Jesus defeated Satan in the wilderness by rejecting his temptations and lies. The effects of that victory were demonstrated when he exercised authority over demonic forces in the village of Capernaum near the Sea of Galilee. The first incident occurred in the local synagogue, typically, a place where Jews would gather to study the Torah and pray.
The
institution of the synagogue is not mentioned in the Torah, though it possibly
originated during the Babylonian
Captivity. It would become central
to the practice of rabbinical Judaism after the destruction of the
Temple by the Romans in A.D. 70.
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| [Capernaum - Photo by Phil Goodwin on Unsplash] |
- (Mark 1:21-28) - “And straightway, on the Sabbath, entering the synagogue, he began teaching. And they were being struck with astonishment at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one having authority and not as the Scribes. And straightway, there was in their synagogue a man in an unclean spirit, and he cried out aloud, saying: What have we in common with you, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know you, who you are, the Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Silence, and depart from him! And the unclean spirit, tearing him and calling out with a loud voice, departed. And they were amazed, one and all, so that they began to discuss among themselves, saying: What is this new teaching! With authority to the unclean spirits also he gives orders, and they obey him!”
The men
present in the synagogue were amazed by the authoritative way Jesus taught. The Scribes expounded the Law by citing oral traditions and legal
precedents, the “tradition of the elders,” but they did not make authoritative pronouncements on
their own.
In
contrast, Jesus taught decisively and with practical applications based on his Messianic
authority. He was the “Son of Man” portrayed in the Book of Daniel
who received authority and dominion from the “Ancient of Days” – (Daniel
7:13-14).
Of the
thirteen miracles recorded in the Gospel of Mark, four were
exorcisms, the most frequent type of healing in Mark’s account. Eleven times Mark
refers to demons as “unclean spirits.” Four times the verbal form of the
Greek term for “demons” is used to denote someone who was “demonized”
or oppressed by demons. In the present passage, “unclean” refers
to a state of ritual
defilement.
Why was this
man allowed in the synagogue despite his “unclean” state? In Mark,
the synagogue is frequently the place where demons are present,
religious authorities are antagonistic to the Messiah, and their hardness of heart
is the rule rather than the exception. Like the Temple, the synagogue became an
arena of conflict whenever Jesus began to proclaim the Gospel of the Kingdom of
God - (Mark 1:39, 3:1, 6:2, 12:39, 13:9).
This demon
spoke through the man using the plural pronoun, “we”: “What have we in
common with you, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?”
The unclean spirit represented all the demonic forces that were present in the synagogue. This confrontation was a harbinger of the larger conflict between Jesus and the satanic forces that would culminate in his arrest, trial, and execution.
The demon acknowledged
Jesus as the “Holy One of God.” Though hidden from men, the “unclean
spirit” knew who he was. The command of Jesus for it to remain silent was
not to hide his Messianic status. By identifying him in public, this spirit could
discredit his teachings and mission.
The words of
Jesus emphasized his superior authority over those of the Scribes, and his exorcisms
validated his authority over the Devil and his forces. The authority by which he
taught was the same as the authority by which he expelled demonic forces from
the children of God.
His exorcisms
demonstrated conclusively that the “Coming One” announced by John the
Baptist was now reconquering territory from Satan’s realm for the Kingdom of
God.
SEE ALSO:
- The Forerunner - (John the Baptist prepared the way for the Messiah, the herald of the Good News of the Kingdom of God – Mark 1:4-8)
- Opposition Begins - (Jesus began to proclaim the Gospel following the arrest of John, foretaste of the opposition that would plague his ministry – Mark 1:14-15)