Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Daimoniacus in synagoga

The Sabbath meeting is disturbed by an unclean spirit. The spirit knows who Jesus is. Here is the first part of Mark's focus: who is this Jesus? Are we to believe the unclean spirit? Are we to be more than impressed by the authority of the teaching and of the actions which we have portrayed in front of us?

The spirit asks a question that is not answered: are you come to destroy us? The fear we know in the presence of authority invites self-protection whatever our technique might be. The spirit has exposed itself. Does it truly know that Jesus is the Holy One of God? Do we know the spirit that is in another or do we project our own fears onto the one we see?

I want you to know, Beloved, that the task laid out for me is too difficult. I have researched only a small portion of these texts and already the complexity of differences leaves me wondering how they were created, and I born so close to the places where the events happened and the child of one of the secretaries. Perhaps I will not reach the appointed end of my task, but bit by bit I will continue.

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