Book Review: The Function of Exorcism Stories in Mark’s Gospel (Andreas Hauw)

Why do the Gospels show Jesus casting out demons? More specifically, why does Mark use so much of his Gospel showing that Jesus has the power to cast out demons? According to Andreas Hauw, “Mark’s Gospel highlights the significance of miracles which is demonstrated by eighteen miracles stories or 31 percent of this Gospel’s materials” (6). Please excuse the math here, but approximately 32% of Mark’s miracle stories are exorcisms. So about 10% of Mark deals with exorcisms. That’s a bigger slice of Mark than I had expected considering all of the other miracles, parables, debates, eschatological teaching, and the chapters on the way of the cross (Mark 8-10, which includes a exorcism) and the chapters on Jesus’ passion (Mark 14–15) that fill Mark’s Gospel.

Mark 1:1 states, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Everything we read in Mark points to Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah, and the Son of God, including his exorcisms. Hauw’s goal and thesis is that “the markan exorcism stories intend to portray Jesus’ identity as the Son of God” (x). While there are actually different definitions for what constitutes an excorcism, Hauw defines “exorcism” as the expulsion of evil spirits” (4). An exorcist is one “who expels evil spirits” and demon-possession is “a condition in which an evil spirit is controlling a person’s actions and probably inhabiting his body“ (4).

Already in Mark 1 while Jesus is authoritatively teaching in the synagogue, and just after he has called some disciples to follow him, he casts a demon out of a man (1:21–27). While the accounts of excorcisms in Mark 5:1–20; 7:24–30 and 9:17–29 are also recorded in Matthew and Luke, Mark gives the fullest description of what occurs in 5:1–20 and 9:17–27 (as well as 1:21–27). This includes the wonder and amazement of the witnesses who either heard the testimony of the healed (5:20) or who saw the healing themselves (1:27).

Jesus’ exorcisms caused the onlookers to question who Jesus was and what he was doing (1:27; 3:20–35; 5:14; 9:15). Along with many commentators, Hauw notes that unlike human beings, the unclean spirits acknowledge Jesus’ identity as “the holy one of God” (1:24), the “Son of God” (3:11), the “Son of the most high God” (5:7), and they obey him (1:27; 5:13; 9:26). Therefore, “Mark’s Gospel, therefore, links the theme of exorcism with Jesus’ identity” (7). Hauw’s quest is to understand what Mark is trying to communicate to his readers about Jesus’ identity through the stories of his exorcisms. He does this by looking at Mark’s Gospel through the lenses of historical-literary and theological analyses (so, good and normal modes of exegesis).

Hauw understands the first exorcism story in the synagogue (1:21–28) and the Beelzebul controversy (3:20–35) (chapters 4 and 5) to have a programmatic function in Mark’s Gospel. They help us understand the three remaining exorcism stories (5:1–20; 7:24–30; 9:14–29), as well as other brief statements in Mark about exorcism. The Beelzebul controversy is important because it “reveals Jesus’ understanding of his own exorcism” ministry (9).

Jesus shows himself to be an eschatological teacher. He both teaches with great authority and does great deeds of healing and exorcism. His exorcisms show that he has come to destroy the old regime that lies under Satan’s rule. We read that Jesus understands his role in this way by what he says in Mark 3. Jesus understands that he bears the authority and the power to terminate Beelzebul’s kingdom. Jesus has come to establish God’s kingdom over all creation. As well, Jesus bears the Holy Spirit and so has the authority to wipe away the unclean sin by forgiving it. Jesus is both forgiver and exorcist.

Jesus also declares that those who follow him and do God’s will are his (eschatological) family. The disciples, as part of Jesus’ new family and who are then “insiders,” are eschatological disciples as they (in Mark 6) go out and do things the outsiders cannot do: they are given authority to exorcise demons and thus to subdue Satan. Outsiders have no right to carry out Jesus’ mission. They will bring the message of God’s royal dominion and are given the authority to do what Jesus has done. In Mark6, the disciples are given authority to subdue satan by their exorcism. In addition, the disciples stand in contrast to Jesus’ family and the scribes who have no right to be with Jesus or carry out Jesus’ mission.

Jumping back to the beginning of Hauw’s book, he looks at exorcism in the OT and JSTL (Jewish Second Temple literature) in chapters 2 and 3. He observes that Yahweh is clearly seen as being stronger than Satan. But here, exorcism is not connected with the coming of God’s kingdom. To connect this to the NT, Hauw points to JSTL. Certain texts present David, Solomon, and Abraham as exorcists, and others reflecting “an expectation that a future king of Israel or a messianic figure from David’s family will be an exorcist par excellence” (56).

Chapters 6–8 look at the three longer exorcism scenes:

1. the exorcism of Legion from a man in gentile territory (Mark 5:1–20),
2. the exorcism of the Syrophoenician’s daughter (Mark 7:24–30),
3. and the exorcism of a father’s son, the failure of the disciples (Mark 9:14–29),
   1. as well as a man outside of the Twelve who exorcises in Jesus’ name (9:38–41).

The Chocolate Milk

Showing how Jesus’ exorcisms point to him being the Son of God is an important endeavor. Most moderns don’t know how Jesus’ exorcisms are relevant for today since we don’t see them as often as in Jesus’ day (or ever). When that’s the case the most we can do is suppose that his exorcisms show his authority over the devil. Hauw does well at showing how certain scenes in Mark were unique, how they show Jesus’ Lordship and characteristics, how he establishes God’s kingdom in the places he exorcises demons, as well as the common themes between the stories.

The Spoiled Milks

Hauw’s book falters in a few areas. The main one for me is that if the most one can do through reading their Bible is suppose that Jesus’ exorcisms show his authority over the devil, Hauw’s book doesn’t take us much further than that, at least according to Hauw’s final conclusion (p. 197). His conclusion confirms that supposition, yes, but there is no further grand discovery other than that Jesus’ exorcisms show him to be the Son of God. There is good exposition within the book that points to this fact, yes. However, according to the foreword written by Kim Huat Tan, I assume this book was Hauw’s dissertation. The average person who hasn’t studied Mark in any details won’t pick up such an academic work, and any who have studied it for a while will have already largely come to Hauw’s conclusion.

Recommended?

Hauw accomplishes his goal in showing how Jesus’ exorcisms and power over demons points to his authority as the eschatological Son of Man who brings the kingdom of God, bears the Holy Spirit, and has authority to forgive people of their sins. He shows this through taking a deep dive through showing how Jesus shows his authority and his self-understanding of his mission against Satan’s kingdom as well as through three vibrant scenes of Jesus effectively showcasing his great power against the devil and his minions. Pick this up if you want to dive deeper into these texts, understand how they are connected, and how they show Jesus to be the Son of God.