Mwandayi, Towards a new reading of the Bible in Africa – spy exegesishe was falling down, and he was falling “lightning” fast. The coming of
Christ and more specifically the cross of Christ was Satan’s defeat, and the
mission of the seventy was but a preview of what was to come.^31Bearing in mind that Jesus’ battle with opponents was not just limited to
the struggle with human forces but was a battle also with the Prince of
the Dark World, Satan, it sounds reasonable to suggest that Jesus con-
ceived of the Devil as a real force and not just some personifications of
the Roman Empire. Logically also, the very fact that the disciples came
back rejoicing that even the demons were subject to them shows that
their mission was more spiritual than an attempt to deal with opposing
human forces.
In demanding circumstances Jesus himself would not hesitate to employ
what we saw as another method used in the spying field, namely; that of
assassinating one’s target once it has been proved beyond doubt that
only doing so would serve the vital interest of the group or organisation.
Cases abound in the Gospels where Jesus would ‘assassinate’ demons,
which actually left his followers giving glory to God and increasing in
number. In the Gospel of Mark, for example, we find him in the region
of the Gerasenes where he meets a man with an impure spirit from the
tombs and he casts out that spirit (Mk 5:1-20: Mt 8:28-33). In another
incident in Luke, a story carried also in Matthew, we find him ‘assassi-
nating’ a demon from a man who was mute (Lk 11:14-20; Mt 32-33).
When also a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, was
brought to Jesus, we find him ‘assassinating’ that demon resulting thus
in the man being able to talk and see (Mt 12:22-30).
Further, the espionage tactic of misinformation proved a valuable tool
also in the activities of the Jesus movement. The Gospel of John re-
counts an incident where Jesus’ brothers, possibly as a result of infiltra-
tion by Jewish authorities who were looking for a way to kill Jesus, sar-
castically encourage him, “Leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your
disciples there may see the works you do. No one who wants to become
a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show
yourself to the world” (Jn 7:3-4). Sensing that something was fishy in
their push that he goes up to Judea, Jesus conceals his plans: “You go to
the festival. I am not going up to this festival, because my time has not
yet fully come” (Jn 7:8). When, however, his brothers had left for the
(^31) B. Deffinbaugh, The True Source of Joy (Luke 10:17-24), http://bible.org/seriespage/
true-source-joy-luke-1017-24 (accessed 27/07/11).