DRIVEN OUT

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. The people were amazed at His teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an impure spirit cried out, “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”

“Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!” The impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.

The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey Him.”

News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.

Mark 1:21-28

Then He went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath He taught the people. They were amazed at His teaching, because His words had authority.

In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an impure spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice, “Go away! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”

“Be quiet!” Jesus said sternly. “Come out of him!” Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him.

All the people were amazed and said to each other, “What words these are! With authority and power He gives orders to impure spirits and they come out!”

And the news about him spread throughout the surrounding area.

Luke 4:31-37

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

He turned water into wine at a wedding in Cana.

He saved a young Capernaum boy from the brink of death with speaking four words.

He caused an abundant catch of fish for some Galilean fisherman who had been unable to bring in anything and then called them to be fishers of men.

These were just some of the miraculous signs and wonders Jesus had performed early on in His ministry and word of His special power had began to spread, so much so that more and more people were coming to hear His teaching and witness His special power for themselves.

It was on one such occasion in Capernaum that we find Jesus finding Himself interrupted while providing instruction to a group of synagogue attendees on the Sabbath. Look again at these accounts from the Gospels of Mark and Luke:

They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. The people were amazed at His teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an impure spirit cried out, “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”

“Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!” The impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.

The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey Him.”

News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.  Mark 1:21-28

Then He went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath He taught the people. They were amazed at His teaching, because His words had authority.

In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an impure spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice, “Go away! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”

“Be quiet!” Jesus said sternly. “Come out of him!” Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him.

All the people were amazed and said to each other, “What words these are! With authority and power He gives orders to impure spirits and they come out!”

And the news about him spread throughout the surrounding area.  Luke 4:31-37

The scriptures tell us that Jesus was teaching in the synagogue but not in any way the believers there had experienced before. They had been receiving their messages from the Jewish teachers of the law but the words of Jesus carried something special: authority.

Mark’s account shares that the people thought this before a demon-possessed man rose to his feet and cried out at the top of his voice:

“Go away! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”

Two things of interest found in these words.

First, the demon recognized who Jesus was before any of the people listening to His teaching. The impure spirit’s words tell us as much, professing Jesus to be “the Holy One of God”. This acknowledgement leads us to the second point of interest:

The demon knew Jesus had the power to destroy it.

Indeed, the impure spirit knew Jesus could do away with it and thus commanded its holy nemesis to go away, something Jesus was not about to do. For as we see, Jesus doesn’t run from demons; He drives them away, in this case sternly commanding the demon to “Be quiet!” and “Come out of him!”

And with that, God’s word tells us the violently shook the man, threw him down, and departed his body with a shriek. It had to be quiet a spectacle, certainly one never witnessed before by the synagogue faithful. Put yourself in their place for a moment and ask yourself how you would have responded. It probably would have been very similar to what the people there felt more than 2,000 years ago as they confessed and wondered:

“What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey Him.”

They had been left bewildered and amazed by the events that special Sabbath and as the scriptures tell us, they went out from worship that day and started to spread the news of Jesus across the surrounding area. Jesus’ following was going to grow even more.

Friends, today’s devotion carries with it an important message for all of us. For I think we can all say that we have dealt with our own personal demons at one time or another in life. Perhaps you are dealing with one as you read this today. For all of us, we need to keep two things in mind:

1. The Jesus who performed great miracles and put on amazing displays of spiritual authority back in the days of the Gospels is the same Jesus today. He is just alive with us in Spirit as He was with the synagogue worshipers in body.

2. The Jesus who is with us as much as He was with the believers who gathered to hear Him teach on the Sabbath, witnessing Him drive out the impure spirit, is the same Jesus who is driving demons out of lives today. He has lost no power to do so and the demons have not surpassed Him in might.

Given these truths, Jesus is ready to drive out the demons that are in our lives today. He still possesses the power to rebuke anything that is plaguing you and remove it so you might be restored to health and His service.  All we need to do is come to Him and trust that He is in command of everything in the world, including the impure spirits that can plague us.

If you’re counted in that number, come to Him today and let Him do what He does best…make all things new.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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