The Demon Slayer
Mark 1:9-28
Some things in life, I suppose, will never be fully understood or
explained. Some experiences fall outside of our normal reference
points so that when they occur, all we can do is stand back in
amazement, and exclaim: “I can’t believe what just happened!”
Thirty years ago while I was in seminary, something unusual
happened to me one autumn night. I was living in an apartment at
the time, when I was awakened around 3:00 a.m. by what sounded
like cats howling at each other as if they were about to fight. It was
loud enough to wake me out of a sound sleep and appeared to be right
outside my window.
So I got out of bed to scare the cats away so I could get back to
sleep. But when I went to the window, I couldn’t see them anywhere,
which then made me realize something else unusual: the lights to the
parking lot were on, three hours past the time they routinely shut off.
What made it even more unusual was that within seconds of arriving
at the window, the lights then immediately shut off, almost as if
responding to my awareness that they had been left on! I shook my
head in bewilderment, wondering what was going on—pinching
myself to make sure I was awake.
My attention for the lights was short-lived, however, as I
continued to hear the cats bawling outside now in the pitch dark. I
couldn’t tell what direction the sounds came from; it seemed as
though they were all around the area. Then I heard some voices from
around the corner of the building about 10-20 feet away. I assumed
someone else was awakened by the sounds of the cats as well and
1
came out to scurry them away.
But instead of interrupting the cat fight, nothing happened.
The cats and the human voices continued for about 3-4 minutes,
getting louder as if in a slow crescendo. I didn’t want to have to get
dressed and go outside myself, so I decided I’d best go back to bed
and try to sleep through the ruckus.
Yet, within seconds of resting my head back on my pillow, a
dramatic voice suddenly interrupted my thoughts—a voice as clear
and strong as I have ever heard—which matter-of-factly announced:
“These are demons. Be gone in the name of Jesus!” Immediately,
there was a piercing shriek from outside the building, the cats were
gone, and there was dead silence!
Needless to say, by this time I was pie-eyed, sitting straight up
in bed, catching my breath as my heart raced, stunned by what had
just transpired! It was so weird, but it was very real. I remember
staying awake for the next hour or so, writing down the experience
and pondering what I had just been through, with no explanation for
what had occurred. Was it a dream? No, because I was as awake
writing this down as I was when I experienced it. So what happened?
Could there really be demons? That seemed preposterous and
strangely spooky. Who was the voice; where did that come from? I
admit, it sounds like my middle-of-the-night imagination had gone
crazy.
To be honest, I rarely ever tell this story because it is so loony. I
filed it under the categories of “watch what you eat before bedtime,”
and “things I want to ask Jesus when I finally meet him!” I find I
really can’t explain it, I can only describe it. I assume it was all in my
2
head and nothing more, as that is the only thing that fits into my
rational worldview. I must have imagined it.
But still, there’s a part of me that doesn’t accept that
explanation, because it was so real and so powerful an experience. I
can’t let go of the sensation that it could have been a momentary
glimpse into another dimension of life where maybe actual demons
dwell and spirits act. Who knows? It was so real that I can’t help
believing it was real.
As time has passed and I’ve had no repeat occurrences, I’ve let it
go as one of those unexplainable mysteries in life. I don’t really dwell
on the existence of demons or other little dark gremlins running
around trying to mess up my life. I’m much more inclined to think
there was a crossed wire in my brain, than an actual set of beings
beyond the material world.
I suppose that’s also how I have always looked upon stories in
the Gospels about Jesus’ celebrated power to rid the world of demons.
It’s hard to take them literally. It’s easier to assume references to the
demonic were either metaphorical or a manifestation of primitive
thinking. In our enlightened, sophisticated paradigms, the demonic
doesn’t exist—there are no beings beyond human beings. Ghosts and
goblins, demons and devils are vestiges of the dark ages—projected
personifications of our deepest fears. Rather than be subject to those
fears, it’s preferable to explain them in rational ways—there must be
an explanation for what seems unexplainable. So first century
exorcisms were likely addressing mental illness as a primitive version
of what is now handled by therapy and medication.
But then that’s when I come back to my incredible encounter. It
3
wasn’t a matter of mental illness—I was simply an observer to a very
strange experience. I wasn’t caught up in another world—I merely
had a momentary glimpse of something strange in ours. It wasn’t a
delusion, but it was an experience that made me question or even
broaden my sense of what is reality, even though it’s still a mystery to
me.
That is, what if there is an underlying level of life where a spirit
of evil exists (even if we can’t buy into the concept of “demons”)?
What if there is a psychological “black hole” that inverts the present
reality we commonly know into another dimension? What if the
materialistic world is not all there is? Who’s to say it’s not a
possibility, even if we can’t know for certain? We speak of God’s
Spirit—where does God dwell? What if there is a credible power in
Jesus’ name that can literally vanquish evil from our lives at a level of
which we might not even be conscious?
Before we address that, let’s step back and consider for a
moment what made Jesus into a first-century demon slayer.
Interestingly, if you look at the Gospel of Mark (as well as Matthew
and Luke), nothing suggests that Jesus possessed this type of
authority or power until after his baptism by John, once the Spirit of
God came upon him. If that’s true, then what does that tell us? I
interpret it in this way: Jesus’ healing power was not tied into who he
was as an individual, but rather what he was doing in his ministry.
In other words, it wasn’t supernatural power he was born with and
could use at his own discretion throughout his childhood and youth
(otherwise, wouldn’t he have a field day trying to impress his
adolescent friends?). No, I think it was power that was tied directly to
4
his calling, embodied in the three-year ministry he developed in
announcing and proclaiming the presence of the reign of God. It was
the power of God’s Spirit working through Jesus that was
“superhuman”—a spiritual authority and power that came upon Jesus
following his baptism—after his commitment to follow his heart and
pursue the calling he intuitively understood as coming from God.
Why is this important? Because I believe as followers of Christ,
we are meant to carry the same message and spiritual authority as
Jesus (clearly reflected in those in the early church—Mark 16:17; John
14:11-14; Acts 8:6-7, 16:18, 19:11-20). The power of this message and
belief may be greater than we’re even aware of or exercise. We
assume that our faith is mainly a matter of cognitive belief and living
a good life. But what if it’s more than that? What if it involves a
spiritual power that works through us to unmask and transform the
evil that exists around us? What if the spiritual authority given to
Jesus actually reaches into the depths of the human psyche, as God’s
Spirit literally alters the fundamental outlook and aspirations of those
who are bent on evil?
This may sound weird until we take into account that even
modern psychiatry wrestles with this problem of evil and how best to
address it. Carl Jung and Rollo May identified what they called the
“daimonic.”1 M. Scott Peck more recently wrote about human evil as
malignant narcissism—an egocentrism in people that is initially self-
deceiving and ultimately self-destructive, with the intent to avoid
guilt and responsibility for wrong, and for self-criticism. It is living a
1
Both Jung and May considered “daimonic” as a source of creativity within the human psyche—not as an
external being or power.
5
lie, believing in a lie, and manipulating others to believe in the lie of
their own inflated significance and moral superiority. Unchecked,
without correction, this fosters the ability to hate, the enjoyment of
cruelty, the scapegoating of others, a lack of empathy for victims, and
an excessive intolerance of criticism, among many things. It is a
malevolent spirit that seems to consume those who cannot overcome
the self-delusion with which they live.
Perhaps that gets at the heart of what we will never know—a
pathology that remains elusive to psychotherapists, theologians, and
court room judges. Is the evil we see in people (manifest in self-
deception and self-destruction) a power that is entirely within them
of their own doing—something they can overcome with effective
treatment, or does it eventually get fueled by a power far greater than
they, outside and beyond them—something from which they must be
delivered? Is the “demonic” an actual driving force of evil that exists
somewhere in realm of life that captures the consciousness and
subconscious of people when they live and believe in a lie and that,
unchecked, eventually renders them incapable of responding to
normal moral correction?
Again, who knows? It’s all speculation. However, as I see it,
some people seem to be caught up in a malevolent spirit that grabs
hold of them and prevents them from hearing the truth, from
responding to the truth, and from doing anything that isn’t ultimately
destructive to themselves and others. Though I don’t know exactly
how to define it or describe it, there seems to be some a power of evil
that is like a destructive virus that infects the “hard drive” of their
human spirits. When that happens, “infected” people cannot seem to
6
save themselves—they must be delivered by something stronger than
the evil that has taken hold of them.
Maybe the point of these stories about Jesus calling out demons
and restoring people’s lives was to illustrate the power of God’s Spirit
to intervene when all hope is lost—so much that what was evil and
destructive within them was vanquished by the strength of good and
the power of love. These stories are bizarre to say the least, but
instead of dismissing them, maybe they are meant to show that God’s
spiritual power is able to transform the lives of those who are deeply
disturbed and possessed by a spirit within them that cause them to do
great harm to themselves or others.
When Jesus delivered people from the evil that controlled them,
he did it recognizing that the evil possessing them wasn’t inherent to
them, but from outside of them. That’s why he refused to write off
those whom society condemned and isolated. He delivered them
from what oppressed them; not what was inherently wrong with
them. That’s why the stories personalize the evil as living beings—as
demons that are cast out—that respond to the spiritual authority that
Jesus channeled. Even here in Mark, we have a common reaction as
the exorcism took place: “What have you to do with us, Jesus of
Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?” Somehow, Jesus knew and
saw the spiritually broken man camouflaged within the guise of
craziness and called the demons out of him.
Amazed as everyone was by what had just happened, the power
that they witnessed through Jesus was of an authority far greater than
anything else that can control human beings. It wasn’t magic that
made this happen; it was spiritual authority. Who has ultimate
7
control? Jesus’ authority, though fully human, came from God, since
he was a channel for God’s Spirit. God’s power for good is greater
than evil. It is the same power of Jesus that comes through us when
God’s Spirit seeks to redeem and restore human lives.
Though, I admit, serious cases of evil may be beyond any of our
abilities (and we simply leave them in the hands of God), we still can
overcome and resist it. We are not impotent. For instance, we can
resist the things that foster arrogance and self-deception and open a
person up to the power of evil. We can pray to be able to speak the
truth, especially when we recognize what is destructive, unjust, and
harmful. We resist evil when we are not complicit with deception and
lies—whether our own or someone else’s. We undermine the effect of
evil when we are honest, compassionate, merciful, and considerate;
when we are modest in our sense of self-importance, when we listen
to the honest criticism of others, and when we are able to respond to
moral correction.
We resist evil when we keep focused on doing good, when we
express love and care to others, and when we make sacrifices for the
betterment of others. We live in the power of God’s Spirit when we
don’t blindly idolize other human beings—making them greater or
more significant than they are. We follow in the ways of truth when
we hold people accountable for their mistakes without arrogance or
malice of our own, and when we offer forgiveness and grace to those
who seek it.
We might even be skeptical about all of this, or fail to appreciate
the spiritual dynamics of life at what ever level they exist, but we can
be certain that the power of good can overcome the power of evil
8
when we trust in it and are committed to it. For me, that helps to
explain the Apostle Paul’s confidence that
neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor
things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all
creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus
our Lord. (Romans 8:37-39)
At times, all of this may be hard to believe; it doesn’t always seem
logical. It may not seem effective, it may not fit into our normal
rational paradigms, but it can and it does seem right.
In the darkest hour when we face our greatest fears or
projections of them, that’s what we need to hold onto—a trust in
God’s power to redeem all things at every level of life. And in that
power and in Jesus’ name we can rest assured that all things do, in
fact, work together for good for those who love God.
The Rev. Dr. Paul C. Hayes
Noank Baptist Church, Noank CT
7 February 2010
9