Today's Gospel in Art - Jesus had cast out a devil

The Nightmare by Henry Fuseli 1781 © Detroit IoA

Gospel of 9th October 2020 - Luke 11:15-26

When Jesus had cast out a devil, some of the people said, 'It is through Beelzebul, the prince of devils, that he casts out devils.'

Others asked him, as a test, for a sign from heaven; but, knowing what they were thinking, he said to them, 'Every kingdom divided against itself is heading for ruin, and a household divided against itself collapses. So too with Satan: if he is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? - since you assert that it is through Beelzebul that I cast out devils. Now if it is through Beelzebul that I cast out devils, through whom do your own experts cast them out? Let them be your judges then. But if it is through the finger of God that I cast out devils, then know that the kingdom of God has overtaken you. So long as a strong man fully armed guards his own palace, his goods are undisturbed; but when someone stronger than he is attacks and defeats him, the stronger man takes away all the weapons he relied on and shares out his spoil.

'He who is not with me is against me; and he who does not gather with me scatters.

'When an unclean spirit goes out of a man it wanders through waterless country looking for a place to rest, and not finding one it says, "I will go back to the home I came from." But on arrival, finding it swept and tidied, it then goes off and brings seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and set up house there, so that the man ends up by being worse than he was before.'

Reflection on the Painting

In our Gospel reading today we read about Jesus casting out demons. Whilst the reading is clearly pointing towards actual demons inside some of the possessed people, we also need to apply the reading to our own lives. Demons stand for anything that can posses us in a violent, unhealthy way, thereby taking us further away from God. Maybe our demons would be the obsessions that make for greed, envy, pride…. We are invited to name our demons in our prayers and ask God for help to overcome them.

Our large (180 by 250 cm.) painting by Swiss-English artist Henry Fuseli shows a reclining lady literally being oppressed by a demon, whilst another demon watches on, ready to also have a go at her. Painted in 1781, this work was executed at the height of the Enlightenment. The painting was first displayed at the annual Royal Academy exhibition in London, where it shocked and frightened exhibition visitors. It was indeed a very avant-garde painting for its time. It is quite theatrical in style. The red drapery falling off the edge of the bed even suggests a river of blood as it might be symbolically enacted on stage in a play or an opera. The light source coming in from the right is also what would be happening on a stage. The woman, clothed in a thin white gown, stretches across a bed with her arms, neck, and head hanging off the end of the mattress. The painting depicts the drama of being oppressed by one's demons.

As Hans Urs von Balthasar described so beautifully, Jesus invites us to live our lives as part of the Theo-drama… and move away from our own ego-drama…

LINKS

Today's story - https://christian.art/en/daily-gospel-reading/569

Christian Art - www.christian.art