Driving Out Demons: A Christian Imperative

We, as followers of Christ, are called apart, sent out with authority over all demons and to cure all diseases, therein proclaiming the sovereign rule of God over this world.

The seventy returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:17-20)

All the synoptic gospels narrate the calling and commissioning of the twelve disciples, described as the apostles. In the Gospel of Luke, there is an additional narrative of calling and commissioning another seventy disciples. It is believed that Luke might have added this to draw the readers’ attention to the universal mission of the Church. The task of mission is not confined to the twelve but to the entire community of believers, the Church.

We, as followers of Christ, are called apart, sent out with authority over all demons and to cure all diseases, therein proclaiming the sovereign rule of God over this world. In the commissioning of the twelve, we read: “When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.” (Lk 9: 1-2) In the Gospel of Mark, we read: “He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons” (Mk 3: 14-15).

One of the important aspects of Christ’s mission was exorcism, driving out demons. The seventy disciples, returning after their mission, came to Jesus with great joy and announced, “Lord, even demons submit to us in your name.”

Today, there are miracle crusaders who claim authority and power over demons. But how do these demons manifest, and what does driving out demons mean today?

Firstly, it is important to understand that this authority is not given to any special group of people. It is the authority given to all of God’s children. Secondly, this authority is exercised in the name of Christ, which means, it is a delegated authority; it is truly the authority of Christ delegated to us. Thirdly, demons are impersonal and invisible forces of Satan, embedded in our social and political structures. They are forces that destroy the integrity of creation; disrupt its order and bring about chaos.

Since life is sustained in an ordered universe, disruption of the order amounts to destroying life; one can say that the demons are the invisible forces of death and destruction. While God is the source of order and life, Satan is the source of chaos and death. People in Jesus’ time believed that death, sickness and all other adversities in life were caused by demons. Hence, acts of healing were also acts of exorcism. Jesus gives the disciples “authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy” and then, he promises them, “nothing will harm them.” These dangerous and venomous forces of death would not prevail against the faithful or destroy them.

Are we, as disciples of Jesus Christ, ready to claim this privilege, this authority and this promise, and exercise this authority on behalf of Jesus Christ? Today, much of human suffering, disease and death, hunger and poverty, war and terrorism, discrimination and oppression, corruption and injustice are caused by demons; they are caused by demons of poverty, malnutrition, ignorance, pollution, consumerism, and the fast pace of modern life.

Demons of corporate greed, neo-liberal economic policies, imperialism and the war-based industrial complex make us worship Mammon and destroy human lives and communities all over the world. Demons of caste, sectarianism, and other kinds of identity based chauvinisms are breaking up our nation. Demons of corruption, nepotism, bigotry and unhindered seeking after carnal pleasures turn human beings into beasts. The Demon of alcoholism is destroying human lives and families.

Are we ready to put on the full armour of God and struggle “against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms?” (Eph. 6: 12)

We are called to exercise this God given authority to drive out demons in our respective spheres of activity. This is not the work of miracle crusaders. This is the work of each one of us. Moreover these are activities that we often describe as social and political. But for Jesus, such distinctions do not exist.

All negative conditions of life, all situations of death, sickness, deformity and war indicate the rule of Satan; in such situations, we can declare the Lordship of Christ only by working against those realities and thus, by dethroning Satan.

That struggle bears fruit. The seventy disciples returned with joy. If as Christians we have lost the joy of Christian living, it is because we have not taken the task of driving out demons seriously. The disciples rejoiced because they were able to inflict a fatal blow on Satan and bring his rule to an end.

Jesus rejoiced with the disciples and said, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” Jesus has decisively dealt with Satan by his death on the cross and established God’s sovereignty; victory has already been won. However, we need to continue to strive and struggle for the final establishment of His kingdom, when Christ would return as the sovereign ruler of this world and entrust the kingdom to the Father.

Jesus acknowledges the legitimacy of the joy that disciples feel at the reality of demons submitting to them in Jesus’ name. In fact, he joins them in praising God and confirms once again the defeat of Satan: “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” But then, he warns them against basking in the apparent victory: “However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

Firstly, we are warned not to underestimate the power and strategies of Satan. Revelation 12: 9 refers to the “ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world.” We further read in John 8: 44: “He (the devil) was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” Moreover, “the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1 Pet 5:8)

Secondly, during the commissioning of the seventy, Jesus was very candid about the nature of the mission they were about to embark upon. Jesus said, “I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.” (Lk 10: 3) Jesus reminded them also of the consequences that awaited those who embarked on this mission: rejection, scourging, persecution, and death. But he encourages them: “Do not be afraid of them… Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell… Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.” (Matt 10: 28-39)

Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven.” Rejoice that your names are written in heaven, in the book of life.

We must assume that the Gospel of Luke was written to a community for whom martyrdom was an everyday reality. In martyrdom, there is no apparent victory; but what is more obvious is defeat. But the fact is it was in such conditions of persecutions that Christians rejoiced. Even in the midst of persecution and death, they were given a vision of Jesus ruling over the universe. Stephen, as he was being stoned to death, had a vision: “Filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:55).

Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you; do not be guided by such obvious signs of victory. But rather we should rejoice that our name is written in heaven. Once your name is written in the book of life, it remains in God’s memory for eternity. Remember that Jesus himself had gone to glory through his death on the cross; we read: “For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Heb. 12:2)

Let us be conscious of the authority and power given to us to cast out demons, to trample on snakes and scorpions. We must put on the armour of life to fight the satanic forces in this world. Driving out demons is one of the important apostolic vocations of the Church. Demons destroy human lives and our beautiful earth, and threaten the very existence of life on this planet.

Even while engaged in this task, remember the warning of Jesus: do not rejoice in the fact that the demons submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. Let me end with a quote from Mother Teresa: “God did not call us to be successful, but to be faithful.” Let us strive to remain faithful till the end. Then God will reward us by immortalising our names in the book of life.