Healing of the Capernaum Demoniac.
Miracles of Jesus:
(Mark 1:21-28; the story is also recorded in Luke 4:33-37)
Summary: In this section of Mark’s Gospel, Mark draws our attention to the wonder and amazement of the people as they see the authority with which Jesus taught, and as they witness Jesus’ power over demons and disease. As we put our faith in Christ and walk with Him, He continues to amaze us.
I love dad jokes. I had an uncle, JD Swann, and he always had jokes, and they were what we call dad jokes today. But they were great.
We always loved it when he showed up to tell us his jokes. I text Shane all the time, and I tell him this is an Uncle Dee joke, and it reminds me of my uncle.
So here we go: Did you hear about the magician who did magic with chocolate? I heard he had loads of Twix up his sleeve.
Once a magician was doing a magic show in Mexico. As he was doing a trick, he said, “Uno, dos,” and then disappeared without a “trace.”
What do you call a magic owl? HOOdini.
What Jesus does here is not a magic trick but the power and the authority of God
I have a ton of card tricks I can do or used to do, and I’ve never shared how to do them with anyone until just a few years ago we were up at Big Canoe, and I shared them with Christian Busby, my nephew, or rather My great nephew and they are just what I called them: card tricks
In 1983, when David Copperfield made the Statue of Liberty disappear on live TV, everyone rightly concluded it was just an optical illusion and a manipulation of the TV cameras.
When we see the magician pull the rabbit out of the hat, we know it had to somehow come out of the table.
With our scientific and rational minds, we have reduced everything to a reasonable process or a reasonable explanation.
When Jesus showed up on the scene in the 1st Century, Roman-occupied Israel, the people of that day tried to do the same thing – they tried to reduce Jesus to some earthly, human, reasonable explanation.
But Jesus cannot be put in any human, earthly, reasonable category or box.
Jesus was and is God in the flesh, and He was a man of wonder and amazement. In the part of the story from the Gospel of Mark that we want to look at tonight, Mark wants us to see that Jesus was a man of wonder and amazement.
Twice in this section, Mark reports the reaction of the people who witnessed what Jesus was saying and doing, and what were their reactions?
Verse 22 says: “They were astonished,” and verse 27 says: “They were amazed.”
Before we jump into today’s section and learn what it was about Jesus that brought such wonder and amazement, let’s do a brief review.
Mark’s Gospel began with the opening statement
Mark 1:1 1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
This was the good news about Jesus being the Messiah, and more than that, He was God Himself in the flesh.
To back up that claim, Mark immediately offered the fulfillment of prophecy as verification.
Mark 1:2-3 2 As it is written in the Prophets: “Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You.” 3 “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight.’ “
Isaiah 40:3 3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the LORD; Make straight in the desert A highway for our God.
Malachi 3:1 1 “Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, Will suddenly come to His temple, Even the Messenger of the covenant, In whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,” Says the LORD of hosts.
So, Mark talks about John the Baptist and how the prophecy has been fulfilled
Before the Messiah was to arrive, first a messenger had to come and prepare the way.
That forerunner was John the Baptist, who burst upon the scene preaching and baptizing in the wilderness in the pattern and image of an Old Testament prophet.
Mark then reported that after John the Baptist started his ministry, Jesus showed up and was baptized by John, and as that baptism occurred, the other members of the Godhead showed up.
Mark 1:10-11 10 And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove. 11 Then a voice came from heaven, (God the Father said This is) “You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
So, we have the Holy Trinity right here in this one verse: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit
Mark said that the Spirit immediately took Jesus into the wilderness where He overcame the temptations of Satan.
Finally, Mark jumped about 6 months to 1 year ahead in the ministry of Jesus when He moved from Judea to Galilee and immediately called the 4 fishermen to be His first disciples, and promised to make them into fishers of people, or as Jesus put it, fishers of men.
And we saw that in last week’s miracle of the casting of the Nets and catching of the fish and the calling of Peter, Andrew, James and John
Those 4 men dropped everything and followed Jesus.
So far, we have seen the wedding at Cana of Galilee where Jesus turned water into wine
The healing of the nobleman’s son
The healing of the man who was crippled by this pool of Bethesda
And then last week we saw the calling of Peter and how we need to launch out into the deep and be obedient and cast out our nets, and then you see a net full of fish in God’s plan gives more than they ask
All the miracles of Christ point to the future; they point to truths that are listed in the book of Revelation, e.g., the raising of the dead tells us that all death one day will be done away the healing of the sick and the provision of food tell us that someday all suffering will be done away with. We first saw Jesus supplying a need: turning water into wine. This also tells us that God will forever have power to supply our need.
But now this week we see that the casting out of demons signals God’s invasion of Satan and his ultimate defeat. And Jesus has authority and power over all other powers!
With that brief review in mind, we are ready to explore today’s section.
Mark chapter 1 continues the story in verse 21: They went into Capernaum…
Capernaum was one of the most important towns in Galilee, and therefore it was an appropriate place for Jesus to begin His ministry in that region.
Capernaum was a town on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee and was on an important trade route.
Capernaum had a thriving fishing industry and had a seawall that ran for half a mile along the shore that was 8 feet wide and had piers extending from it 100 feet out into the lake.
Incidentally, this account of Jesus’ ministry in Capernaum bears all the marks of being a personal reminiscence, which supports the evidence that Mark’s source for this gospel was most definitely the apostle Peter.
The story continues: They went into Capernaum, and right away He (Jesus) entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and began to teach.
If you were to visit Capernaum today, you can visit the remains of a 2nd-century synagogue that sits on the ruins of the 1st-century synagogue where Jesus taught.
There is also an interesting inscription on a pillar that says that a Roman centurion donated the funds for the construction of that synagogue.
In this section of Mark’s Gospel, Mark draws our attention to the wonder and amazement of the people as they see the authority with which Jesus taught, and as they witness Jesus’ power over demons and disease.
As we put our faith in Christ and walk with Him, we can continue to be amazed ourselves.
So, Mark begins by calling attention to Jesus’ teaching and, most importantly, the people’s response to His teaching. Mark says,
Mark 1:21-28 (NKJV) 21 Then they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught.
Have you ever wondered where synagogues came from, because we don’t find them in the OT?
Synagogues came into being in the 6th century BC during the Babylonian exile.
Before that, all worship and teaching was done in the temple, but after the Babylonians destroyed the temple and took the Jews into exile, they began meeting in small groups.
Even later, after the Jews returned to their homeland and rebuilt the temple, they continued to meet in synagogues.
The word synagogue simply means “gathering” or “assembly,” which is also what the word “church” means.
Jewish synagogues were assembly halls where the Torah was read and explained.
Sabbath services included only three things: prayer, reading from God’s Word, and explanation of God’s Word – there was no music, singing, or sacrifices.
The temple was the place of worship and sacrifice, and the synagogue was the place of reading and instruction.
Synagogue services allowed for any qualified man to deliver the exposition of the Old Testament passage that was read that Sabbath.
That privilege was often given to a visiting rabbi, as it was with Jesus here in this verse.
- Jesus’ ministry was marked by – Teaching – Healing – Casting out of demons
Those were the three elements that distinguished Him in His first-century ministry
As Mark tells us about what happened that day in the synagogue, he was not concerned with what Jesus taught, but was concerned about how Jesus taught and the reaction of the people.
So, we don’t know what Jesus was preaching in the Synagogue in Capernaum. History didn’t record what He said, but people were astounded by it. According to verse 22
22 And they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
This wasn’t so much a criticism of the scribes as it was a contrast in the uniqueness of Jesus.
The scribes were the official teachers of the law and, as members of certain schools and having studied under certain masters, they would mostly dispense their scribal traditions.
Their teaching went like this: “Rabbi Hillel says…but on the other hand, Rabbi Gamaliel says…and of course, let’s not forget what Rabbi so-and-so said.”
That’s not how Jesus taught – when Jesus spoke, He didn’t need any authority beyond Himself, and so He spoke with independence and cited no authorities and quoted no experts.
I love quoting from other preachers and songwriters and poems and commentaries. Jesus didn’t have to do that. There was nothing that He taught that He didn’t already know and have complete authority over
In the Sermon on the Mount, we hear Him saying: “You have heard it said…but I say to you…”
Rather than focusing on the traditions of men, Jesus preached God’s Word and explained the Law and the prophets with personal authority directly from God the Father.
Can you see why the people in that synagogue were astonished that Jesus taught with such authority in contrast to the way the scribes taught?
Jesus’ speech was reminiscent of the Old Testament prophets, who would introduce their statements and revelations not by saying, “in my studied opinion,” but by saying, “THUS SAITH THE LORD.”
When I first started teaching my small group, I asked them if they were OK with my teaching:
And I ask you the same thing. If you have a doubt or concern or even a question, please have the freedom to come to me, and let’s reason together; let’s talk it out. If you don’t agree with me or if you have a question about what I have to say, I’m here
And as I’ve told my small group, if you have a question and I don’t know the answer, I promise you next week I’ll have more information on that subject than you’ll ever want to know. Iron sharpens iron. So come to me with the questions, come to me with the complaints, and let’s work it out
All I just want to do is what will help you and help this church family to grow stronger in the Lord.
My small group said we used to get together, and we’d read a verse, and we’d say I think this means this. And then You came in here, and You said This is what the word of God says, and this is what the word of God means, and this is how you apply it to your life. Not based on tradition, not based on what I want or what I believe, but based on what the word of God itself says.
And according to Chuck Swindoll, that’s our job as ministers. What does the Word of God say? What does the Word of God mean, and how do I apply that to myself?
Here was the Lord Himself, the Word of God incarnate, rising to speak in the synagogue on theological matters.
When He opened His holy mouth, everyone present was stopped in their tracks, filled with amazement, and pierced by a sense of dread to hear the truth proclaimed with superior knowledge.
Even from the age of 12, when He did that in the temple, they were amazed and rightfully so.
That is how we should respond every time we hear the Word of God
We are not listening to scribes; we are not listening to preachers. We are not listening to theologians.
Our hearts should be filled with holy dread and awe before the Word of God
But if this kind of teaching with new authority wasn’t only enough to cause astonishment, Mark immediately reported that a man with an evil spirit interrupted the service.
Immediately, the text transitions to the event that followed Jesus’ teaching. Still in the context of the synagogue, Mark tells us there was a man with an unclean spirit,
Unclean spirits are more than demons– more than the voices in our heads. In today’s scripture, Jesus finds the unclean spirit in the church
23 Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, 24 saying, “Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are–the Holy One of God!”
I believe Alan was spot on this morning. I believe there was somebody in this house that needed to accept Christ as their Savior, and they may well have had an unclean spirit holding them back
This demon, this unclean spirit, was in the very house of the Lord.
Listen, just because you’re in church doesn’t mean that Satan’s not going to attack you here. This is his favorite hunting ground; this is the front line of the battle.
Have you ever noticed – in the OT, the idea of demonic possession is extremely rare. Have you ever noticed there are very few references to the demonic world throughout the Old Testament?
In later church history, there is also limited reference to it. But while Jesus was on the earth, all hell broke loose, and the demonic representatives and ambassadors of Satan himself were everywhere oppressing people.
Later we will see Jesus announces the significance of His work of demon exorcism by saying to His hearers,
Luke 11:20 20 But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, (which is a metaphor for the HOLY SPIRIT), surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. The kingdom of God means the authority and power of God, and He’s saying that has come upon you and me.
I have always found it fascinating to note that if you look in Mark’s Gospel and the other Gospels, it seems like the first ones to fully recognize the identity of Christ are the demons.
Before the people recognized Him in His fullness, the ambassadors of hell instantly recognized Him.
The possessed man was in the synagogue, and when Jesus turned His attention to him, this man with the unclean spirit began to scream, saying, “LET US ALONE! GET AWAY FROM US.” I question, why the plural?
Is it because the man was filled with many demons, as we’ll see in the coming weeks? Such was the case when Jesus met the man who came out of the Tombs. Jesus said, “WHAT IS YOUR NAME?” and the demonic-filled man responded, “I AM LEGION FOR WE ARE MANY”
Or was this singular demon speaking on behalf of himself and the man he had possessed?
We are living in a day and age where much attention is being placed on mental health. Rightly so, I might add. There are some modern readers today who may see this narrative and assume the man had some sort of mental illness. I have family members who have some severe mental disabilities. I know what that looks like, and I also believe in some of their cases it is some form of demonic possession
It’s important that modern readers not see an unclean spirit or an evil demon and translate it to modern mental illness.
There are examples in scripture where people have medical problems, blindness, for example, and Jesus cures them and helps them to see.
God can help us with our mental issues through medication
Just as medication can help with our high blood pressure, or diabetes, or other medical issues
Jesus knew the man in the synagogue needed more than a pill
Jesus knew the man in the synagogue was possessed by evil
What is evil? I believe evil is simply the absence of the Spirit of the Lord
23 Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, 24 saying, “Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are–the Holy One of God!”
Unmasking the True Identity.
Just as darkness is the absence of light
God is in all — of all — and all in all
But sometimes God shines more brightly than at other times. Other times the shadows of evil grow longer.
Darkness enters all our lives, at some point, in some way.
But the light of Christ helps us keep the darkness at bay.
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness,” As one man said, “only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that”
The Love of God Protects – Defends – Preserves us
The Love of God drives out the evil of hate
An unclean spirit is more than a demon possession. More than evil. Sometimes It’s the voices in our heads.
And they don’t sound like a reverbed echoing voice in a raspy tone. The voices in my head sound like this right now. It’s my voice, as the voices in your head sound like your voice, and sometimes, sometimes that’s how Satan works on us. Don’t give in to that. Don’t listen to him. Tell him Get behind me, Satan. Leave me alone And as the Bible says, resist the devil, and he must flee
James 4:6-10 6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” 7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
He will flee, but only for a season, and I promise you he’ll be back, and when he comes back you have to resist again and again and again
But instead of resisting the devil, we hear those voices, and sometimes we surrender to those voices, and they cause us to do ourselves harm
The voice that says I’m a failure
The voice that tells us our family forgets us
The voice that says we’re disappointments
The voice that says we’re not good enough
There’s a voice that tells us we would really be happy if only – if only we had this, or that, if only this would happen, then we will finally be happy and content
These voices are demons, and they pull us away from God.
Come Out! Jesus says to the voices in our heads.
Don’t listen to those other voices, Jesus says. Listen to me, Jesus says. I am the Good Shepherd, He says. Follow him. Demons have nothing in common with Christ.
As Alan was saying this morning, there are two different realms – the godly realm and the ungodly realm. There’s the wide way that leads to destruction, and then there’s the narrow way that leads to redemption
The realm that is satanic and demonic and the realm of God
The only relationship these demons have with Christ is one of conflict
“WHAT DO WE HAVE TO DO WITH YOU?” Nothing, except now they were recognizing their judgment and fearing it.
The demons knew they were under the sentence of God
They knew that when the Son of God would appear on the earth, their doom would be certain
Christ was coming to bind the strong man, to bind Satan with all his hellish powers
Unclean spirits are more than demons– more than the voices in our heads. In today’s scripture, Jesus finds the unclean spirit in church —
Not walking alongside the road
Not in a village somewhere
But in the synagogue, in church
Unclean spirits can be found anywhere
These satanic demons were telling Jesus to leave, and then they made a strange statement – “I KNOW WHO YOU ARE—THE HOLY ONE OF GOD!”
What was going on here?
In the Old Testament, there were power struggles between men and angels. The idea was that if one could get his adversary to reveal his name, it was like an act of submission.
It was like saying “uncle” in a battle
When JACOB wrestled with the angel, he said, “Tell me your name”
He was asking him to submit
So, the demons tried one last approach to get rid of Christ
They revealed His identity, thinking that if they named Him properly, they could defeat Him
“We know who You are. You’re the Holy One of God”
We come to church like the man in the synagogue. We recognize Jesus, and turn to him to cleanse our unclean spirits.
When we invite Jesus into a holy place like church, we invite Jesus to drive out the unclean spirits. Where two or more are gathered, the holy spirit is there, shining a light into the darkness; filling our dark and tired souls with the light of the Lord.
Sometimes, when we are at church, our spirits are cleansed and restored, and we don’t even realize it.
He cried out, 24
24 saying, “Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are–the Holy One of God!”
Demon possession is a subject that presents many difficulties for our modern minds.
Many people of our time try to dismiss this phenomenon as an outgrowth of superstition.
I believe this trans stuff is demon possession. I believe homosexuality is demon possession. I see how they’re trying to kill babies in the womb, and I see that as demon possession. The devil’s trying to convince the mind and the people of things that are not of God, and all these things are destroying the chance of children being brought into this world the same as they did in Moses ‘ day and when Herod was trying to kill the babies, when he was going after Jesus, doing away with the Christians one child at a time before they’re even born
There’s a great book titled Bondage Breakers by Neil Anderson. If you’re struggling with Satanic problems, I highly encourage you to read that book
There are at least three extremes that we want to avoid as we wrestle with demon possession.
One: the extreme suggests that demons don’t exist and never existed, but that’s not true.
Two: the extreme suggests they exist, but that we don’t need to pay any attention to them.
The third and opposite extreme suggests they exist, and we must constantly be concerned about them.
The truth of the matter is that there is a spiritual realm and that there are evil forces at work – Eph. 6:12 – For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens.
But we need not obsess over them and their power, because we can put on the armor of God
1 John 4:4 4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
Mark reveals that Jesus’ power and authority are clearly greater than that of the evil one(s).
Mark’s Gospel will reveal over and over again that although God’s kingdom and the dominion of Satan conflict, God’s anointed One has power over Satan and has come to set people free from evil and evil spirits.
Demonic representatives of Satan seemed to oppress people everywhere Jesus went.
But let’s notice what Mark told us about this encounter between Jesus and a demon.
Can you imagine how startling it must have been to have Jesus’ presentation interrupted by the cry of a man possessed by a demon?
I don’t know what this man sounded like as this demon spoke up through him.
I don’t know if it was a loud voice or a raspy, sinister voice that uttered these words: “What do you have to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are – the Holy One of God.”
James, the brother of Jesus, tells us: James 2:19 19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe–and tremble!
They know who God is, and they know what God can do.
25 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!”
In response to this yelling and protesting, Jesus finally rebuked the demons, saying, “Be quiet.”
Or as Bugs Bunny would say, Naaaaaaaaaaa shut up!
Jesus said to these demons, “Shut up. Shut your mouths. I don’t want to hear any more from you. Come out of him.”
This demon wanted nothing to do with Jesus, and he knew what Jesus was there to do.
So, Mark wrote: Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!”
Then Mark says, verse 26
26 And when the unclean spirit had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, (his last trembling of strength) he came out of him.
Jesus wanted to silence that demon because He didn’t want testimony from such an unholy source, even though the demon’s testimony was accurate.
Jesus also didn’t want His identity clearly revealed until the right time.
And so, Jesus just gave the command: “Be silent, and come out of him.” Jesus didn’t touch the man or restrain him, but just uttered the words, and it happened. That’s the authority and power Jesus has
Can you imagine witnessing someone who possessed that kind of power?
With one final dramatic protest, the demon caused the man’s body to convulse, and the demon let out a final scream as he departed unwillingly.
One commentary says it was like an epileptic seizure
The demon had no choice but to obey the command of Jesus, the Son of God.
And then:
27 Then they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? What new doctrine is this? For with authority He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.”
Jesus did not act like a magician
He did not shake and rattle a bunch of beads and play games of healing, saying: “Can you hear me now? Can you hear me now?”
He did not use any of those tricks we see with the charlatans
Jesus simply spoke, and the demons obeyed because they knew He had authority over them
And what was the result? Mark wrote: They were all amazed, and so they began to ask each other, “What is this?
A new teaching with authority!
He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.”
Mark concludes this section, saying,
28 And immediately His fame spread throughout all the region around Galilee.
The people who witnessed all this were filled with awe and astonishment at the authority with which Jesus taught and with the power of His command.
They had never seen anything like this before – He taught like no one they had ever heard, and He possessed and used authority and power like no one they had ever seen.
Demons recognized Him and were terrified of Him, and the crowds who witnessed Him were amazed and quickly spread the news about Jesus throughout the whole area.
We know how quickly bad news can spread, so we shouldn’t be surprised by how quickly this kind of news spread.
Is there somethings need to come out of us tonight?
The Old Testament tells us lepers, those with leprosy, had to shout UNCLEAN to keep people from coming too close to them
What would it be like if we had to call out our sins so those around us
If and I know we have sinned in this last week and we are Unclean
- I lied last week – Unclean
- I talked about somebody last week – Unclean
- I cussed somebody out last week – Unclean
- The man or woman I was with is not mine – Unclean
- I cheated on my tax return – Unclean
- I called in sick last week and went fishing – Unclean
- I spent all my bill money at the casino or playing the lottery– Unclean
–I am glad today that Jesus can clean us up
–I am glad today Jesus still has all Power and Authority
–I am glad today that we are covered by His Mercy and His Grace
As Jesus was preaching in a synagogue in Capernaum, a man who was possessed by a demon began shouting at Jesus. Jesus healed the man and news of the miracle spread quickly throughout the area of Galilee,
This makes me think of the people – the men – who witnessed this. I can imagine them saying, “Did you hear what happened?”
- What happened?
- This new guy, Jesus, was talking
- What did he say?
- He was just talking; it was different than what we usually hear. But then this guy started yelling at him. He called Jesus the Holy One of God
- What did Jesus do?
- He just said, ‘BE SILENT, AND COME OUT OF HIM!
- And then the guy yelled, and an evil spirit came out of him
- Next time Jesus is in town, you should come and see him. Come and see the man of Galilee
We are told through the text the man had an “Unclean Spirit.” Tradition describes it as an evil spirit. Nearly two dozen times in the Gospels, people are said to have unclean or evil spirits in them.
The unclean spirit identified Jesus by name, and then called him the HOLY ONE OF GOD. Jesus says, “Be silent.”
Throughout the first chapters of Mark, Jesus tells people to be quiet, not just those possessed by an unclean spirit.
He heals people and then tells them to keep it a secret, but they can’t. Jesus can control the unclean spirit, but he can’t control people talking about him.
- Jesus heals, and people want to tell others about it
- Jesus heals the broken-hearted and unclean, and people want to talk about it
- Jesus changes lives, and people want to proclaim it
- If every voice were still, the rocks and stones themselves would sing God’s praises
Our Jesus is truly amazing and wonderful – the words of His mouth and the touch of His hand were stronger than life and death, illness and demons!
Notice one final thing – Mark again emphasized that Jesus didn’t permit the demons to speak, because they knew who He was and it wasn’t time for everyone to know who He was.
Jesus caused wonder and amazement because He had complete authority and power over demons and disease.
Who is Jesus, this man who caused such wonder and amazement?
The demon identified Him as “The Holy One of God.”
This title “The Holy One of God” is found in only one other place in the NT.
- In John 6, when some of Jesus’ disciples were turning away from Jesus because of some of His hard teaching, Jesus asked His apostles if they also wanted to leave.
- The Bible says: John 6:68-69 68But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” or “The Holy One of God.”
I hope that all of us here today have come to the same conclusion as Simon Peter.
I hope that all of us have come to believe that only Jesus has the words of eternal life – that Jesus is, in fact, the way and the truth and the life.
I hope that all of us believe and know that Jesus is the “Holy One of God.”
And as the Holy One of God, He is the spotless Lamb of God, the One who takes away the sins of the world.
We must put all our faith in Christ, and we must determine to live our whole lives for Him.
There is no One more worthy to receive our adoration and dedication than Jesus.
What we do need is to be reminded of the power of Jesus to say, “Come out,” to the unclean spirits
We need to be reminded that Jesus can restore you!
Jesus can drive out the unclean spirits and make us clean again
Make us clean, Jesus. Make us clean
Calvary Baptist Church October 4, 2026 Sunday night
