Introductory Reading: Mark 1:21–29
I. Introduction
Mark 1:39 (Philips): “So he continued preaching in their synagogues and expelling evil
spirits throughout the whole of Galilee.”
II. Important Points To Observe
A. Mark 1:27–28—The way that Jesus dealt with demons was the most original and striking
feature of His whole ministry.
1. He also performed miracles of healing, provision, control over the forces of nature,
raising the dead, etc. But all these had occurred in the ministry of Old Testament
believers, such as Moses, Joshua, Elijah, and Elisha.
2. Demons are referred to in the Old Testament (see Lev. 17:7; Deut. 32:17; Ps. 106:36–
37).
3. The people of Jesus’ day recognized the reality of demons, and practiced some form
of exorcism (see Matt. 12:27; Acts 19:13–14). But the authority with which Jesus cast
out demons was completely new.
4. Matt 12:28—Jesus Himself described this as the open clash of two spiritual
kingdoms: the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan.
B. Mark 1:24–25—At times Jesus spoke directly to demons, and they to Him (compare
Mark 3:11–12; 5:6–13). But there is no New Testament pattern for holding lengthy
conversations with them.
C. Mark 1:26—There were powerful physical manifestations when Jesus cast out demons.
Compare:
1. Mark 3:11—They fell down before Him crying out.
2. Mark 9:20, 26–27—The boy wallowed frothing at the mouth. The demon cried out
and tore him. After deliverance, he looked like a dead person.
3. Acts 8:7—Similar manifestations in the ministry of Philip in Samaria.
D. Mark 1:25–26—Jesus never commanded demons to go to hell or the pit.
1. Luke 8:31–33—Jesus left demons free to enter into any other bodies that were
available to them.
2. Rev 20:3, 10—There is a time ordained when evil spirits will be bound and punished.
3. Matt 8:29—Both Jesus and the demons recognized that this time has not yet come.
E. Mark 1:21–26, 39
1. Jesus combined His casting out of demons with His normal ministry of preaching and
teaching in the public place of worship. This was nothing like the atmosphere of a
psychiatrist’s consulting room or couch.
2. Luke 13:32—Together with healing, this continued throughout His whole ministry.
F. Luke 4:40–41—At times Jesus laid hands on people who had demons (compare Matt.
8:16).
1. Matt 8:14–15; Luke 4:38–39—Jesus first laid His hands on Peter’s mother-in-law,
then He rebuked the fever.
2. Luke 13:11–13—Jesus laid hands on the woman with a spirit of infirmity.
3. 1 Tim. 5:22—Laying on of hands should always be done with caution.
G. Mark 1:21–23; 5:6—Normally those who needed deliverance had to submit themselves
to the ministry of Jesus.
H. Mark 9:22–23—In the case of a child with a demon, Jesus required faith on the part of a
parent (compare Mark 7:25–30).
I. Matt. 8:16; Mark 1:39—Most of those who Jesus delivered from demons were religious
Jews, forbidden ever to practice witchcraft or idolatry. They were “normal” people,
neither criminal nor insane. Yet Jesus cast may thousands of demons out of them.
J. Mark 5:18–21; Luke 8:1–3—Jesus encouraged those who were delivered from demons to
testify of their deliverance, and they were not ashamed to do so (compare Mark 16:9).
K. Matt. 10:1–8; Luke 10:17; Mark 3:14–15: 6:12–13: 16:15–18—Jesus never sent anyone
out to preach the gospel without commissioning them to cast out demons (compare John
14:12).
Replies
We will take these powerful words, teaching and learn more of them, take ownership to shift into knowledge, with great understanding, also implement them into our lives. HalleluYAH…
We as believer has the power to cast out demons in the name of Jesus.
We shouldn't try to have conversations with the demons, just cast them OUT!
It is up to to God when the time is for the demons to be sent to hell not ours.
We just need to make sure that those demons are not in us and free any who is willing to be free.
Blue Letter Bible
. (Mar 1:21-22) Jesus teaches in the synagogue.
Then they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught. And they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
a. They went into Capernaum: You can go to Capernaum today and see the remains of an ancient Jewish synagogue, which still has the foundation of this same building Jesus taught in.
b. Immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught: Typically, the synagogue had no set teachers; the custom of "the freedom of the synagogue," where learned guests were invited to speak on the Scripture reading for that day gave Jesus the opportunity to preach.
c. They were astonished at his teaching: We are not told what Jesus taught, but we are told of the effect the teaching had on His audience. They were astonished. They had never heard anyone teach quite like this before.
d. For He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes: The scribes of Jesus' day rarely taught boldly. They would often simply quote a variety of Rabbis as interpreters. Jesus taught with boldness.
i. Jesus taught with authority because He really had authority. He brought a divine message, and was confident that it was from God. He wasn't quoting from man, but from God.
ii. Jesus taught with authority because He knew what He was talking about. You can't teach with authority if you aren't familiar with your material.
iii. Jesus taught with authority because He believed what He taught. When you really believe what you teach, it comes through to your audience with authority.
e. We see first the submitted Jesus - submitted to His Father in baptism, submitted to the Holy Spirit in going out to the wilderness. Now we will see the authority of Jesus. Authority flows from submission. We aren't safe with real authority from God unless we are also submitted to God.
2. (Mar 1:23-24) An outburst from an unclean spirit.
Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, saying, "Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are; the Holy One of God!"
a. A man … with an unclean spirit: In describing the man who is demon possessed, Mark uses the same grammar Paul used to describe the Christian's being "in Christ" (1 Corinthians 1:30). This unclean spirit was the evil "lord" of this poor man's life.
i. The similarity in the wording between the Christian having Jesus and this man having a demon demonstrates that He is in us, we are in Him. We are "Jesus possessed" in the right sense, because His filling and influence is only for good.
ii. Even as Jesus can live in us, so one uninhabited by Jesus can be inhabited by a demon if the invitation is extended, either consciously or unconsciously. Exposure to things such as spiritism, astrology, occult practices and drugs are dangerous. They open doors to the demonic which are better left closed.
iii. It was an unclean spirit: "The ruling spirit in the man was not only a devil, but an unclean devil. Satan sometimes cleans himself up, and comes out quite bright and shining, like an angel of light; but do not mistake him; he is still a devil, for all his pretended purity. There are glittering sins, and respectable sins, and these will ruin souls, but this poor man had a disreputable demon in him, a spirit of the foulest, coarsest, and most abominable order." (Spurgeon)
b. I know who You are; the Holy One of God! The demon himself testifies that Jesus is holy and pure. The demons admit that their wilderness temptations failed to corrupt Jesus.
3. (Mar 1:25-28) Jesus rebukes the spirit and gains great acclaim.
But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!" And when the unclean spirit had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him. Then they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, "What is this? What new doctrine is this? For with authority He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him." And immediately His fame spread throughout all the region around Galilee.
a. Jesus rebuked him: Jesus didn't need to rely on hocus-pocus or ceremonies. He simply demonstrated the authority of God.
b. Be quiet: Jesus often told demons to shut up. Today, many self-styled deliverers from demon possession encourage the demons to speak, or even believe what the demons say. Jesus avoided such theatrics and merely delivered the afflicted man.
c. There were other exorcists in Jesus' day. He was not the only one who tried to cast out demons. But there was a huge difference between Jesus and other exorcists. They used long, fancy, elaborate, superstitious ceremonies. They often failed. Jesus never failed to cast out a demon, and He never used an elaborate ceremony. Here was Jesus' ceremony: "Be quiet, and come out of him!"
i. Lane describes an ancient account from Josephus about the work of an ancient exorcist named Eleazar, around the time of Jesus: "He put to the nose of the possessed man a ring which had under its seal one of the roots prescribed by Solomon, and then, as the man smelled it, drew out the demon through his nostrils, and, when the man at once fell down, adjured the demon never to come back into him, speaking Solomon's name and reciting the incantations which he had composed. Then, wishing to convince the bystanders and prove to them that he had this power, Eleazar placed a cup or foot-basin full of water a little way off and commanded the demon, as it went out of the man, to overturn it and make known to the spectators that he had left the man."
ii. "The people were accustomed to the use of magical formulae by the Jewish exorcists (Matthew 12:27; Acts 19:13), but here was something utterly different." (Robertson)
4. (Mar 1:29-31) Peter's mother-in-law is healed.
Now as soon as they had come out of the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. But Simon's wife's mother lay sick with a fever, and they told Him about her at once. So He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and immediately the fever left her. And she served them.
a. They entered the house of Simon and Andrew: Jesus came into this humble house in Capernaum, and met a sick woman there. Jesus didn't only "perform for the crowds." Here, He ministers to one person in a private home. Jesus' interest was in meeting the needs of individuals not in promoting Himself, and He didn't need to power of crowd dynamics to help His ministry.
b. So He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and immediately the fever left her: In this healing of Peter's mother-in-law, Jesus shows both simplicity and power. Jesus healed with the same authority that He cast out demons.
i. "Peter's mother-in-law was suffering from what the Talmud called 'a burning fever.' It was, and still is, very prevalent in that particular part of Galilee. The Talmud actually lays down the methods of dealing with it. A knife made wholly of iron was tied by a braid of hair to a thorn bush. On successive days there was repeated, first, Exodus 3:2, 3; second Exodus 3:4; and finally Exodus 3:5. Then a certain magical formula was pronounced, and thus the cure was supposed to be achieved. Jesus completely disregarded all the paraphernalia of popular magic, and with a gesture and a word of unique authority and power, he healed the woman." (Barclay)
c. And she served them: Peter's mother-in-law responds the way we should when Jesus blesses us. She immediately served Jesus out of gratitude.
As believers we have to be able to discern these spirit that inhabit the bodies of people. We have to be prepared and prayed up to deal with these type of demons. Great reading.
Amen all Factss
Jesus made healing, deliverance and teaching apart of his normal ministry. Therefore, we should use Jesus examples of driving out demons, devils, evil spirits and curses along with teaching and preaching the Word of God. Most importantly, we should be sharing how we were set free when demons tried to attack us, hinder us, block us, steal, kill and destroy us, because Rev 12:11 tells us we must share our testimony and to never be afraid to do this. Rev 12:11 stated, "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death" (KJV).
Jesus expelled demons in a way no one had previously did in the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. Jesus asked them who they were and cast them out of the individual, but he did not have a lengthy conversation, it was short and to the point. Jesus showed us how to cast out demons in the Body of Christ. Jesus told us, we have been given power, dominion and authority to lay hands on the sick and they shall be healed, to set the captives free, to raise the dead and to drive out evil and uncleaned spirits, in JESUS NAME, AMEN. We must do it how Jesus did it, we must fast, pray, consecrate and have other believers with us too, because that is why he always paired up HIS DISCIPLES Two by Two. AMEN