RBWords

     In our western cultural day and time, exorcisms are considered exotic and spectacular events.  In Jesus' day, exorcists were fairly well known, and stories like the one told about Jesus in today's gospel were common.  The gospel author would have been familiar with the pattern.  What is different about Jesus is that what he does, he does by his own power and authority.  In other words he does not "cast out demons" by invoking a power outside of himself as other exorcists would do.  However, it is not just a matter of exorcism here.  This is only an example of what Jesus' can do with his word.  It is his teaching that bears power: for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.  The scribes invoked the teaching of scripture and tradition.  The exorcists invoked a power against a power.  Jesus gives only his own word.

     Jesus' authority would have been something very new to his audience at the time.  Has this authority become less challenging to us because of our familiarity with it?  Do we find ourselves saying, "Yes, yes, we've heard all this before!  Do another exorcism so we can believe in you?"  In the Gospel of Mark, all the signs are to no avail when Jesus is arrested.  It is only when he has risen from the dead that his true identity is fully recognized.  We have the benefit of this gospel to tell us both about his ministry and his resurrection.  Is that word good enough for us?   AMEN