The Battle Won
Jesus' commands were simple: be silent and come out.
But the unclean spirit reacts violently.
He cries out with a loud voice, but no words are recorded.
He causes the man to spasm, to convulse before coming out.
What is the significance of these two responses from the unclean spirit? Why, if Jesus has such authority, does not the spirit leave meekly and immediately?
The account, as Mark records it, conveys the impression of a battle battle between two powerful spiritual forces. The unclean spirit may be no match for Jesus, but he is definitely beyond the power of the possessed man to control. And so such a clear, dramatic victory does testify to Jesus' authority over evil spirits.
Why the spirit is allowed such a violent reaction is not recorded. The account describes what happened, attributing the man's release to Jesus, but isn't concerned with recording the details of the exorcism. In contrast, though, to the practices of other Jewish exorcists as recorded in Jesus' time, this was a comparatively straight forward exercise (Mat_12:27; Act_19:13).
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment