Day 156: Jesus Casts Out Demons

Mark 5:1-20 Gerasa was largely pagan territory. The possessed man was not only Gentile but unclean, living among the tombs and a herd of swine. Christ’s mission of redemption  includes everyone, i.e., Jews as well as Gentiles. The expulsion of the demons manifested the reign of God and the ultimate defeat of Satan.

Ch 5:9 My name is Legion: a legion was a regiment of Roman soldiers of approximately 5000 men. Here the term may point to the strength and tenacity of the possession. 

Ch 5:21-43 Christ worked miracles not to satisfy people’s curiosity but to bear witness to his divinity and to strengthen the faith of his followers. By restoring the deceased girl to life, Christ offered a sign and prefigurement of the resurrection of the dead as well as his own Resurrection. The power of faith is especially made manifest in the curing of the woman with the hemorrhage; by touching the hem of his garment, she drew power out of the Lord. God will grant everything we request with faith and trust if it is what is best for our growth in faith and holiness. If God does not grant our request, it is because he has a greater blessing in store for our benefit. (CCC 548, 994, 2616)

Ch 5:23 Lay your hands on her: Christ’s miraculous healings were often attended by signs and gestures. Here, the gesture of the laying on of hands is associated with healing and anointing and is retained today in the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick; it is also a sign of the conferral of the Holy Spirit and is thus used in the Sacraments of Holy Orders and Confirmation. (CCC 699, 1288-1289, 1504, 1597)

Ch 5:25-29 A flow of blood: The woman’s chronic condition caused her and everything she touched to be unclean under the Mosaic Law. This left her unable to participate in public worship. In this case, however, it was precisely by touching Christ’s garment that she was cured and made clean. (CCC 2616)

Ch 5:43 He strictly charged that no one should know this: Jesus’ practice of concealing his identity as the Messiah or the Son of God may have been prompted by his desire to avoid being made an earthly king or to avoid focusing only on physical healing. This practice is sometimes called the “messianic secret.” (CCC 1505)

Ch 6:1-6 Returning to Nazareth, Christ was again rejected. The townsmen knew him as an ordinary resident, a carpenter by trade, and were not ready to accept him as a teacher or rabbi. Until beginning his public ministry at the age of thirty, Christ lived an obscure and unremarkable life, which Scripture summarizes in the briefest of terms (cf. Lk 2:52). We can surmise that Christ worked hard at his trade in Nazareth during these “hidden years” of his life-an endorsement of the value of seeking holiness through our work and the events of everyday life. (CCC 531-534)

Ch 6:3 Is not this the carpenter?: This is the only reference in the Gospel to Christ’s profession. It serves to reinforce that he led an ordinary life in Nazareth.

Son of Mary: It is not clear whether Joseph had already died.

Brother: this refers to any number of male relatives (cf. Mt 12:46-50; Mk 3:31-35); James and Joseph are identified elsewhere as sons of ANOTHER WOMAN named Mary (cf. Mt 13:55; 28:1). (CCC 500)

Ch 6:5-6 Effective prayer requires faith and trust in God. Christ often chided his Apostles for their lack of faith. 

Laid his hands: Christ frequently healed people by the touch of his hand. The laying on of hands signifies the work of the Holy Spirit and it remains a powerful sign used in the Sacraments today. (CCC 699, 2610)

Ch 6:6-13 The Twelve Apostles were sent forth to teach and preach the Gospel, heal the sick, and exorcise demons in the name of Christ. By inviting the Apostles to share in his mission, he was preparing them for their future role in the Church and the commission he would give them before his Ascension-a clear extension and continuation of his own mission. To fulfill their mission, the Apostles were given the authority of Christ and were to act in his name. (CCC 765, 1506, 1673)

Ch 6:13 Anointed with oil...and healed them: Oil was used in Scripture for the anointing of kings and priests as well as in healing. Oil continues to be used in the Sacraments of the Church today in several ways. It signifies cleansing and strengthening when used in the anointing of catechumens preparing for Baptism; it signifies healing and consolation in the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick; and it signifies consecration to a sacred mission in the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders. In all instances, it indicates the presence and activity of the Holy Spirit, which is symbolized by the anointing with oil. (CCC 1183, 1241-1242, 1294, 1506, 1511, 1574)

Ch 6:14-16 Who is Jesus Christ? This is the key question for all people of all times. Christians believe he is God the Son, Second Person of the Blessed Trinity made visible by taking on a human nature. (CCC 461-469)

Ch 6:17-29 John the Baptist, the precursor of Christ, had fulfilled his mission, and Mark told the story of his martyrdom. Christ equated John with the prophet Elijah who was predicted to return (cf. Mt 14:3-12). (CCC 523)

Ch 6:30-44 As in the other Gospel accounts, Christ’s miraculous feeding of the crowds with a few loaves and fishes recalls the miraculous feedings of the Old Testament (e.g., the manna in the desert) and anticipates the Sacrament of the Eucharist, which will feed an unlimited number of people. His teaching of the crowds followed by the miraculous distribution of the loaves and fish is reminiscent of the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist, the basic elements of the Mass (!!!). Furthermore, it connects the spiritual nourishment of the Word followed by the sacramental nourishment of the Bread of Life. Gathering in one place to listen to the Word and take part in a sacred meal is representative of the new People of God. It is worth noting Christ used Eucharistic language in the multiplication of the loaves, i.e. “looked up to heaven, and blessed, and broke...and gave” (verse 41), and that he distributed the loaves THROUGH HIS APOSTLES. (CCC 1335)

Ch 6:34 Sheep without a shepherd: This image was used in the Old Testament to describe the lack of spiritual leadership in Israel (cf. Nm 27:17; Jer 23:1-3) and the promised Messiah who would shepherd his people (cf. Ez 34:23). It also calls to mind the parable of Christ as the Good Shepherd (cf. Jn 10:11-16) and Christ’s instruction to go out to the “lost sheep” of Israel (cf. Mt 10:6). (CCC 754, 1586)

Ch 6:45-56 On the mountain to pray: Christ often sought out times and places for private prayer. The faith of the disciples failed them again as they did not fully recognize Christ as he walked on the water and calmed the stiff wind. They still had to grow in giving him their complete trust. 

Their hearts were hardened: The disciples still did not have complete confidence in the Lord’s power. Their faith would mature after they received the full infusion of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. (CCC 2602)

Ch 6:56 Christ often used physical signs when he healed someone. These actions using material elements prefigure the Sacraments, whose outward signs occasion and cause a spiritual effect. (CCC 1504)

Psalm 21 Identification of the exercise of kingly authority with divine intervention was common among many cultures in biblical times. People looked upon their rulers as special individuals endowed with divine attributes and, therefore, subject to worship. For Israel, the king was seen as a “son of God,” not in the literal sense, but as one who enjoyed a special relationship with the Lord. He was blessed and anointed by the Lord so that he might rule as God himself would, with justice and righteousness. To the extent that the king conscientiously followed the way of the Lord, he reflected the very light of God among his people on earth. (Cf. St. John Paul II, General Audience, March 17, 2004)

The king trusts in the Lord: In this hymn of thanksgiving, a sequel to Psalm 20, the strength and wisdom of the king rested in his trust in God’s love and mercy. (CCC 1283)

(*The Didache Bible RSV-CE Ignatius Edition, 2006)

• Fr. Mike loves this Messianic Checkpoint, do you?

• Mark Ch 5 Jesus does another exorcism

• He’s done like a gajillion already

• Later on, in Ch 6 Jesus will send out the 12 Apostles

• Mark 6:7 “And he called to him the Twelve, and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits.”

• Jesus is sending out the Apostles NOT JUST TO HEAL

• Jesus is sending out the Apostles NOT JUST TO PREACH

• Jesus is sending out the Apostles NOT JUST TO TEACH

• Jesus is sending out the Apostles TO DO EXORCISMS

• Jesus is sending out the Apostles to HAVE AUTHORITY OVER UNCLEAN SPIRITS

• So at the beginning of Mark Ch 5 Jesus heals the Gerasene Demoniac

• When Jesus asks, “What is your name?” the answer is “LEGION”

• Legion means MANY

• The demon gets exorcised and goes into the pigs

• This doesn’t matter to Jesus and the Apostles 

• WHY?

• Because pigs are unclean animals

• BUT…

• To the Gentiles living in the region, that was a big deal to lose 2,000 pigs and they drive Jesus and the Apostles out of the area (probably because pigs are delicious and it was a great loss of so much bacon? 🤔)

• For Jesus, ONE HUMAN BEING is worth VASTLY MORE than 2,000 PIGS, even if pigs were valuable (and delicious) or even if it was 2,000 sheep

• What does Jesus teach us?

• Jesus teaches us that “...Not a sparrow falls to the ground without the Father knowing, noticing, and caring.”

• Jesus says, “You are worth more than many sparrows.”

• This one man’s deliverance from Satan, the Evil One, is worth VASTLY MORE than 2,000 swine

• That just shows us something about how the Lord CARES FOR US

• Going back to the concept of EXORCISMS

• We have to have a BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW

• We want to have a LENS to look at the world THE WAY THE BIBLE TEACHES US TO LOOK AT THE WORLD

• THE WORLD IS NOT JUST THIS WORLD

• There is MATTER

• There is GOOD STUFF that God made

• There is MORE TO THIS WORLD THAN JUST WHAT WE SEE

• There is a SPIRITUAL WORLD

• We know there are ENEMIES that are more than just our NATURAL ENEMIES (like Dallas Cowboys fans 🤪)

• There are PRINCIPALITIES AND POWERS

• When we go through the Old Testament, what have we seen?

• We see BROKENNESS after BROKENNESS after BROKENNESS

• God is like a PINPRICK OF LIGHT into all this BROKENNESS

• BECAUSE…

• AFTER THE FALL THIS WORLD BELONGS TO THE EVIL ONE

• The BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW is that AFTER THE FALL, the world is UNDER THE DOMINION OF SATAN, THE EVIL ONE

• So here is Jesus and he is not just here to HEAL

• Jesus is not just here to PREACH

• Jesus is not just here to TEACH

• Jesus is here to FIGHT

• After John the Baptist baptized Jesus in the Jordan what does Jesus IMMEDIATELY DO?

• Jesus goes into the wilderness to FIGHT SATAN

• THAT IS WHAT KINGS DO

• That is what Jesus is doing

• Every single exorcism is Jesus TAKING BACK THE FATHER’S KINGDOM FROM THE EVIL ONE

• If we are living in the Kingdom of the Evil One, guess what that means?

• That means we BELONG TO HIM 

• “The Devil does not need to afflict anyone he already has control of” ....This blew my mind when I heard Fr. Vincent Lampert say this in an interview on Pints with Aquinas with Matt Fradd. Here is the link I highly recommend you watch it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6YTz-B24FA  that particular comment is at 1:03:22 of the video

• The Devil has a 4-stage plan of attacking us...and it’s easy to remember as the 4 D’s: 1. Deception 2. Division 3. Diversion 4. Discouragement and guess what? Discouragement ALWAYS leads to DEATH, Spiritual Death and sometimes Physical Death, think of all the people who commit suicide 🤯🤯🤯

• Please watch the video...I’m not kidding

• Even if we are made in God’s IMAGE AND LIKENESS, when we are living under the DOMINION OF THE EVIL ONE, we are living under HIS DOMINION

• So what has to happen?

• EXORCISMS

• Did you know that in the Rite of Baptism in the Catholic Church there is a RITE OF EXORCISM?

• When you are baptized, YOU ARE BEING CLAIMED FOR THE REIGN OF JESUS CHRIST

• YOU ARE BEING CLAIMED FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD

• BUT...

• Before you are CLAIMED for the Kingdom of God, you have to be DELIVERED FROM the Kingdom of Satan!! 🤯🤯🤯

• Wherever the Gospel has been PROCLAIMED, it always is accompanied by EXORCISMS

• We have stories of exorcisms going all the way back to the New Testament

• Even early missionaries every single time they discovered NEW CULTURES, they HAD to perform EXORCISMS because people just naturally are born into the DOMINION OF SATAN

• We have to be DELIVERED FROM THIS

• There is a priest from Spain, the world’s first PhD in exorcism

• He was doing studies on why there were so FEW exorcisms done in the MIDDLE AGES

• His conclusion was because PEOPLE WERE BAPTIZED

• So when people were baptized AS INFANTS, they were transferred EARLY, RIGHT AWAY from the Kingdom of Satan to the KINGDOM OF GOD

• So Satan HAD NO HOLD OVER THEM

• Satan COULD NOT POSSESS THEM

• Because they ALREADY BELONGED TO THE LORD JESUS CHRIST

• So now, you have a second reason why the Catholic Church baptizes infants, in case anyone challenges you 😉 Do you remember the first reason we learned? HINT: It had to do with the friends lowering the paralytic through the roof into the house where Jesus was preaching

• But the priest said that even in those Middle Ages, wherever missionaries were SENT OUT, they always had to do exorcisms

• BUT NOW…

• There is an INCREDIBLE RISE in the need for exorcisms

• WHY??

• People are NOT GETTING BAPTIZED, so Satan already OWNS THEM

• And even those who DO get baptized are DENYING THE FAITH to such a degree and they are CHOOSING SATAN to such a degree that there is a need for EXORCISMS

• THIS IS NOT MEANT TO SCARE ANYBODY

• WHY?

• Because if you are BAPTIZED, you are PROTECTED

• That is the GREAT NEWS

• All we have to do is read Mark Chs 5-6

• Here are Jesus and the Apostles after they get back from all their mission work, they just want to go to a lonely place and be by themselves

• They haven’t had time to EAT

• They get out of the boat and there are so many people there

• Jesus’ heart was moved with COMPASSION FOR THEM

• This is SO POWERFUL

• They were SHEEP without a SHEPHERD

• Who is the GOOD SHEPHERD?

• JESUS!

• We see this in the story of Jairus’ daughter

• In the ancient world, children were worth ZERO

• We value children NOW in our modern age BECAUSE OF CHRISTIANITY

• But back in the day, children were not seen as having a lot of WORTH

• Not only did Jesus RAISE THIS CHILD FROM THE DEAD, He also heals the woman who was hemorrhaging for 12 YEARS

• This is SO GOOD

• This is SO POWERFUL

• This is SO BEAUTIFUL

• Jesus was EXHAUSTED

• The Apostles were EXHAUSTED

• People MEET THEM and NEED THEM and Jesus tells the Apostles they are going to FEED THEM

• The Apostles have gone out, cast out demons, proclaimed the Gospel in the name of Jesus, and they say to send the people into the towns to get something to eat

• BUT…

• Jesus tells THEM to give the people something to eat

• The Apostles say THEY CAN’T, THAT THEY DON’T HAVE ENOUGH

• That’s how Fr. Mike feels ALL THE TIME

• And that’s when Jesus says, “WHAT DO YOU HAVE?”

• In this case, they had 5 loaves and 2 fish (preferably sardines 😋😋😋)

• What happens?

• The Apostles give Jesus WHAT THEY DO HAVE 

• Then Jesus BLESSES IT and GIVES IT BACK TO THEM

• The Apostles DISTRIBUTE IT

• This is the MODEL FOR US

• We give Jesus WHAT WE DO HAVE

• Jesus TAKES IT

• Jesus BLESSES IT

• Jesus HANDS IT BACK TO US

• WE THEN OFFER IT

• In so many ways that is what EVERY ONE OF US IS CALLED TO DO OUR ENTIRE LIFE

• “Lord, I don’t have enough”

• “You’re right, give me what you DO HAVE”

• Jesus RECEIVES IT

• Jesus BLESSES IT

• Jesus GIVES IT BACK TO US

• We DISTRIBUTE IT

• This is SO SO IMPORTANT FOR US

• Jesus says twice in TODAY’S READINGS, “DO NOT BE AFRAID”

• When we find ourselves OVERWHELMED

• When we find ourselves IN STORMS

• When we find ourselves WITH LITTLE

• When we find ourselves LACKING ENOUGH

• Jesus SPEAKS TO YOU TODAY THROUGH HIS WORD

• DO NOT BE AFRAID

• GIVE WHAT YOU HAVE

• LET JESUS TAKE IT, BLESS IT, GIVE IT BACK TO YOU, AND THEN HAND IT OUT

• THAT IS THE MODEL

• THAT IS WHAT WE DO

• GOSH

• Another day!

• What a gift it is to walk with Jesus in this Messianic Checkpoint in the Gospel of Mark!! 😁

• PRAY FOR EACH OTHER

• PRAY FOR FR. MIKE

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven we give you praise and we exalt your name. We do sing and praise your power and be exalted, Lord, in your strength, in your goodness, in your holiness. Because you have revealed your deepest character. Your character is that you love us. Your character is that you are love. You don’t just love us, God, you are love. And Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, you are an eternal exchange of love. Father, you so loved the world, once again we are reminded, you so loved the world that you gave your only begotten son so that all who believed in him might not perish but might have eternal life. You set us free. You set us free from slavery to sin and slavery to Satan, the evil one. Help us to live in that freedom. Help us to live in your love. And help us to receive the grace of your redemption that you offer to us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.”