Blog (2) William Stegbauer

The first major act one sees in the gospel of Mark concerning Jesus’ actions upon others is an exorcism[1].  Promptly the idea of divine authority gets established although it might not be necessary.  Why bother having a passage where the unclean spirits proclaim like a billboard that there cannot be doubt whether or not Jesus carries Divine Favor.  Then we see him casting a legion of demons into a herd of swine but without the same statements of divine advertising in Mark 5:1.  So why does Mark feel the need to emphasize the healing powers of his humanistic Jesus? 

                Mark gives us the passage a few lines earlier stating the obvious affliction of divine madness that struck Jesus upon receiving baptism.  One could say that once Mark established Jesus’ divine authority there wasn’t a need to have the plague spirits of the wild proclaim his divine nature.  By his third exorcism Mark has miracles performed, seals of approval from his apostles, and multiple healings of the blind and sick to draw authority.  This allows Mark to take a more subtle tone not in keeping with the same fervor as Jesus’ first exorcism.[2]

Or we could view the two exorcisms in a cultural context of two modern day polar opposites that do practice exorcism namely Mediterranean and northern African cultures[3] versus Baluchi peoples of southern Afghanistan and northern Pakistan[4].  Ideally you have the former cultures expressing openly their concerns of illness that cover mind, body and spirit opposed to the latter that advocates.  The idea of an African exorcism doesn’t imply solely an illness caused by evil spirits.  An African exorcism can target ill relations between two persons who want a point of reconciliation and need to find a scapegoat thus saving face from either party having to admit to wrong doing.  One could see Mark have his Jesus transitioning at these points from curing individual evils to social evils.  This isn’t unlike the idea of the Hellenistic apothecary that gives a healing towards social ills through sacrifice, the idea of that ill wind possessing two tribes. 

But with our Afghans who view disease as a means of testing endurance, exorcism gets used as a platform for expression.  A society that repressed allows for the loophole for women to act out of cultural character if they’re possessed by a spirit.  Also, the exorcist or baithak gets to jump cultural boundaries in order to perform the exorcism exactly in the extreme manner of Mark 11:15, the cleansing of the temple. 

Bibliography

Mugabe, Henry Johannes. 2010. "Markan healings through African eyes." Review & Expositor 107, no. 3: 363-379. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed February 14, 2012).

Nasir, Mumtaz.  1987. “Baithak: Exorcism in Peshawar” Asian Ethnology 633, vol. 46/2: [159-78]

New King James Version

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[1] Mark 1:21, New King James Version

[2] Mark 9:14, New King James Version

[3] Mugabe, Henry Johannes. 2010. "Markan healings through African eyes." Review & Expositor 107, no. 3: 363-379. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed February 14, 2012).

[4] Nasir, Mumtaz.  1987. “Baithak: Exorcism in Peshawar” Asian Ethnology 633, vol. 46/2: [159-78]