Sunday, October 25, 2009

Preaching and demonic extradition

Jesus travels throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons- a summary of a number of months I imagine- And these are the two elements he puts in of the time- preaching in Synagogues and driving out demons (does John have many demons being driven out?) It sounds like quite a few demons got driven out- seems like a fairly widespread ailment- once again wonder how widespread today- should I be thinking about how to drive them out? I suppose there's more than just 'exorcism' that drives them out- when the kingdom comes into a place it has not particularly been before. Perhaps Jesus would like us to get a hold of this first- how do you love your neighbour, say no to temptation, learn obedience and endurance- would seem that running around casting out demons is not for the immature- “Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you? then they get a beating and run out naked and bleeding..
(Is this another case of demonic honesty not out of any desire to be honest, but in this case actually stating truth- Jesus I know- have had experience of him- seen him in all his glory- though this is some sort of horror like Jadis in the Magicians Nephew after she has eaten the apple- And whatever I think of him I know he is powerful, I know about Paul- he's been causing no end of trouble- trying to thwart what he's up to- but you- you have no idea what you are doing- or what you are up against- and in this case no idea of the one whose name you are carrying out these casting outs) – interestingly it seems they had had success before meeting with this demon- what does that mean?

Preaching in Synagogues- Israel such an interesting nation with this amazing heritage- Jesus could sound chords here in a way not possible in other countries- deeper, richer, with more complexities. Not many people seemed to get the whole score or even a large chunk of it in their heads at once- but it was there to be appreciated and understood- ah there's the Moses chord, ah was that an unmistakable messiah note. Jesus is not coming from the outside- what he brings is not entirely new, he is no alien with a bright light- but a Jewish man grown in Jewish soil... a man brought up to know appreciate the goodness and stoutness of the old wine of the Jews- had taken it in deeply- brings a new wine- more full bodied and zesty than the old- but it's still from the same vineyard- as Paul points out- the same stock; the same roots.

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