Jesus Deals With an Unclean Spirit

Mark 1:21–34
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The law stated that wherever there were 10 Jewish families there must be a synagogue. This meant that wherever there was a colony of Jews, there was a synagogue. If a man had a message to preach, the synagogue was the obvious place to preach it and that is why Jesus went there.

One of the first assignments in this new ministry was to deal with an unclean spirit. The scene of this incident was in the synagogue at Capernaum which was a proud city of unbelief. It seems strange to find a demoniac worshiping in the synagogue which tells something of the spiritual condition in Capernaum. Why in the world would a man possessed by demons even be interested in going to the house of God?  The devil is opposed to Christianity but he isn’t opposed to churchanity. If you think the devil doesn’t do some of his prowling in church you haven’t been around long. Satan even has control of the pulpits in some churches.  Read what the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 11:13-15.  “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an “angel of light.” It is not surprising then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. “Their end will be what they deserve.”

The demon realizes that here is a preacher with whom he has nothing in common. As Jesus rebukes this demon it reluctantly comes out of the man. One would have thought that this miracle would have brought these people to belief, but it only seemed to amaze them and cause them to quickly spread the news. We need to note that not only was the demon in the man but the man was in the demon. He had chosen to immerse himself in the filthiness of sin. When we play with sin we are actually putting our self into a place of immersing our life into the filthiness of a sinful lifestyle. Start playing with sin and before long not only will sin be in you but you will be in sin.

Application

On a scale of 1 to 10 how much authority does Jesus have in my life? A good question for me to ask myself is “What do I need to cast out of my life to get a rate of ten?” How will I begin today to allow Jesus more authority in my life?