"I know who you are—the Holy One of God!"
Mark 1:24b
Jesus and friends are visiting Capernaum. First thing they do is visit the local church. An unclean spirit was possessing a man in their synagogue. Jesus comes into the synagogue and tells the demon to, “Be silent, and come out of him!”
Where did he find the unclean demon possessed man?
In the church.
A little later on they are preaching all throughout the area of Galilee. (vs.39) "He went into all of Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons."
And they encounter more demons in more churches. And apparently it's the preaching they did in those synagogues that exposed the unclean spirits that have made these places of worship into their dwellings.
What were these spirits doing in these churches? Why were they there? How did they get there? Why would the people of God allow them to dwell among them, especially in their houses of prayer?
Let's take a look at what was happening here. First try and understand, the "unclean spirit", (en pneumati akatharto) was thought to have held captive the soul of the one possessed by it. It commanded the will of the possessed person. It was like having a fever, it's like an illness, it pollutes the spirit of the person it possesses with opposition to the works of the Holy Spirit. And he confronts Jesus of Nazareth in the synagogue.
Jesus muzzles the demon immediately, he disables his lies and accusations. In fact the only words the demon is able to speak are words of affirmation regarding the authority of Jesus Christ. The Holy One of God will not allow room for falsehoods and demonic deceptions to be tolerated in the houses of prayer if he is in that place. And I guess that's the thing isn't it? Jesus was there. And the demon is terrified by his presence. Apparently he and his fellow demon spirits weren't terrified of those worshippers who frequented the synagogue when Jesus wasn't there.
It wasn't enough that the church demon should hush up, it had to go. It had no choice but to leave in revulsion. Being around Jesus literally made it sick. So sick, it fled with a screaming convulsion, like it had been vomited out of the man, forced out by the authority of Christ. The work of these unsettling spirits, their deceptions, their delusions, and their fury is ended immediately when confronted by the Lord Jesus Christ.
And yet, the works of men are in some ways much worse. Take for instance these exorcisms, the demons shout out in pain and proclaim that Jesus is the Holy One of God, and yet the leaders of the synagogue accuse Jesus of being in league with the devil to stage this cleansing. They reject the work of the Holy Spirit and the witness of their own eyes.
Why?
It's likely these rabbis had been responsible for treating victims of demonic possession. They tried incantations and ritualistic cleansing techniques to exorcise the spirits. And obviously since these spirits persisted, and were populating their congregations, they must have been largely ineffectual. So of course from their perspective Jesus was a threat to their priesthood. They like their places of honor and the respect of the community. Jesus marches into the synagogue, preaches truth, and BAM! Demons start crawling out of the woodwork. Like rats infesting a home, all the people can now see what's been tolerated amongst them by their leaders. And I'm sure this crossed the minds of many there. Especially those who allowed these unclean spirits to exist among them.
Who sinned worse?
The devil?
Or the children of disobedience?
As I see it, the Devil is as the Devil does, he and his minions are already damned and being all they can be for the moment. But the spiritually blind people are in direct disobedience to the commands they claim to uphold. They take the Lord's name in vain. They call upon His name, and reject His Spirit. And they make room for unclean AntiChrist spirits.
Jesus comes into these unclean places and tells them to SHUT UP!
We likewise must boldly preach the truth of Jesus Christ's resurrection and salvation in Him. We must preach the truth with the spirit of conviction.
And the dealers of metaphysical ungodliness and the subdoers of the truth who clam up the truth, those who possess it in their academic discussions and debates, they and their unclean colleagues must be silenced by the name of Jesus Christ. Not with a weak voice of tolerance, but with resounding trumpets of truth. No fine spun philosophical ideas, but with belief in the only Tree of Life who can heal the nations. We can't say that if the student doesn't learn, the teacher didn't teach. Some refuse to affirm the truth, they're ignorant to it. They refuse to acknowledge God and insult him by saying God isn't clear enough for them. Even the chief priests were agnostic regarding Jesus, even having witnessed his miraculous work. Why? What's the hold up? Only one answer works, hidden sin.
May we all be blessed in Christ's glory and share his message of truth. May we confess our gratitude and honor his sacrifice for our sins. And may we share the message of our witness with all who have ears to hear.
Amen