Abracadabra! Presto change! Reset! Ctrl/Alt/Del! Have you ever noticed that when people tell you they have a quick way to solve your problem, it often isn’t that quick or that easy! The reality is that most things in life are not quick and easy. Let me give you an example.
Declaring bankruptcy is sometimes trumpeted as the solution to severe financial hardship. Just sign the papers and you are off to your new financial life. But what they fail to mention in the upfront information is the years of hardship that follow. For at least seven years every application of any consequence means you have to explain yourself. Want a loan? Good luck! Unless you want to pay 25% interest payments. And if any of your creditors are personal, faces that you will bump into, talk about a walk of shame!
There are no quick and easy formulas in our spiritual lives as well. Even the sinners prayer, the Roman Road, or the Our Father are meaningless unless the supplicant means them and is being drawn by the Holy Spirit. No book, DVD set, sermon series, teaching kit or any other modern or ancient tool for spiritual growth can by itself create spiritual growth. That is not the way it works.
Notice that Jesus doesn’t use a formula when he casts the demon out of this boy. With other demons Jesus simply told them to be quiet and leave, and they did. He didn’t ask their name, or negotiate their landing place, like with a herd of pigs. Jesus instead names it by the symptoms it is inflicting, deaf and mute spirit. This was the main tool in its toolkit of darkness. The convulsions and other things were side issues. Otherwise Jesus would have called it the convulsing spirit, or the throw down on the ground spirit.
Jesus also commands the spirit to do what He says. Other times Jesus has just said the words without commanding them first. This demon must have thought there were some options. I don’t know. I do know Jesus had to be verbally firmer with it than with some of the other demons with whom He interacted.
He tells the demon to exit, a common element of Jesus’ demon-casting routine, but also tells it to never enter again. I wonder if Jesus was reading the demon’s mind at this moment. I wonder if it was thinking, that it would just return after Jesus had left the area.
Here is something important to note. Jesus knows the difference between demon possession and medical conditions. This is not the first deaf and mute person Jesus has healed. The other one He did some spitting and some sign language. Jesus knew the causes. Jesus applied the correct cures.
Anytime we try to put our faith into a formula we are falling short of God’s design. He wants relationship not robotic formula followers. He wants to guide and direct through the personal interaction with the Holy Spirit whose job it is to highlight Jesus’ work and person.
The Arnold Journey 