The Distinctive Mark of Jesus' Ministry

Now, I would like to point out some things that are of particular significance in considering the ministry of Jesus in relation to evil spirits.

Let us notice, first of all, what is said there in Mark 1:27-28. After this first incident with the man with the unclean spirit in the synagogue, it says,

“They were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, ‘What thing is this? What new doctrine ‘is’ this? For with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him.’ And immediately his fame spread abroad throughout all the region round about Galilee.”

I have said there in the outline, and I might just as well read what I’ve said because I think it’s as good as I can do it. The way that Jesus dealt with demons was the most original and striking feature of his whole ministry. He also performed miracles of healing, provision, control over the forces of nature, raising the dead, and so on. And we can all think of miracles of Jesus that came under these various headings: miracles of healing, miracles of provision, such as the feeding of the 5,000, the 4,000, control over the forces of nature, as for instance, when he quieted the storm, when he walked on the waters, and raising the dead.

But all these miracles that I have listed had occurred previously in the ministry of Old Testament believers, such as Moses, Joshua, Elijah, Elisha. Moses and Joshua controlled the elements in various different ways at different times. Elijah and Elisha both raised the dead, both healed the sick, and all these men, with the possible exception of Joshua, performed miracles of provision. So, though this was very evident in the ministry of Jesus, and outstanding, and many times dramatic, it was not the most outstanding or the most dramatic feature of his ministry. The thing that he did which had never been done before in the scriptural record was the way he treated demons.

His speaking to them and commanding them and causing them to obey him and leave people was what gripped the imagination of the people of his day instantly and caused his reputation to spread more rapidly than anything else that he did. Now, the people of the Old Testament were familiar with the existence of evil spirits. They’re referred to in those scriptures that I’ve given there. We do not need to turn there. Leviticus 17:7, Deuteronomy 32:17, Psalm 106:36 and 37. In each case, the King James Version uses the word ‘devils,’ but the correct word should be demons. Furthermore, the people of Jesus’ day recognized the reality of demons and practiced some form of exorcism.

Let me give you two examples of that. In Matthew 12:27, Jesus answers the charge made by the Pharisees that it was through being in league with Beelzebub, the prince of the demons, that he was able to cast out demons. And he said in Matthew 12:27,

“If I by Beelzebub cast out demons, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore shall they be your judges.”

So, he made it clear that there were amongst the Jewish people those that attempted exorcism or the casting out of demons. And again, this is stated even more clearly in Acts chapter 19, where we read about unbelieving Jews, that is, Jews who were not believers in Jesus, who attempted exorcism in the name of Jesus with consequences that were disastrous for themselves. We’ll only read verses 13 and 14 of Acts chapter 19.

“Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, ‘We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.’ And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so.”

So, those passages prove that the people of Jesus’ day recognized the reality of evil spirits or demons and practiced certain forms of exorcism. Exorcism being a polite word for casting out evil spirits. I say polite because it’s used in the liturgy of the Roman Catholic and the Anglican or Episcopal Church, and it sounds to some people more religious and respectable, but actually, it’s just another way of saying that he drove out or cast out or expelled evil spirits. But the way in which Jesus did it was entirely new. They had never seen anything like that before, and they reacted with astonishment.

“What thing is this? What new doctrine ‘is’ this? For with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him.”

And as we already read in Mark 1:28,

“Immediately his fame spread abroad throughout all the region round about Galilee.”

This was the thing that immediately set people talking. And it’s comical to think that 19 centuries later, when people see the same thing, they say the same thing. “What new doctrine ‘is’ this?” And it’s immediately sets people’s tongues talking. There, human nature hasn’t changed the least bit.

Now, Jesus had one very illuminating thing to say about this in Matthew 12:28. Without going into the context of this, he said to the people of his day who were challenging this ministry,

“But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.”

And just two verses higher up, verse 26, he had said,

“If Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?”

Notice that Jesus said clearly, Satan has a kingdom. Furthermore, he’s the ruler of an undivided kingdom. Everything in his kingdom is subject to the will of Satan. But he said, “If I come amongst you, manifesting my authority and causing these evil spirits to come out of people, then know that the kingdom of God is come unto you.” In other words, in this particular ministry, more than in any other, there is the clear, open clash between the two spiritual kingdoms: the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan.

Now, you see, in the Old Testament, essentially, these kingdoms were there, but to some measure, submerged below the surface. It was the ministry of Jesus, and particularly this ministry of casting out evil spirits, that brought the reality of each of these two kingdoms right out into the open. People saw that Satan was real, that he had demons under his control. They saw that the power of God was real and that the power of God was greater than the power of Satan. So, this was one of the absolutely new impacts produced by the ministry of Jesus. It was the bringing out of these two kingdoms and the clash between them right into the open where everybody could see it, and also putting Satan to an open, manifest defeat.