Behold, a
legion hurls headlong the swine
Of
Gerasenes, and once enchained in tombs,
It
loudly grunts with pain. From lips possessed
It
had cried out: ‘O Jesus, Son of God,
Offspring
of David’s royal line, we know
Who
Thou art and why Thou hast come, what power
Expels
us, at Thy coming filled with dread.’
—Prudentius, from “A Hymn on the Trinity”
There is something about
demonic possession that has captured the human imagination for millennia. Among
the ancient collections of sayings from the Desert Mothers and Fathers we find
tales of monastic struggles against demons both within and without, spiritual
entities capable of tempting the mind and mutilating the flesh. Abba Poemen, a
fifth-century Egyptian monk, traced all forms of human sinfulness and
indulgence to demonic forces, proclaiming, “Everything that goes to excess
comes from the demons.”[1]
Within a postmodern context these anecdotes may seem superstitious at best and
laughably naïve at worst, but considering the fact that films like The
Exorcist (1973), The Exorcism of
Emily Rose (2005), The Last Exorcism (2010), and other thematically similar movies
continue to be produced every few years, it is apparent that popular
fascination with the demonic possession trope is far from waning. Whether
encountered in ancient monastic literature or on the big screen of a suspenseful
summer horror flick, the notion that a person could somehow be physically
inhabited a sinister power greater than the human spirit is curiously
frightening, and stimulates the imagination to consider both the nature of
autonomy and the darker side of human behavior.
In literary depictions of
exorcisms, demons are expelled from the body by means of a priest or shaman who
makes use of special incantations (“The power of Christ compels you!”) or
ritualistic items like holy water. In the Gospel of Mark, the character of
Jesus is made known early in his ministry primarily as an exorcist and miracle
worker who travels the Galilean countryside casting out demons and restoring
the unclean and disabled. Perhaps no other story in the Gospel of Mark is as bizarre
and peculiarly detailed as Jesus’ encounter with the man possessed by a
“legion” of demons in Mark 5:1-20. In this blog series I will argue that the Gerasene
Demoniac episode is an attempt by the author of Mark to illustrate in a single
narrative Jesus’ three-fold authority over nature (demonic possession),
political/military power (“Legion”), and the traditions of the religious
establishment (uncleanliness). I will begin with a brief examination of how the
form of the Gerasene Demoniac pericope demonstrates that Jesus is depicted as
the sole arbitrator and greatest power among several other powers in the
narrative, and will follow with a focused discussion on each of the three
powers mentioned above.
Form
of the Pericope
Every
good narrative contains a plot, and well-executed plots consist of a rising
action or conflict, a climax, and then a resolution followed by a falling
action. Mark 5:1–20 involves two primary cycles of action (A and B below), with
two climaxes that each culminate in a crucial moment of decision for Jesus.
These moments of decision conspicuously underscore Jesus as one with the
authority to grant permissions to demons and give orders to gentiles, and are
predicated by one or more characters “begging” Jesus (i.e. some cognate of parakalevw). Curiously, of the ten occurrences of parakalevw in Mark, five of them are found in Mark 5, and four of
those five occurrences are integral to the plot of Mark 5:1-20. When each
climactic moment of decision arises, the narrative is halted until a verdict is
reached, and the falling action entails a “sending forth” as a consequence of
Jesus’ decision. This threefold mini-plot thus makes use of the following
formula: Character “begs”—>Jesus decides—>Character acts.
I.
Arrival in the land of the Gerasenes (5:1)
A.
Confrontation with the demoniac (5:2–13)
1.
Description of the demoniac (5:3–5)
2.
Jesus rebukes the unclean spirits (5:8)
3.
“Legion” is named (5:9)
4.
Exorcism (5:13)
a.
Demons “beg” (parakalevw) Jesus:
1.
Not to send them out of the country
2.
For permission to be sent into swine
b.
Climax: Jesus “gives permission” (ejpevtreyen aujtoiæV)
c.
Legion is sent forth from the man and
enters the swine
5.
Swine and demons are drowned in the lake
B.
Confrontation with the townspeople (5:14–20)
1. Swineherds recount previous events “in the
city and in the country” (5:14)
2.
Townspeople encounter healed demoniac, become frightened
a.
Locals “beg” (parakalevw) Jesus to leave the country
b.
Jesus returns to the boat
3.
Former demoniac “begs” Jesus to let him join the disciples
a.
Climax: Jesus “refuses” (oujk ajfhæken)
b. Former
demoniac is instead sent forth to
tell “what the
Lord has done” for him
II.
Jesus and disciples return to the “other side,” presumably Capernaum
(5:21)
In
turn, this episode is situated within a much wider series of narratives that
reiterate Jesus’ authority as the “son of the Most High God.” In the preceding
pericope (Mark 4:35–41) Jesus calms a storm upon the Sea of Galilee, prompting
the disciples to ponder, “Who then is this, that even the wind and sea obey
him?” Immediately after leaving the land of the Gerasenes, Mark includes
another healing narrative (the woman with a hemorrhage in 5:25–34), embedded
within a resuscitation narrative (the raising of Jairus’ daughter in 5:22–24,
35–43). Observing the two cycles of conflict mentioned above within their
context, Jesus is readily identifiable as the most powerful authority figure in
the Gerasene narrative, to whom tempest-tossed lakes, legions of unclean
spirits, healed women and gentiles, temple authorities, and even death itself
all defer. In my next post, we will turn to a closer examination of each of the three categories of power over which Jesus exerts his authority.
[1]
Benedicta Ward, The Sayings of the Desert
Fathers: The Alphabetical Collection (Trappist,
Kentucky: Buena Prensa, 2006), 185.
