Jesus concludes his teaching this morning, and the synagogue at Capernaum is hushed. Then sudden chaos, as a man possessed by a demon shrieks at Jesus in fury, as if to pick a fight with him. “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are…” Born in a Bethlehem cave, raised in obscurity in that nowhere place called Nazareth, Jesus has slipped in behind the scenes. But the demon is well aware of who he is, jealous of his Godly beauty and holiness, and the demon wants Jesus out, he wants Jesus to go back where he belongs, far away in heaven not here of all places.
The evil one thinks the “flesh-and-blood life” of humanity is his private territory, that’s why he uses the plural “us.” He is outraged by God’s presence among us; the Incarnation drives him absolutely crazy. The demon wants separateness and division. But God is not having any of that. His delight is to dwell here; God with us. He has come to heal, to free, and to console the brokenhearted. Death, evil, demonic possession, whatever impedes human freedom and flourishing infuriate Jesus, and so he speaks to the evil spirit with divine authority, “Quiet! Enough! Shut up and you get out. Be still and know that I am God.” If Jesus’ authority was clear in his teaching, it is now clearer still. The spirit is stung, muzzled; he is no match for Jesus. He departs, shrieking in defeat and convulsing this poor man in a final, futile display of power. God’s love in Christ has broken through to heal and make whole again; God’s creative Word as in the beginning separates light from darkness. The once-possessed man is freed; Jesus has given him back his voice. And once again the synagogue is hushed in spellbound silence.
With this first miracle in Mark’s Gospel, the line has been drawn and Satan’s power over the world has come to an end. It’s over. The authority of God’s mercy and compassion have decisively broken into human history. And what we see this morning in the synagogue at Capernaum is the drama of our redemption in miniature, a foretaste of the struggle that Jesus will engage in for us unto death. For Jesus will choose to die rather than yield to evil. And his resurrection will be God’s final pronouncement on all the false voices that seek to oppress and stifle us. Jesus will confound evil by allowing himself to be possessed by it and then drowning it with his most precious Blood. The evil one has been duped and trampled on, and he is ultimately powerless. He knows it, and he’s angry as hell.
Some years ago when my friend Bryan learned that he was HIV positive, he began closing notes and letters to me and his other friends with a drawing of a huge twisting dragon and the words: “With love from Bryan and the Chaos Monster.” This was all long ago when AIDS meant stigma, isolation and sure death; when the only drug treatments available were just experimental. The Chaos Monster, Bryan named it, the demon everyone dreaded. Bryan soon passed away, and many would say he lost his battle with the monster. But, my brothers and sisters, we know better; Bryan is now hidden with Christ in God.
Now I suppose the danger for us when hearing this Gospel is to think it’s rather quaint and unscientific. Certainly, the people of Jesus day felt trapped in a universe that was full of spirits, most of whom were evil and menacing, but c’mon we’re more sophisticated that. I don’t think so. The Chaos Monster is still prowling around looking for someone to devour. We know it; we have only read the newspaper or sadly enough look into the depths of our own hearts. The evil spirit is real and longs to lead us astray. The saints all knew it. And Evagrius that great monastic teacher, will even envision a crowd of nasty little demons jumping around in the church trying to wreak havoc during the liturgy.
But, worst of all, it is deep inside that I often experience a good deal of chaos: the clamor of old grievances, imagined putdowns and sleezy fantasies that easily muffle Jesus’ voice. And embarrassingly enough I often enjoy listening to it all because of its cozy familiarity. The Chaos Monster is on the prowl. This is not voodoo. It’s simple reality. For if the good spirit, the Holy Spirit of God, wants to draw us closer to Christ, the evil spirit will always want the opposite, always. Not drama, just reality. Why not name it as Jesus and Bryan did and refuse to be mastered by it? Baptized into Christ Jesus our Lord, into his resurrected life, we have more power than we realize. Power to name the demonic powers in our world, in our hearts, and refuse to be mastered by the lies; power to dismiss the evil one and choose instead humility and compassion, realizing our helplessness and relying completely on Christ’s mercy. We have power to choose to listen to Jesus’ voice no matter how quiet.
He is our only Peace; he is the Quiet we long to envelop us more and more. And rest assured; he wants this more than we do. And so relentless in his pursuit, Jesus our Lord comes to feed us with his own flesh and blood, the food of his peace, the medicine of his quiet and consolation. Spellbound, let us open our hands, our mouths, our hearts to receive him who is our only Peace.