‘What have you come to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.’ But Jesus rebuked him, saying, ‘Be silent and come out of him!’ Mark, ch.1

Trivia question: what happens next? Answer: “…the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him.”

Rob Bell reminds us in Jesus Wants to Save Christians that God always hears the cry of the oppressed — and this cry shows up a lot — in Egypt and Babylon and Capernaum, for example — places Bell reminds us are ‘east of eden’ — in exile. That is to say, not where God wants us to be.

The new testament talks a lot about the discernment of spirits — some are spirits of liberation and life, some are spirits of captivity and death — and these spirits can find us and guide us wherever we might be.

Have you ever wondered why saying ‘yes’ to Jesus is so difficult? Why we seem to have every excuse in the book not to follow?

It may be that we, like the guy in the synagogue, are being held captive — by some spirit, some belief, some familiarity and comfort with life in exile — and that comfort in exile just might make it more difficult for us to cry out, to repent, and to return.

And yet, it’s these same spirits of comfort and complicity that Jesus has come to cast out of our lives — and we may convulse and cry a bit — and that may be just what the doctor ordered.