Mark 1:21-28

The Holy One of God

Devotional 5 of 50 · Mark chapter 1

00:00--:--

Audio coming soon

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, rolled away the stone, and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards trembled in fear of him and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; He has risen, just as He said! Come, see the place where He lay. Then go quickly and tell His disciples, ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see Him.’ See, I have told you.” So they hurried away from the tomb in fear and great joy, and ran to tell His disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” They came to Him, grasped His feet, and worshiped Him. “Do not be afraid,”

Mark 1:21-28 · BSB

²¹Then Jesus and His companions went to Capernaum, and right away Jesus entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and began to teach. ²²The people were astonished at His teaching, because He taught as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. ²³Suddenly a man with an unclean spirit cried out in the synagogue: ²⁴“What do You want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!” ²⁵But Jesus rebuked the spirit. “Be silent!” He said. “Come out of him!” ²⁶At this, the unclean spirit threw the man into convulsions and came out with a loud shriek. ²⁷All the people were amazed and began to ask one another, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him!” ²⁸And the news about Jesus spread quickly through the whole region of Galilee.

Jesus

All across the earth, accounts exist of other spirits influencing or even controlling people. And every culture tries to control these phenomena through meditation, voodoo, or mediums, gaining only the illusion of control. Throughout human history, we have been plagued with demons and darkness meddling, manifesting, and eventually demanding sacrifices of us. Jesus now does what humanity has been trying to do for ages—cast out the demons.

Everyone around Jesus simply sees Him as another ordinary, average-looking man, but these demons see something vastly different. What they behold causes them to fall down before Him and beg for mercy. The vision of Christ they see is all-powerful and all-seeing, so that the notion of running away and hiding is entirely impossible.

This humble and ordinary-looking man is no ordinary man to them. What would cause these unseen figures to cower in the presence of Jesus? These demons give us the answer when they speak in verse 24: "What do You want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!" This is who they see, Jesus is the Holy One of God. And as the Holy One of God, He has authority to utterly destroy this darkness and will in the proper time. Jesus' teachings carry an authority in the seen and unseen places.

His Desires

Our Lord Jesus desires to put darkness in its place and free those made in God's image from its grip. He desires that darkness will not plague, control, and burden His beloved creation. Jesus desires we walk in His victory over these forces that have plagued humanity for ages.

He also desires our obedience to His word. If the demons, as His enemies, obey the commands of Jesus (verse 27), how much more must He desire for us to trust Him and follow His instructions.

Follow Through

Praise Jesus for His authority over darkness!
Do not cower at the demonic, we walk in the authority of our Lord, Jesus.
Submit to the authority and power of the teachings of Christ.
Diligently seek to understand and follow Our Master, Jesus' instructions.
Don't make alliances with dark and demonic things, because they are in opposition to Jesus Christ.

If you want to go further

Throw away and/or burn demonic (New Age, Satanic, Occult) objects that you may have.
Confess and repent of demonic activities to a fellow disciple and receive prayer.
Walk in the freedom of Jesus.

Testimonies

This is where people will share how they actually obeyed this passage — and read what happened to everyone else who obeyed the same words.

Coming soon

Devotional 5 of 50

NextThe RestorerMark 1:29-34

← The One Who Calls

Comments

Coming soon. This is where readers will share how they obeyed this passage.