Jesus Casts Out a Demon

After calling the disciples, the next account we have is of Jesus teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum “and they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes.” We talked a little bit about the difference between how Jesus taught and how the others of His time taught the people, and one of the ways that I equated it was the prophet vs. the apostles, or even the prophet vs. a bishop or Sunday school teacher. The Apostles, bishops, and teachers can only expound on what resources we already have, they can’t reveal their own new doctrines. If we lived in a society that hadn’t had prophets for such a long time, then yes, it would be shocking to have someone come and teach certain things that are doctrine.

It seems implied that Jesus and his newly called disciples left the seashore and went right into the synagogue on the Sabbath, but I highly doubt this as the disciples probably wouldn’t have been fishing on the Sabbath. While in the synagogue “there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil.” Now is there a spirit of a clean devil? I don’t think so. These stories in the Bible begs the question, why was demonic possession so prevalent in the ancient middle east. I don’t remember any incidents of demonic possession in Book of Mormon accounts, and they are pretty uncommon now, despite what the movies make it look like. What id demonic possession all about? I have always wondered this because it seems like such an abstract concept and I wanted to know if it could happen to me. I came up with a few theories to help me understand. First, I read in a book entitled “Putting on the Whole Armor of God” that there are two different types of possession. The first is the more common means of possession in that a wicked person will turn over their agency to Satan through wickedness and addiction. This has to do with us yielding to evil influences through our choices. The second and most uncommon means of possession is the type where a demon enters and takes control of your body. The IM comments, “When studying accounts of the Savior casting out evil spirits, it is important to remember that Satan can have no power over people without their consent. President James E. Faust of the First Presidency explained; ‘We need not become paralyzed with fear of Satan’s power. He can have no power over us unless we permit it. He is really a coward, and if we stand firm, he will retreat. The Apostle James counseled: ‘Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.’ He cannot know our thoughts unless we speak them. And Nephi states that ‘he hath no power over the hearts’ of people who are righteous.’” I hadn’t considered that Satan was a coward before, that’s really interesting.

I also have thought that this was a way for the ancients to explain mental illness. With the prenatal care and advanced medicine that we have today there is probably a significant reduction in the amount people who were dysfunctionally mentally ill. But if we look at the extreme cases in our society, if we had no explanation of “mental illness” then we could explain their ailment to being possessed by the devil because there’s no other way to explain it. I remember seeing this homeless guy while we were driving one time and my kids wanted to pull over and give him some of the food we just bought for lunch. They actually just wanted to give him MY food because they were hungry and didn’t want to part with their own, but I digress. We pulled up next to him and I rolled down the window and asked him if he wanted some food and he started screaming at us. My kids were terrified and we quickly drove away, but it’s that type of mental illness that could look like demonic possession. One of the footnotes that comes up is when the Savior “rebukes” the demon to come out of the man, the foot note says he “heals” the man. It would make sense that this could be referring to mental illness if that is the case.

The man possessed in the synagogue sees Jesus “and he cried out, Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.” The evil spirit recognizes Jesus. Jesus might have had the veil of forgetfulness drawn over His eyes, just like the rest of us but the spirits that followed Satan have not, the remember us, they haven’t forgotten.  This spirit is clearly still angry at Jesus for what happened in the pre-existence, and the IM quotes Elder Bruce R. McConkie as saying, “However much it may run counter to the carnal mind to read of men possessed of devils, and of other men who cast them out, such is one of the realities of mortal life. One-third of the hosts of heaven- all spirit children of our Eternal Father who is God- were cast out of heaven for rebellion. As angels of the devil and as sons of him who is Perdition, they stalk the earth, seeking whom they may destroy. Their condemnation: they are denied bodies; for them there is no further progression they are miserable and seek the misery of all mankind; they are damned souls, without hope, forever. If, as, and when-subject to the restrictions and laws of our gracious God- they can gain temporary tenancy in a tenement of clay, they take up their habitation in the bodies of others. We do not know how or under what circumstances such tenancy is permitted. That all things are governed and controlled by law, we do know… We do know from the Messianic utterance- ‘And he shall cast out devils, or the evil spirits which dwell in the hearts of men’- that Jesus was destined, as he did, to cast out devils, and that this power was given to his apostles and seventies and, of course, is in the true church today.”

Jesus commands, “Hold thy peace, and come out of him.” And he did, and all were amazed “and spake among themselves saying, What a word is this! For with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out.”