Reading Scripture with Curiosity
I've been participating in an online Bible study through the book of Luke. We've been working our way through Kristi McLelland's Luke in the Land book. I always enjoy slowing down and working through one of the gospel accounts, and Kristi does a great job of inviting us into Jesus's first-century world.
This past week, as I was reading, the focus was on three passages from Matthew 12:22-28, Mark 9:17-29, and Luke 11:14-20, describing Jesus freeing a person from a demon of muteness.
Kristi writes, "History tells us they used a formula of asking the demon to give its name, and then they used the demon's name to drive it out. We see Jesus using this first-century formula in Mark 5:9 when He was interacting with a man overtaken with demonic possession. He asked the demon to give its name. The demon answered, 'My name is Legion' (vs 9). Then Jesus drove the demons out of the man and into the pigs feeding nearby. Now we are beginning to understand the difficulty in casting out a demon of muteness. This demon rendered a person possessed unable to speak; they were literally muted. When a rabbi or religious leader asked for the demon's name, the muted person was not able to answer, and therefore, they were unable to drive out the demon. This is exactly the kind of demon that the disciples could not drive out in Mark 9:17-18."
As I read through these familiar Bible passages and sat with the words Kristi shared, I realized I had a lot of thoughts and questions.
Thinking about demons being a regular part of the everyday lives of people feels hard for me to wrap my head around. Have we normalized demons? Do we ignore them today? Are we oblivious to them?
I was fascinated by the idea that, historically, ridding a person of a demon began with the demon being asked their name. I've noticed Jesus asking that question before in other stories about demons but hadn't really thought much about how that might have been the norm for other rabbis and leaders at the time.
I'd never considered the idea that muteness would complicate the removal of the demon. It makes so much sense to me that the disciples struggled with this demon in Mark 9.
I'm really uncomfortable with this idea of possession. I'm not even sure what to do with those feelings.
I'd like to just move along and think about happier things, but I think I need to wrestle with this some more.
I don't know about you, but this isn't a topic I've heard a lot of teaching on, and I realize there is a lot I don't know or understand.
But one thing Kristi said that caught my attention was that specific signs were being looked for regarding the arrival of the Messiah, and one of those signs was the ability to deal with demons causing muteness. This explains why this was such a big deal for the crowds of people.
I want to read more on this topic and see what else I might learn. I'm going to pull out the book from John Walton, which I started earlier this year.
One of my favorite things about remaining engaged in Scripture is that the more times I read it, the more I notice, and my curiosity grows. I also love that I don't have to understand it all. I can ask questions, feel uncomfortable, wrestle with ideas, have ah-ha moments, and generally hold onto the mystery and wonder of it all.
What have you noticed in Scripture lately that caught your attention in a new way?
~ Melissa