ROME IMPROVEMENT 1/31/2021

MORE POWER!  MORE GLORY!!  MORE SPIRIT!!!

SURVEYING THE SITE:  Mark 1:21-28

How to read the book of Mark? It makes a difference.

If you read this week’s Gospel text as the beginning of Mark, then the events of this text appear magical. But, if you read this event as a result of the trial, crucifixion, and resurrection told in chapters 11-16, then the Easter proclamation of resurrection, that good news, begins with the knowledge that Jesus is the son of God, not because Mark declares it, but because Jesus is raised up from the dead and has gone ahead of us to Galilee where we now find him.

This is the beginning, not of Mark, but the good news, that is, Jesus of Nazareth, is the son of God who has risen from the dead and now walks among us. Through this lens, the events of the text are less surprising. The disciples may not recognize Jesus as the risen Christ, the people in the synagogue may not recognize Jesus as the risen Christ, but the unclean spirit recognizes Jesus’ resurrected authority: “You are the holy one of God.”

If, in Scripture, there is ever an understanding of the bodily resurrected Christ, this is it. Here, Jesus is so incarnationally embodied that the disciples do not recognize him as the resurrected one of God, nor do they recognize the authority the resurrected Christ is going to have on their lives. The disciples, and we, see the truly human Jesus, without confessing the truly divine, resurrected Christ before us, but the unclean spirit, s/he/it confesses the divine, resurrected Christ. The one who has been part of the creating itself is the one who stands before her/him/it. The command to come out of the host s/he/it has encountered is not a command that can be ignored, but it is not a command the spirit complies with willingly. S/he/it convulses the man and comes out with a loud voice. We are not told whether it is one of pain, anger, or complaint, only that the unclean spirit is exorcised.

READING THE BLUEPRINT

From the halls where John is arrested to the shores of Galilee, we now move with the newly called disciples, into the city of Capernaum, to a synagogue. It is the Sabbath; Jesus begins to teach. Immediately, a man in an unclean spirit appears. Note, Jesus’ teaching seems to make the man in an unclean spirit appear. The teaching that Jesus is teaching with his own authority, not like the scribes who depend on others for authority.

The man does not recognize who Jesus is; it is the unclean spirit that does. “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?  Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.”

Jesus censures the unclean spirit and literally says, “Put a muzzle on it! Come out! Out of him!”

Convulsing the man and making a loud voice, the unclean spirit is exorcised from the man. The disciples ask among themselves concerning the authority Jesus has that demands the attention of the unclean spirit. They then ask, “Is this a new teaching?”

Following this event, Jesus’ fame spreads throughout all the region of Galilee.

ROUGHING IN THE HOUSE

This week’s text is often read as “a man with an unclean spirit,” but the literal translation is, “a man in an unclean spirit.” It is as though he were imprisoned by the spirit rather than actively involved in the uncleanliness.

The man does not seem to know that he is in an unclean state. After all, this is the synagogue, a holy place, a place reserved for the study of God’s word and worship. Yet, Jesus’ teaching reveals the uncleanliness. When the unclean spirit recognizes Jesus, he squawks something like, “Things were going so well until you showed up. Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are. You are the holy one of God. You are the one who rises from the dead. You are the one who brings salvation without war and oppression. You are the one who can change the world and take the power of life and death away from the government. Without the fear of death, what power does evil have over people?”

Jesus rebukes the unclean spirit, just as Jesus will later rebuke Peter when he tries to dissuade Jesus from saying that he must die on the cross and rise from the dead. Jesus says, “Come out of him! Your power-days to entrap, to make captive, to oppress are over.”

Some identify the unclean spirit with the Roman occupation of the time and the capitulation of the religious leaders to the Roman government allowing sacrifices to be made in the temple for the emperor. The political power of Rome had infused itself in the religious practices of worship, making worship an extension of Roman authority.

Convulsing the man, and making a big noise about it, the unclean spirit relinquishes its hold. Even the power of Rome is not enough to challenge the power of Christ. In the presence of Christ, unclean spirits give way to holy spirits.

PUTTING UP THE WALLS

We often think of this man in an unclean spirit as being terribly afflicted. Clearly, he truly needs cleansing. We easily disassociate ourselves from him and think of him with disgust, or maybe just pity.

We get caught up in the cosmic battle between good and evil. We hear the words of the unclean spirit recognizing Jesus as the holy one of God, and we cheer as the unclean spirit leaves the man. Yet, we do not see ourselves, like this man, caught in the unclean spirit.

When we bring the rusting corruptions of the world into our worship spaces: our prejudices, politics, work, self-satisfaction, piety, and need to always be right, we do not see that we might need to have the unclean spirits of our world removed from us. We do not hear the authoritative teaching of Jesus instructing us in ways to lay aside our self-interest for the sake of our neighbor. When we pray for those who are not like us, who do not think like us, whose customs are foreign to us, whose orientations are not ours, we usually forget that we too are ones who need healing prayers.

The worship place is not only a place for giving prayer, praise, and thanksgiving for what God has done for us. It is also the place where we thank God for what God is about to do. It is that place where we commit ourselves to putting aside our judgments in order to discern God’s words for us. This is the space where we seek God’s teaching that can empower us to re-enter the world as peacemakers rather than combatants.

The worship space, our attending conversations, and communal study are for the purpose of listening to God, in our midst, and to the concerns of our neighbors, in order to bring God’s justice for everybody. When we deprive ourselves of that communal conversation, we submit to the unclean spirits and give them authority over us, imprisoning us in isolation.

HANGING THE TRIM

“We confess that we are sinful and unclean and cannot free ourselves. … For the sake of your son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Forgive us, renew us, and lead us, so that we might delight in your will and walk in your ways, to the glory of your holy name. Amen.”