112. The Kingdom Comes

Short Meditations in Mark’s Gospel: 112. The Kingdom Comes

Mk 6:12,13 They went out and preached that people should repent. They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

Near the beginning of Mark’s Gospel we read, “Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mk 1:14,15). That encapsulated the message of Jesus, that the rule of God was about to be revealed so now was a time to cast off disbelief and do a one hundred and eighty degree turn about and believe that God’s goodness was there for them. The rule of God must surely be expressed by darkness being pushed back and the light and love and goodness of God revealed in what happens. To talk about God’s rule is to talk about things  happening, God delivering people from Sin and the fruits of Sin.

So it is that the apostles now go out and do exactly the same as Jesus had been doing. First of all they called people to repentance. People needed to turn away from their sin of unbelief and actively believe in the love and goodness of God that was there to restore them to genuinely be the people of God, not just in word, but in reality. We cannot become the people of God (Christians) without repentance. As we noted above it means a one hundred and eighty degree turn in our thinking, in our believing, in our attitudes and in our action. It is a turning away from self and sin and unbelief and a turning to God and to His love and goodness.

But then they drove out many demons. It has always struck me that Israel must have been in a very bad spiritual state where the occult so often prevailed and so many lives had become dominated by evil spirits. Wherever they went, it seems, they came across those who were possessed and a mark of the coming of the reign of God was that those people were set free from the demonic in their lives. Satan’s minions represent the dominion of darkness and they have no place in the kingdom of light, the kingdom of the Son. Thus where they are encountered, they are cast out.

And then, finally, they healed all who came to them and were sick. Sickness was not part of the divine design at the beginning. Ultimately it is called by the breakdown in human life caused by Sin. Thus when anyone came to God through the preaching of the apostles, the way was made open for them to be healed. Hallelujah!

 

21. Raw Authority

Short Meditations in Mark’s Gospel: 21. Raw Authority

Mk 1:25,26 “Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!” The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.

You might think that when Jesus is being revealed for who he is by a man in the synagogue he would have approved that, but no! He tells the man to be silent. Why?  Perhaps because this is an unrighteous and ungodly interruption from the enemy and it doesn’t actually help. Jesus will be revealed by his works and his words, not by demonic powers. On the day of Pentecost Jesus declared, “Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.” (Acts 2:22).  So this present outburst was not the right way.  Right, stop it!

But Jesus isn’t going to leave it there; he’s going to get this demon out of this man. Now if you know anything about demons you’ll know that they don’t like giving up occupancy of a person who has surrendered to the enemy. Just speaking nicely to them and asking them to leave will not do it. There will be only one thing that will get a demon out once it has taken possession and that is the raw authority of God!

You want to see that raw authority in action? It’s here! “Come out of him!” That’s it. That’s all it needed, just four words that have their origins in heaven and spoken out on earth. This is the Son of God speaking, the perfect representative of the Father in heaven. Jesus said, “the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing.” (Jn 5:19) The Son ‘sees’ or catches the heart of the Father and does His bidding – and it is done! When God speaks a word of command, it is done.  Yes, it IS done!  What is so incredible is that the Father rarely speaks such words to humans. He grants us free will, but where it suits Him that is no so for demons. They are rebellious evil spirits and as such are existing on borrowed time. When He wants them out, He simply speaks it and they HAVE to obey!

Whether they obey because they know they have to or whether they are impelled to by the power of God is never clear, but the outcome is always the same – they leave! There is no recorded instance in the Gospels of a demon refusing to obey Jesus. The individual may not have been able to set himself free, but Jesus was – and he didn’t ask permission!

Lord, thank you that you ARE Lord over all things, and that includes the whole spirit world.

15. Legion

People who met Jesus : 15 :  Legion

Lk 8:26,27 They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee. When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs.

In the previous two meditations we saw people coming to Jesus. In this account we find Jesus going to this man in need. We aren’t told why Jesus took the disciples across the Sea of Galilee to the eastern side, but presumably he knew who he would meet and what would happen. Perhaps it was also a learning exercise for the disciples!

In these accounts it is the first time we have encountered demons. Today people have watered down the meaning of demons to simply mean the bad aspects of a person’s character, but in Scripture demons are fallen angels, spirit beings who have rebelled against heaven and who ‘follow’ Satan. They are often referred to as ‘evil spirits’ or even ‘unclean spirits’. Virtually always in the Gospels, when they appear, they appear as having taken possession of a human being and so here we find the description, “a demon-possessed man.” What Scripture indicates is that a person can only be ‘possessed’ when, by their life, they have given Satan, or the demon, authority or permission to take possession. Thus those who regularly dabble in the occult or witchcraft find the demonic presence becoming stronger and stronger in them until they are taken over.

To see the characteristics of what happens when a person is ‘possessed’, we need to note this account of this man. Here we see that he “had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs.” He has bizarre behaviour, cannot stand living in society, and dwells in the place of death, i.e. he is essentially out of control of his life, isolated, desperate and dwelling on death. A few verses later we find, “Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places.” (v.29b) Thus we see further common characteristics observed in the possessed: violent behaviour, immense strength and isolation. If we remember that Satan seeks to destroy God’s creation, we can understand these expressions of the demonic.

But there is another characteristic of the demonic we need to note: “When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torture me!” (v.28) i.e. demons have to be submissive to the Son of God. These spirits, we must remember, are simply created beings that have gone astray. They are part of God’s creation and are still subservient to Him. A wider reading of Scripture suggests that God tolerates them so that He may use them to discipline the wayward and to bring judgment. Yet it seems that Jesus had taken the initiative: “For Jesus had commanded the evil spirit to come out of the man.” (v.29a). So what happened was that Jesus arrived, was confronted by the man who was clearly possessed, commanded the demon to come out of the man, and found resistance within submission. It was this that caused Jesus to ask, “What is your name?” (v.30a) Now we might say that Jesus knows all things and therefore ask why did he have to ask this? The answer has surely got to be for the benefit of the on-looking disciples and for us. He receives the answer, “Legion,” he replied, because many demons had gone into him.” (v.30b) i.e. the depths of the man’s depravity and occult involvement had been so great that many demons had possessed him. We then find something very interesting: “And they begged him repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss.” (v.31) We assume that ‘the Abyss’ is simply shorthand for hell and the demons know instinctively that this is their ultimate  destination.

What follows is bizarre: “A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into them, and he gave them permission. When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.” (v.32,33). Now we aren’t told why this happened, but Jesus grants them permission and they immediately destroy the pigs. Some have suggested that pigs were forbidden meat for the Jews and Jesus was allowing a temptation to be removed by these demons. We simply aren’t told.

Although some of this story may seem strange and alien to us, there are some very basic and obvious lessons to be observed. First, we note the depths to which this man had fallen and that, ultimately, by his own behaviour, which had opened him up to demonic invasion. Second, there is no indication in him of wanting to be free but it seems that Jesus assumes that and confronts the demons. In such a case, it seems, obvious repentance is not always possible, but Jesus assumes it as he reads the heart of the man being controlled. Third, note that Jesus takes control and the demons have to obey him. Fourth, we find that Jesus restores the man completely. It is left to Peter in Mark’s Gospel to remember that, in respect of people from the area, “When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.” (Mk 5:15)

In the meditation about the leper, we saw Jesus with power to heal severe sickness; in the account of the Centurion, we saw that he merely needed to speak a word to bring complete healing. Now we see his authority includes even the demonic world. This is the Son of God who moves to do His Father’s bidding to restore whoever will come. We said Jesus came to this man? Yes, but the other side of the coin is that, despite his possession, this man came to Jesus. He was there to meet Jesus, despite all the pressure from the demons who knew who Jesus was and who would have wanted to avoid him. Here is a wonderful truth: even when we have fallen into such depths, it is possible to cry out to God or meet the Son of God. The person may be unable to do anything else, but that is sufficient to enable Jesus to bring about a confrontation which brings about freedom. Hallelujah!