BIBLE TOPICS

Demons were considered to be the causes of both physical and mental illness. Yet we can understand 'demons' or ‘evil spirits’ as referred to in the New Testament, as being the language of the day for disease and illness. The Greek word for demons is 'daimonia'.

The meaning of this word is that it refers to evil spirits, god or a spirit. It is derived from ‘daimon’ which means, a god, a goddess, an inferior deity, whether good or bad, an evil spirit. It can be seen from the meaning of these Greek words that the usage of the word was influence by Greek and other pagan philosophy.

Illness' were attributed to these supposed evil spirits. This association is confined to the New Testament where this Greek influence upon the thinking of the day is prominent. In the old Testament the only reference to demons is in respect of the worship of idols. Many modern translations use the word ‘spirit’ rather than demon.

One example in the New Testament where a ‘spirit’ and illness are linked is where we read:

"When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked the boy's father, "How long has he been like this?" "From childhood," he answered. "It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him" Mark 9:20-22.

The graphic description of how the boy behaved fits very well with a description of the symptoms of epilepsy, thus the child was experiencing epileptic fits. In the case of the woman "whom satan hath bound" Luke 13:16 she may well have suffered from a bone disease such as Osteo Arthritis, which leads to deformity of the joints.

Even up to recent times people in seeking an explanation for things which they couldn't understand, tended to blame an outside malevolent source. As with Greek mythology, ‘evil spirits’ or 'demons'. Mental illness was thus spoken of as being 'demon possessed'. In Old Testament times, an ‘unclean spirit’ referred to a troubled mental state (Judges 9:23; 1 Samuel.16:14; 18:10). This similarly applies to New Testament times where referring to ‘demons’ or ‘evil spirits’ where as already seen epilepsy was viewed as being possessed by an evil spirit.

Now in relation to healing we read in Matthew 8:16-17:

"When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. This was to fulfil what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: "He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases."

So we see quite clearly that the 'devils' or demons' were ‘infirmities and sickness'. The reference in Matthew refers us back to "Moses and the prophets" all of whom in what they wrote refer to the Messiah and his work. Isaiah 53:4 records:

"Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted."

So we can note that in the account by Matthew healing by Jesus is linked with what Isaiah wrote. Jesus "himself took our infirmities and bare our sickness" be they physical or mental illness. It is important to also note how many times in scripture healing is associated with faith and the forgiveness of sin. For example:

"Some men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven." Matthew 9:2

Thus we learn that:

• demons were the language of the day to describe physical or mental illness. Sickness arises because of the frail human nature that we possess because of sin.
• Jesus had the power and authority to forgive sin.
• that the examples of casting out ‘demons’ by Jesus, were in effect, living parables of how through him sin can be forgiven and the true source of infirmity - human nature - overcome.