An Exorcist Messiah? Where does the idea come from? The problem is that the title Son of David is found only in the synoptic gospels. The title is associated with a figure who heals and exorcises demons. While healing is a clear part of the messianic profile in the Old Testament, exorcising demons is not. Consider post-Christian material: Some Aramaic incantation bowls refer to Solomon as "Son of David" in his capacity to exercise demons. There are 500 or so of these. Solomon had divine powers over demons, a ring that binds them, etc. All are post-New Testament (6th century AD). Where does this stuff come from? Consider 1 Kings 4:29-30,32-33, 1 Kings 4:29-30, 32-33 and the Wisdom of Solomon 7:17-22. Consider Psalm 91 and what Josephus states in Antiquities 8.2.5. Explore binding and loosing in Matthew 16:19 ; 18:18 . Consider the traditional views: In Catholicism, Jesus thereby authorized the establishment of the Roman Catholic Church, the primacy of Peter, and the apostolic power of excommunication. Protestantism views Catholics as wrong. Nothing is said in either passage about the transmission of authority by apostles to any successor. In Rabbinic Analogies, authority is to absolve or release a person from some sort of vow (context?). Authority of the scribes (and, so, the apostles) was to determine which actions were forbidden and which permitted. Authority of the leaders of the community (and, so, churches) was to exclude persons from the community. Authority to grant or withhold forgiveness of sins (cp. John 20:23 ) likely refers to church discipline, given that Matthew seems to say that Jesus expected his followers to forgive those who offended them without need for authorization of clergy: Matthew 5:23-26, 6:12-15; 18:21-35. In John 20:23 we read, "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” Consider Matthew 18:15-18. Problems include that ". . .none of these interpretations attends to passages where terms for binding and loosing appear in Intertestamental Jewish sources," says Richard Hiers. Something better is that most common usage of "binding" and "loosing" terminology in 2nd Temple Literature and the New Testament is the binding of Satan and demons, and the loosing of their victims. Consider Enoch 10:1-6, 11-14 and Enoch 88:1. Consider the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs. The Testament of Levi 18:10-12 refers to the activities of the "new priest" whom God would raise up as king in the era to come.. . (cp. Testament of Simeon 6:5-6; Testament of Zebulun 9:8) New Testament usage parallels include, Revelation 20:1-7 and Mark 3:27 (binding the demon and loosing the victim). "Casting out" is equivalent to "binding" as in Matthew 12:28-29. Some scholars link binding/loosing to physical afflictions in the gospels because the lemmas are the same (also). Consider Revelation 20:1-2 and Mark 3:26-27.