Chapter # 1 Paragraph # 7 Study # 5
March 5, 2019
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
(Download Audio)
(053)
Thesis: Mark used the reaction of the unclean spirit to reinforce the fact of Jesus' "authority".
Introduction: In our last study, we didn't get very far into our outline. We did see that, technically, it is not necessary for "miracles" and "demonstrations of authority" for God's Word to have power in the minds of men because John the Baptizer had neither, yet he was "believed". We also saw that Mark began with issues of "spirit" because this is so close to home in terms of his own picture of Jesus.
The issue of "spirit" is the desire to have "status" in the eyes of others. The unclean spirit provided an excellent foil to put forth the issues involved in this "pursuit of status" issue.
This evening we are going to pursue this record to see how "unclean spirits" are so different from "holy spirits".
- I. Mark's Use of the Reaction of the Unclean Spirit.
- A. The "contribution" that the record of the reaction of the unclean spirit makes to Mark's presentation.
- 1. Primary to this "added layer" of evidences is the reality that Mark chose the realm of "spirit" first.
- 2. Secondary to this "added layer" of evidences is what the "unclean" spirit said and did.
- a. He is an example of the "whats?" of both Love and Truth Believed in the form of a contrary demonstration (a "what to love and believe" by illustrating "what not to love and believe").
- b. The "cry" of the "unclean" introduces the most basic level of the "Love" issue.
- 1) It is a "cry" of "abject terror".
- a) The verb used is only found in five texts in the New Testament (though its "root" is found in 58).
- i. Four times it refers to the reaction of "unclean spirits" to the presence of Jesus.
- ii. Once it refers to the rage of the multitude calling for the crucifixion of Christ.
- b) Mark's uses focus upon "great fear" (this text and 6:49).
- c) In this text, the question, "Are You come to destroy us?", is paramount.
- i. It reveals the "spirit's" awareness that his alignment with the "opposite of Love" and his part in manipulating "Truth" so that it is perverted into "The Lie" means he, and his compatriots, are headed to as complete a destruction as is possible without annihilation.
- ii. It reveals the issue of all "false Love": basic motivation (the "options" are only two: Love or Fear, each of which destroys the other as 1 John 4:18 declares).
- 2) It is "content filled" (lego).
- a) "What do we have to do with You?".
- i. This is a declaration of "no common ground".
- ii. It is a most fundamental declaration for the realm of "spirit".
- b) "Jesus, Nazarene".
- i. As "Jesus" the "Love" issue is obsessed with the direction: "Life for His people" (Matthew 1:21) unto the uttermost with total disregard for the cost of such an objective.
- ii. As "Nazarene" the critical "Truth" is revealed: No pursuit of "the arrogance of functional capacities", as Philippians 2:7 declares.
- c) "Have You come to destroy us?".
- i. This "inevitability" exists because of the total absence of "common ground" ultimately puts the Kingdom of "righteousness, peace, and joy" at risk.
- ii. The issue in our text is the matter of "timing"; not "if", but "has the time come?".
- d) "I know You, Who You are".
- i. This is, of course, Mark's major thesis: Who Jesus Is.
- ii. The unclean spirit's description: You are "The Holy One of God" (of the many elements of this description, the one in focus is "Jesus" as the One Whose absolute total focus of existence is centered upon "God" as opposed to Himself).
- 3. And, then, third, there is Jesus' response.
- a. He disallowed the "spirit's" pursuit of "exposure" of Jesus' identity.
- 1) Be made silent.
- a) The command uses a word that Strong's says means "muzzle it".
- i. It is used in the New Testament to mean "muzzle" in the sense of putting a muzzle on an ox so that it cannot eat (1 Corinthians 9:9; 1 Timothy 5:18); it is used figuratively to mean to cause to not speak (Matthew 22:12, 34; Luke 4:35; 1 Peter 2:12); and it is used figuratively to mean to cause the wind to stop blowing (Mark 4:39).
- ii. Clearly, Jesus did not allow the "unclean spirit" to continue to speak.
- b) The question that is raised in this text is "Why did Jesus stop the unclean spirit from saying anything further since what he said was supportive of the thesis that Jesus was an Authority sent from God?".
- i. It is a claim by Mark in more than one place that Jesus forbade certain "speakers" to tell others about Him for reasons we will consider when we run across them.
- ii. It is probable that Jesus silenced the unclean spirit's speech because He did not want to confuse the issue of His identity by accepting "testimony" from that part of the spirit world.
- iii. Satan is a liar and all the Jews understood that. So even when he, or one of his cohorts, spoke the truth in words, the implications were intended to set up a deception.
- 2) Come out of him.
- a) He disallowed any further use by the "spirit" of the man's body as a vehicle of personal expression of the contradictions of Love and Truth Believed.
- b) The most likely reasons for this are two.
- i. He wished to deliver the man who was enslaved by the "unclean spirit".
- ii. He wished to immediately squelch His "identity" at this point because it smacks of "status-pursuit issues" and this is the point of Mark's record: human "spirit's" that are over-committed to "status-pursuit issues" are in grave danger and need.
- b. His rationale.
- 1) Until Jesus has time to present His "status" as the solution to men's dangerous need, He does not want the issue confused by the suggestion that He is involved with that.
- 2) Unlike men who seek "status" to promote themselves, Jesus only promoted His "status" because it was necessary for the solution to men's flawed search.
