The Name Game
It has long been believed that calling a sorcerer by his true name will render his power null and void. This is what is known as Name Magic and the demons try to use it on Jesus here.
They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. And when he had stepped out of the boat, immediately a man out of the tombs with an unclean spirit met him. He lived among the tombs; and no one could restrain him any more, even with a chain; for he had often been restrained with shackles and chains, but the chains he wrenched apart, and the shackles he broke in pieces; and no one had the strength to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always howling and bruising himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and bowed down before him; and he shouted at the top of his voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” For he had said to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” He begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. Now there on the hillside a great herd of swine was feeding; and the unclean spirits begged him, “Send us into the swine; let us enter them.” So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and were drowned in the sea. The swineherds ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came to see what it was that had happened. They came to Jesus and saw the demoniac sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the legion; and they were afraid. Those who had seen what had happened to the demoniac and to the swine reported it. Then they began to beg Jesus to leave their neighborhood. As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed by demons begged him that he might be with him. But Jesus refused, and said to him, “Go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy he has shown you.” And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed. - Mark 5:1-20
We may remember the Grimm fairytale of the girl who was threatened with death by the king if she would not spin straw into gold.
She eventually had to promise this odd sorcerer that she would give him her first born should she become queen, and he spun the straw into gold for her.
When the day arrived that she became queen and had her first child, this man reappeared and demanded his reward. When she pleaded with him, he offered her an alternative. If she could guess his name in three days, she could keep her child.
The queen discovered that all the money in the world was of little value if she lost her child, whom she loved, so she sent a messenger into the villages to come up with unusual names. The messenger stumbled upon the little sorcerer dancing by a camp fire and singing that his name would never be known. With the name revealed, the queen would have power over the man.
The demons in today's Gospel of Mark try to cancel Jesus' power by revealing his true identity, calling him by name, but it doesn't work with Jesus. Instead, Jesus turns the tide and asks for the demons to reveal their identity.
In modern times, we seem to be bringing this name game back into vogue, with our social media attacks on people who harbor a secret identity. By calling them out, we expose them and cancel them.
But in the case with Jesus, that approach doesn't always work. Sure, the community wanted him to leave, but his power remained intact. He was not canceled.
So, perhaps the lesson for us is to stand firm in our faith when challenged and not give in to the name game, especially when the name or identity is false.
Or we may find ourselves torn to bits like Rumpelstiltskin, or worse, like the swine.
More to come...