The Passage
“‘Why do we fast and you don’t look our way? Why do we humble ourselves and you don’t even notice?’ Well, here’s why: The bottom line on your ‘fast days’ is profit. You drive your employees much too hard. You fast, but at the same time you bicker and fight. You fast, but you swing a mean fist. The kind of fasting you do won’t get your prayers off the ground.
Do you think this is the kind of fast day I’m after: a day to show off humility? To put on a pious long face and parade around solemnly in black? Do you call that fasting, a fast day that I, God, would like?
“This is the kind of fast day I’m after: to break the chains of injustice, get rid of exploitation in the workplace, free the oppressed, cancel debts. What I’m interested in seeing you do is sharing your food with the hungry, inviting the homeless poor into your homes, putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad, and being available to your own families. Do this and the lights will turn on, and your lives will turn around at once. Your righteousness will pave your way. The God of Glory will secure your passage. Then when you pray, God will answer. You’ll call out for help and I’ll say, ‘Here I am.’” Isaiah 58 (Message)
“There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them.”
― C. S. Lewis
When a follower of Christ obsesses over demonic entities, he becomes entrapped by his infatuation and delivers up his trust in God, trading the eternal comfort of our redeemer for gimmicks and rites that protect and envelop him.
We all recall that defining passage from the Gospel of St. Mark 9:29:
“So He said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.”
The Spiral
Jesus explains to his disciples that certain entities, having held dominion over a person’s life for years, may only be exorcised by a body of believers who pray and fast. His disciples had attempted and failed to deliver a person from the troubling spirits and here Jesus provides an admonishment: this kind | only | exorcised | prayer | fasting.
Scripture does not grant us a robust library on demons, therefore, demonology, or more so, the study of unclean spirits or fallen angels, is a study derived from inference more so than fact or proof. We know that in heaven, as numerous scriptures denote, there are angels or messengers of God who present differently from each other. Cherubs, seraphim, and other angels serve, all in their respective functions, to worship God. Through sentry roles, calling out to God, or serving as messengers of hope or destruction on earth. The only angel or angels we know by name that has been banished from heaven is the devil, Satan, the accuser. His cadre, his posse of unclean spirits, are seldom if ever, named. We do have an incident in the gospels where Christ exorcises a group of unclean spirits from a man, in which they call themselves legion, a term which held great relevance to first-century Judea, which was under Roman occupation. The spirits were not named individually, as if one were Crudence, another, Malior, and another yet, Decadencia. They opted to refer to themselves as a collective, which doesn’t mean there will always be a legion nor that spirits continually combine their efforts to indwell people.
As I said above, much of what we know about demons is subjective, inferred, and understood through the lens of medieval European Christianity which has co-opted and distorted numerous passages of scripture to suit artistic and political gains.
But in this passage, Jesus states that this posse, this kind, this structure, this entity, can only be removed, shunned, and evicted from a person’s life through prayer, and several Bible translations add the word, fasting.
Now, this passage, sapped of its context and singular incidence, can be used to form an understanding of the spiritual world that does not correspond to the rest of scripture. This means understanding that there exist legionnaire demons who collectively form legions and that such formations of demonic entities indwell people and, in light of this, can only be exorcised by prayer and fasting, which makes us, the promoters of this concept, demon hunters.
What do I mean?
Well, for one, “legion” only works for an audience under the linguistic constraints of a Roman empire. Legions, a grouping of 3,000 – 6,000 soldiers, were first introduced on the battlefield by the Roman Republic long before the collective became an Empire and spread through the ancient Mediterranean world. Therefore, the term connoted organization, submission, weaponry, and yes, absolute terror on the battlefield. That fact that this entity opted to use this term was because Jews in first-century Judea understood the connotation of a Roman legion and the damage one of its legionnaires could do on the battlefield. Jews were aware of their numerous rebellions against Persian, then Greek, and now Roman oppressors and the consequence of such actions against a totalizing empire on combatants and civilians alike. Not long after the ascension of Jesus from the earth, Jerusalem and its new temple were razed to the ground by Roman forces, most likely, legionnaires were sent into the rebellious city to annihilate and decimate its population. Rome designated Jerusalem a place in which Jews were prohibited from visiting ever again, under penalty of death.
Therefore, the term “legion” is unique to the first-century mind. Hence why this collective of demons did not call itself French Knights Templar warriors, Spanish Conquistadors, the Islamic Mujahideen, the Nazi Schutzstaffel (SS), or the Einsatzgruppen. Groups feared in their respective times in history. Groups with names only the people within the time of the use of the terms could understand. Names that imbued fear and trembling in those who heard them. If you were a Muslim in the 10th and 11th century residing in Jerusalem and its surrounding districts, you understood the significance of a Christian Knight approaching your town. You were easy prey. If you were an Indigenous woman residing in the Aztec Empire as Spanish Conquistadors approached your town by sea vessels, you understood the fabric of your society was about to be destroyed. If you were a Christian in 20th-century Chechnya, you understood the horrors that would follow if the Mujahideen flooded your town. And we all know the terror and devastation caused by the Nazi SS and its exterminationist arms like the Einsatzgruppen, anywhere they went and discovered Jews and enemies of the Nazi state.
Names have relevance in their respective times and provide context for future generations.
Therefore, was this entity truly named Legion or did it call itself that because of the relevance of the term at the time? If the first is true, then these entities, as a collective, no longer exist and are no longer collectively possessing individuals. If the second is true, then we can no longer call these entities legions because, according to time and context, we must allow them to name themselves in respect to the time in which they exist and seek to indwell people.
If this entity called itself Legion in first-century Judea would it then call itself the Ku Klux Klan in the 19th century? Would it call itself the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in the 21st century?
I am not denying the possibility of name change but I’m curious if we get to name the entity or if the entity names itself over time. And, if we were to encounter such an entity, could we trust its honesty to name itself? For example, if we happen upon a man possessed, whose unclean spirits refuse to leave, and we then engage the unclean entity, asking it to name itself and, in pain, groans, it states: “We are the Roman Curia!” Or “We are the Navy Seals Team Six!”
Do you understand?
Of course, to the Vatican and the Pope, the Roman Curia functions to assist the Papacy in its day-to-day responsibilities to the Catholic Church. As understood by the Vatican, this entity serves as an arm for the good of the institutional church and its hierarchical functions. However, to the victims of Church abuse, the Roman Curia may be perceived as an entity that protects the powerful church and its structures, especially the clergy who commit the abuse.
In like manner, the group of American super-soldiers and death squads known as Navy Seals, are American heroes to Americans. Unless, that is, you’re not an American citizen and you stand on the other side of a Seals weapon, on the other side of the planet. The name connotes pride to one group, and horror, terror, and certain death to another.
Therefore, if we are going to continue in the belief that entities operate as a collective to this day we must contextualize this passage and also provide applicable references and suggestions on how to deal with these spirits today, with their new names. And, if the new names persist, then the meaning of those names in their respective settings must also apply. If an entity calls itself the Roman Curia then we must assume the entity possesses 3,000 unclean spirits. If the entity wants to call itself Seal Team Six, then we must believe there are 200 dedicated death squad demons, 300 specialist soldier demons who focus on equipment and logistics of demon warfare, and over 1,300 demons altogether who indwell a person.
If we are not willing to expand this much mental rigor to understand which and how a demon entity possesses and wields control over an individual, we may, in light of these ideas, be misinterpreting or improperly applying a section of scripture from one incidence in time to produce theology and demonology that does not make sense.
Consequence
Therefore, prayer and fasting avails much in the exorcising of the legion spirit but there is only one reference to this kind of demon possession in all of scripture. Every other time in which both apostles and disciples of Christ engaged in the act of exorcism, they dealt with single spirits. Now, I am not saying that just because it was not canonized it did not happen. What I am saying is that because it was not canonized elsewhere we ought to be cautious in implementing the idea that it has happened numerous times but because we lack the evidence we must therefore proceed without the evidence in faith that “Legion” as it was understood then is still very much active in the world today under the same moniker.
This demon-hunting methodology in the life of Christians distorts healthy Bible reading and interpretation. This mode of Christian living is devoid of faith in Christ as the Son of God because it places a believer’s strength in a rite or ritual versus complete and total dependence on the grace of God.
What do I mean?
Often, unfortunately, we find the Christian with a disposition to fast not for the sake of bettering the life of his fellow neighbor in a very real and physical way, as mentioned above in Isaiah 58, but as a way to prepare himself or herself to exorcise Legion spirits.
The focus of their orientation is not on the reliance on God for very real and present issues, like dismantling oppression, feeding the hungry, housing the poor, and more, but on the unseen and impending doom derived from one day confronting a person with 3,000-6,000 demons.
This mode of living creates in the Christian anxiety to continually prepare and perform and repeat certain rituals, fasting among them, for fear that they may fail in exorcising unclean spirits one day. The focus, which was meant to be on utter reliance on Christ’s complete work on the cross for all spiritual sustenance and formation, is now turned once more, to works, not unto salvation, but works unto perfection, not to be in comfort and relation with God, but to perform miraculous deeds or ask that the miraculous be done at a moments notice because of his or her diligent sacrifices for God.
If fasting and prayer do not lead us to, as God states via Isaiah:
- Break the chains of injustice
- Get rid of exploitation (in the workplace and elsewhere)
- Free the oppressed (wherever and whenever)
- Cancel debts!
- Share our food with the hungry
- House the homeless
- Clothe the naked
- Be present with our family
Then our fasting and praying, which we use to exorcise Legion is worthless.
This rift from faith and assurance in Christ turns the believer into a mystic, a superstitious diviner who performs rituals to control spirits, both good and bad.
I dare you to engage the Christian who spends his or her time fasting and praying in perpetuity for the sake of Mark 9:29 and there you will find a Christian who has deviated from their calling in Jesus to serve as a medium. A believer who takes pride in their prayer life, pride in their fasting life, and pride in being the person who, because of their zeal and unwavering commitment to this ritual, is the only one in their body of believers, who is capable of exorcising Legion, is at risk of spiritual corruption which leads to heresy.
If you ask them if this incessant asceticism has ever put them in a place to confront Legion, the entity, they will admit that they have yet to encounter the entity or lie about having done so, to save face.
A life well lived for a Christian is one in which the believer knows that no matter how much Christianizing he or she does, they will never attain the standard required to be able to do that which Christ did on earth. The deliverance and acts of miraculous nature come not from ritualizing, rinse, and repeat, but from relying completely on the mercy, grace, and presence of Christ in the life of the believer.
It is Christ who does the work. We stand in awe and wonder at His workings in our lives and how He delivers people from certain SPIRITUAL incarcerations.
We, the hands and feet of Christ, fast and pray, if fasting is required at all, I know, here I go beyond that which I am allowed, then we must do so to accomplish that which Isaiah relays above.
If our fasting and praying exist merely to challenge a first-century entity, fearing that we may encounter it again, on the street, in some catacomb, some megachurch, or wherever, then our aim and focus are sadly off the mark.
If an entity does exist and possesses the masses, instead of individuals, it is fair to say that the “spirit of the antichrist” is that entity. But, one must ask, is the spirit of the antichrist singular? Is it plural? Does it possess individuals? An individual? Perhaps it possesses institutions like the British Empire or presents itself as American Imperialism. These superstructures were indeed anti-Christ. They behaved in ways opposite of what Christ preached. Chattel slavery, as an economic structure, denied the humanity of Christ’s Black children. Therefore, chattel slavery and its users were operating as an anti-Christ, no?
Redemption
I do not write this to deconstruct your understanding of Biblical fasting and the fight against unclean spirits.
I write this to invoke in you the desire to understand why you are fasting and what comes of it when you do.
Are you fasting and praying to be seen? To be accepted? To become a champion demon slayer?
Or, are you taking time away from that which gives you pleasure and comfort to serve the needs of those in need, for Christ’s sake?
Have you hyper-spiritualized your fast? Making it a uniquely and singular spiritual act where the focus is you and you alone? Your spiritual development? Your economic needs? Your existential purpose?
One way to determine the intentions behind your desire to fast is to ask, “What will happen to me if I do not fast?”
If your inner workings kindle anxiety at the thought of not fasting, for fear that you will be exposed and humiliated by some arch-demon entity, or, that is not fasting you will not be spiritually mature, as if to say that your lack of doing “a” will lead to the inevitable consequence “b” then you must reconsider the objective purpose of the Gospel of Christ in your life.
Are we saved, redeemed, and sanctified by our works or by Christ’s continual grace? Are we beckoned to love and act out of our volition and self-discipline or because Christ’s light has warmed our hearts to do so? Are we motivated by God’s love to help the world or by our fears that in failing to fast, we will have disappointed God, failed our pharisaical commitments, and emboldened Legion, who lives under every couch, behind every door, and above every armoire?
Come now, Christian, and return to the foundation, sustenance, and motivation of your very faith: Christ.
Christ in essence. Christ in prayer. Christ in work. Christ in failure. Christ when disappointed. Christ in understanding. Christ in lack thereof.
Christ superior.
Resist the urge to turn rituals and rites into requirements of spiritual maturation. Instead, rely solely on Christ for your growth and sustenance, so that, should the day come when you are faced with an entity powerful enough to name itself collectively, you will rely on Christ to provide deliverance and salvation; not your religious rituals.
Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed. – Proverbs 31:8 NLT
Currently Reading
Best Work
Display Photo.
Olivet Theory 