Are Demons Still Active Today?

When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons (Mark 16:9).

 

Mark's Gospel is the shortest, perhaps the first of the 4, because he reports everything matter-of-factly, without elaboration.  For example, John's Gospel devotes 8 verses to the appearance of Jesus to Mary Magdalene, painting a picture of the scene in the garden and of Mary's recognition of Jesus, while Mark simply states that "He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons."  His bare statement of the 7 demons assumes that his readers are familiar with the reality of demons and the power the Jesus exerted over them.

 

One of the reasons I love Scripture so much is that it makes me think, stretching me beyond the confines of our accepted cultural realities.  And here is one of the places I am stretched.   At one time, when I was 20 and knew everything, I automatically dismissed the idea that demons existed and were active, except in rare cases like Rosemary's Baby (mostly fictional and for the sake of drama) and The Exorcist.  Now that I am in my 70's, I am not so sure that we in the 21st century are "smarter" and more knowledgeable than the Gospel writers and their readers of the 1st century.

 

The difference, I believe, is not one of more scientific knowledge, but rather the difference between those who know the realities of the spiritual world and those who do not, between those who accept the truth of the Gospel and the Word of God and those who do not.  When I read that Jesus cast 7 demons out of Mary Magdalene, I no longer dismiss the Gospel account as simplistic.  Now, I read with compassion about a tortured woman, who could not understand the agony of her life: fear, anxiety, sexual promiscuity, anger, hatred of others, constant fighting, lying, perhaps.  I don't know the names of her seven demons, but looking at the world around us today, I can take an educated guess. 

 

Normally, I don't watch Dr. Phil, but yesterday, in a state of exhaustion, I sat down a half-hour early before the five-o'clock news and turned on the tv.  There was a couple who had been scammed by a woman who had for seven months been promising them her baby.  The motive, surprisingly enough, was not money, but a desire for attention and "friendship."  The woman herself did not understand what was driving her to this evil deed.  She had enjoyed talking to the couple for 7 months every day and sharing this event with them.  She was happy to be giving them their heart's desire, fake though it be.  She was angry at herself for hurting others, and claimed that she had tried to stop it -- and she had, by inventing even more lies:  one of the twins she claimed she was having was damaged (she hoped the couple would call off the whole thing).  She invented one difficulty after another, trying to discourage the couple and get them to quit the fight.  This woman was sorry for what she had done, but did not know what caused her to do it.  Dr. Phil promised to get her help, as he did also for the couple that was desperate for a baby.

 

When I read that Jesus cast 7 demons out of Mary M., I have to think about that:  either He did exactly what Mark reports, or the early Christians just thought He cast 7 demons out of this woman.  I am inclined to accept the Gospel account, especially when I look around me today.  I think demons are still active today, dividing families and nations, promoting and encouraging what Paul calls the "works of the sinful nature" in Galatians 5:19-20: sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.

 

If Jesus were still walking the earth today, what would we ask Him to do for us?  Would He accept our philosophy that demons no longer exist?  Would we call Him "old-fashioned," out-of-date, out-of-touch with reality?  Would He accept our modern "knowledge" that science is more powerful than the spiritual world, than His power to cast out demons? 

 

The good news is that Jesus is still alive and still present with us.  We can still ask Him if demons are still active today, if He is still exerting His power over them.  We can still come to Him as did Mary Magdalene, not understanding the forces at work within us, asking for His power to cast out the things that are disturbing our peace and destroying our lives.  As long as we put more faith in our intellect to understand our world than we do in Jesus as Lord and Ruler, we will not believe in either the existence of demons or in His power to destroy them.