Paparazzi

Paparazzi are relentless and intrusive photographers who follow celebrities and take un-staged and unexpected pictures of them for profit. The first paparazzi picture is credited to Tazio Secchiaroli, a photographer in Rome, who unsuspectingly took a picture of King Farouk of Egypt sitting with two women, neither his wife. The King saw it and got into a fight with Secchiaroli, which a friend of Secchiaroli photographed. This was the beginning of the paparazzi, although it wasn’t named as such.

In 1960, Federico Fellini, an Italian film producer, made a movie about the highlife of Rome, calling it La Dolce Vita“The Sweet Life.” In the film, an annoying photographer follows people and takes pictures of them, whom Fellini names Paparazzo. When Time magazine asked Fellini how he came up with the name Paparazzo, he answered that the word reminded him of “a buzzing insect, hovering, darting, stinging.” Paparazzi is the plural of Paparazzo.

Jesus had an unexpected group of “paparazzi” – the unclean spirits.

“Along with his disciples, Jesus withdrew to the sea, and a large crowd from Galilee, and from Judea, and from Jerusalem, and from Idumea, and from beyond Jordan, and from surrounding Tyre and Sidon – a large crowd came to hear and see whatever he was doing.* He asked his disciples to prepare a small boat as the people crowded him. Since he was healing many people, they were falling [pipto] upon him since his touch was healing those with torments [mastigoo]. The evil spirits – whenever they saw him – fell [pipto] before him and cried, saying: You are the son of God. But he rebuked many of them not to reveal him.” (Mark 3:7–12)

This was not a peaceful rally; it was chaos. Large crowds from kilometers away came to him with their sick and tormented ones. When they neared him, as his touch was healing them, they tossed [pipto] the people at him, and the unclean spirits fell [pipto] at his feet to the point that Jesus wanted to retreat to a boat from which he could heal them without incurring bodily harm. He wanted to escape the unclean spirits’ paparazzi attack!

The word mastigoo, which I translated as “torment,” comes from mastix (μάστιξ), a “whip.” The soldiers used mastix to flog the prisoners and enemies. Figuratively, it meant a scourge or plague with fire and swords. Since Mark spoke of the unclean spirits, we are to think of the violent attacks evil spirits had on people and the torments they inflicted on people. Jesus delivered them from those torments.

Whereas the scribes and Pharisees had difficulty understanding who Jesus was, the unclean spirits had a clear vision: Jesus was God’s son, Israel’s Messiah, and David’s son. But Jesus didn’t want them to acknowledge him or help convince the people of his identity. He demanded that they remained quiet and didn’t reveal his identity. People must see his actions and conclude that he was God’s son.

A modern version of torments, I think, is addictions. We are tormented by desires to overeat, drink heavily, watch pornography, gain money unwholesomely, seek acceptance at any cost, etc., etc. Whatever addictions we have, the Lord can deliver us. Sometimes he does it miraculously; other times, he uses medicine, counseling, friends, etc. Regardless, we must toss ourselves at his feet and seek his help.

*I’ve kept Mark’s repetitions – “and from” and “a large crowd”– as they show vividness like a child keeps on repeating: “I received a car and a lego and a candy and a pen.”