Reading Luke today. One section title caught my attention for a couple of reasons. First, it reads "Jesus Heals a Man with an Unclean Demon." Is this as opposed to a sparkly clean demon? I'm always interested in the specific words chosen by translators/editors, and this one strikes me as very curious. (This is in the ESV, my new favorite reading and studying translation.) In the passage it reads that a man had a spirit of an unclean demon. I'm relatively certain that the section header was written the way it was because of the rendering of this verse. The NET uses the same words. NIV is a little less literal and declares the man to be possessed by a demon, an impure spirit. It reads more as explanatory than simply declaratory. That makes sense, and yet I wonder...
If every word of the Word is God-breathed, then there must be a reason why this demon is also described as unclean. Surely we know that all demons are unclean. The question I have to ask myself is this: did God emphasize the uncleanliness of this demon because in practice I don't treat all of them as unclean? My own personal demons (sin) certainly aren't always regarded as the filthy beasts they are. Truth be told, there are always a few I primp and preen, trying to spruce them up to make them presentable in public. Perhaps God is reminding me through simply including one word (akathartou in the Greek, I checked, it's in the original) that these things are all unclean. It's not just the demons in others that must be cast out by Jesus, it's my own as well. There's no perfume I can put on them to cover the smell of their filth. I can't make them up to mask their ugliness. Scrubbing them with the human soap of rationalization and the fleshy loofah of justification cannot change what they are: unclean. And, if Jesus is my savior and lord, they have no place along side the Spirit of God inside me. Though they protest (and me right along with them sometimes) the words of the Lord must be headed, "Be silent and come out of him!" Being reminded that these things are unclean is exactly what I need. God is not being repetitive. God is saying exactly what I need to hear using exactly the right words. Even the one word that appears like an extra at first blush is perfectly placed to demonstrate His love and to accomplish His will.
The second thing about this that struck me upon reading it is this: yes, there are spiritual forces out and about in the world. With all of life's material concerns pressing so heavily on hearts and minds it can be very easy to forget that the whole of reality cannot be summed up by physics. The physical world is not all there is. Focusing only on the things of this world leads inevitably to neglect of the spiritual world. Luke wrote so naturally about a man with a demon. He didn't go through some convoluted contortions trying to explain away the spiritual world intruding on the physical. He simply stated that a man had an unclean demon in him as if it was as normal as pie because it is. The world of the spirit is not contained within our boundaries. It is part of our lives every day. At work? Yes. Driving with that jackwagon on my bumper? Yes. Everywhere other than just at church with my Christian friends who understand these things? Yes. Throwing the blankets of the material world over my head and pretending the spiritual world can't see me Monday-Saturday works about as well as hiding from the monsters of childhood did. Now, as then, the only thing that chases those unclean spirits away is the presence of Dad surrounding me with his light.
A final thought on this demon possessed guy. He was in the synagogue. Possessed of an unclean demon he still went to church. Not doing so would be like avoiding the hospital for fear of getting blood on the sheets of the exam room. That's what they're there for. Same thing with the fellowship of believers and sin. If I'm physically sick or broken I go to the hospital to get well. If I'm spiritually sick or broken I must go to where the spiritual healing is. Where two or three are gathered in His name...
No comments:
Post a Comment