190825 Demons at Work- New Testament

Matthew 4:1-11 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ² And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. ³ And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” ⁴ But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” ⁵ Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple ⁶ and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” ⁷ Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” ⁸ Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. ⁹ And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’” ¹¹ Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him. Him

For about 400 years, the period of time between the prophet Malachi and Jesus’ birth, there was no word of power from God. Even John the Baptist did not exercise the same kind of power that Jesus did. John was sent ahead of Jesus to open the door. It was said of John that “he did no sign, but everything that John said about this man (Jesus) was true.” (John 10:41) The people were amazed by Jesus’ authority. Such power over demons as had never been seen before.

How did Jesus come to have such power? In Matthew’s account, just before our text, (Matthew 3:13-17) Jesus had presented himself to John the Baptist in order to be baptized. John, recognizing who he was, immediately said that he should be baptized by Jesus rather than the other way around. John had told the people that the one coming after him, among other things, would baptize them with the Holy Spirit. It is very likely that John is referring to that Spirit baptism that he would need.

Jesus’ baptism and subsequent coming of the Holy Spirit to rest on him was the beginning of his ministry. It would seem that the Holy Spirit comes to give us the power to serve. Indeed, the coming of the Holy Spirit is usually related to spiritually happy conditions.

Rather than the Spirit leading Jesus into a special ministry…

Jesus was led by the Spirit into temptation. Let’s look at Mark 1:12-13. The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. ¹³ And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.

According to Mark, the Spirit “drove him out into the wilderness”. Jesus was there for 40 days. During that time he was being tempted by Satan! We only have a short excerpt of the temptations Jesus faced. He was tempted to take a shortcut avoiding the hard path of obedience and suffering. Just as Adam and Eve were tempted to disobey God in order to be like God! Jesus was not just “like God” he knew that he already was God! Jesus’ temptation was more difficult than that of Adam and Eve. During the time of their temptation they were aware of the presence of God in their lives. Jesus had no human companionship in his temptations. Adam and Eve had an abundance of food to draw upon. Jesus understood that the father expects him to eat nothing during those 40 days. At the end of that period of time Jesus would have been very near to death. He was able to resist the devil by quoting Scripture showing God’s will for his life. As a result of his spiritual strength…

The devil left him but would return. Now let’s look at Luke 4:13. And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.

Failure was not going to be accepted by Satan. However, he did use up all the ammunition he had. The devil, along with his angels/demons, stayed very close to Jesus during the next three years of his life. I am sure that all the angels/demons sent to oppose Jesus were the evil overlords of the demonic world. Every encounter Jesus had with the every-day vanilla-flavored demons resulted in their despair at having to confront the son of God!

The demonic forces made every effort to bring Jesus down. Along the way, they tried many things. Along with their allies in the religious world they attacked Jesus again and again. I’m tempted to say that they attacked him every day but the Bible doesn’t tell us that. So I will leave it, that they attacked him often. We need to be careful not to claim anything that is not upheld in Scripture! We do know that…

The Pharisees tried to link Jesus to demons. Look at Mark 3:22. And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.”

In several of his encounters with the religious rulers of the day he was accused of being possessed by Satan.

This event in the life of Jesus led to one of the most famous quotes from the Bible that most people do not recognize as being from the Bible. That quote was “if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand” (Mark 3:25 KJV). Of course, it was quoted by Abraham Lincoln in what is called his “House Divided Speech”.

The demons did not want to be identified with Jesus! They understood immediately that he was — and is — their greatest enemy. There is no question…

Demons recognized him. Let’s look at James 2:19. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!

James, I believe, is the half-brother of Jesus and one of Mary’s natural children. He points out for us the obvious fact that the demons recognized Jesus as God and the gospel writers confirmed that concept. The demons not only recognized him and trembled in fear in his presence they often questioned him as to why he was tormenting them. Let’s take one account from the gospel of Matthew.

Matthew 8:29 And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”

The demonic forces not only recognized and feared Jesus they also understood that there was coming a time when they would face judgment. We know, more about that time than they did. In Revelation chapter 20 verses 7-10, we see the promise that Satan and his followers will be cast into the lake of fire and then tormented day and night forever and ever. We know the end of the story and the believers in Jesus are going to be victorious when every knee will bow to him and every tongue will confess that he is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Therefore, we recognize that they had a very legitimate reason to tremble in fear. The demons not only recognized Jesus as the Holy One of God…

Jesus exercised authority over them. Let’s look back to Mark 1:24-25. What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” ²⁵ But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!”  In this case. only one demon is involved. I realize the man, under demonic influence, used the plural “us” implying that there may be more than one demon present. Jesus, however, ordered “him” be silent. The singular pronoun that Jesus used takes precedent over the plural pronoun the demon used. I expect that the demon referred to himself and his host. Jesus certainly had the authority to silence the demon and release the man from bondage. Later, the people brought a great crowd to Jesus. All who were sick or oppressed by demons. This caused such a commotion that everybody in town came to watch Jesus heal the sick and cast out the demons. In this case Jesus would not allow the demons to speak. Let’s read…

 VV 32-34 That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons. ³³ And the whole city was gathered together at the door. ³⁴ And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

This passage confirms for us the activity of demons in relation to sickness. However, not every case of sickness is demonic in its origin! He healed people with “various diseases” and also “cast out many demons”. Mark recognizes that these are two separate categories of ministry. It is rather sad today that some honest Christian people believe that all illness is demonic. Others, equally honest Christians, reject the idea of demons. There is no reason to give up the concept of demonic activity. At the same time “demon possession” is an unfortunate term. In the Greek New Testament, which is the original language, people are identified as “having a demon” or being under “demonic activity”.

The term “demon possession” is not a good translation. It seems to suggest that a person’s will is completely dominated by demons. The better translation would be “under demonic influence”. We have a clear example…

Satan himself entered Judas. Let’s look at Luke 22:3-4. Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve. ⁴ He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them.

Judas became Satan’s host body. In his case it was not demons but Satan himself who entered him. We don’t have time to consider everything possible related to Judas. There are a couple of things we should consider. John tells us that Judas was in charge of the money and was a thief! John also tells us that the devil had put it into Judas’ heart to betray Jesus.

Jesus said, “Not all of you are clean.” John adds, “For he knew who was to betray him.” When Jesus was being questioned by Pontius Pilate, he said, “he who delivered me to you has the greater sin.” (John 19:11) This apparently refers to Judas. Pilate had authority over Jesus and was wrong in allowing an obviously innocent man be put to death. However, Judas’ sin was far greater due to the greater knowledge and malice connected with that sin.

There is a stronger statement by Jesus. “Did I not choose you, the twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.” ⁷¹ He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray him. (John 6:70-71

When it came time to choose a replacement for Judas he was described as having “turned aside to go to his own place.” (Acts 1:22) Apparently, that place did not turn out to be paradise. What a tragedy! To spend three or more years walking with Jesus only to be separated eternally from him. The thief on the cross, so far as we know, only knew him a few hours and Jesus said to him “today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43)

We need to remember that these humans were not the primary forces behind Jesus’ crucifixion. Judas went to the Pharisees and betrayed Jesus. The Pharisees delivered Jesus to the Romans who beat him almost to death and then nailed him to a cross so he would die. In the middle of it all Pontius Pilate could have heeded his wife’s advice and had nothing to do with Jesus. They were all guilty at one level or another. But the truth is we are the ones who are guilty of Jesus’ death.

He died on the cross as “the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:2) At the same time, Satan believed he was deciding Jesus’ fate. The apostle Paul is very clear as to who ultimately crucified Jesus. And he recognized that…

The demonic overlords were mistaken. Let’s look at 1 Corinthians 2:7-8. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. ⁸ None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

I can imagine the rejoicing among the demons who had so trembled before Jesus. They had won! Their tormentor had died! Jesus, hanging on the cross surrounded by evil forces — spiritual and physical — cried out “It is finished.” And he released his spirit. The demons must have believed they had won but instead they had facilitated the final sacrifice for our sins. Had they realized that this sacrifice was a substitute for all of us, and all who would come to faith in him throughout the ages, they would never have allowed it to happen. If they could have prevented it.

The end of the book had not been written yet. It was dictated, or visualized, to John the apostle on the Isle of Patmos. There John would see the forces of evil gathered at the end and cast into a lake of fire. John would also see a great crowd, too many to count, gathered around the throne in heaven praising God. The very thing that Satan desired for himself will be given to Jesus. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father! If you have not yet confessed Jesus as your Lord this would be a good day to do so.

All scriptures quotes are from: The Holy Bible: English standard version. 2001. Wheaton, Ill, Standard Bible Society.