Did you ever chop down a large tree? The chain saw goes quickly and busily about its work, and branch after branch begins to fall. Then the trunk stands alone. It takes more skill and effort to attack the trunk, but with persistence it is taken down. That leaves a stump, and the mighty roots that have fed and held it together for many years. This is where most of us quit. If you’ve ever tried to dig out roots from a tree, you know what a nearly impossible task it is. And, so, we learn to live with the stump and let it become part of the landscape.
When Jesus went about his work preaching the Kingdom of God, he began to chop down the “tree of evil.” He moved confidently among a broken people to heal the sick, cleanse lepers, give sight to the blind, and even raise dead people to live. The evils of sickness, leprosy, blindness and death began to collapse as Jesus walked among the people. In proclaiming the gospel he even attacked the evil of despair and assured people that the Kingdom of God was in their midst.
But what about the roots of evil? Was he going to leave a stump behind him or did he have the power to pull roots out of the ground? We receive the answer to this question in today’s reading (Luke 4:31-37).
“Jesus went down to Capernaum, a town of Galilee. He taught them on the Sabbath, and they were astonished at his teaching because he spoke with authority. In the synagogue there was a man with the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out in a loud voice, ‘What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?’…Jesus rebuked him and said, ‘Be quiet! Come out of him!’ Then the demon threw the man down in front of them and came out of him without doing him any harm.”
People had learned to put up with the possessed man. They got used to him. He was gripped by a power over which they had no control. When Jesus spoke, however, the roots of evil were forced to expose themselves. They made a feeble attempt to attack Jesus, but quickly lost that battle. With just a few words Jesus extracted this unclean demon (and its buddies) from the poor man’s spirit. He was suddenly set free!
The people were amazed and said to each other,
“What is there about his word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.”
His word was so powerful that it exposed the very roots of evil and then ripped those roots out of the ground a person’s heart. Jesus had an authority and power that had never been seen on earth. And he exercised it so simply—by speaking just a word.
Our society is plagued with all sorts of evil. Political groups, community organizations, and health professions struggle to find means for eliminating these evils. They ask the question, ‘What is the root of the problem?’” Then they inaugurate new programs, put up new buildings, and invent new medicines to help eliminate the problems. When the dust settles, some good has been done, but the stump of evil still stands because its roots were not taken out. And, so, we learn to live with the stump and might even decorate it. A group might rise to defend the rights of the stump and its roots, to exist.
We think that nothing can be done with the roots of evil. We forget that the same Jesus we read about is alive and at work in his Church today. He has given the Church his own power and authority—including the authority to uproot unclean demons.
Are we hiding the authority that Jesus gives us? Are we allowing the risen Jesus within us to speak to the demons of our time and set people free? Are we coming together to speak a word in his name to the roots of evil that our choking our society?
“A great prophet has arisen in our midst and God has visited his people” (Luke 7:16).
