Jesus & the Prophets – casting out demons … (11/02/18)
Though completely absent from the Gospel of John,1 all three of the Synoptic Gospels make regular mention of Jesus seemingly casting out demons from those who have been apparently possessed thereby (see Matthew 8:16, Matthew 8:29-34, Matthew 12:23-29, Matthew 15:21-28, Matthew 17:14-20, Mark 1:23-34, Mark 3:20-27, Mark 5:1-20, Mark 7:24-30, Mark 9:14-29, Luke 4:33-41, Luke 8:26-39, Luke 9:37-42, & Luke 11:14-22 – indirectly Matthew 7:22 & John 8:48-52 as well). Despite the fact that one of those recountings directly mentioned “the prophet Isaiah” as support for Jesus doing so (Matthew 8:17), this reference is not exactly on point2, and it is equally fair to note that there are no explicit references whatsoever to exorcism in the entire Old Testament.3 That having been said, there are several references in the Hebrew Bible to the existence of demons (see Leviticus 16:8-10, Leviticus 17:7, Deuteronomy 32:17, Judges 9:23, 2 Chronicles 11:15, Psalm 16:37, 1 Samuel 28:13, Isaiah 8:194, Isaiah 13:21, & Isaiah 34:14 et al) and quite a few allusions to the ability of those demons to influence or harm human beings (if not directly possess them – see Psalm 91:5-6, 1 Samuel 16:15, 1 Samuel 18:10-12, & 1 Kings 22:22-23) as well. In addition, it is worth noting that Psalm 91 was notably employed by priests to exorcise demons in the years both preceding and following Jesus’ ministry – the same Psalm a portion of which Satan himself quoted to Jesus in the wilderness (see Matthew 4:11-12).
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1 While it is true that no specific case of either demon possession or demonic exorcism is recorded anywhere in John‘s Gospel, Jesus is himself accused by his enemies of being demon-possessed in John 7:20-21.
2 Isaiah 53:4 is referenced here – a verse that implies the Messiah will “bear our infirmities and carry our diseases”, not that he could or would exorcise demonic spirits from those possessed thereby.
3 NOTE the possible exception of David causing a “harmful spirit” to depart from Saul on multiple occasions via the playing of a harp in 1 Samuel 16:14-19. Some scholars also feel that the Law’s strict condemnation of mediums and other spirit-based “magic workers” (see Leviticus 20:6 & Leviticus 20:27) implies that possessions were cultivated thereby – seeing as how these individuals were presumed to be guilty of a crime, not merely inflicted with an illness.
4 It is importantly intriguing to realize that the term used in both 1 Samuel 28:13 & Isaiah 8:19 to refer to the demon(s) in question was the Hebrew word Elohim (a term meaning “gods”, see Strong’s #430) – the same plural Hebrew word used to reference the “God” who recklessly demands that Noah & his sons “tyrannize and overfill the earth” (see the literal Hebrew wording of Genesis 9:1-7), who ruthlessly destroy Sodom & Gomorrah (in Genesis 19), and who wickedly torment Abraham (by demanding he sacrifice his own son in Genesis 22). NOTE as well the explicit distinction made between the almighty YHWH and the less-than-perfect Elohim in Psalm 95:3 – a distinction that is readily apparent for any earnest student of the Scriptures who notices the stark difference between the primarily compassionate edicts offered by YHWH (translated in many Bibles as “LORD” from Genesis 1:1 through Exodus 3:14, the point at which the Elohim quite brazenly steal YHWH‘s name for themselves) and the highly dysfunctional (if not downright evil) orders handed down by the Elohim (written as “God” before Exodus 3:14 in many translations, and as “LORD God” thereafter).
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