Concerning Baptism and the Exorcism of Evil

“To me, the scariest movie ever made to this day is The Exorcist. It still scares the living hell out of me, and it's because of the fantasy element. It’s the exorcism. It’s the Devil. It’s not a guy breaking into your house trying to torture you or cut your whatever off. Those kinds of movies don’t do it for me, and I don’t call them horror. -Cassandra Peterson

The word “exorcism” scares people. That fear probably, in many instances, has to do with a fear of dæmons and all things evil. Many people have a deeply imbedded theology about the Devil. This theology can be terrifying for people, especially when they feel they are left alone with nowhere to turn for help in the face of insurmountable despair, sin, and death—that, they know, deep in the marrow of their bones, ultimately come from none other than the Prince of Darkness himself. When many people hear “exorcism,” they think of stories (oftentimes portrayed spectacularly in movies and television for big bucks) about helpless people possessed by dæmons who are forced to commit acts of indescribable wickedness, all against their own wills. People realize they are captive to sin, and cannot free themselves, and it scares them.

In the original order for evangelical service of baptism, there was a brief “order” of exorcism—“I adjure thee, thou unclear spirit, by the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost that thou come out of and depart from this servant of Jesus Christ, Elisabeth. Amen” (LW 53:108). This one sentence belies so much about the nature of evil in the lives of the faithful—both in the 16th-century and today!

The power of these words, when we recognize their full profundity, robs the Devil of all his power. All this happens in the Name of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit—not on account of any authority or power of the baptizer or the baptized, but on account of God. This command to the unclean spirit to depart is rooted in the sure faith of God’s promise to claim us in the waters of baptism. No longer are we subject to the tyrant of this world of darkness where sin and death are wielded like clubs and swords against the consciences of terrified people. And what’s more, God claims us with what appear for all intents and purposes to be mere words and simple water. The power of the Devil is wrested from his hands and drowned in the waters of baptism by words, rooted and uttered in sure faith in Christ and his promise.

An exorcism

In today’s gospel from John 10, Jesus tells us “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.” In the waters of baptism, God knows us and claims us, and makes us sheep of Christ. We become members of one body with one another and with Jesus, just as Christ and the Father are one. In the waters of baptism, we hear God’s promise to us to keep us from eternal damnation, that we are given into the care of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

The promise is strengthened still more when we hear the words, from Jesus’ very mouth, that he gives them eternal life, and they will never die. Jesus says, of us his sheep—“No one will snatch them out of my hand. What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand.” We are in Christ. We belong to him. And we belong to the Father—and nothing and nobody can snatch us away!

Exorcism happens in our services of baptism today when the baptizer asks the initiate: “Do you renounce the devil and all the forces that defy God? Do you renounce the powers of this world that rebel against God? Do you renounce the ways of sin that draw you from God?” The initiate responds: “I renounce them.” (Would that we added “and I ask God to help me!”) This is our exorcism—baptism!

It’s for this reason—because God promises through water and the Holy Spirit to give us new birth, cleanse us from sin, and raise us to eternal life—that we need not fear dæmon possession. Because of baptism and the promise God makes to us in it, we need not fear the word “exorcism.” All God’s children have been exorcised by their baptism into Christ’s death and resurrection and made alive by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Because of that, there is no room for any other unclean, evil spirit to reside. We belong to God, and God’s not about to share us with the Devil.

-DS