Jesus vs demons - part 2

Mark 1:21-28
21 Then they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught. 
22 And they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
23 Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit. And he cried out,
24 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!”
25 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!”
26 And when the unclean spirit had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him.
27 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.”
28 And immediately His fame spread throughout all the region around Galilee.

Here is one of the first times we see Jesus in a showdown with a demon.  It isn't very much of a battle, but there are some interesting points we can get from this.

First of all, notice the setting...inside a synagogue on the Sabbath day.  The setting is not a mental hospital, or a prison for the insane.  It is a normal religious gathering, with Jesus doing the teaching.  This confrontation took place in the middle of something similar to a "church service" full of very religious people.

Demons are not relegated to primitive cultures, or to the seedy underworld under a full moon..  They operate in all kinds of settings, including church services, and sometimes even in church leadership (more on this in another post).  In this particular instance, it was a religious meeting where Jesus Himself is doing the teaching.  (That is a very interesting fact to consider when thinking about this subject.)

This was not an isolated case either.  Demonic manifestations were a regular occurrence whenever and wherever Jesus was ministering.  We see things like this taking place all through the gospels.  Jesus was stirring up a lot of trouble in the spirit realm. and it appears that the kingdom of darkness was not really prepared to deal with Him.

 If we are following the example of Jesus, we should expect to witness things like this on a regular basis (or at least every now and then).  Casting out demons is one third of our commission.  Remember...every time Jesus sent out anyone to represent Him, He gave equipment and authority for three activities:  announcing the gospel, healing the sick, and casting out demons.


Mark 16:17 - These signs will follow those that believe:  in my name they will cast out demons...."  

Notice that he said "in my name they will cast out demons."  They = those that believe = believers = us!  Notice that He didn't say "they will pray to me and I will cast out demons."  He said that believers will cast out demons in His name...on His behalf.  Jesus has shared His authority with all believers, and it is up to the believers to use it.  Now, let us take a look at the way Jesus used authority.

Authority

Jesus ended the battle in this story with one sentence spoken in authority.  "Be quiet, and come out of him."  It was a forceful command.  In the original language, the phrase "be quiet" literally means "be muzzled."  Jesus told the demon to put a muzzle on it.  He was telling the unclean spirit to "shut up and get out."

Jesus did not pray a long religious prayer.  In fact, He didn't even pray at all.  Instead, He gave an order.  He knew His authority, and He used it.  He spoke, not to the man, but to the spirit that was exerting control over the man.  Jesus evicted the demon, and set the man free.  This is the example we should follow.  Instead of kicking the person out of the meeting, we should kick the demon out of the person.

Now you may be saying to yourself  "yeah, but this was Jesus."  You need to remember that this is the exact same authority that belongs to every child of God.  If you have been born again into the family of God, if you have believed and received Jesus as your savior, then you have this same authority right now as you sit there reading this.  Let Jesus be your example, and start learning to use your authority!

Jesus vs demons - part 1

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

Authority Over Demons

Luke 9:1
Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.

In this passage of scripture, Jesus sends out His first group people to act as His representatives...to act as His witnesses.  This is a group of 12 men that were his followers.  He gave them some instructions, and He also gave them some equipment.  Part of this equipment was power and authority over all demons.

They went out and did what Jesus had been doing...healed the sick, cast out demons, and preached the good news.

In the next chapter of Luke's gospel, we see the next part of the story.  Jesus sends out new group.

Luke 10:17-20
17  Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name."
18  And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
19  Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
20  Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven."

Here Jesus sent out His second team.  This was a group of 70 of His followers.  He gave them a similar set of instructions, and He also gave them the exact same equipment...including power and authority over all demons.

Notice two things in this passage (emphasis mine)
1 - The people say this:  "...the demons are subject to US in Your name."
2 - Jesus says this:  "...the spirits are subject to YOU..."

The spirits are not only subject to Jesus, but they are also subject to this group of of His followers.  These people are never called apostles or prophets or anything "special." Actually, their names are not even mentioned.  These are simply people that are believing what Jesus is saying, and then acting on it according to His instructions.  Authority over demons is not reserved for those holding a religious title or position.

Mark 16:15-17
15  And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
16  He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.
17  And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;

In this third passage, Jesus speaks to all of His followers.  This is part of what is called "the great commission."  It is given to all Christians.  Notice that Jesus gives us the same equipment that He gave the 12 and the 70.  We are given power and authority over all demons.  Demons are to be subject to all believers in His name.  This is for "those who believe."  This is not just for priests, pastors, bishops, etc.  This is for each one of us that is born again.

We have been given the permission, the right, and the power to drive out demons in the name of Jesus.  We should never be afraid of any demons.  They should be afraid of us.  We have been given authority over them by the King of the Universe...the LORD Jesus Christ.

Acts 10:38 - Holy Spirit Power

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NOTE: An updated version of this post is available on my new website. Please visit it here: http://bornofspirit.net/how-jesus-did-miracles/
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Acts 10:38 - God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

I want to break this down into two parts.

PART 1:  "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power..."

Jesus is God.  He was God throughout eternity past, and He is God throughout eternity in the future.  Omnipotent (all powerful), omnipresent (everywhere at once), and omniscient (all wise and all knowing).

However, 2000 years ago He took on the limits of being a human, and He came to rescue fallen humanity.  Part of this rescue mission involves Him subjecting Himself to the limitations of the human existence (Philippians 2:5-8).

For example, while He was on the earth in a human body...

• He had to walk from place to place.  He was not exercising His omnipresence.
• He had to grow in wisdom (Luke 2:52).  He was not exercising His omniscience.
• He got tired and hungry (John 4:6).  He was not exercising His omnipotence.

Even though He is God, He put himself in our shoes and made Himself subject to our limitations.  We actually don't know much of the first 30 years of His life, other than the fact that He worked as a carpenter, and He had a remarkable grasp of the scriptures.

Then, on the day He was baptized in the Jordan River, the Holy Spirit fell on Him (Luke 3:21-22), and He began to do things that ordinary people can't do.

Before this day, there are zero miracles done by Jesus in the bible.  After this day, there are multitudes of miracles done by Jesus in the bible.

Look at the way the people in His hometown reacted:

Mark 6:1-3 - Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples.  When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. "Where did this man get these things?" they asked. "What's this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles!  Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph,Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him.

Their reaction shows that something was VERY different now.  They were not used to Him teaching and doing miracles.

We are told in Luke 4:14 and Luke 4:18 that Jesus is now walking in the power of the Holy Spirit, and that is the reason for the sudden change.  When the Holy Spirit came on Him, Jesus went from living within the limits of a "regular person" (and I say that reverently) to living as a regular person who has the Spirit of God working through Him to demonstrate miraculous power.

This is exciting news for the rest of us, because it is the same Holy Spirit that lives in every believer.  The Holy Spirit is God, and He wants to do the same things with us that He did with Jesus.  He wants to use us to demonstrate the power of God.

PART 2:  "...who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him."

Jesus went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, and that's what He wants us to do too.  What would Jesus do?  He would do good and heal all who are oppressed of the devil.

Jesus didn't go about telling the sick people that God made them sick to teach them patience or to deepen their piety.

He demonstrated the power of God with authority.  He commanded sickness to leave.  He commanded people's bodies to be healed.  He commanded demons to go.

Jesus healed sick people, and he cast demons out of people that were under demonic influence.  This is called "healing all who were oppressed by the devil."

Notice that sickness is not from God. Sickness is oppression from the devil. God made earth an mankind without sickness. There was no disease in the garden of Eden. Sickness became a part of our life on earth when Adam sinned and gave his dominion away to the devil. Sickness is not part of God's plan for your life.  It is a part of the devil's plan for your life.  God's plan is that we drive out sickness by the power of the same Holy Spirit that worked in Jesus....the same Holy Spirit that lives in each of us who believe.

Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil, and he gave us the authority to do the same.  He said that we would do the same works that he did, and even greater works because He was returning to His Father (John 14:12).  When Jesus returned to heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father, He poured out the Holy Spirit on the church (Acts 2:33), and then they starting doing the same things Jesus had been doing.

Somewhere through history, it seems like a lot of the church has forgotten about this.  May we all wake up and realize our inheritance.  And not only realize it, but actually start taking advantage of it.

Ephesians 1:17-18 ...that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints...