Power Struggle (Mark 1: 21-28)

I’ll get to the passage from Mark in a moment. First, I want to start with a passage from Genesis, chapter 6. Listen closely; it’s about giants!

When the number of people started to increase throughout the fertile land, daughters were born to them.  The divine beings saw how beautiful these human women were, so they married the ones they chose.  The Lord said, “My breath will not remain in humans forever, because they are flesh. They will live one hundred twenty years.”  In those days, giants called Nephilim lived on the earth and also afterward, when divine beings and human daughters had sexual relations and gave birth to children. These were the ancient heroes, famous men [Genesis 6: 1-4].

Ancient heroes. Famous men. Giants. Nephilim. Over time, legends developed around these giants. They were incredibly powerful, strong, and massive. And not entirely good.

In the book of Numbers, these Nephilim appear again…

First, Moses sends out some people to explore the land of Canaan, the Promised Land to which the Hebrews would soon arrive.

Then, according to Numbers 13:

They returned from exploring the land …[and] they gave their report: “We entered the land to which you sent us. It’s actually full of milk and honey, and this is its fruit. There are, however, powerful people who live in the land…”

Caleb said, “We must go up and take possession of it, because we are more than able to do it.”

But the men who went up with him said, “We can’t go up against the people because they are stronger than we.” They started a rumor about the land that they had explored, telling the Israelites, “The land that we crossed over to explore is a land that devours its residents. All the people we saw in it are huge men. We saw there the Nephilim. We saw ourselves as grasshoppers, and that’s how we appeared to them.”

As the generations passed, the Nephilim came to symbolize any overpowering, oppressive force. The book of 1 Enoch talks about the Nephilim. 1 Enoch is part of the apocrypha, one of those books that didn’t quite make it into our Bible, but which sheds light on ancient ideas. It talks about the Nephilim, saying that “Evil spirits have proceeded from the giants’ bodies, and the spirits of the giants afflict, oppress, destroy, attack, do battle, and work destruction on the earth and cause trouble. They take no food, but nevertheless hunger and thirst and cause offenses. They consume all the acquisitions of human beings; and when human beings can no longer sustain them, they turn against them and devour humankind.”

Reading through 1 Enoch, it is clear that what is actually being described here are oppressive institutions, like the kingship and the empire, which have denied people the right to live their own lives in freedom and dignity. These institutions are the giants who oppress and destroy. According to Bible scholar Herman Waetjen, these institutions – metaphorically viewed as giants – were too powerful to be conquered or overthrown. They breathed evil breath and unclean spirits into society” [Waetjen, A Reordering of Power,” p. 82].

It is one of these evil spirits that Jesus casts out of a man in the synagogue in Capernaum. This spirit had gained possession of an individual, depriving him of all freedom, dignity, and self-control.

But what was the demon, this evil spirit, doing in the synagogue? Isn't that the last place one would expect to find such a demon?

It is no mistake that this evil spirit is in the synagogue. Mark’s gospel shows that the temple and the priesthood were closely aligned with the empire and the kingship, and together they were the Nephilim in the time of the Roman Empire. They were the powers that oppress and destroy, the powers that take away freedom, take away life and liberty. They deny people the humanity God gave them, and cast a shadow over the image of God that is present in every individual.

For the people living under the shadow of the Roman Empire, being treated as less-than-human, they came to the synagogue seeking hope for liberation. After all, theirs was a faith of liberation, of freedom from bondage. One of the central stories of the faith was the deliverance of the Hebrews from the hand of Pharaoh who had enslaved them. They dared to hope for a similar deliverance in their time.

But those who oversaw the priesthood and the synagogue had no authority of their own. Their authority came from the emperor, and therefore they were hesitant to say anything that would go against imperial power.

And because of this, they failed to provide hope to the people. They failed to provide a way out of oppression. They failed to see those who came to the synagogue as humans bearing the image of God. Because they were under the power of Rome. They were under the power of the Nephilim and their unclean spirits. They were dependent on Rome. They did Rome’s bidding. And, willingly or not, they worked to keep the people dependent on Rome as well.

The people depended on Rome for security. Caesar’s armies were ruthless, and dealt swiftly with anyone who threatened the peace of Rome. Of course, that security came at a great price. It cost the people their freedom. It cost them their livelihood as they were taxed to death – sometimes literally – to pay for it all. And it forced them to live in a heavily militarized state.

The people depended on Rome for food. Sure, many of them grew crops, but most didn’t own the land they worked, and they worked for the wages paid to them by the landowner. They didn’t get to eat the crops they grew. Last week we read Isaiah, the prophet who had a dream that people would be able to eat the fruits of their labor.

That dream was still a long way from being realized.

The fruits of their labor went to Caesar, and in return, Caesar provided them with bread. Caesar knew people wouldn’t bite the hand that feeds them: Be a faithful servant of Caesar, and you get your bread. Be a faithful servant of Caesar, and you get your security. Caesar was the authority, the power, in control of every aspect of your life.

And since the synagogue was under the control and influence of Rome, those who ran the synagogue and taught in the synagogue only taught that which reinforced the ordered life set up by Caesar.

So, yes, the evil spirits of the Nephilim were present in the synagogue.

So then Jesus walks into the synagogue; and he starts teaching as one who can say whatever he wants, whatever he truly believes, without worrying about whether or not it is acceptable to Caesar. He speaks as a man who is truly free, a man who speaks with his own authority, and not the authority of Caesar.

It’s remarkable, really. No one spoke like that. No one dared speak like that.

Jesus spoke about justice. Jesus spoke about love. Jesus spoke about freedom from oppression. And he meant what he said.

Jesus spoke about life. Life was not dependent on Caesar, he said. This was hard for people to believe, because Caesar provided them with security, with bread, and Caesar had the power to grant life or take life. Just look at the rows of crosses that lined the roads into town. Caesar gives life, and Caesar takes life.

But Jesus spoke about a bread of life that was available to all. Later, he wouldn’t just talk about it; he would show, out in the wilderness, that the bread of life comes from God. 5,000 people received bread that day, not from Caesar, but from God.

Eventually, the world would see that even Caesar’s power to take life was not the final word. Jesus himself was eventually nailed to one of those crosses outside of town. And yet, three days later, Jesus proved to the world that the power to end life does not reside with Caesar. There is a greater life, an eternal life, which Caesar cannot touch.

After Jesus had been teaching them and amazing them with the way he taught, a demon – an unclean spirit – revealed itself. What more proof does one need that the synagogue and the Roman Empire were the Nephilim of their day?

The individual possessed by this evil spirit obviously had no freedom, no dignity, no control over his own life. His life was under the control of the spirit and the Nephilim, which is to say, the Roman Empire and the synagogue leaders aligned with Rome. There was no way out for this individual. He was trapped.

Jesus casts out the demon. Once again, his audience is stunned. Freedom is possible? We can live fully-human lives? The weight of oppression can be lifted?

Yes.

There is hope. There is freedom. There is life. That is the good news of the kingdom of God.

The Nephilim are still alive today. Giants still roam the earth, and they still breathe out evil spirits into the world.

And these spirits still control the minds of people.

Shall we name them?

These evil spirits are: Materialism. Consumerism. Greed. Racism. Homophobia. Militarism. Corporate politics.

But as Jesus shows, these spirits can be cast out through: Prayer. Kindness. Justice. Truth. Equality. Compassion. Gratitude. Love.