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Mark 1:21-28
Men and mice share one thing in common. None of us wants to die. Self-preservation is one of the strongest instincts in living creatures. And yet high in the Scandinavian mountains lives a small mouselike creature that every few years commits mass suicide. I'm talking about lemmings.
They've given us the phrase, "like lemmings headed for the sea," because that's what they do. Every few years when their population has grown too large and the food supply has become too scarce, they leave their burrows and like a mighty army, swarm out of the mountains and rush downward toward the sea. Normally, lemmings fear and avoid water. During their mass march, however, they brave streams and lakes. They also devour everything in their path.
After running for weeks, the lemmings finally reach the seashore, and then, row upon row, plunge headlong into the water! For a short time, the frantic rodents remain afloat, but soon the creatures tire, and one by one sink to their doom.
Many theories have been offered about this mass suicide. Some zoologists argue the fatal plunge of the lemmings is just an error of judgment. Perhaps the creatures think the ocean is just one more wide river to cross on the way to a larger food supply. All explanations remain only guesses, however. No one really knows what gets into all those suicidal lemmings.
Usually, the behavior of animals is relatively predictable. Rarely will a dog bite the hand that feeds it. As Mark Twain noted, that's the principle difference between dogs and humans. When a dog bites someone we might ask, "What got into Rover? We are more likely to ask, however, what got into Ronnie or Rhonda or Randy. You and I are far more unpredictable than animals.
What is it that gets into us? What is it that causes someone to go on a rampage and murder their former boss and coworkers before killing themselves? What gets into a young person that causes them to experiment with dangerous drugs and run around with the wrong kind of people? What is it that causes a woman to make one wrong choice after another in the kind of man she marries? What gets into a man who abuses his wife and his children? How do we explain it? What gets into us?
Some would say, "The devil made me do it." Consider a little girl who got mad at her younger brother. She pushed him down, called him a name, and then spat on him. Her father got onto her and said, "Honey, I think the devil made you do that." The little girl answered, "The devil might have made me push him down and call him names, but I thought of spittin' on him all by myself!" Some would say about our destructive sinful impulses, "Satan made me do it."
There are others who would trace aberrations in our behavior to a chemical imbalance in the brain. For example, depression is often treated nowadays with medicine. Some forms of aggression can be controlled chemically. It's easy to demonstrate changes in behavior caused by stimulating different parts of the brain.
One of the most famous examples was an experiment performed by researcher Jose Delgado. Jose planted electrodes into the brain of a ferocious bull. He then entered a corral with the bull, armed only with a red cape and a radio transmitter. He waved his cape, the bull charged, Jose pressed a button on his transmitter, and the bull came to a screeching halt just feet from him, then calmly wandered away. By stimulating a certain section of the bull's brain, its entire disposition changed.
Wouldn't it be great to have a radio transmitter like that in our possession? Then, when someone in our family or in our office was hostile, we could just press a button and instantly calm them. Unfortunately, life is rarely that simple. The causes behind behavior are usually very complex. Nevertheless, if someone in our family undergoes a severe personality change, a good physical examination would be advised.
There is, however, inappropriate behavior for which there is no chemical or physical explanation. I suspect this was true concerning this man with an unclean spirit Jesus met. The Bible doesn't say how the unclean spirit manifested itself in this man. Maybe he was in the habit of harassing people who went to the synagogue.
Mark isn't specific about the man's symptoms. All we know is that this man cried out, "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God." But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be silent, and come out of him!" And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him.
The crowd was not only impressed by Jesus casting out of an unclean spirit, but by the words he spoke. Jesus acted and taught as one with authority. Unclean spirits recognized the authority of Jesus! Even Pilate recognized Jesus' authority by ordering a sign placed above his head on the cross that read, `King of the Jews.' Jesus' authority came from his relationship with his Father. It was a Divine authority.
Jesus delivered this man with the unclean spirit, and he can deliver you and me from whatever may get into us. Some of us, however, give lip service to the authority of Jesus. We don't really believe he can deliver us.
I heard recently about some linemen who were busy putting up telephone poles through a farmer's fields. The farmer ordered them off his land. They showed him a paper giving them the right to plant poles wherever they pleased. Not long afterward a big and vicious bull charged the linemen. The old farmer sat on a nearby fence and yelled: `Show him yer papers, darn ye, show him yer papers!'"
To many people Jesus' authority is only a paper authority. It's something we study for inspiration, but we don't believe it applies to our situation. For many of us Jesus' authority doesn't extend to putting a marriage back together or a family. It doesn't mean curing an addiction or healing a character flaw. Maybe 2,000 years ago he had authority, but not today.
Some people question Jesus' authority. Others outright rebel against that authority. The late American evangelical theologian, philosopher, and Presbyterian pastor, Francis Schaffer, pointed out that Vincent Van Gogh abandoned Christianity believing it to be irrelevant. Vincent believed he could set up a new religion in which sensitive people (artists) would blaze the trail. He dreamed of starting this religion in his artistic community. After Paul Gauguin joined him, however, his dreams for a new religion among the sensitive crashed. He and Paul quarreled violently. Many believe Vincent committed suicide because he was mentally ill, or because he lost his lover to fellow artist Paul. But there was a deeper reason. Vincent died from disillusionment and loss of hope. He found that there is no substitute for the authority of Jesus.
Deep within all of us there's a longing for hope and purpose. Some of us disguise it, others seek it out in all the wrong places. But there's hope. There's help. There's deliverance. It's found in Jesus. He has divine authority to deliver and heal us from whatever gets into us. He alone has the authority to say to unclean spirits, "Come out!"
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Rev. Charles Eldredge is a member of Maitland Church of the Brethren. He has a Facebook page and can be contacted by email: ce1133 @verizon.net.