Mark 1:21-28, Even the Demons Know What is Coming

Even the demons know what is coming

Well how is everyone doing?

So I got to spend last week in Denver on TDY at one of my denomination conferences

And while it was a good time

I will say it is good to be back

And before we get into the sermon,

Isn’t God just so so good!

I love that song

Also what did you all think of that preview?

I’m telling you,

If you don’t watch any other movie I show you all

Trust me you want to watch that one

I promise you there are certain statements

Certain nuances that if you know just the basics on the Bible

You will pick it up and it will blow your mind

I promise the Bible is going to start coming together for you if you’re still confused

Because like I said before, I didn’t really have a good understanding

Of the Bible until I hit about the age of 35

And when I finally got things nailed down

It was like a portal of knowledge just flooded my mind

And I was able to understand how the Bible really fits

Into every day life, every day circumstances,

And especially into world events

So anyways

Want to hit on two points real quick both centered around the understanding 

That the king is coming 

And if you have been with me in the Bible studies over the last year,

you have seen how much emphasis I have placed

on the reality that the king is here

that the kingdom is coming

and that we are to get ready for the King’s official arrival. 

Did you all notice the last song I played?

There is always a reason I put these things into the service

So if you would please lets go ahead and read the passage of study and lets get into the word today

New Living Translation Chapter 1

21 Jesus and his companions went to the town of Capernaum. When the Sabbath day came, he went into the synagogue and began to teach. 22 The people were amazed at his teaching, for he taught with real authority—quite unlike the teachers of religious law.

23 Suddenly, a man in the synagogue who was possessed by an evil* spirit cried out, 24 “Why are you interfering with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”

25 But Jesus reprimanded him. “Be quiet! Come out of the man,” he ordered. 26 At that, the evil spirit screamed, threw the man into a convulsion, and then came out of him.

27 Amazement gripped the audience, and they began to discuss what had happened. “What sort of new teaching is this?” they asked excitedly. “It has such authority! Even evil spirits obey his orders!” 28 The news about Jesus spread quickly throughout the entire region of Galilee.

Prayer

Take a look first at verse 22.

What do you notice in there?

What are the details that we have to notice here…

And believe it or not this is where reading only mark can sort of confuse you.

Because this exact statement

Believe it or not is the finalized statement of the sermon on the mount

In Matthew chapter 7 verse 29

So the very sermon that we are studying during bible study

You’re seeing the statement put in by Matthew

That says Jesus taught differently than most

Because he taught with authority

But as a good bible student

You should be asking why?

Why was this so different from other teachers?

Part of what we lose from a simple surface study of Mark

is the context of what’s going on here

and I learned this from a messianic rabbi believe it or not messianic Jew 

And so apparently, almost all of the parables

Most of the life lessons taught by jesus

we’re not brand new

most of them if not, all of them were in fact, teachings known and taught by others

Some where even centuries old

where the difference lies, however,

is and how Jesus delivered these parables

you see what would happen is that if you were a Jewish rabbi

you would come across or you would teach these parables

and you would never give your honest opinion

Rather you would say this rabbi thinks this teaching means this

Or that rabbi thinks this teaching means that

but you would never dare state your own opinion

because according to their belief system,

they are being put in the place of God by inserting their own opinion

and so they are Sort of blaspheming the name of God or

blaspheming the teachings of God

because they are stating what God thinks does that make sense?

So what happens here is that you

have Jesus coming out teaching these parables

and giving them a direct translation or a direct understanding

of what he felt these parables meant

And so when you look at a particular verse

a tiny little verse like this, you begin to see why they were so interested with Jesus

Because not only was he challenging the entire system authority,

not only was he doing miracles on the Sabbath,

which he was not allowed to do according to the Pharisees,

but he was also challenging their understanding of God’s authority according to their tradition

But let me ask you friends

is Jesus actually doing anything wrong in this picture?

Absolutely not

because if he wants to interpret a particular parable the way he wants to interpret it.

He is God and he has the authority to do so.

And so when you see a Jew listening to Jesus,

in this moment,

you’ve got to realize what they’re going through.

They are seeing someone teach the way that they have never seen before.

They’re seeing someone teach as though he had authority.

They are seeing someone teach who was not wishy-washy,

but instead directed them down the straight and narrow path

and that’s what true teachings of Jesus due

they put us on the road to freedom in salvation and without confusion. Amen

But the second point that I really want to hit on,

Real quick because I do recognize the time

and honestly I believe this is truly the focus of this passage

is the witness brought forth to us through the demons that are casted out of the individual in the synagogue

And I really want you to look at the behavior or the details of the demons in this passage

because the demons come at Jesus and state a couple things.

And They truly bring about in awareness to their understanding of who this individual is

as well as the overall eschatological purpose or end times understanding that this passage brings

Look with me real fast at verse 24

New Living Translation Chapter 1

“Why are you interfering with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!

Have you come to destroy us?

In Matthew 8 verse 29 the demons being cast out say something similar

But they add, have you come to torture us before the appointed time

And you know, I think it’s funny because in so many denominations

and in so much of our preaching nowadays,

we don’t teach end times theology we don’t teach eschatology.

We don’t teach any of this stuff because it’s controversial

and people don’t like to hear it

because it might be scary,

but the reality is when you understand eschatology, you begin to see

eschatology everywhere in scripture to include the demonic influence within this passage

Whats absolutely unique here in this passage,

is the knowledge of what is coming

being spit out by the demons

The Demons know exactly what is coming and as one commentator said

Jesus was the ultimate threat to their authority

They knew that one day Jesus wasn’t going to be so kind to them

They knew that one day it would be just a simple exorcism

They knew beyond a shadow of a doubt

As stated by the demons themselves

That one day, to which we call the The day of Lord,

the Demons would be cast into hell

And Christ would reign supreme

They knew this and they feared this

And the more you understand this

The more you rejoice at their fear

Because you know their fear means our salvation

And I’ll be honest with you

I get it and I understand why feel good sermons are so attractive

and why they’re so popular today

because when you look at the depths of this particular passage

and what the context is teaching,

nobody wants to hear that the demons are preaching about what they know is truth,

and that truth is that they fear the wrath of God that is coming

Nobody wants to hear that they wanna hear how God is going to comfort them

how God is going to soothe all of their worries and anxieties and fears

when in reality that’s not what brought the apostles Hope

Arguably what brought The apostles Hope

was exactly what the demons knew to be true

Which was that at the day of the Lord

everything was going to be made right

all of the promises of God,

our eternal hope

our salvation of being with our savior for all eternity

where no tears

no fears and

no anxiety will come to burden you

And the more you understand that what the demons are expecting

The more you understand that

What I have been promised what you have been promised

Is exactly what the demons fear

Trust me more peace will be brought over you in this life

so the question that I have for you today folks and I want to leave you with this.

what is your hope in

Do you truly understand the gospel

and are you starting to realize that the king is coming?

There’s no better time to get on the right side justice.

There’s no better time to get on the right side of God

There is no better time to draw near to him

Because God is coming,

And I see it I know some of you if not all of you know it true

Let’s close in prayer