Tag Archives: demon

LUKE’S GOSPEL…OPPOSITION GROWS – 8

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“Then he went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath he taught the people. 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, ‭33‬-‭37‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Amazing how a demon-possessed man could be comfortable in a synagogue…until Jesus showed up! Does this mean that there was no one in that particular company, not even among religious people, who made the demon in that man uncomfortable enough to reveal its presence by resisting the company?

The moment Jesus arrived, the demon protested. Its comfortable environment had been invaded by holiness that made it cry out in agony. What did it say? 

“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!” 

Only something from the spiritual dimension could blurt out the truth. The demon knew the identity of the one who confronted it. It not only knew Him, it also feared Him because it knew its destiny. Here was one from hell face to face with the most powerful representative from heaven. This was about authority…which one would give way?

Satan masquerades as the one who has authority on earth. He deceived Adam and continues to deceive all in the human race who believe his lies. He claims the authority of lordship he does not have and creates all kinds of delusions to cover up his deception. 

This confrontation was also an exposure. Jesus refused to acknowledge the demon’s confession. Instead, He confirmed it by evicting the demon without an argument. 

How did He overcome the opposition of this agent of Satan? Exactly as He did in the wilderness in His confrontation with the devil in person. He spoke the word. 

“Be quiet!” Jesus said sternly. “Come out of him!”

In a final act of defiance, the demon threw the man on the ground and left without another murmur!

How did the congregation in the synagogue react?

They recognised and acknowledged an authority they had never witnessed before. 

“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!”

To the people of that day, authority was everything. Their spiritual leaders claimed to have the authority to teach them God’s word and enforced their rule by hypocritical acts of “righteousness”, parading their “obedience” as publicly as possible as proof of their authority…. but Jesus…He did stuff that outshone all the others. 

So, Jesus’ opposition was lining up against Him, truth versus deception. His own townspeople, demons and, by and by, the religious leaders of His nation who were supposed to be the custodians of truth, all revealed their hatred of the one who embodied truth and had the authority to act on it. 

One group claimed to represent the truth but had no evidence to confirm their claim…Jesus proved by His actions, that the words He spoke were the truth. He came from heaven to represent the truth that His people had long since perverted to suite their own ends and that their leaders upheld and perverted even more for their own purposes, money! In the end as Jesus accurately diagnosed, Israel’s shepherds were nothing more than hirelings, mercenaries who were in it for the money. 

“Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. ..All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them…The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full…The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.”

‭‭John‬ ‭10‬:‭1‬, ‭8‬, ‭10‬, ‭12‬-‭13‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Is it any wonder, then, that Jesus gathered a huge following to begin with, first, because He had so much to give them and, second, because they still had to learn about the all-or-nothing cost of following Him. 

Jesus’ ministry was not about curing all the ills of His people. It was about showing them the nature of the kingdom of God He had come to usher in…a place of holiness and perfection where God rules in righteousness, justice, and peace, and where all evil will be banished forever. Those who participate in this kingdom have to be in keeping with its nature. 

The day would come when these same people would hang this same Jesus on a cross because the standard this kingdom demands was just too high for them. By their action, they were unwittingly opening the door to this kingdom for all who would accept the sacrifice made on their behalf. 

To be continued…

MARK’S GOSPEL…DEMON -22

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Mark‬ ‭9‬:‭14‬-‭26‬, ‭28‬-‭29‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him. “What are you arguing with them about?” he asked. A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.” 

“You unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.” So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?” “From childhood,” he answered. “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” 

“ ‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” 

After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.”

What a contrast between the scene on the mountain and the upheaval in the valley! Three disciples exposed to the glory of Jesus and nine disciples struggling with a stubbornly resistant demon!

This debacle had drawn a crowd…as usual the ever-present, contentious religious leaders, an inquisitive bunch of onlookers, and nine disciples wrestling with a particularly obnoxious demon!

Jesus walked into the situation…ever the Lord of every impossibility. The distraught father of a demon-possessed boy immediately transferred his plea to Jesus, while the impotent disciples hung back because they had no answer to this dilemma. 

Jesus was incensed… angry, frustrated! His diagnosis of the situation hit the mark. 

“You unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you?” 

To whom was He talking? Who were the unbelieving people with whom He had issues? Not the Pharisees or the crowd… they had no connection with Him. It could only have been the nine disciples who could not budge the demon. 

What was the real issue! No faith! Not just little faith. Faith as small as a mustard seed, as tiny as a grain of salt, would have done the job. No faith meant only one thing…they were relying on their own efforts to dispatch the demon. Faith always has an object, ourselves or someone else. 

A “post mortem” of the event cleared up the mystery for the disciples.

“After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.”

Some versions add “and fasting”, but the main issue is, “What place does prayer have in casting out demons or, in fact, any intervention of God in any situation?”

Jesus put His finger on the answer. Prayer is the only way to establish the connection with God called faith. First, through prayer, we learn our true place in this relationship between God and ourselves. He is God! We are not! Anything we say or anticipate outside of our place of absolute nothingness at His feet is pure impertinence, insolence! 

Second, our nothingness before God should lead us to recognise our utter dependence on Him for, and in everything. 

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭11‬:‭6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

He is the sole object of our faith. The source of this conviction is found in His word. 

“Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭10‬:‭17‬ ‭NIV‬‬

So, prayer is essentially, first and foremost, not as we have been led to believe…that prayer is getting answers from God. Prayer is undressing ourselves before God, layer by layer, until we know who we are so that we can learn who He is. It is the application of God’s word that renews our minds, replacing false notions about ourselves and God with truth. Faith is, intended, establishing, once and for all, who has the final authority. 

Many have been taught that  “taking authority over” demonic spirits is the way to exercise authority, to cast out demons, to get anything done. Wrong! Rather, authority only becomes real when we take our place before God in true humility. He can entrust authority only to those who have such confidence in His authority that they act in tandem with Him. 

Through prayer, we cement the conviction that Jesus is who He is and that He will do what He says He will do and what we expect Him to do because He has all authority and He is utterly faithful to His word.

It took a Gentile to define for us the nature of true faith. 

“When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?” The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭8‬:‭5‬, ‭7‬-‭10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Authority and faith! Did you get that? If our faith is not firmly founded on the authority of Jesus, it is not faith but presumption. 

Now, His commission makes sense…if we have absolute confidence in His authority.

“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.””

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭28‬:‭18‬-‭20‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.””

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ONE CANDLE LIGHTS THE DARKNESS

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ONE CANDLE LIGHTS THE DARKNESS

24 Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. 25 In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an impure spirit came and fell at his feet. 26 The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.

27 “First let the children eat all they want,” he told her, “for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

28 “Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”
29 Then he told her, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.”
30 She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone. Mark 7:24-30

This is a remarkable story of deliverance from a tormenting spirit in a child. The fact of its presence in the young girl is not explained. How did the spirit get there? Did the child have a traumatic experience that opened her to demonic oppression? Was it a familial spirit she inherited from a parent or grandparent? Did she meddle with the occult through ignorance? Did pagan religious practices open her to demons? There is no way of knowing how the demon entered her and Jesus did not try to find out from her mother.

From the many healing and deliverance miracles recorded in the gospels, we realise that it was never an issue with Jesus how people got into situations that needed His help. Time after time He healed and set people free from their afflictions regardless of how they got there. That implies that He is more concerned about the present and the future than the past.

Healing is not about guilt and blame. It’s about freedom. It’s about overcoming and overthrowing the work of Satan in people’s lives. It’s about undoing the devil’s work and setting people on a new path towards God. It’s about making “up there” come “down here” so that people can taste the beauty and joy of God’s kingdom right here in the world where the dominion of darkness has reigned for millennia.

What transformation did Jesus’ mercy bring into that home? Although His focus was on “the lost sheep of the house of Israel”, this was only the beginning. His light would shine to the ends of the earth through the new life that He would bring to His own people It’s always like that, God renewing the life of His own people so that they will shine the light where there is darkness and death in the earth. Jesus lit a candle in a pagan community and only eternity will reveal just how far that tiny light shed its beams across the pagan world.

THE GOSPEL OF MARK – A MOTHER’S DESPERATION

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A MOTHER’S DESPERATION

24 Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. 25 In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an impure spirit came and fell at his feet. 26 The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.

27 “First let the children eat all they want,” he told her, “for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

28 “Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”
29 Then he told her, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.”
30 She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone. Mark 7:24-30

Why did Jesus respond to the Syro-Phoenician woman in this way? Was He testing her faith or trying to put her off? Did He have no intention of healing her daughter or was He trying to find out what was in her heart? Knowing His love and compassion, it would seem that He was testing her faith. Did she view Him as some sort of magician or did she recognise something in Him that was not in the gods of her people?

The exchange that took place between them shows a mother’s desperation, confidence and persistence. Although she was not Jewish, she had confidence enough in Jesus, probably because of what she had heard about Him, to know that He would do something for her child even if she were not entitled to anything from Him.

Jesus was using the imagery of His day to test her trust in His nature. He called the Jews “children” and the Gentiles “dogs”. Did He really mean that He regarded her as a “cur”? The Jews did but I don’t think Jesus did. What was her reaction? Was she insulted by the title? It seems not. In her humility, she simply requested a few crumbs from the table!

Jesus melted at her reply because her compassion for her daughter matched His compassion for oppressed people. Her child, and we don’t know how old she was, was being oppressed by the devil. (God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power and He want about doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil because God was with Him,” Acts 10:38) and she would not pass by this opportunity of getting help for her.

Does God sometimes hold out on answering our prayers and meeting our needs or someone else’s need because He wants to know how serious our intention is? Does our compassion match His compassion for desperate, tormented, oppressed people? Does our desperate cry for help melt His heart and move Him to action?

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE – REACTIONS TO JESUS

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REACTIONS TO JESUS

“Jesus delivered a man from a demon that had kept him speechless. The demon gone, the man started talking a blue streak, taking the crowd by complete surprise. But some from the crowd were cynical. ‘Black magic,’ they said. ‘Some devil trick He’s pulled from His sleeve.’ Others were sceptical, waiting around for Him to prove Himself with a spectacular miracle.” Luke 11:14-16.

Why was it that people reacted to Jesus’ miracles of mercy by attributing them to demons? Is the human mind so warped that good is so unrecognisable that it must be interpreted as something the devil does? Was this the influence of the religious leaders of His day, that they were perverted enough to refuse to acknowledge the work of God in healing and restoring broken people?

Perhaps experiencing the goodness of God was foreign to them and they could not accept the character of the God Jesus was revealing to them. They kept asking for more ‘signs’ instead of seeing God in the ones Jesus was doing all the time. Because of their unbelief, no amount of signs would convince them that God is good.

What about me? What does it take to make me aware of the goodness of God in the ordinary events of my life? Part of the repentance that must be ongoing in my life is to change my mind about who is in charge of the circumstances of my life. That does not mean that God makes bad things happen. It does mean that God uses every experience, good or bad, to reveal Himself to me and to reshape my reactions and my character to be more like Jesus.

It’s entirely up to me to choose how I will view my everyday experiences – whether I see them as devil-inspired and spend my time rebuking him(!) or whether I recognise the hand of my God working in all things for my good and conforming me to the image of His Son (Romans 8:28,29).

In this process of becoming a disciple, I am learning to think God’s thoughts instead of my own. The Apostle Paul calls it ‘renewing my mind’. I become what I think. If I think that the devil is pushing me around, I will be fearful, sceptical and insecure, but if I know that God is in charge, working everything for my good, I will have peace and security in Him. Stress will be exchanged for rest and unbelief for trust.

Goodness in the world has only one source, the God who is good. Evil in the world is not from God but He uses it to do His work in His children and to reveal His glory against the dark backdrop of sin on the canvas He is painting. 102