Mark 1:23–27

We are not surprised that the Lord's service in this book of service began in the inner sphere of God's interests — in what people would call the religious sphere. What surprises us is finding an agent of the devil in that circle, an unclean spirit. We might expect to find the unclean spirit in the theatre or the cinema, or moving in business and political circles; but in the synagogue! in the church! Surely not. Yes, there was no doubt about it: the unclean spirit was in the synagogue, and it had a voice there. The rulers of that synagogue may have tried to cast it out, or to bind it into some appearance of decency with chains and fetters. If so, their efforts had failed. The foul spirit was there when Jesus entered the place.

A man held by a demon could be present there without fear of challenge from the scribes and Pharisees. But the power of the Lord Jesus in His ministry was a threat to the authority of the evil spirit.

How strikingly these cases of demon possession appeared in the presence of Jesus! As we read the Gospels, we might almost think that every possible case of that time had crowded around Him. But the truth is, there may have been as many before; the presence of divine light brought it all out then. The presence of Jesus, the Son of God, cornered Satan and pulled off the mask that may have hidden his victims before. And we see this to a degree wherever the power of God's truth and holiness are at work.

The casting out of the unclean spirit shows another mark of the perfect Servant. If He speaks with authority, His word carries power. In the place of religious profession there was a man with an unclean spirit. The presence of Jesus is intolerable to such.

Think of the terrible identification of the unclean spirit with the man, which his language reveals. There is no creature in the universe that offers a den so welcoming to a demon as a sinful human heart. As long as you are far from the Lord, you are near and open to the power or the tricks of the spirit of evil. He is your great enemy; the Lord Jesus is your greater friend.

How soon the Evangelist shows that the ministry of the Servant-Prophet brought out the true moral condition of things in Israel! The Light shone into the darkness, and there in the synagogue revealed the hypocritical scribes in the pulpit, and an unclean spirit in the congregation.

The Lord acted in His own authority, and did what even Michael the archangel held back from doing. Michael did not dare bring a slanderous accusation against the devil. He said only, "The Lord rebuke you" (Jude 9). Jesus rebuked him and quieted his wild speech with a word. He quieted the howling winds, the tossing waves, and the raging, burning fever with a word like it. Going beyond mere restraint, He commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man.

How strikingly these demonic possessions appeared in the presence of Jesus! As we read the Gospels, we might almost think that every case then existing had crowded around Him. But the truth is, there may have been as many before; the presence of divine light brought it all out then. The presence of Jesus, the Son of God, cornered Satan, and pulled away the mask that had covered his victims. You can see this to some degree wherever the power of God's truth and holiness is at work. Does He raise a flag for truth? Opposition appears at once, and the enemy shows himself.

To meet the power of Satan in such a place was truly remarkable. The Saviour often met demon-possessed people in the outside world. That was a painful reminder that the world is under Satan as its prince. But for a demon to intrude into the very presence of God was extraordinary.

Until now the unclean spirit had stayed hidden behind the man's personality. He revealed himself by this public statement: "What have we [the man and I] to do with you, Jesus the Nazarene?" The spirit of lying spoke truth, for "what fellowship has light with darkness?" But it was not the whole truth, for Jesus came to deliver man from the authority of darkness (Colossians 1:13).

The change of pronoun here is very suggestive. The knowledge of the Holy One belongs to the demon alone. He would draw the man in with him into the dread it inspires, and into the wish to escape Him as a destroyer. Yet this is the very One who is to be the man's Saviour!

The demon knew Him to be the Holy One of God. Even so, he used the expression "Jesus of Nazareth," a name men often used to suggest something inferior. He asks whether the Lord had come to destroy them, that is, the demons. For they can understand nothing of grace.

Demons will not give Him the title of Lord. The evil spirit at Ephesus said, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know" (Acts 19:15). He did not say, "the Lord Jesus," but gave Him no more title than he gave Paul. See also Mark 1:24; 5:7.

Yes and no, foul spirit. "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil" (1 John 3:8). But as for the man, "the Son of Man came not to destroy people's lives but to save them" (Luke 9:56).

It is remarkable how these evil spirits acknowledge Him according to the truth. But they do it only out of dread, and they would have avoided His power if they could. It was the reluctant acknowledgment of a power they could not escape. The time had not come to cast them into the pit, but to deliver man.

The demon knew Him, and did not hesitate to confess Him as the Holy One, a title assigned to Him long before in Psalm 89:19. But the Lord could not accept testimony from such a source. Nor could Paul later, when a fortune-telling spirit spoke up for him in the streets of Philippi (Acts 16:16-18). Christ and Satan have nothing in common. Between them lies the deepest moral opposition.

He showed His complete power over demons. Yet He "would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew Him." As one has said, "He refused a testimony that was not of God. It might be true, but He would not accept the testimony of the enemy."

He did accept a fourfold witness: John the Baptist, the Father, His own works, and the Scriptures (John 5:32-47). But He, the Holy One of God, refused all testimony from below. In the wisdom He held so perfectly as a Man, He saw the false charge coming — that He was in league with Beelzebub in casting out demons. So that none of the Father's "little ones" would stumble, He openly refused every link with the works of darkness. Then all could know that He did these things in His Father's name alone.

The Lord acted in His own authority. He did what even the archangel Michael held back from doing. Michael did not dare bring an abusive charge against the devil, but only said, "The Lord rebuke you" (Jude 9). Jesus rebuked him, and one word stopped his violent speech. A word like it stopped the howling winds, the tossing waves, and the raging, burning fever. Then He used His authority for more than silence: He ordered the unclean spirit to come out of the man.

The unclean spirit obeyed and came out. First it threw the man into convulsions and cried out with a loud voice. Demon possession is real. There was no illusion. That spirit showed its power, and people heard its voice. But the power of the Lord was greater. And however unwilling it was to leave its victim, at the word of Christ, "Be silent, and come out of him," it came out.

The demon obeyed and spoke no more. He only cried out without words as he left, and the man he had held felt a spasm of physical pain (compare Mark 9:26). "What the devil cannot keep as his own, he will destroy if he can. Pharaoh never treated the children of Israel so badly as when they were about to escape his grip. The same thing happens all the time. Satan tempts, torments and beats no one so hard as those at the very moment of being set free from his tyranny for ever."

What truths does a person need to hear more than these? That in one way or another Satan holds him as a slave. And that the name of Jesus alone can set him free. … How quickly men turn from wonder at grace in God and His Son to the anger and hatred of their own offended pride! How slow they are to admit that their own will opens the door to their slavery to Satan!

Those present had felt the authority of His word within them; now they saw that authority at work in another person — a remarkable deliverance done at the simple word of Jesus. They asked each other for an explanation. They were not yet willing to see that the Person of Jesus, standing in front of them, was explanation enough.

Controlled by the demon, the man recognised Him as the Holy One of God, yet thought of Him as One bent on destruction. Challenged like this, the Lord showed Himself to be the Deliverer and not the destroyer. The devil is the destroyer. So the demon, his servant, did as much as he could in that line by tearing the poor man before he came out of him. He could not keep his grip on his victim in the presence of the power of the Lord.

Satan, the devil, bowed before that authority. Yet he still showed the frenzy that belongs to him, and admitted the defeat he suffered at the hand of the God-Man. We read that when he had torn him, he came out. That is, he showed the hatred of his nature and the terrible violence of his will, against both God and man. Satan always does that, and yet at the same time he was overpowered and bound. The obedience of the perfect Man, the Lord Jesus Christ, binds the strong man, and then his goods are taken from him. The strong man recognises the power of the One who binds him, and must release the captives in his hands.

The demon obeyed. He spoke no more, and only made unintelligible cries as he left. As he went, a fit of physical pain came over the man he had held (compare Mark 9:26). "What the devil cannot keep as his own, he will destroy if he can. Pharaoh never treated the people of Israel worse than when they were just escaping his grasp. Something similar is always happening. Satan tempts, plagues and batters no one harder than those who are at that moment being set free from his tyranny for ever."

Not content with rebuking the demon, He commanded him to be quiet and come out of the man he had made his prey. And the demon had to obey. Though he threw the man down in front of them all, as proof of the powerful spirit, he came out without doing him harm. The praise went to the Lord Jesus. They were used to hearing words. This word carried authority and power in Jehovah's Servant, His chosen. Amazement came on all of them then — but for a sinner to believe is far better.

Demon possession is a reality. There was no illusion. That spirit's power was displayed, and its voice heard; but the power of the Lord was greater. And however unwilling it was to leave its victim, at the word of Christ, "Be silent, and come out of him," it came out.

He breaks the slavery and the chains of Satan's power over the poor slaves and tools of his will and malice. Having broken that power, He has set them free. Then He takes them up to use them for Himself, according to His own love and heart, against the very power that once held them.

The second thing was not authority in teaching, but power in action. Our Lord deals with the root of the trouble in man: the power of Satan, now so little believed in. It is Satan's power over human spirits or bodies, or both. In the synagogue itself — the very meeting place, where Jesus was — there was a man with an unclean spirit. The man cried out. The power of God in the person of Jesus could not be there without exposing the one who was under the power of Satan.

This word means holding the right or title to act, and not only the ability to do it. The ability is what the word often translated "power" expresses. Moses had zeal and ability when he first set about putting his people's wrongs right in Egypt. But when someone challenged his authority — "Who made you a prince and a judge over us?" — he fled in disgrace. Later the LORD said to him, "Come now and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt." He then went as a messenger God Himself had authorised. That is how Mark presents Jesus. He had an undeniable right to speak.

No one had challenged Satan's power in the Jewish synagogue. Now Satan is defeated, and the people are amazed, asking, "What new doctrine is this?" The teaching of the Old Testament, if they had obeyed it, would have kept evil spirits out of Jewish places of worship. But once Satan is in, he is not easily driven out. Now, however, One stronger than Satan had come.

Even evil spirits were afraid of His presence, and begged not to be destroyed. Still, they had to let go of the wretched men they held as prey under their power. So the people said, "What is this? what is this doctrine?" Here was the testimony that God had stepped in to set man free, and to give him His perfect truth. Grace and truth had come by Jesus Christ.

Saddest of all is that forced obedience seen in men such as Balaam, and also in demons. They will go down to the lake of fire, where all that stays unreconciled will be an eternal witness to the supremacy of God. Compared with every other kind of obedience, the obedience of our Lord must forever stand alone.

Those present had felt the authority of His word inside them. Now they saw that authority at work in another man, a remarkable deliverance done at the simple word of Jesus. They questioned among themselves for an explanation. They were not yet ready to see that the full explanation stood in front of them, in the Person of Jesus. They can only admit that this is a new kind of teacher, teaching unlike anything they were used to.

He breaks the slavery and the chains of Satan's power over the poor slaves and vessels of his will and malice. Having broken that power and delivered them from it, He takes them up to use them for Himself, according to His own love and heart, against the very power that once held them.