Mark 1:21-28 A Man with an Unclean Spirit
Take time every day to communicate with God through prayer and Bible study.
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: December 28, 2017 Mark 1:21-28
Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
Then they went to Capernaum. As soon as it was the Sabbath, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. The people were utterly amazed at his teaching, because he was teaching them like one with authority and not like their scribes.
(Understanding the Passage) “They” here includes at least Peter, Andrew, James, John and Jesus, if not more. Capernaum was Peter’s home, so they may have been staying in Peter’s house. I wonder what Peter’s wife thought of the Messiah coming and staying in her home. Did she stand near the door listening as she did her work? Mary sat at Jesus’ feet in Martha and Lazarus’ house, but Mary had broken so many rules, what was one more? Women did not mix with men a lot. Was part of Martha’s objection not only for the work that Mary was not helping with but also because Mary was pushing the limits of society’s rules? Maybe, Martha knew that her place in her society was in the kitchen separated from the men who were sitting and talking in the other room. Were Peter’s wife and mother-in-law like Martha, staying in a separate space from the men? In Muslim families today, it is quite common for men and women to be in separate rooms when visitors come. If the men are discussing important business, the women will quietly sneak up to the doorway/stairway and listen in on the conversation. Did Peter’s wife do this?
(Revelation of God) When Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue at Capernaum and began teaching. His teaching was authentic and authoritative. The people were surprised because the scribes did not teach like this. Matthew Card in his commentary on Luke said that the rabbis would teach by quoting other rabbis. The more rabbis they quoted, the more authority they had. They gained authority from men, not God’s word. Some preachers today go for the authoritative style without the authority. Other people who are called to give sermons, speak without authority because they do not know their scriptures or their Savior well enough, or they at least they feel that they don’t. Jesus had both the authority and the knowledge. He was not repeating memorized sayings. He was telling them the meaning of the scriptures.
Suddenly there was a man in their synagogue who had an unclean spirit. He screamed, “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!” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” At this, the unclean spirit shook the man, cried out with a loud voice, and came out of him. All the people were so stunned that they kept saying to each other, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He tells even the unclean spirits what to do, and they obey him!” At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.
(Understanding the Passage) Was this man in the synagogue every Sabbath, or did he come there specifically because Jesus was teaching there that Sabbath? This was definitely a case of demon possession because of the words of the man. The demon emphasizes several points. First, he calls Him Jesus of Nazareth emphasizing that Jesus came from Nazareth where nothing good came from and that the people knew where Jesus came from. In other scriptures it is emphasized that a common belief of the Jews of that time believed that the Messiah would appear out of nowhere. (No one would know where He would come from.) When the demon asks if Jesus had come to destroy them, was it hoping that the people of Capernaum would think that it was asking if Jesus would bring destruction down upon the people? The demon uses the plural here. I don’t think that meant that there was more than one demon in the man. Instead, I think the demon was identifying all the fallen angels. This demon does not seem too bright. Had the years of separation from God stunted His intelligence? It makes me wonder if he was surprised to find Jesus, the Lord of Lords, there in the synagogue and simply couldn’t hold his peace. By identifying Jesus as the Holy One of God, was the demon hoping to bring persecution on Jesus early before time? Matthew Card in his commentary on Luke says that it was common practice among magic users of the time to think that they had power over someone by identifying them by name, but that doesn’t seem right to me. Demons, even stupid ones, would know better than that. I tend to think that this demon did not realize that Jesus had come to his town in the form of a man and simply reacted in surprised babbling when he saw the King of Heaven in the body of a man.
Jesus gave two commands. One was to be quiet. The second was for the demon to release the man from its control. The man shook and cried out in a loud voice as the demon left. Were these physical manifestations because the demon was fighting against Jesus or trying to kill the man as it left in order to cause trouble for Jesus?
If the demon was trying to cause trouble, it did not succeed. Instead, the casting out of the demon added authority to Jesus. Thus, both His ability to teach the spiritual lessons of the scriptures and His ability to command demons to go added to Jesus’ reputation in Galilee.
Why does Peter focus on this event? Again, this experience would have been close to home for Peter. It was in his own home synagogue. The demon-possessed man may have been known to Peter. Peter may have been worried about Jesus’ acceptance with his friends and neighbors and happy when he saw that his Master had impressed them. We know from other places that Peter liked to impress other people and that he felt responsibility to others. Peter’s reputation was on the line. He was now officially a disciple of the rabbi who was also identified as the Messiah. Thus, if his friends and neighbors rejected Jesus as Jesus’ own neighbors had rejected Him in Nazareth, Peter might feel that he had lost face with his teacher. Peter had a lot at stake here, and his friends came through for him. They were impressed by his teacher and gave Jesus a good reception. Peter may have also been astonished by what was happening in his own boring normal hometown. It’s one thing to see miracles in strange new places, but more astonishing to see one in a familiar place.
(Application) I should expect miracles in my familiar places-in my home town, among my family, in the city, at work, in the nursing home, in my church, in my home. Miracles happen everywhere. God’s Spirit is present everywhere. My Master is not out-of-place anywhere. Even if He is challenged, He can overcome. I should not be anxious about Jesus’ reception. I should simply follow Him and praise Him and welcome Him to be with me wherever I am.
(Prayer) I pray to expect You to be with me wherever I am. Help me to see Your miraculous presence wherever I go and to welcome You into my life no matter where I am.