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Lecture 6 – The Deeds of Jesus – Healing and Exorcism

Required Reading

C.L. Blomberg, “Healing” in Green, McKnight and Marshall (eds.), Dictionary of Jesus and the
Gospels, 299-307

Recommended Reading

L.M. McDonald and S.E. Porter, Early Christianity and Its Sacred Literature (Peabody 2000),
pp.136-141.

Craig A. Evans, "Inaugurating the Kingdom of God and Defeating the Kingdom of Satan." BBR 15.1
(2005): 49-76, available online at
http://www.ibr-
bbr.org/IBRBulletin/BBR_2005/BBR_15_1_03_Evans_KingdomOfGodDefeatingSatan.pdf

Graham Twelftree, “Demon, Devil, Satan” in Green, McKnight and Marshall (eds.), Dictionary of
Jesus and the Gospels, 163-171

Graham Twelftree, In the Name of Jesus: Exorcism Among Early Christians (Grand Rapids: Baker
Academic, 2007)

An older work by Twelftree, Christ Triumphant, is available online for free:

http://regent.blackboard.com/bbcswebdav/users/grahtwe/web/documents/Christ%20Triumphant%20-
%20Exorcism%20Then%20and%20Now.pdf

Jesus the Healer

Acknowledging our present location

The Question of Miracles in a post-Enlightenment world

 David Hume.

o Miracles are a violation of the “laws” of nature = impossible

o Never rational to believe a miracle claim – always a better explanation.

So why does the tradition say Jesus was a miracle worker

 Invention of the early church – “from Jesus to Christ”

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 Jesus did things that were misinterpreted as miracles – for which there are
rationalistic explanations.

The whole dynamic of this debate has changed to a certain degree.

 Redefining scientific laws

 Strong historical evidence (multiple attestation, criterion of embarrassment (i.e

Mark 6 – Jesus couldn‟t do miracles in Nazareth)

The widespread testimony to Jesus‟ miracle working. Jesus enabled:

o blind people to see (e.g., Mt 9:27–31; Mk 8:22–26)

o the deaf to hear (e.g., Mt 11:5; Mk 7:32–37)
o the lame to walk (e.g., Jn 5:1–15)
o cleansed lepers (e.g., Lk 5:12–16; 17:11–19)
o cured fevers (e.g., Mk 1:29–31; Jn 4:43–53)
o stopped a hemorrhage (Mk 5:24–34)
o restored a withered hand (Mk 3:1–6)
o replaced a cut-off ear (Lk 22:51)

Outside the gospels

Josephus – Jesus a 'a doer of startling deeds‟ (AJ 18:63-64)

Rabbinic sources (Sanhedrin 43a [Talmud]: III. cent. AD) – Jesus as sorcerer.

Even in NT (cf. Mark 3:22ff) the debate is not over the reality of the miracles, but
their source

What then is the function of the miraculous in the ministry of

Jesus?

1. It authenticates Jesus as “no ordinary man”.

This is particularly to the fore in the account where Jesus calms the wind and the
waves by a word:
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“Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” (Mark 4:41)

Cf. Honi the Circle-Drawer

(22) Now there was one, whose name was Onias, a righteous man he was, and
beloved of God, who, in a certain drought, had prayed to God to put an end to the
intense heat, and whose prayers God had heard, and had sent them rain.
(Jos.Ant.14.22)

Once they said to Ḥoni the Circle-Drawer, “Pray that rain may fall.” He said to
them, “Go out and bring in the Passover ovens that they may not be softened.” He
prayed, but rain did not come down. What did he do? He drew a circle and stood
within it and said, “Lord of the universe, Your sons have turned their faces to me, for
I am as a son of the house before You. I swear by Your great name that I will not
move from here until You have mercy on Your sons.” Rain began dripping. He said,
“Not for this have I prayed, but for rain [that fills] cisterns, pits, and caverns.” It
began to come down violently. He said, “Not for this have I prayed, but for rain of
goodwill, blessing, and plenty.” It came down in moderation until Israel went up from
Jerusalem to the Mount of the House because of the rain (m. Ta‟anit 3:8)

Commanding versus praying.

Hebrew beliefs about the raging waters:

o Gen 1:2

o Gen 6:11

The sovereignty of Yahweh over the waters

o Psalm 29:1-4

3
The voice of the LORD is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
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the LORD, over mighty waters.

o Psalm 104:5-7

7
At your rebuke they flee;
at the sound of your thunder they take to flight.

o The implicit Christology of the NT

o Very rare to see the Synoptics draw a link between miracles and Jesus
deity (cf. Acts 2:22)

 Attesting God‟s support rather than incarnation per se.

o Does Jesus do his works of power because he is God incarnate, or does

he do his works of power because he is anointed with power by the
Holy Spirit?

o They certainly attest to Jesus as God‟s eschatological agent, the one

through whom God‟s kingdom is coming.

“Jesus‟ deeds are not self-interpreting. Ancient observers were free to lump Jesus in
with Israel‟s prophets, or to write him off as one more wandering hellenistic holy
man. Free, that is, until they listened to Jesus‟ words and observed the rest of his life”
(Bruce Fisk)

o The offering of eschatological forgiveness as a clue to divine identity

2. The miracles give people a foretaste of the kingdom

Jesus answer in Matt 11:2-6 in response to the doubts of John the Baptist

“Go and tell John what you hear and see….

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The kingdom enacted and demonstrated

The link between the proclamation of the kingdom and healing

Matt 4:23; 9:35; Luke 9:2; 10:9.

The Jewish hope of salvation – full-bodied life on earth

3. The healings are not always only about body – include

discipleship and community

 Discipleship

o Blind Bartimaeus (Mark 10:52) and Mary Magdalene (Luke 8:2)

 Community

o Leprosy is social as much as medical

Healing in an honor and shame culture

o To have honor was to have a worth that is publicly acknowledged.

o Identity in the ancient world is dyadic (=paired) – one needs other people continually
in order to know who he or she really is.

o Diseases that are dishonourable and polluting:

45
 The person who has the leprous disease shall wear torn clothes
and let the hair of his head be disheveled; and he shall cover his
upper lip and cry out, “Unclean, unclean.” 46 He shall remain
unclean as long as he has the disease; he is unclean. He shall live
alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp. (Lev 13:45-46)

o The prominence of touch

 Not required – see Matt 8:5-13

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Some who are touched are restored to community

 Lepers – Mk 1:41
 The woman with a haemorrhage – Luke 8:43-48
 The dead – Luke 7:14

Matt 10:8 - Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons

4. The Kingdom as Good News

 Not a single punitive miracle

 Judgement is pending, but now is the time of God‟s favour.

 All are healed – Samaritans, Syrophoenician woman, Roman centurion

5. The scandal of Jesus miracles – the wrong kind of miracle

worker

 Jesus never does miracles on demand - Matt 12:38-39; 16:1-4; Luke 11:16,
29-30

 Jesus sends away the crowds from a miracle – Matt 9:25

 Even does miracles where the crowd doesn‟t know what is happening – Mark
5:30

 Compare with Infancy Gospel of Thomas

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Where do healings sit in the inaugurated kingdom?

o The healings are temporary pointers – but they point forward to something far
greater.
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o The inbreaking of the kingdom is always Christocentric and crucicentric –

which means the kingdom‟s present entry into the world is ultimately focussed
on the cross and the resurrection of Christ. Our participation in the
resurrection is a blessing we await.

The purpose of Jesus‟ startling deeds is not, within the logic of the Gospels, to evoke a
belief in miracles today but rather to inspire a longing for the day when God‟s
kingdom comes fully upon the world. Throughout history, Christian faith has always
involved a restless hope – a hope captured perfectly in the prayer „Your kingdom
come!‟. The previews of that kingdom which the miracles of Jesus provide has usually
made Christ‟s followers dissatisfied with the way things are and desperate for the way
things Christ said they would be. Christian hope is thus confidently restless: it praises
God for the preview (in Jesus‟ life) and pleads for the finale (in the „kingdom come‟),
when evil will be overthrown, humanity healed and creation itself renewed. (John
Dickson, A Spectators Guide to Jesus, 45)

Jesus the Exorcist

OT Backgrounds

 The OT is relatively quiet on most things demonic

o The Old Testament word for demons (sûēd) appears only twice (Deut
32:17; Ps. 106:37). For other potential references to evil spirits or
demons see Judg. 9:23–24, 1 Sam. 16:15–16; 28:13; 1 Kings 22:19–
23; 2 Chron. 18:18–22; 1 Sam. 28:13). Other possible Old Testament
references to demons include goat idols (Lev. 17:7; 2 Chron. 11:15;
Isa. 13:21; 34:14), night creatures (Isa. 34:14), and idols (LXX of Ps.
96:5).

 The OT is relatively quiet on the person of Satan

o The Hebrew word śātān means “an adversary, one who resists.” It is
translated as “Satan” eighteen times in the Old Testament, fourteen of
those occurrences being in Job 1–2, the others in 1 Chronicles 21:1 and
Zechariah 3:1–2. There is some dispute as to whether it should be
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taken as a proper name or a title. In Job and Zechariah the definite
article precedes the noun (lit., “the satan” or “the accuser”). Thus some
argue it should be a title, while in 1 Chronicles (no article) it should be
a proper name. The word is used also of various persons in the Old
Testament as “adversaries,” including David (1 Sam. 29:4), Rezon of
Damascus (1 Kings 11:23, 25), and the angel of the Lord (Num. 22:22,
32).

 Throughout the OT, there is a strong emphasis on Yahweh‟s supreme

sovereignty, and even where Satan does intrude upon the text, his powers are
regarded as limited, and circumscribed by the permissive will of God (see, in
particular, Job 1-2, and the article by Sydney H. T. Page, “Satan, God‟s
Servant” Journal of Evangelical Theological Society 50 (2007): 449-65.

 Throughout the Second Temple period, there is a growing interest in

“demonology”. This is presaged in the book of Daniel (see Dan. 10:13). But
comes to full flower in books like 1 Enoch and Jubilees, which attribute much
of the evil in the world to spiritual forces which oppress humanity and lead
men and women astray.

 This leads to a growing expectation that the arrival of God „s kingdom (his
eschatological, saving rule), will also bring the defeat of evil, in particular, the
destruction of Satanic/demonic activity

Jubilees 23:29-30:

1 Enoch 10:4-6 (Gk manuscript): Aza‟el = Satan.

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 Thus, by the time we hit the NT, it is presupposed that there exists a world
of spiritual evil.

 One of the key features of Jesus‟ ministry is that he confronts this world of
evil spirits head on.

Lk 13:32. 31 At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from
here, for Herod wants to kill you.” 32 He said to them, “Go and tell that fox for me,c
„Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on
the third day I finish my work.

Mk 3:24-27
24
If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house
is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 And if Satan has risen
up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come. 27 But no
one can enter a strong man‟s house and plunder his property without first tying up
the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered.

But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has
come to you (Matt 12:28//Luke 11:20)

o Exorcism in kingdom perspective

o Compare Eleazar (Jos.Ant.8.46-49). Cf. NT mentions of Jewish exorcists (Mt

12:27; Lk 11:19; Acts 19:13)

o The lack of kingdom significance in other exorcists

o A sign pointing to the turn of the ages – the kingdom of Satan is being
dismantled, beaten back and defeated.

o The battle between God and Satan happens…..

Techniques of exorcism in the ancient world

The techniques of exorcism in antiquity were varied, including the following:

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 The use of various materials/sounds (blood, water, bells, colours [especially blue or
red]);

 The use of ritual (binding magic):

 Beliefs concerning statues or pictures: shutting demons up in them

 The use of charms against evil (amulets) and spells;

 The use of sacred objects (altar cloths, relics);

 The use of animals… sacrificial animals or parts thereof were dedicated to the demon
of disease as a substitute.

What differentiates Jesus from other exorcists?

Several key differences between Jesus and other contemporary exorcists existed:
1. Jesus made no use of magical/mechanical means;

2. Jesus employed no prayer (relies on his own resources to effect the exorcism).

3. Jesus did not call on higher powers (the Holy Spirit is more a source of power
whom Jesus draws on, but with no indication of prayer dependence on the Spirit
[cf. Matt 11:28]);

4. Jesus highlights His own authority and ability to expel the demon (Mk 9:25):
… we see this through the emphatic position of the pronoun accompanying
the verb in Mk 9:25. Literally, Jesus is saying: „I, I command you, come
out of him …‟. Thus by the addition of the pronoun and placing it in the
emphatic position in the sentence (at the beginning), we gain a glimpse
into Jesus‟ technique. He highlights his own authority, highlighting that
he has all the resources within himself to accomplish the exorcism.

5. Jesus' exorcisms point to the advent of the Kingdom of God.