Mark 3:20-35[1]
In 1968, the Rolling Stones shocked the world with
a track on their album Beggars Banquet:
it was called, “Sympathy for the Devil.”[2] Those who saw “Rock and
Roll” as a corrupting influence on young people immediately seized on this as
evidence that the Stones were “devil worshippers.” If you actually read the
lyrics of the song, the “devil” is reminding us that many of the things “blamed”
on the “devil” really belong at the feet of human greed, malice, prejudice, and
hatred.[3] I refer to this song because I think all too often the “devil” has become a
convenient excuse for our bad behavior. Like the mainstream culture of the
1960’s we still cast blame for the evil in this world on someone or something
“other” than ourselves. Essentially, Mick Jagger’s lyrics exposed the fraud of
a so-called “decent culture” that was still sanctioning atrocities of all
kinds. And rather than recognize it, the “pillars of society” did what people
have done through the ages: they blamed it on the “devil.”
That’s what’s going on in our Gospel lesson for
today. Jesus had come into the Jewish world with the announcement that the
kingdom of God was at hand, but it was a kingdom that ran contrary to their traditional
beliefs. As a result, the Jewish religious leaders were already convinced that he
had to be “destroyed” (Mk 3:6). In our lesson for today, they make an
accusation that was intended to incite the people to take him out and stone
him: “He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons”
(Mk. 3:22). It was an accusation so offensive they hoped that all they had to
do was make it, and the crowd would take care of the rest. They were basically
accusing Jesus of blasphemy.
But Jesus refutes that accusation in two ways. He
begins by pointing out that it’s illogical: “if a kingdom is divided against
itself, that kingdom cannot stand” (Mk 3:24). It would make no sense for a
“devil” to attack itself. Beyond that, Jesus goes on to say that “no one can
enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the
strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered” (Mk 3:27). It may not be
obvious, but I think Jesus is claiming that he was in fact disempowering evil
by the Spirit of God.[4] In a very real sense, he turned the accusation of blasphemy back against them!
God was manifesting his kingdom through Jesus, and they had rejected it.
All of this raises the question of the role of the
“devil” in our faith. For me, the place to begin is the beginning. There is no
room in the Bible for a personification of evil who is equal to God.[5] This
is due to the biblical faith that “the Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Dt.
6:4). God is the only one who reigns supremely as Lord of all creation. The
Bible clearly attests the experience of evil in the world, but there is hardly
any specific reference to a “devil” in the Hebrew Bible. On the other hand, the
NT uses this language frequently, and calls this “instigator of evil” by many
names. The question is whether we are meant to understand these references
literally or figuratively.[6]
Many have believed we are to take them literally. But
most of what we were taught about the “devil” was crafted over centuries. It
began with the Jewish lore that was used to explain the existence of evil. As a
result of their exposure to Persian religion in Babylon, the Jewish people turned
to the idea of an “archenemy” of God to make sense of their suffering. This was
later developed by church fathers into a “theology” of the “devil” as a fallen
angel.[7] Many of our beliefs about the “devil” actually arose in the Middle Ages, in
response to the horrors of wars and plagues.[8] They were not so much the official
doctrine of the church. People felt themselves to be threatened by powers that
were beyond their control. As a result, the “devil” became firmly embedded in
the Christian imagination.
What are we to make of all this? It’s clear that
there is evil in this world. Much of it truly is of our own making. But there
is evil in this world that goes beyond human sin. At the end of the day, the fact
that we live in a world created by a loving God where bad things happen to good
people is a mystery that defies explanation. If the “devil” helps you make
sense out of it, you have centuries of church tradition to support you. But
remember, we do not “believe in” the “devil.” Rather, we believe “against the power of darkness.”[9] If there really is a “devil,” we need to remember two things: first, it is a
created being. That means its power is limited. It is not all-powerful, all-present, or all-knowing. Those qualities belong to God alone. And second, it is a defeated
being. That means we don’t have to live in fear of a “devil” constantly threatening
to “undo” us.
I choose to place my faith in “one God, the Father,
the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth,” and in “one Lord, Jesus Christ, the
only Son of God,” and in “the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life” as the
Nicene Creed puts it. That is the foundational statement of our faith, and I
was raised in that faith. For that reason, I’ve never felt compelled to see
this world as one that’s “filled” with “devils.” Even though I’ve experienced
my share of evil in life, I see this as “my Father’s world”! And Jesus my
Savior and Lord is the one who reigns over all this world at the right hand of
God. In our lesson for today, Jesus reminds us that there is no rival that can
stand against God’s kingdom. Any “devil” that may be out there is a weak and
limited creature. Through the cross and resurrection of Jesus God has already broken the power of evil in this world. And one
day all evil will be banished from God’s creation. So for my part I have no
sympathy, no concern, and not even any credit to give to a “devil,” because I
believe in and entrust my life to the one triune God whom alone I make every
effort to worship and serve![10]
[1] © 2021 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan
Brehm, Ph. D, on 6/6/2021 for Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.
[2] The
Rolling Stones, “Sympathy for the Devil,” Beggars
Banquet (1968: Decca Records). See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sympathy_for_the_Devil
.
[3] Robert
Greenfield, “The Rolling Stone Interview: Keith Richards” Rolling Stone (19 August 1971).
[4] Cf.
Matthew 12:28: “But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then
the kingdom of God has come to you.”
[5] Cf. Shirley
C. Guthrie, Christian Doctrine,
revised edition, 175: “We believe in the one true and living God who alone is God and who alone will be triumphant in and over the
world.”
[6] Cf. Hendrikus
Berkhof, Christian Faith, 97-98,
where he distinguishes four levels in discerning the “Word of the Lord” in
Scripture: 1) the direct witness concerning God and his saving acts and words;
2) the insights that are directly based on this witness and follow from it; 3)
“representations” by which these insights are figuratively expressed without a
definite connection to the insights themselves; and 4) representations that
derive from other social or religious traditions. Berkhof assigns the “devil”
to the third level “because the figure of a satan seldom occurs [in the Bible],
and where it does, in very different ways.”
[7] Jaroslav
Pelikan, The Christian Tradition: A
History of the Development of Doctrine, Vol 1: The Emergence of the
Catholic Tradition (100-600), 135-37.
[8] See J. B. Russell, The Prince of Darkness: Radical Evil and the Power of Good in History, 140-156, where he traces the "story" of the "devil" in the art, literature and plays of the High Middle Ages.
[9] Guthrie,
Christian Doctrine, 180.
[10] See “The
Brief Statement of Faith,” The Book of
Confessions, 311: “In life and in death we belong to God. Through the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy
Spirit, we trust in the one triune God, the Holy One of Israel, whom alone we
worship and serve.”
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