Father Richard Rohr focuses on the Gospel of Mark to explore the significance of Jesus’ healing ministry:
The Gospel of Mark is primarily a gospel of action. Jesus is constantly on the move from place to place, preaching and healing, preaching and healing. Jesus is conveying the good news of God’s big picture into people’s small worlds, and he does this much more than he talks about it. Jesus’ actions and physical healings consistently rearrange faulty relationships—with people’s own self-image, with others, with society, and with God who is henceforth seen as on their side. The same is true for us today.
There’s not much profit in just thinking, “Wow, Jesus worked another miracle!” But there is much profit in noting the changed status, self-image, courage, and relationship to family or community that the cure invariably entails. This is the real transformative message. I am not denying that Jesus could and undoubtedly did perform physical healings. It still happens, and over the years I have seen it many times. At the same time, the healings and exorcisms in Mark’s Gospel are primarily to make statements about power, abuse, relationships, class, addiction, money, exclusion, the state of women and the poor, and the connections between soul and body—the same issues we face today.
Jesus also doesn’t heal as a reward for good behavior. Usually there is no mention whatsoever of any prerequisites, and sometimes it’s not even the one cured, but those around them, who have faith. Neither in Mark’s Gospel is there any primary concern about life after death or heaven. We projected that onto the text. All of the healing stories are present-tense concerns for human suffering in this world. They tell us that God cares deeply about the tragic human condition now. How could we miss this? In general, rewards and punishments are inherent and current. Sin is its own punishment, and virtue is its own reward now.
Jesus’ healing ministry reveals God’s solidarity with suffering.
We are all initially created in the image of God, and Jesus’ public ministry is always recreating and restoring that image. We could say that is all he is doing! Christians believe that we cannot know the mind of God until we see what God was doing in, through, and with Jesus. Transformed people, like Jesus, naturally transform others. In Jesus’ ministry of healing and exorcism, the transformations were immediately verifiable and visible. The real message here is not a medical cure or whether Jesus could do such a thing, but that (1) God cares about human pain, (2) God cares about it in this world now, (3) God’s action actually changes people, and (4) the people who have experienced God’s grace are equipped to pass on the real message.
Possessed by the Wrong Perspective
Richard Rohr offers one way we might understand the exorcisms Jesus performed:
When a person has a constantly changing reference point, they have a very insecure life. They will take on any persona, negative or positive, and become incapable of much personal integrity. This is the celebrity-obsessed world in which we are living today. The biblical tradition uses the language of “having a demon” to describe such negative identity. We post-enlightenment, educated people don’t like this language very much, but one way to think of “being possessed” is when there is an unhealthy other (or others!) who is defining us—and usually rather poorly.
In that sense, I’ve personally known a lot of possessed people. It’s no surprise that Jesus exorcised so many demons from people who seemed to carry the negative projections of the surrounding crowd (Luke 9:37–43), synagogue worshippers (Mark 1:21–27; Luke 13:10–17), or the Gerasene residents (Mark 5:1–20; Luke 8:26–39). The ancients were not as naive as we might think. In these stories, we see exactly what the internalization of negative judgment means. Such people do need healing, even a major “exorcism”! While we tend to send them to therapists instead of holy people, in general, the only cure for negative possession is a positive repossession! Jesus is always “repossessing” people—for themselves and for God.
When a good therapist, a wise and holy (meaning whole or healed) person, or a totally accepting friend becomes our chosen mirror, we are, in fact, being healed! I hope it doesn’t sound too presumptuous, but I think I have exorcised a good number of people in my life—primarily because they had the trust and the humility to let me mirror them positively and replace the old mirror of their abusive dad, their toxic church, or their racist neighborhood. That’s why Jesus says, “Your faith has saved you” (Luke 7:50). I am just saying the same. [1]
Drawing on the healing of “Legion” in Luke 8:26–39, Father Greg Boyle describes a similar experience from his work through Homeboy Industries:
Jesus asks the demoniac who is terrorizing the neighbors, writing on walls, selling drugs, shooting at people, harassing folks as they walk by, “What is your name?” The guy says, “Legion,” which at first bounce means, “There are a lot of my homies to back me up.” But the word actually means “I am what has afflicted me.” The invitation and plea is for healing. And Jesus does. Even though it would appear he “drives out the demon,” he’s actually freeing him of his affliction and asking him not to define himself this way anymore. More liberation than salvation. The demoniac’s “growth” is not about becoming less sinful, but more joyful. He is now connected to a community, having been liberated from his isolation. Jesus has made him whole. [2]
| The Idol of Politics: Misplacing Power |
 Click Here for AudioOne of the more curious characters in the narrative of Jesus’ betrayal, arrest, trial, and crucifixion is Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea. The exchanges recorded between Pilate, Jesus, and the crowds of Jerusalem are fascinating. More than once, Pilate admitted that he could find no crime necessitating Jesus’ execution, and he could not understand why Jesus refused to defend himself. “Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” Pilate said. Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given to you from above” (Luke 19:10–11). With this exchange, we see the disconnect between Pilate and Jesus regarding the source of true power. Pilate believed power was ultimately political—granted to him by the state and its emperor, Caesar. Jesus understood that ultimate power rested in God alone, and his fate resided with his heavenly Father, not the Roman governor of Judea. Pilate’s error is the same made by all who worship the idol of politics today. They bow themselves to a king, state, or constituency believing safety and well-being are rooted in securing political advantage. But, the very political power we think will liberate us ultimately enslaves us; we become servants of the false god we ourselves have erected. This is exactly what happened to Pilate. Although his conscience told him Jesus was innocent and he looked to release him, Pilate did as the people wanted. He ordered Jesus to be crucified. Pilate boasted that his political position gave him the power to free or kill Jesus but in the end, Pilate was beholden to the crowds and their threats. If a riot occurred in Jerusalem he risked losing his political power—the thing he loved most. Because Pilate could not betray his idol, his conscience had to submit to political expediency. At least to Pilate, Jesus was an innocent man whose life he willingly sacrificed to appease the false god of politics. Unlike Pilate, Jesus was able to defy the crowds, the religious leaders, the Roman Empire, and even his own followers because his allegiance was to his Father alone. He shows us how worshipping the living God leads to true freedom while worshipping a false god always leads to slavery and injustice. DAILY SCRIPTUREJ OHN 19:1–16 1 PETER 2:13–25 WEEKLY PRAYER. Thomas Ken (1637–1711) O our God, amidst the deplorable division of your Church, let us never widen its breaches, but give us universal charity to all who are called by your name. O deliver us from the sins and errors, from the schisms and heresies of the age. O give us grace daily to pray for the peace of your Church, and earnestly to seek it and to excite all we can to praise and to love you; through Jesus Christ, our one Savior and Redeemer, Amen. |
