A significant number of interpreters has argued that whereas the healing narratives and miracle stories reported of Jesus are almost without exception legendary, all of them transferred to Jesus since the Son of God in the first century could only be considered a wonder-worker, Jesus nevertheless healed the possessed, and in the earliest Christian communities exorcisms were among the signs of an apostle.26 In response, I believe that restricting belief to Jesus’ performance of exorcisms reflects influence from the side of psychology, the assumption being that his casting out of demons may be explained in terms of the treatment of psychic disorders, whereas his miracles of healing cannot. However, attempts to explain the exorcisms in this fashion comes a cropper over the fact that in each instance of an exorcism, the result is sudden and instantaneous, whereas the treatment of such psychic disturbances as are assumed for these narratives is not, but requires time for their resolution. We are left with the alternative that the exorcisms are to be set down to the legendary or mythical, or are to be believed as having actually occurred.
Miracles of Healing
Of all the healing miracles recorded in the four Gospels, the first three in tandem record seven.27 Mark and Matthew together record two healing miracles28; Matthew and Luke together record two29, Mark alone records one30, Matthew alone records three31, and Luke alone records five.32 The Gospel of John records only one miracle in tandem with the first three Gospels,33 one in tandem with Matthew and Luke,34and two healing miracles independently of them.35
Each of the seven healing miracles recorded by the first three evangelists contains the same number of “constants” as the exorcism narratives. The scene set for the healing of Simon’s mother-in-law is Jesus’ departure from the synagogue and entry into the house of Simon and Andrew (Mark 1:21); for the healing of the leper the man’s begging and kneeling before Jesus (Mark 1:40); for the healing of the paralytic the report that Jesus is at home in Capernaum (2:1); for the healing of the man with the withered hand that Jesus has re-entered the Capernaum synagogue (Mark 3:1). The scene set for the healing of the woman with hemorrhages and the raising of the synagogue leader’s daughter is Jesus’ encounter with the leader after leaving the country of the Gerasenes (5:21); the scene for the feeding of the 5,000 is Jesus’ and the disciples’ departure to a deserted place (Mark 6:30–31), and for the healing of the deaf man Jesus’ return from the region of Tyre (Mark 7:31). The second constant, indicating the problem or dilemma, involves the fever of Simon’s mother-in-law (Mark 1:30); the leprosy of the man who begs and kneels before Jesus (Mark 1:40); the paralysis of the man lowered through the roof (2:33–34); the withered hand of the man met in the synagogue (3:1b); the death of the synagogue leader’s daughter, the hemorrhages of the woman who touches Jesus’ cloak (Mark 5:21–43); the hunger of the 5,000 (Mark 6:33–37), and the deafness and speech impediment of the man brought to Jesus (Mark 7: 32). As for the third constant, Jesus may utter a word, or may touch the afflicted person. He takes Simon’s mother-in-law by the hand (Mark 1:31); he touches the leper and says “be healed” (Mark 1:41); to the paralytic he says “my son, your sins are forgiven,” then ”stand up, take your mat and go to your home” (2:5, 11). To the man with the withered hand he says, “come here,” then, “stretch out your hand” (Mark 3:3, 5b); to the woman suffering from hemorrhages he says, “Daughter, your faith has made you well,” and to the synagogue leader’s daughter he says, “little girl, get up!” Before the 5,000 he takes the five loaves and two fish, looks up to heaven, blesses and breaks the loaves, and gives them to the disciples to set before the crowd (6:41), and he puts his fingers into the deaf man’s ears, spits and touches his tongue, and says “Be opened” (7:34). The fourth ingredient denoting the result of Jesus’ action is, in the majority of instances, sudden, dramatic, marked either by the temporal adverb “immediately” or by a description making clear the instant cure or solution. Simon’s mother-in-law rises to serve her guests (Mark 1:13); “immediately” the leper is cleansed (Mark 1:42); the paralytic stands up, and “immediately” takes his mat and leaves; the hand of the man with the withered hand is restored (Mark 3:5); the woman’s hemorrhages “immediately” stop, and “immediately” the synagogue leader’s daughter gets up and begins to walk about; the 5,00 all eat, with twelve baskets of broken pieces and fish taken up (Mark 6:42–43), and the deaf man’s ears are “immediately” opened, his tongue is released, and he speaks plainly (Mark 7:35). A chorus as the fifth ingredient puts the period to four of the seven healings in the first three Gospels. In Mark 1:27 and parallels, the crowd in the synagogue asks, “what is this? A new teaching! With authority he commands even the unclean spirits.” In Mark 1:45, the man healed of dropsy spreads the news so that Jesus cannot openly enter a town. In Mark 2:6–7 and parallels, when hearing Jesus’ word to the paralytic, the scribes exclaim, “Why does this fellow speak in this way? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Following the healing of the man with the withered hand, the Pharisees hold counsel, how to destroy Jesus. In Mark 5:42 and parallels, following Jesus’ raising the synagogue leader’s daughter, the onlookers are “overcome with amazement.” In Mark 7:37 and parallels, witnesses to the healing of the deaf mute are “astounded beyond measure, saying, “He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”
Of the pair shared by Matthew and Luke, Matthew contains four and Luke five ingredients. The one independent narrative of Mark contains four ingredients. Of Matthew’s independent narratives the first contains five, the second four, and the third four. Of Luke’s independent narratives the first contains five, the second five, the third four, the fourth five, and the sixth five ingredients. The first “constant” or ingredient might well be Mark’s own editorial additions or “seams,” simply repeated in the parallel narratives of Matthew and Luke. Next, in a goodly number of instances, the word uttered by Jesus or joined to an action is exorcistic in nature. In 1:41 Jesus commands the leper,“be made clean!” In 1:43 he is angered at the leper and sends him away at once. In 5:13 the same verb is used for the herd’s entering the swine as for the exorcism in 1:25. Use of the Aramaic (“Talitha cum”) in 5:41, “Ephphatha” in 7:34 are suggestive of a secret formula or incantation, and in 9:26 the same verb appears as is used in 1:25 and 5:13.
Obviously, not all the stories recorded by Mark and repeated in Matthew and Luke deal with demon possession, but the repetition of the constants adhering to the exorcism narratives and repeated in the healing stories suggests that Mark used the mould of the exorcism for the majority of those healing narratives, with Matthew and Luke following suit where their stories are in parallel. This would square with the observation that Mark records the story of Jesus as a continuation of the struggle between the Spirit and Satan begun at his temptation.
In John’s “Book of the Seven Signs,” the same constants appear. The scene of the first sign (John 2:1–11) is a wedding in Cana of Galilee. Jesus’ mother states the problem: the wine has given out. The narrrative is interrupted with Jesus’ retort that it is of no matter to him since his “hour” has not yet come.
Surprisingly, at this his mother summons the servants to do whatever he commands. Jesus makes multiple application to the problem. He instructs the servants to fill the six water jars intended for Jewish rites of purification, then summons them to fill them, next to draw some out, and bring it to the steward, who performs the role of chorus by exclaiming that good wine is always served first, but in this instance has been reserved