Monday School: What Would Jesus Do?

It’s Monday! Time once again for Monday School. If rainy days and Mondays always bring you down, keep reading – your mood should improve. After all, Monday School is STILL “The Rational Corrective To All That Nonsense They Tried To Teach You Yesterday!”

Today’s Lesson: Is It True That If People Asked Themselves “What Would Jesus Do?” Before They Did Anything, The World Would Be A Much Better Place?

That’s an interesting question.

A lot of Christians seem to believe the answer is “Yes!” – or even “Yes! Yes! Oh, GOD, YESSSSSSSS!”

The following is a brief reminder that this answer can actually be deadly.

Consider the following:

When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word…. – Matt. 8:16

And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils…. – Matt. 10:8-9

And he healed many that were sick of divers diseases, and cast out many devils…. – Mark 1:34

And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils…. – Mark 3:14-15

And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils…. – Mark 16:17

Woman Drowns During Exorcism Ceremony (The Guardian; Nov 12)

A 22-year-old woman died during an exorcism ritual in New Zealand, drowning at a relative’s home as up to 40 family members looked on, police said today.

Janet Moses, a mother of two, was held under water in an attempt to drive away a makutu, or Maori curse. Containers holding an “extensive amount” of water were brought into the lounge of the house, in Wellington, for the ceremony.

The woman had been dead for nine hours before her family contacted police. She had been placed on a bed and was found with grazes to her upper arms, forearms and torso.

Detectives initially treated the death as unexplained until a post-mortem ruled out natural causes and revealed the woman had drowned.

Detective Sergeant Ross Levy, leading the inquiry, confirmed that a “cultural ceremony” had taken place, and said police were treating the death as a homicide. The exorcism took place on October 12.

Moses, who had daughters aged one and three, stayed at her relative’s house in the week leading up the ceremony. A woman living next door said she heard loud noises on the night of the exorcism, “like banging on a wall”, adding that a large number of people had entered and left the building.

Detectives have now interviewed 100 members of the woman’s family. “The family has always been the central focus of the inquiry … this has not changed and won’t change,” Det Sgt Levy said. “Our task is to identify those responsible for Janet’s death.”

The exorcism ritual was held because the woman’s relatives believed a curse had been put on her after another member of her family stole a taonga, meaning treasured artefact, belonging to someone else.

Dr Hone Kaa, an archdeacon of the Anglican Maori Church, told the New Zealand Herald that he was last involved in a makutu-lifting ceremony 12 years ago, but said they were still commonplace.

Dr Kaa said water was used to cleanse the victim during the ceremony, and expressed surprise when he heard the amount of water alleged to have been used.

He added that such ceremonies were “very emotional, very intense”, but said he had never heard of anyone being badly injured.

“You may have to hold the person down because the spirit may fight within the person to stay, so you need others around you to restrain them,” he said….

As if only people with an evil spirit in them are likely to struggle in this situation.

There are a lot of other similar exorcism stories, so much so that I could easily write a few more entries about.

If the Bible said that Jesus jumped off a bridge and encouraged others to follow, how many people do you think would now be happily doing that, too?