“And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.”
Mark 1:34
This verse occurs nearly at the beginning of Mark’s gospel. It’s early in Jesus’ ministry and the word had gotten out about his miracles. He had healed a woman and cleansed a man with a demon, and now the whole city of Capernaum was gathered to him to see the miracles and be healed. The point of today’s thought is not so much focused on those miraculous healings, but on some of the interesting nuances of this particular verse that have some incredible implications for us as Christians.
The verse for today tells us that Jesus was casting out demons, which is impressive enough, but it doesn’t stop there. It says that Jesus “would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.” You may think we’re going to discuss why Jesus wouldn’t want them speaking if they knew who he was. Why was he trying to hide the fact that he was the Messiah? Well, that’s not the point today, but to give a simple answer, God had a plan all along. That plan involved very specific timing that worked together for God’s redemption of the world through Christ. It simply wasn’t time yet for everyone to know, nor was that the way they should find out. It’s really as simple as that.
Anyway, the point I’m getting at comes from the first part of that sentence: the fact that Jesus wouldn’t permit the demons to speak. It’s so important for us to realize how powerful that is. It doesn’t matter how powerful or evil or terrifying the demons may have been – they weren’t allowed to speak because Jesus didn’t want them to. How incredible is that? The demons – the things that we as Christians probably fear quite dreadfully – were like schoolchildren being shushed by their teacher. Jesus had complete and total authority over them, and they were powerless to do anything that he didn’t want them to do.
It almost makes me laugh when I think about it – just how powerful that is and how utterly powerless the demons are in the presence of Jesus. More than that, it makes me think. Jesus told us before he left the Earth that he was sending the Holy Spirit, the very Spirit that raise him from the dead, to be with us, to be our advocate. If that Spirit lives in us, then that same power that shut the mouths of demons lives in us too. There is no evil, no sin, no temptation that we don’t have the power to defeat through the Spirit of God.
Jesus has conquered death. He defeated Satan and all of his demons. There is no power left for them save the power that we allow them to have. In the name of Jesus, we are empowered to live holy lives, free from the demons that try to entrap us and enslave us to sin. You have power, through Christ, to shut their mouths. Don’t allow them to speak. Don’t allow them to work. Because of Jesus through the Holy Spirit, they have no power over you. They know who He is, and they know who you are – one of His own.
Prayer:
Father,
Thank you for the amazing power of Jesus and the Spirit that he left us. Thank you that no sin, no death, no demon has any power over me when I am in Christ. Let your Spirit live in me and shut the mouths of every demon trying to speak into my life.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.
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