Unclean Spirits

ORDINARY TIME  

Mk 1:32-28

Jesus came to Capernaum with his followers,
and on the sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught.
The people were astonished at his teaching,
for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.
In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit;
he cried out, “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 rebuked him and said, “Quiet! Come out of him!”
The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him.
All were amazed and asked one another,
“What is this?
A new teaching with authority.
He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.”
His fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee.

The Synagog in Capernaum

I've stood in that synagogue, right there, right where this happened.

It is still mind-boggling.

And I think about that man, the one with the "unclean spirit". It's a demon, they don't say it, but we all think it, know it. The unseen world that we pray about in the Creed. You have to acknowledge the presence of demons if you acknowledge the presence of angels.

So there is Jesus in the synagogue, reading, teaching, answering questions. And all of a sudden this one man cries out. Why? What is up with that?

Hmm. (thesaurus: used for representing the sound made when you are pausing to think)

So I think about animals. Rabbits, pheasants or doves in a field. When a hunter and his dog come up, they freeze. They hunker down into the grass and hide. They wait, they watch. I'm sure their senses are hyper-sensitive. As the dog gets closer, they're fear intensifies. They are perched on the verge of flight. If he gets too close, they bolt!

Is this like the unclean spirits? Do most of them hold their fear in check as Jesus gets close to them? Are they paralyzed with fear that the Christ is so close to them? Do his words burn their minds? Are they cringing inside the human they inhabit?

And then one of them just can't stand it, maybe a particularly bad one that even all the other humans are aware of by the actions of the poor possessed man. Jesus is too close, the words too true - does it bolt? Does it scream? In total fear can it not help itself from crying out to the Lord?

Dearest Lord, protect me from unclean spirits!  Let your love and protection envelope me and repel Satan and his evil minions from wrecking havoc on my life and those around me.  Let my prayers surround me like armor and keep me safe.  Amen. 

2012 Pilgrimage to Israel - Day 4