Who might the man with the unclean spirit be (Mark 1:23), and can we know? Well, we probably can’t know for certain, but there are certain things within this account of the man that could point to someone we know in the Gospel narratives, and, if true, it answers some questions we may have about this man.
In another account Jesus describes what happens when an unclean spirit is driven out of the man. It isn’t like the man is cured forever, like Peter’s mother-in-law in Mark 1:30-31, or the leper in Mark 1:40-42. Rather, it seems the complete healing of the one, whose spirit was unclean and was cleansed, is determined by how the man embraces his new found freedom. For example, if false teaching is exposed, healing is determined upon embracing the truth. Otherwise, one would be apt to return to his false understanding. In fact, this is what Jesus tells us: “When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walks through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, I will return unto my house whence I came out” (Luke 11:24).
What are dry places? The scriptures tell us: “The law of the wise is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death” (Proverbs 13:14), so if the fountain of life, or the spring of life or the water of life is to depart from the snares of death, then a dry place would be the opposite of the fountain of life or death. If one ceases a bad habit, the bad habit no longer has place in that one’s life, the bad habit is in a dry place, death—it doesn’t exist in that one’s life any longer.
What if, in the course of recovery the one who is cleansed of his evil spirit (bad habit, false teaching etc), he hasn’t replaced the spirit / habit with something good. In this context, that one’s spirit longs for rest in something – anything, but finding none, he goes back to doing (or believing) what he was rid of through the Gospel (cp. Luke 11:24). In such a case the man’s condition would be worse than it was before he received the Gospel, because the habit / teaching has become further entrenched in the man’s life (Luke 11:25-26). In the context of the Gospel narratives, as a whole, who might this describe? Judas?
Judas had been a Jewish zealot and hater of the Roman authorities. He was not only a zealot, but a member of the feared Sicarii (from the Latin sica, meaning ‘dagger’). I believe Judas’ surname, Iscariot, is derived from this radical group. The Hebrew may be a good source for its meaning. The Hebrew word for man is: ‘i^ysh (H376), pronounced ‘eesh’, and the word used for dagger is ‘chereb’ (H2719), pronounced kheh’-reb. While this word is usually translated ‘sword’ in the Old Testament, it is also translated dagger in Judges 3:16 and 3:21-22, which may point to the length of the sword used. It is also translated knife or knives in Ezekiel 5:1-2, Joshua 5:2-3 and 1Kings 18:28. If the two Hebrew words were combined, we would pronounce them eesh kheh’-reb, which is similar to Iscariot. If this understanding is accurate, Iscariot would be a transliteration of the Hebrew i^ysh chereb (H376 and H2719), meaning “dagger man” which would point to Judas being a member of the Sicarii.[1]
If, indeed, Judas were the man Mark describes as having an unclean spirit (Mark 1:23-24), he could be pointing to Judas’ radical political nature, which sought to discredit Jesus’ teaching about himself, and although he was healed, Judas never fully embraced Jesus’ teaching about himself, because Judas, along with most other Jews, looked for a messiah who would never die (John 12:34; cp. Matthew 16:21-23) and would free Jews from the hated Roman occupation. Judas’ zealous, political spirit found no rest in the Gospel, and Jesus later referred to him as a devil or a slanderous man (John 6:70). Admittedly, the evidence isn’t as substantial as I would like, but, if true, it certainly would answer a lot of questions one may have, as to why Judas betrayed Jesus, and what he did with the stolen funds he took from the group (cp. John 12:6).
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[1] Acts 21:38 Paul was questioned as to whether he was “that Egyptian” that led 4000 men who were murderers (G4607; sikarios… “Of Latin origin; a dagger man or assassin; a freebooter [Jewish fanatic outlawed by the Romans]: – murderer” – from Strongs Dictionary)
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