed Israel in the midst of a very militaristic hope where plowshares are turned into swords and pruning hooks into spears for the warriors of the LORD (Joel 3). Yet, Jesus’ vision of the kingdom is a place where violence is not resisted, and where shepherds are both leaders and healers. It isn’t like anything that has been seen in Israel previously and perhaps that is why it is so difficult for those reading scripture in light of a different hope to understand Jesus’ proclamation and work. Yet, in spite of the resistance the seeds have been sown, the harassed crowds have found a shepherd and the harvest awaits laborers called to go forth into the harvest. As we have moved back and forth between Jesus’ actions that invite us to ponder his authority and identity and the calls into following him which invite us to wonder what this calling will mean,  Matthew will now take us into Jesus’ commissioning of his called laborers to participate in the awaiting harvest.

[1] Isaiah 41: 11; Jeremiah 23: 2,4; 31:4; Ezekiel 34; 37:24; Amos 3: 12; Micah 7: 14; Zechariah 10: 2; 11; 13:7

Matthew 8: 28-34 What Sort of Man is This Part 2

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14th Century Slavic Inscribed Fresco from Vyoskie Dechany (Serbia)

Matthew 8: 28-34 What Sort of Man is This Part 2

Parallels Mark 5: 1-20, Luke 8: 26-39

28 When he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demoniacs coming out of the tombs met him. They were so fierce that no one could pass that way. 29 Suddenly they shouted, “What have you to do with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” 30 Now a large herd of swine was feeding at some distance from them. 31 The demons begged him, “If you cast us out, send us into the herd of swine.” 32 And he said to them, “Go!” So they came out and entered the swine; and suddenly, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the water. 33 The swineherds ran off, and on going into the town, they told the whole story about what had happened to the demoniacs. 34 Then the whole town came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their neighborhood.

Matthew’s narration of Jesus’ encounter on the other side of the Sea of Galilee with demoniacs is significantly shorter than Mark’s (and Luke which follows Mark’s narration) with the naming of demon as ‘Legion’ being omitted. Matthew will regularly deviate from Mark’s narration for structural, theological and perhaps here social reasons. This is another story where comparing the differences in the stories can illuminate some of the subtle ways Matthew is constructing his gospel to help the disciple understand who Jesus is and what it will mean to follow him in a world of competing loyalties.

The first obvious difference between Matthew’s narrative and Mark’s is the number of people who are possessed. In Matthew there are two, where in Mark (and Luke) there is only one. Structurally the number of demoniacs gives us a structural clue linking this story to the story of the two blind men in Matthew 9: 27-31 (also the second miracle story in a group of three). Both the demon possessed ones and the blind ones see what others cannot. These two loud and fierce demoniacs which have made that portion of the country of Gadarenes their domain understand who Jesus is in a manner that his disciples in Matthew’s gospel do not yet.

As readers we have heard Jesus identified as ‘Son’ in the baptism of Jesus (Matthew 3:17) and will also hear this identification at the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:5) spoken from heaven. Now from the mouths of demon possessed we hear the same linkage as Jesus is titled Son of God. We have already seen Jesus’ power over demons, disease and even the elements but this is the first time we hear the demons speak. As Stanley Hauerwas can state:

Demons recognize the Son because they—more than we—are able to recognize what threatens them…. The disciples fear Jesus’ absence as he sleeps in the boat; the demons fear his presence. (Hauerwas, 2006, p. 97)

Ironically, the demons speak truthfully because they realize that Jesus’ presence is a threat to their domination of their hosts and the area where they are able to overpower others who would transgress the area around the tombs. They know that their time is coming to an end and that the kingdom of heaven is approaching, but they view Jesus’ action as a premature incursion occurring before the appointed time.

The most significant difference in Matthew’s narration is the exclusion of the conversation around the naming of the demon. There may be multiple reasons that Matthew does this. Matthew may be attempting to demonstrate the authority of Jesus and his ability to cast out the demon without its name (obtaining the name of something was considered powerful in the ancient world and this is one of the reasons that the name of God was never spoken). There may also be a social reason for the exclusion of this portion of the scene. Many scholars designate Antioch as the place where the gospel of Matthew was written. As I mention when writing about this passage in relation to the gospel of Mark the combination of Legion and the herd of swine could ask some very provocative questions about the relationship of Rome and the demonic. If Matthew is written near Antioch, it would also be near the Legion X Fretensis (one of two Roman legions in Syria) whose primary emblem was a swine. Matthew, while holding the tension between the kingdom of heaven and the empire of Rome, does not intentionally exclude Rome and even its soldiers from coming under the influence of the kingdom of heaven. I think the gospels in general and Matthew in particular do not portray Jesus as advocating for conflict between Jerusalem and Rome and any resistance is non-violent. Matthew may view the linkage of the demonic with the legions as language that was too near the revolutionary overtones used by zealots in the lead up to the Jewish War (66-73 C.E.) that resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple.

Miracle of the Gadarene Swine by Briton Reviera (1883)

The community around the two demoniacs has found a way to cohabitate with their presence as marked by the large herd of swine nearby. The demons beg Jesus to cast them into the herd of swine and Jesus grants their plea. Even demons may beg Jesus for mercy. Immediately the herd rushes into the sea and we are connected back to the previous narrative where demonic (or at least dangerous powers) are at work on the sea but in the presence of Jesus the sea remains undisturbed. The casting out of the demons and the death of the herd of pigs causes the swineherds to return to town and to relate what they saw occur. Again, the irony of the story is strong when the whole town comes out to greet Jesus like a visiting dignitary but on seeing him, they but instead of welcoming him they ask him to depart their region. Like the demons they do this from the posture of begging, but Jesus hears and heeds their request.

This scene across the sea takes place among the Gentiles, and here Jesus is not met with great faith (unlike the Centurion or the Canaanite woman). Yet, the disciples, the little faith ones who get into the boat with him are left with another identity to ponder and another way in which Jesus demonstrates his power over the forces of the demonic. The kingdom is not welcome everywhere in Matthew’s story, nor will Jesus’ disciples always be welcome.  Jesus does not force himself on this community of the Gadarenes which is not ready to receive the gospel, nor will he put pearls before those who choose swine with demons to a reality where demons are driven away. Jesus does not condemn the community, but he does depart. The community chooses the world they know over the kingdom of heaven, but even those who attempt to follow Jesus may choose what is safe rather than having faith in the Son of God. But sometimes even those who are directly opposed to the kingdom of heaven bear witness in their own strange way to who Jesus is, and so demons can speak in harmony with the voice from heaven in declaring Jesus as ‘Son of God’ and disciples upon returning to the boat are left to wonder what sort of man this Jesus of Nazareth is.