After Jesus called Peter, Andrew, James, and John to follow Him full-time, His next stop was Capernaum. Their stay extended over a Sabbath, so Jesus and His followers went to the synagogue, where Jesus was given the opportunity to speak.
At some point during the teaching, a man with an unclean spirit interrupted the gathering.
“Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, 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!’” (Mark 1:23-24)
The Bible doesn’t tell us anything about this man. We don’t know his past. We don’t know how he came be possessed by this unclean spirit or how long he had been tormented. We don’t know if he was a regular attendee at the synagogue or whether he was a person off the street that was driven inside by the unclean spirit.
What we do know is that the man was consumed by a power outside of himself that he was unable to free himself from by his own power. We also know that he was brought face-to-face with Jesus, the only One who had the power to free him. It took only one simple command from Jesus to release the man who was seemingly unreleasable.
“But Jesus rebuked him, saying, ‘Be quiet, and come out of him!’” (Mark 1:25)
The unclean spirit tried to show his muscles and fight the command of Jesus, but in the end, after all the bravado, it wasn’t able to countermand the Holy One of God.
“And when the unclean spirit had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him.” (Mark 1:26)
Peace reigned. The man was free. The worshipers had never seen anything like this before – a power that could free someone from even the most entrenched evil.
“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.’” (Mark 1:27)
This story is especially meaningful to me for two reasons:
First, no matter what I am going through, no matter how long I have been battling a bad habit or a sin, no matter how entrenched something is in my life, no matter how unreleasable I feel, Jesus is willing and able to set me free. All I need to do is allow Him to have control over that area of my life and then follow His command.
“Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” (John 8:36)
Second, the same power He showed over the unclean spirit in this one man’s life, He now has over the entire powers of darkness because of His victory on the cross.
“He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:13-14)
As we commemorate Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection this Easter Sunday, may we be refreshed, renewed, and revived by the living hope we have in Jesus our Savior.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1:3-5)
May each of us be blessed with a resurrection in our lives today and walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4) in an ever-deepening walk with Jesus!
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