The Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee



Epiphany 4, Year B, January 29, 2012, Holy Trinity Church Nashville

“But Jesus rebuked him, saying, ‘Be silent, and come out of him!” (Mk 1:25).

They say that Adolf Hitler was a spell-binding orator, who could wrap his audience around his little finger through the power of his words. His ability to communicate with groups was no small part of his political success. People would be mesmerized not simply by the message but by the messenger. He used simple words coupled with emotional intensity, and always dealt in absolutes. He seemed to speak from the heart, without a shadow of a doubt, and he connected directly with people’s hopes and fears. The voice emerging from the radio filled not only the airwaves but hearts and minds as well.

Now there is no doubt that this voice exercised a power that was evil, and so we have some perspective on our Gospel today. Jesus’ encounter with the man who was tormented by an unclean spirit culminates in Jesus’ command, “Be silent” (Mk. 1:25). The demon knows Jesus’ identity and wants to use it to gain power over him. It was a belief in the ancient world that if you knew a person’s name you could use it cast a magic spell. That’s not too different from what Hitler did: describe things in such a way that people are manipulated, are held spell-bound by the power of evil.

We probably don’t even need to go as far back as Hitler, do we? The history of politics is littered with examples of demagoguery, so we can understand that Jesus’ first words to the demon are, “Be silent”. Jesus isn’t worried that the demon is going to give away the secret of his identity; he’s worried that the demon is going to worm his way into the hearts and minds of others, playing on their hopes and fears, corrupting and leading to destruction. After all. the devil’s a great manipulator, and words are his tools. He’s a liar and the father of lies (Jo. 8:44). Look at the way in which the serpent tripped up Adam and Eve. It’s an old, old story, and we’re still being lied to and manipulated.

Words have power, power for evil but also for good, and for Christians power resides in the Word of God. The story of Creation begins with a single action, nothing less than God speaking. “Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light” (Gen. 1:3). God speaking and making things come to be; not sending a memo or hitting a switch or even tweeting the event, but speaking. It’s a metaphor of course, but it’s all about personal communication that speaks of the Person himself. It’s creative speech. God is speaking the world into existence, and the word he speaks is himself the Word of God. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (Jo. 1:1), it says in the Gospel of John; the Word made flesh, the only-begotten Son of God, through whom all things were made, and by whom they are restored to health.

The demons want to dissolve creation, while the Word made flesh wants to hold it up and heal it. That’s the voice of Creative Power, and now it’s saying to evil, “Be silent” (Mk 1:25): that is, put a muzzle on the chatter, put a sock in it, sit down and shut up. The unclean spirit is absolutely right: Jesus Christ has come to cast them out and to destroy them. No wonder they’re afraid.

Jesus tells the demons to be silent, but the word that he speaks gives us power to make our own proclamation. The lips of the wicked may be closed but our tongues are freed to share good news. In fact, we dare not be silent. We’re called to speak the praises of God, to join our voices with those of angels and archangels. John the Baptist was the voice of one crying in the wilderness, preparing the way of the Lord; now the Church proclaims the Good News of Jesus’ death and resurrection to the whole creation, as it says at the end of Mark’s Gospel. That’s a life-giving proclamation that means new life for us, for everyone who hears it and puts his trust in him. Each of us is called to proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ. That’s a word that needs to be preached and proclaimed, distributed and shared, spoken and heard.

Jesus never manipulates. He speaks the truth, and he’s speaking it to us. Jesus never misleads. His words have life, and he shares his life with us. There are voices that would manipulate and mislead us but Jesus is shutting them down and casting them out. Jesus brings health and healing and overcomes all evil, because he is the Creative Power and Word who brings new life to the human race.

- The Rt. Rev’d John Bauerschmidt, Bishop of Tennessee

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