Casting Out Demons

Casting Out Demons

Mark 9:38-40

            Jesus’ disciples are so inconsistent.  One minute they’re confessing that Jesus is the Messiah.  The next they’re trying to cast out demons and failing.  Then they’re arguing over who is the greatest in the kingdom and feeling embarrassed when Jesus confronts them with their pride and vanity.  They’re all over the place—kind of like us, even on our good days.  We look at the disciples and say: “How could they not get it?  How could they not see what was right in front of them?  Couldn’t they use their eyes and ears?”  We forget we have the benefit of hindsight.  We know how this story turns out.  We also forget that we fail to see Jesus for what he is, and fail to follow his teaching as often as the disciples.

            Jesus has just tried to teach them that whoever would be greatest must be first of all a servant.  Difficult words to hear, and even more difficult to accept, even though they—and we— have Jesus’ example to follow.  We see the disciples’ failure but we don’t see our own.  With all our knowledge and experience, how can we still seek our own advantage?

            John says to Jesus, “Someone was casting out demons in your name, but he wasn’t part of our group, so we told him to stop.”

            As a teacher, I’ve frequently been frustrated when I explain something to the best of my ability, and then watch as my students fail the quiz.  I understand why this happens, but it doesn’t stop me from being frustrated.  I can only guess at how Jesus must have felt when, time and time again, his disciples failed the test.  Yet Jesus explains patiently that there are those who are doing good works in God’s name even if they aren’t part of the “in group,” and that’s okay.  He tells the disciples that it’s impossible to be on two sides. If these people are calling down God’s power, and healing in Jesus’ name, they can’t possibly be on the wrong side.

            Perhaps the disciples were jealous.  We know they weren’t above that sort of thing—but then, who among us is free from jealousy?  Just a little earlier (vv.17-29) Mark tells us that the disciples couldn’t cast a demon out of a young boy.  Now here’s someone else accomplishing what they couldn’t do.  We can understand they might not be thrilled at being upstaged by people appearing to be outside the inner circle.

            I am committed to ecumenism.  I believe with my whole heart that no one group of believers has discovered the whole truth.  I believe just as fervently that each group of Christians—denomination, individual congregation, family—has discovered a part of God’s truth, and is entitled to believe and express and teach that truth as long as the gospel is being preached and good works are performed in God’s name.  I think both of these principles apply here.  Whoever these exorcists were, they were using Jesus’ name—not taking the Lord’s name in vain, but using the Name above all other names to advance the work of God’s kingdom.  As Jesus says (Mark 3:25), no house divided against itself can stand for very long.  Sooner or later it’s got to come tumbling down.  If these people are casting out demons in Jesus’ name they have got to be on Jesus’ side.

             When the disciples ask Jesus (v. 28) why they could not heal the boy, Jesus says: “This kind [of demon] can only come out through prayer.”  Perhaps the disciples hadn’t prayed enough to be able to conquer their own demons.  Do we find ourselves in the same place?  Do we need to be in prayer more frequently, asking God to take away our demons?  Only as we are healed can we hope to heal.  Only as, by God’s grace, we exorcise our own demons can we help others lose theirs.

            One more reason to pray without ceasing.