When Jesus Christ appeared, he proclaimed that he is the anointed one; that he has been sent to bring the good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and new sight to the blind, to set the downtrodden free, and to proclaim the Lord's year of favour (Lk.4:18). He announced that unlike the thief who comes to steal, to cheat and to destroy, he has come so that his people may have life and have it abundantly (Jn.10:10). He announced that his Kingdom is about peace; that he gives us peace, the kind of peace which the world cannot give - that is his gift to us (Jn.14:27).

In Mark 1:21-28 we read that Jesus entered the Synagogue at Capernaum and began to teach. We are not told of what he taught, but the exorcism that follows is an illustration of the power of his teaching. He taught with authority. In the appearance of Jesus, and in his word, heaven breaks in, and hell is destroyed. His word is deed. Jesus is the prophet of the end time whose word is the word of God himself. He is the real bearer of the word. While the prophets began their preaching by saying “Thus says the Lord…” Jesus says “I tell you solemnly,” or “I say unto you.” 

For many of us, especially after years of military dictatorship, power is associated with force, compulsion, coercion, intimidation and violence. The power that identifies itself only with force makes victims of all its subjects. That is the power of the military dictator. People rightly oppose the power that exploits, manipulates, coerces, and bullies into submission or conformity. But power can be conceived differently. The power of Mahatma Gandhi, the power of Martin Luther King Jr., the power of Oscar Romero. These people opposed violent regimes and succeeded, but they used a different kind of power. The fact that they were assassinated notwithstanding, their power should not be underrated. Their moral power (or authority) exercised on behalf of suffering people, made them a force for good.

The Evangelist Mark demonstrates that the power that moved Jesus had its source in God. The authority that Jesus displayed in word and deed is the authority of God himself. When Jesus begins to teach, the difference is clear. He did not teach like the Scribes and the Pharisees, who just related what is written in the law, or who needed the authority of Moses or some other Patriarch to support them. When Jesus teaches, something actually happens to those who are present. The words of Jesus are no empty words. There and then we can see the change effected in the life of people by the words of Jesus. Those afflicted are comforted, the broken hearted are healed, the crippled are strengthened, and the marginalised are given value. As Jesus preached the word, he located the evil one. He confirmed his word by chasing the devil out, showing that this is the reason for his coming. What took place in today’s gospel is a confrontation between the superpower of God and the superpower of the devil. Jesus commanded, and the possessed man was freed. Jesus teaches by his active opposition to evil, as well as his preaching against evil. The coming of Jesus drives out evil.. The mission of Jesus is to establish goodness in place of evil.

When Jesus teaches, he shares not only his wisdom, but also his power. Jesus uses his authority to liberate those who are bound up and to confront those who lay heavy burdens on the weak and the lowly. Applause or no applause, no matter what the opinion poll might say, Jesus continues the work of liberating the captive, and giving sight to the blind. He does not need any human approval or support. He is ultimately responsible to God the father from whom all power and authority come.

Jesus uses his authority to liberate people from the evil forces that dominate their lives. And when others saw what he was doing with his authority, they wondered who he really is. That is why he was initially applauded by those who witnessed these events, but he was soon to face rejection from the same people. Yet he was committed to using his power for good. He was committed to using his power to free those held captive, to open the eyes of the blind, to comfort the afflicted and to raise the dead back to life.

Evil reigns in the hearts of many individuals. Evil dominates many relationships. Evil pervades many structures of our society. There are many more subtle ways in which the devil dominates the life of many. The devil dominates in those who live lives of bitterness and resentment; those who nurse unforgiven hurts for prolonged periods of time. The devil is the patron of those who contemplate vengeance in their hearts. All those who perpetuate or promote the structures of injustice in the society are under the inspiration of the devil. Those who are unable to see that all human beings are brothers and sisters, children of the same heavenly father are under the influence of the evil one. All those who perpetuate the long-standing acrimony and antipathy between one ethnic group and the other in our society are dominated by the evil one. All those who promote the clannish prejudices and ethnic biases which have led to so much tension, violence and strife in our society, are under the influence of the devil. The devil is behind the primordial greed for money and lust for power which has caused so much tension, violence and strife in our land. The devil is behind the large-scale looting of our national treasury by successive leaders which has today become the greatest shame of our nation. The devil is behind the prevalent armed robbery, street thuggery, cult violence, and the violence of the youth movements of various ethnic groups that now threaten the very sovereignty of our nation state.

Those of us who belong to Jesus have a privileged access to one in whom peace, love justice and goodness reigns. However our access to Jesus is often threatened by our readiness to compromise on our basic Christian principles. We are often handicapped by our lack of genuine commitment to the Christian vocation or our lack of decisiveness in Christian. We often have the propensity to do evil rather than good. But if we take the gospel of Christ seriously, and allow the kingdom of Godto provide the rule for our lives, then we shall overcome. Evil is conquered when God appears. As we pray daily in the Lord's Prayer "May Your Kingdom Come", let us understand that the kingdom of Christ is the kingdom of righteousness, truth and justice, and there can be no partnership between righteousness and iniquity. There can be no fellowship of light and darkness. There can be no accord of Christ with Belial. The kingdom of sin cannot co-exist with the kingdom of God. So if we must have the kingdom of God which we pray for, we must allow Christ to conquer in our lives all his enemies.