Since direct demon confrontation is a part of spiritual warfare, we need to talk about what guidelines or steps the Bible gives us about this. Unfortunately, there is no Exorcisms for Dummies book that you can buy or download onto your Kindle. There are plenty of books out there by various authors, but as Christians, we should always start with the What you Need to Know about Being a Christian for Dummies book, otherwise known as the Bible (not that the Bible is dumbed down, but that is our intellectual state). I don’t really like using the word “exorcisms” by the way, as it makes me think of those stupid, Hollywood movies. Seriously, how many movies about demon possessed people can they make these days???
The problem is that there are really only two detailed “casting out demon” stories in the Gospels, and only two in Acts. Most of the time, it simply states that Jesus’ ministry involved this activity like in Mark 1:39, “And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.” (a little scary that demons and synagogues seem to be connected here). No detail is really given, just the facts: Jesus kicking demons back into hell. Since there are only two longer stories, there must be something significant in them for us to understand. The real question is though is what that “something” is. In this post, we will deal with the story of Legion, and in the next post, we will handle the boy the disciples couldn’t heal. (there are other stories like Mark 7:24-30 and Luke 13:10-17, but the demon possession seems secondary to the main point of the story)
Mark 5:1-20, and it’s parallel passages in Luke 8:26-39 and Matthew 8:28-34, gives us the longest exorcism story of Jesus’ ministry. I have read many books that combine this story with people’s own personal experiences to give instructions on how to cast out demons. One that I have read often is that in order to cast out or bind the demon, we must know its name in order to have power over it. This could be a personal name, area of sin, or geographic area (Legion, spirit of slavery, prince of Persia, etc…) They come to this conclusion from the fact that Jesus asks the demon it’s name, and then casts it out. In fact, it says Jesus tells the demon to come out, then asks the name, and then it comes out. Their conclusion being that Jesus first attempt was unsuccessful since he didn’t know its name. This is a very important teaching, the problem is that it is not Christianity. The spiritual practice it belongs to is called magic or witchcraft, and the religion it belongs to is called idolatry or satanism.
What??? Am I saying this story about Legion shouldn’t be in the Bible? No, I am saying that we have allowed occult or pagan practices to affect our interpretation of this story. In Jesus day, the Asian mystery cults, as well as Babylonian magic, believed that to learn the “secret name” of a spirit or deity would enable a human to have power or influence over that spirit. They would give loads of money to “holy men” or mystics who promised that they had learned those secret names, and that if used, could grant the person power. We need to take the whole of the Gospels in context, where Jesus’ normal routine is to silence demons, not conduct an interview. See Mark 1:25, 1:34 and Luke 4:35, 4:41 for how Jesus would tell the demons to shut up. If this is Jesus’ normal way of doing things, why does He change for this one time?
I believe Jesus does this because He knew what the reply would be and what it would inspire within his disciples. The demon’s answer is “Legion, for we are many.” A Roman legion was a military grouping comprised of around 5,000 men. Now, I don’t know if there were 5,000 demons in this guy, but the point is there was a truckload! You can imagine the fear it inspired in the disciples as they realized that one possessed person could actually contain this many demons inside, thus in their minds, being that much more powerful. Yet, Jesus wants them to understand one basic fact; one demon or thousands of demons, NOTHING is more powerful than the authority of Christ! Jesus sends them flying off into the pigs, which creates a mad stampede into the ocean. Not even the demon backed power of Rome (Caesar and his legions) can stand in the way of the kingdom of Jesus.
The reality we will have to face is that the Bible doesn’t give us a complicated list of steps to follow in casting out demons. It is usually as simple as Acts 16:18, where all it takes is one verse to tell us that “Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.” I worry that in making it such a complex procedure, it is really saying that we don’t have enough faith in the actual power of the name of Christ alone. Why do we need more than the blood and name of Jesus? It sure doesn’t make for a ticket selling, drawn out movie though. It would be way too short and anti-climactic in the real “Paul” version. Where is the fun in that?
The Bible Nerd 