Jesus vs demons - part 1

===============================================================
NOTE: An updated version of this post is available on my new website located here: http://bornofspirit.net/demons-a-proper-balanced-biblical-perspective/
===============================================================

Jesus spent a considerable amount of His time on earth dealing with demons (aka evil spirits, unclean spirits, etc).  This was one of His main activities.  It was also one of the things that really drew people to him.  Take a look at these passages.

Matthew 8:16
When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick,

Mark 1:34
Then He healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He did not allow the demons to speak, because they knew Him

Mark 1:39
39 And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.

Mark 3:11
And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out, saying, "You are the Son of God."

Luke 4:36
Then they were all amazed and spoke among themselves, saying, "What a word this is! For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out."

Luke 6:17-18
And He came down with them and stood on a level place with a crowd of His disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and be healed of their diseases,as well as those who were tormented with unclean spirits. And they were healed.

Luke 7:21
And that very hour He cured many of infirmities, afflictions, and evil spirits; and to many blind He gave sight.

Preaching, teaching, healing the sick, and casting out demons.  That's what you would see if you went to see Jesus in action.  He would preach the Kingdom of God, and then demonstrate it with displays of supernatural power.  Or, He would do it in reverse order.  He would exercise supernatural power over sickness and demons, and then He would preach and teach.  

That is what the ministry of Jesus looked like.  Casting out demons was a big part of it.  

If we are going to follow His example, then we should be doing the same thing.  It is not like all of the demons in the world suddenly stopped bothering people after Jesus ascended into heaven.

You can see His followers dealing with demons throughout the book of Acts, so demons were still causing problems for people.  But the disciples of Jesus were driving them out and rescuing the oppressed.  That is part of our mission as Christians.  We are to heal the sick, cast out demons, and preach the gospel.