Demonic Possession
H. Twelftree reviews demonism in Jewish/Hellenistic Literature and summarizes as follows:
“In Greek thought the word daimonion was used in a variety of ways: for a deity (Philo Vit. Mos. 1.276), a lesser deity (Plutarch Rom. 51), a divine power or unknown supernatural force (Josephus J.W. 1.69), the human element in touch with the divine (Galen De Placitis 5.6.4) and an intermediary between humans and the gods (Corp. Herm. XVI.18). When a demon overtook a person and caused sickness or frenzy and was life-threatening, it was thought necessary to expel it (J.W. 7.185). The demons were popularly thought to be spirits of the dead (J.W. 1.599, 607; 6.47; Lucian Philops. 29; Pliny Nat. Hist. 18.118)”. [1]
The NT authors prefer to use the term ‘unclean spirit’ (Matt 12:43; Mark 1:23, 26; 3:30; 5:2, 8; Luke 8:29; 9:42; 11:24). Even when the term ‘devils’ or ‘demons’ is encountered (for Gentile audiences?), it is in association with ‘unclean spirits’. [2] The constant referral to the state of being unclean has cultic overtones; particularly the ritual element proscribed in the cleanliness laws of Leviticus. The holiness codes in Leviticus regulated ritual cleanliness–unclean animals could not be touched or eaten, unclean diseases and unclean bodily discharges underwent cleansing rituals and quarantine. The priest inspected the impure person and pronounced judgment after certain purification ceremonies. The diagnosis of an unclean spirit is essentially a priestly diagnosis and that God often described the Jews themselves as an unclean people.
The Healing of Legion
Probably the most important exorcism performed in the NT is the healing of Legion. It is instructive to compare the synoptic parallel accounts (Matt 8:28-34//Mark 5:1-13//Luke 8:26-33) as they have significant nuances. Legion is a paradigm for the nation of Israel:
“And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.” (Mark 5:5)
Mark is obviously drawing on Isaiah’s description of the people; “A rebellious people……which sit among the graves…..and eat swine’s flesh” (Isa 65:4). The “cutting with stones” is (in this context) a reference to the rite of circumcision–originally performed with sharpened flints (Josh 5:2). The binding of the man (cf. Pss 2:3) and the request not to be ‘sent away out of the country’ (Mark 5:10) is typical of the threat of exile in Deut 28:64-68 and the imprisonment and deportation of Zedekiah in chains (Jer 52: 11). Moreover, it has parallels with the prodigal son (although his departure was voluntary), who went to a far country and subsisted on pigs swill.
The Eschatology of the Exorcism
Matthew introduces an eschatological element into the narrative with the demoniac’s objection; ‘art thou come hither to torment us before the time?’ as if to say, ‘you are early, it’s not time yet’. It is an allusion to the “timely” man who released the goat (sent it to Azazel) on the Day of Atonement.
In this exorcism Jesus functions in the role of the ‘fit’ or ‘timely’ man, who sends the scapegoat bearing the nations impurities (the goat for ‘Azazel’) into the wilderness during the atonement ritual:
“And shall send him away at the hand of a fit man into the wilderness” (Lev.16:22)
The Revised Version renders this as “a man (Adam) that is in readiness” with the marginal notation stating “a man of opportunity”. These interpretations carry the idea of a man that has been specifically prepared for the task; although Herbert Rand suggests that it should be understood adverbially. [3] The original Hebrew ’ittîy carries the meaning of timely and derives from êth – time, in due season. Essentially this expresses the same meaning – a man appointed for this time or season. Note that the “fit man” who released the goat became contaminated by the act and as a consequence had to wash his clothes and his body before re-entering the camp.
Jesus transferred the ‘unclean spirit’ into an ‘unclean’ animal (this in contrast with the ‘clean’ scapegoat). Swine were unclean animals, and for a Jewish narrator it would be highly appropriate for ‘unclean spirits’ to inhabit them. The oscillation between singular and plural in the narrative denotes that the man represented the collective state of the nation. The man answers with the Latin loan word legio meaning a legion or regiment of soldiers. This suggests that the word expresses the man’s feeling of being inhabited by a multitude of evil spirits.
Legion and the Apocalypse
The Legion incident resonates with apocalyptic typology – the echoes and allusions can best be observed when the chapter division between Matthew 8:28 – Matthew 9:8 (the healing and forgiveness of the paralytic) is ignored:
| Matthew 8:28-9:8 | Revelation 11 |
|---|---|
| ‘Country of the Gadarenes which is over against Galilee’ (Luke 8:26), i.e. Galilee of the Gentiles | ‘It is given unto the Gentiles’ (11:2) |
| ‘Art thou come hither to torment us before the time?’(Matt 8:29) | ‘These two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth’ (11:10). |
| The unclean beast sent into the sea – (abyss in Luke 8:31) | ‘The beast that cometh up out the abyss (abyss) shall make war against them, and kill them’ (11:7). |
| The paralytic raised: ‘Arise, and walk’ (Matt 9:1). | The dead witnesses raised: ‘Come up hither’ (11:12) |
| ‘But when the multitudes saw it they were afraid (RV) and glorified God, which had given such power to men’ (Matt 9:8). | ‘And the rest were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven’ (11:13). |
The synoptic narrative is connected with the emergence of the apocalyptic beast from the abyss and the murder of the (two?) witnesses; resulting in the rejoicing of the people because the ‘two prophets had tormented them’ with their words. The parallelism is not accidental for the trumpet section in the apocalypse is based on Day of Atonement liturgy [4] – Jesus had come to remove the unclean spirit – he warned that that unless the unclean spirit was replaced with the wholesomeness of the gospel it would re-emerge in a more virulent form (Luke 11: 24-36). The work of the witnesses is a continuation of the work of Jesus Christ and meets with the same resistance from the beast (possessed with the unclean spirit) that he had banished two millennia earlier.
Conclusion
It is obvious that healing of the ‘demon possessed’ in the NT are more than mere exorcisms–they are enacted parables –teaching the people profound lessons. Do the exorcisms have a historical basis? Most certainly, Jesus had such a reputation as an exorcist that his name was used in imprecations by fellow exorcists, and there is no reason to doubt the fundamental historicity of the accounts.
Jesus healed real people with recognized illnesses–Legion was most probably a schizophrenic hearing voices–but these voices articulated the words of the Old Testament and challenged Jesus’ authority. Jesus’ exorcisms were an outward expression of the nation’s impurity. Jesus had the power to remove the contamination of sin –but that removal would only achieve permanence if the ‘unclean attitude’ was replaced with the Gospel (cf. the healed demoniac sitting at Jesus’ feet fully clothed), if this did not happen the patient’s condition would become much worse. This was indeed the case in the first century with a collective descent into insanity and rebellion that resulted in the nation, like the scapegoat, being expelled from the land for nearly 2,000 years. However, even in this sinful state of alienation the nation is under divine protection (protected like Cain), for God will not allow the nation to become completely extinct.
[1] G. H. Twelftree, “Demons” in Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels (eds., J. B. Green, S. McKnight, I.H. Marshall; Leicester: Inter Varsity Press, 1992), 163-164.
[2] Whereas, Mark 1:23-28 has ‘unclean spirit’ the parallel in Luke 4:33 has ‘spirit of an unclean devil’ (cf. Rev.18: 2).
[3] Herbert Rand suggests that the word ittîy in Lev. 16:21 be translated adverbially, i.e., emphasizing the temporary status of the one sending away the scapegoat: “and shall dispatch [it] by someone [ad hoc] into the wilderness”, H. Rand, “The Translator’s Dilemma: What is itti?”, Jewish Bible Quarterly 22 (1994):110-114.
[4] Significantly the trumpet section (Rev 8:3-11:19) commences with a parody of the Yom Kippûr ritual, for instead of the priestly blessing (and forgiveness) being pronounced on the nation of Israel upon exiting the “Most Holy” place (the heavenly sanctuary), the angel executes retribution. A series of escalating calamities befall the people until the introduction of the eschaton at the sounding of the seventh trumpet.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One