Tuesday January 9, 2018
“The earth was literally a hell,” wrote someone describing the belief in evil spirits in Jesus’s time. The air was thought to be full of them. They were believed to cause physical and mental illness when they gained access to a person. The synagogue was a place of teaching; there was no music, no sacrifice (that was in the Temple). But in casting out demons, Jesus was doing something for people; he wasn’t just discoursing on the Law, as the scribes did endlessly. When Jesus frequented synagogues (before they expelled him and he never returned) he didn’t just preach; he healed people’s tortured minds and bodies; he restored their strength to them. Sometimes preachers disable people, by a habit of denunciation, by forever enjoining obedience, quoting rules.... But listen to Jesus preaching. Just listen. And also look. See what happens when he comes near people.
