The Exorcism of Satan in the 1st Century

The Exorcism of Satan in the 1st Century Below is the 14th of multiple excerpts of commentary from Parts I and II of The Parousia, the late 19th-century masterpiece on the Second Coming by James Stuart Russell. The initial 31 posts on this blog deal with the Book of Revelation, which is cogently interpreted in Part III of Russell's magnum opus. (For all blog posts, see russellparousia.blogspot.com)

"The Judgment of this World, and of the Prince of this World. "JOHN xii. 31. [John 12:31]---'Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.' "JOHN xvi. 11. [John 16:11]---'Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.' "It is usual to explain these words as meaning that a great crisis in the spiritual history of the world was now at hand: that the death of Christ upon the cross was the turning-point, so to speak, of the great conflict between good and evil, between the living and true God and the false usurping god of this world---that the result of Christ's death would be the ultimate overthrow of Satan's power and the final establishment of the kingdom of truth and righteousness on the ruins of Satan's empire. "No doubt there is much important truth in this explanation, but it fails to satisfy all the requirements of the very distinct and emphatic language of our Lord with respect to the nearness and completeness of the event to which He refers: 'Now [Greek: nun] is the judgment of this world; now shall the prince of this world be cast out [Greek: ekblethesetai exo].' It is not enough to say that, to the prophetic foresight of our Saviour, the distant future was as if it were present; nor, that by His approaching death the judgment of the world and the expulsion of Satan would be virtually secured, and might therefore be regarded as accomplished facts. Nor is it enough to say, that from the moment when the great sacrifice of the Cross was offered, the power and influence of Satan began to ebb, and must continually decrease until it is finally annihilated. The language of our Lord manifestly points to a great and final judicial transaction, which was soon to take place. But judgment is an act which can hardly be conceived as extending over an indefinite period, and especially when it is restricted by the word now [Greek: nun], to a distinct and imminent point of time. The phrase 'cast out [Greek: ekblethesetai exo],' also, is evidently [i.e., in an evident or clear manner] an allusion to the expulsion of a demon from a body possessed by an unclean spirit. But this suggests a sudden, violent, and almost instantaneous act, and not a gradual and protracted process. No figure could be less appropriate to describe the slow ebbing and ultimate exhaustion of Satanic power than the casting out of a demon. We are compelled, therefore, to set aside the explanation which makes our Lord's words refer to a judgment which, after the lapse of many ages, is still going on; or to an expulsion of Satan which has not yet been effected. He would not speak of a judgment which was not to take place for thousands of years as 'now,' nor of a 'casting out' of Satan as imminent, which was to be the result of a slow and protracted process. "We conclude, then, that when our Lord said, 'Now is the judgment of this world,' etc., He had reference to an event which was near, and in a sense immediate: that is to say, He had in view that great catastrophe [namely, the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, which occurred in A.D. 70] which seems to have been scarcely ever absent from His thoughts---the solemn judicial transaction when 'the Son of man was to sit upon the throne of his glory' [Matt. 25:31]---the great 'harvest' at the end of the [Old Covenant] age [Matt. 13:39], when the angel reapers were to 'gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them that do iniquity [Matt. 13:41].' If it be objected to this that the word kosmos (world) [John 12:31, 16:11] is too comprehensive to be restricted to one land or one nation, it may be replied that kosmos is employed here, as in some other passages, especially in the writings of St. John, rather in an ethical sense than as a geographical expression. (See John vii. 7 [John 7:7]; viii. 23 [John 8:23]; 1 John ii. 15 [1 John 2:15]; v. [4] [1 John 5:4].) "But it may be said, How could this judgment of Israel [as prophesied by Jesus in circa A.D. 30 and fulfilled in A.D. 70] be spoken of as 'now,' any more than a judgment which is [supposedly] still in the future? Forty years hence [according to this objection] is no more now than four thousand years. To this it may be replied, That event [the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in A.D. 70] was now imminent which more than any other would precipitate the day of doom for Israel. The crucifixion of Christ was the climax of crime,---the culminating act of apostasy and guilt which filled the cup of wrath, and sealed the fate of 'that wicked generation' [Matt. 12:45, 16:4]. The interval between the crucifixion of Christ and the destruction of Jerusalem was only the brief space between the passing of the sentence and the execution of the criminal; and just as our Lord, when quitting the temple for the last time, exclaimed, 'Behold, your house is left unto you desolate!' [Matt. 23:38, Luke 13:35] though its desolation did not actually take place till nearly forty years after, so He might say, 'Now is the judgment of this world' [John 12:31]---though a like space of time would elapse between the utterance and the accomplishment of His words. In like manner the 'casting out of the prince of this world' is represented as coincident with 'the judgment of this world,' and both are manifestly the result of the death of Christ. But how can it be said that Satan was cast out at the period referred to, viz. [that is] the judgment at the close of the [Old Covenant] age? [The reason:] That event [in A.D. 70] marked a great epoch in the divine administration. It was the inauguration of a new order of things: the 'coming of the kingdom of God' in a high and special sense, when the peculiar [special] relation subsisting between Jehovah and Israel was dissolved, and He became known as the God and Father of the whole human race. Thenceforth Satan was no longer to be the god of this world, but the Most High was to take the kingdom to Himself. This revolution was effected by the atoning death of Christ upon the cross, which is declared to be 'the reconciliation of all things unto God, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven' (Col. i. 20). But the formal inauguration of the new order is represented as taking place [in A.D. 70] at 'the end of the [Old Covenant] age' (Greek: aionos, mistranslated by the King James Version as "world") [at Matt. 13:40, 13:49, 24:3, 28:20; 1 Corin. 10:11; also note the 1st-century arrival of the "last days" at Hebrews 1:2], the period when 'the kingdom of God was to come with power' [Matt. 16:28, Mark 9:1, Luke 9:27], and the Son of man was to sit as Judge 'on the throne of his glory' [Matt. 19:28, 25:31]. What, then, could be more appropriate than the 'casting out' of the prince of this world at the period when his kingdom [came in power], [and] 'this world,' was judged? "It may be objected that if any such event as the casting out of Satan did then take place, it ought to be marked by some very palpable diminution of the power of the devil over men. The objection is reasonable, and it may be met by the assertion that such evidence of the abatement of Satanic influence [requiring exorcism] in the world does exist. The history of our Saviour's own times furnishes abundant proof of the exercise of a power over the souls and bodies of men then possessed by Satan which happily is unknown in our days. The mysterious influence called 'demoniacal possession' is always ascribed in Scripture to Satanic agency; and it was one of the credentials of our Lord's divine commission that He, 'by the finger of God, cast out devils' [Luke 11:20]. At what period did the subjection of men to demoniacal power [that required exorcism] cease to be manifested? It was common in our Lord's days: it continued during the age of the apostles, for we have many allusions to their casting out of unclean spirits; but we have no evidence that it [demonic activity requiring exorcism] continued to exist in the post-apostolic ages. The phenomenon [of demonic possession] has so completely disappeared that to many its former existence [as a reality] is incredible, and they resolve it into a popular superstition, or an unscientific theory of mental disease,---an explanation totally incompatible with the representations of the New Testament." ***** Visit russellparousia.blogspot.com to see all posts