Jesus the Demon Challenger

I thought it interesting in how Twelftree discussed the subject of demon possession and exorcism in his article in the Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, which Dr. Foster also went over in class Monday. One part that interested me was the part about the techniques of casting out demons that were commonly used at the time, and comparing Jesus' style with these techniques. For instance the idea of binding a demon. I had always been under the impression that Jesus just simply casts out the demons, and then the focus turns toward the former demoniac, and that was basically the format in the text. I had never thought much about the interaction between Jesus and the demon, other than that they knew each other and one of them was obviously in control. But as Twelftree notes, that by saying "be quiet" it is believed that one is "muzzling" or a form of binding the demon, and thus giving the person "control" over the demon (of course we know that only God has true control of the demons). Once a demon tried to bind Jesus first by declaring who Jesus was, but it had no effect on him. Also the idea of transferring a demon to another object (like pigs in Mk 5:11-13) so that the demon may drown by placing the object in water intrigued me. Then we look at what sets Jesus apart from other exorcists at the time, for one he is God and the Messiah, but other than that he does not use any "devices" or "props". Also he does not pray or use a lot of commands common with casting out demons of exorcists of his day, but instead uses his own authority. Successful exorcism made anyone popular back then (sometimes even the appearance of success), which was not Jesus' goal but rather to help someone in need, but of course word spread anyway and many wanted to see this "Miracle Worker" from Galilee (some also wanted him to leave Mk 5:17). I guess they were drawn to him in part because here was someone who obviously had control over the unexplainable, and people even today do not like not being in control of their lives and are scared of the unknown.