Demon Possession, Pt. 3

“But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can anyone enter the strong man's house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.” (Matt. 12.28-29) Profound implications accompany this remarkable declaration by Jesus. With this statement, Jesus announced his authority and power to take anyone he wished from the “house,” or kingdom (see Col. 1.13) of Satan. Was the Lord saying he could only cast out demons, or was he saying he could save anyone he chose to save? Obviously, the later was the essence of his announcement.

We read this declaration and see in it a kind of hypothetical statement: “if I cast out demons.” Jesus was not speaking hypothetically; he was not suggesting he might be able to cast out demons. The argument with the Pharisees stemmed from the fact Jesus had just freed a blind and mute man from demon possession, and healed him of his blindness and muteness. Jesus was referring to the actual, not the possible. In the Greek text, verse 28 is a conditional statement, an if, . . . then proposition. If one thing was true, casting out demons by the Spirit of God, then another was true, the kingdom of God had come.

We can better understand the force of Jesus’ comment by reading the verse in an appropriate way: “But since I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” Jesus was declaring what was. He was casting out demons by the Spirit of God and the kingdom of God had come. Jesus had no “ifs” in his mind. He knew the truth and declared it to the Pharisees. They knew, as did Jesus, only the Messiah would come in the power of the Spirit (see Isa. 11.1-10; 42.1-4; 61.1-3). Here, then, was a crisis point for the Pharisees and Israel. Would they accept Jesus as the Messiah or reject him? Their response is a fact of history.

The second part of the declaration of Jesus had to do with the victory of God over the Devil. Jesus said, “or how else can anyone enter the strong man’s (Satan) house (kingdom) and carry off his property (the lost), unless he first binds (overcomes) the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.” Compare that statement with the declaration of Paul to the Colossians: “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Co. 1.13-14) In other words, when a person confesses Jesus and trusts in him and his work on the Cross, his sins are forgiven and he is rescued or delivered out of the kingdom of darkness, the kingdom of Satan, and transferred to the Kingdom of Jesus, the beloved Son.

An important fact has to be understood at this point. A connection between sin and sickness existed in the minds of the Jews. Sickness was the result of sin. For instance, when Jesus encountered a blind man as he was leaving the Temple (John 9.1ff), his disciples asked him a question. They asked, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” On the one hand, the question is odd. How could a man sin so he himself would be born blind; a somewhat contradictory observation. Could a man sin before he was born?

More importantly, though, the question went to the heart of the Jewish understanding of sickness and sin. Sickness always resulted from sin. In this story, the issue of sin came to the fore in the final statement Jesus made to the Pharisees. They asked him, “We are not blind too, are we?” Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains,” He completely turned around the issue of sin and sickness. The sin of the Pharisees was their knowing the truth, but not acknowledging it. If they had not understood, they would have had not sin. Their claim to be able to “see” the truth compounded their sin.

In Mark 2.1-12, the sin and sickness debate is illustrated more clearly. A paralytic was brought to Jesus by his friends, who opened the roof of a house and lowered the man down to Jesus. Jesus’ first comment to him was, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Jesus, knowing the response of the religious authorities who were present, asked a pointed question in response to their unbelief. “‘Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven”; or to say, “Get up, and pick up your pallet and walk”? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’ he said to the paralytic, ‘I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet and go home.’”

Jesus painted the scribes into a corner. If they said Jesus’ healing the man was easier, they would be saying Jesus could also forgive sins. If they said forgiving the man’s sins was easier, they would be saying Jesus could also heal. If you do one, you can do the other. They had no answer. Jesus answered the question for them: he healed the man. Thus, he was declaring he had the authority to make the first statement he had made, “your sins are forgiven.”

A connection must now be made between the forgiveness of sin and demon possession. We begin with the Cross. When Jesus died on the Cross as the perfect sacrifice, he did so to effect the final, total forgiveness of the sins of all persons. When John the Baptist saw Jesus, as accounted in John 1.29-36, He twice declared, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” All the sins of all people of all time were forgiven on the Cross. Paul wrote, “for the death that He died, He died to sin once for all.” Jesus’ death on the Cross was a one-time death for all the sins of all people.

When a person confesses his sin and trusts Christ for salvation, he is accepting the already completed forgiveness of sin. What God offers to anyone who would believe is redemption, the forgiveness of sin. He can offer forgiveness because forgiveness was made available through the death of Jesus. All one is required to do to obtain forgiveness is confess his sin, which is take responsibility for what he has done.

Paul made an important statement to the Romans. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (trusts), to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” (Rom. 1.16) How powerful is the gospel? Anyone who believes can be saved, regardless of their condition. Nothing is required of a person beyond his trust in the Gospel. And, by the way, Jesus is the Gospel. We do not believe in something about Jesus, we believe in who Jesus is. We trust in him. Surely, in believing in him we believe in what he did on the Cross. Yet, at the deepest level, we believe Jesus; we trust him. If we trust him, we have no difficulty believing in the efficaciousness of what he accomplished on the Cross.

To illustrate the importance of trusting Jesus, we look to the story in Acts 19.11-20 and the account there of the Seven sons of Sceva. These men were Jewish exorcists and wanted to appropriate the power they saw being expressed through the ministry of Paul. When they tried to cast evil spirits out of the possessed, they would say, “I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.” One evil spirit answered them and said, “I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” The possessed man then attacked all seven of the men, overpowered them and chased them out of town, “naked and wounded.” The sons of Sceva (a Jewish chief priest) were not believers. They falsely believed the name of Jesus was some kind of magical incantation. They were mistaken.

This story, along with many others in Acts, served to show how God was insuring the integrity and credibility of the Gospel. The Lord did not want anyone preaching anything but the pure Gospel. Apollos and the Ephesian disciples (18.14 - 19.7) did not understand the whole Gospel. They had been baptized with the baptism of John, not with Jesus’ baptism. Even baptism was important to the integrity of the Gospel. One had to be baptized with understanding. Likewise, the “name of Jesus” could not be appropriated by anyone as a tool to further one’s own power and prestige.

By the way, look again at what the evil spirit said to the sons of Sceva: “I recognize Jesus.” The evil spirit knew who Jesus was. James made a similar statement in his letter. “You believe that God is one, You do well; the demons also believe and shudder.” No clouds of doubt obscured any demon’s view or understanding of who Jesus actually was. In Mark 1.21-28, the story is told of Jesus casting an evil spirit out of a man. As Jesus taught, the evil spirit in the man cried out, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are–the Holy One of God.” While we are casual in our understanding of Jesus, demons “tremble” at the knowledge. So, as with the sons of Sceva, demons recognize not only Jesus, they also “know about Paul” as well as any who has trusted Jesus for salvation.

At this point, let’s ask a hypothetical question. Suppose a person is in fact demon possessed. Can this person be saved? Must the person first be freed from demon possession before he can be saved, or is the Gospel enough? Paul said the Gospel, the good news of Jesus, was the power of God to save any who trusted. What do we do with one who might be demon possessed?

We must understand the completeness of the victory of Jesus over the Devil to answer this question. In Ephesians 4.8, and in Colossians 2.15, similar statements are made one can understand only by knowing a little history of the Roman Empire. Victorious Roman generals were granted a triumph in honor of their great victories. Pompey the Great was given three triumphs, the third the greatest of all.

Pompey’s eastern victories earned him his third triumph. On his 45th birthday, in 61 BC, he rode the triumphal chariot as a magnificent god-king. He was accompanied by a gigantic portrait head of himself, studded with pearls. His third triumph exceeded all others; an unprecedented two days were scheduled for its procession and games. Spoils, prisoners, army and banners depicting battle scenes were found all along the triumphal route between the Campus Martius and the Capitoline temple of Jupiter. To conclude, he gave an immense triumphal banquet and money to the people of Rome, and promised them a new theater.”

What does a Roman triumph have to do with the passages in Ephesians and Colossians? In both, the Triumph of Jesus was being described. Note some of the things described. In Ephesians, Jesus “led captive a host of captives.” In a triumph, kings and great generals who had been defeated in battle were led in chains behind the chariot of the triumphant general as his procession made its way through the streets of Rome. Also, Ephesians says Jesus “gave gifts to men.” Pompey gave the city of Rome a new theater. In Colossians, Paul wrote when “[God] had disarmed the rulers and authorities, he made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him [Jesus].” Not only did Jesus win the final victory, but in doing so, he took away all the weapons the enemies of God had at their disposal. The only thing the Devil has left to use against people is the lie.

Since Jesus won an absolute and final victory through the Cross, who or what can stand against him? No one and no thing. Satan has no power or authority to use against Jesus. The Gospel of Jesus, then, is the most powerful truth in the universe. Through the Gospel, people are set free. Even if, and if is a big word, someone is demon possessed, only the Gospel can set him free. But, if the victory of the Cross was final, complete and absolute, then with what power can Satan hold anyone when that person is confronted with Jesus. If one is demon possessed, the name of Jesus on the lips of a believer and the presence of the Resurrected Lord in the heart of a believer is all the power required to free one from demon possession. Demons tremble, shudder and flee at the presence of Jesus.

Yet, since the Cross was the final blow with which Satan was eternally defeated and disarmed, how can he possess anyone. He cannot possess or oppress anyone, believer or unbeliever alike. The problem of mankind is not demon possession; the problem we all face is our sin. One is not set free by having a demon cast from him, he is set free when his sin is forgiven. Once freed by the Gospel, no believer can ever be under the oppression of Satan or a demon. Paul declared, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” (2 Cor. 4.17) Whether we know or understand our freedom is beside the point; freedom is guaranteed by the Spirit of the Lord, not the degree of our spiritual, theological or intellectual abilities.

Human beings are not demon possessed, they are sin possessed. James said, “but each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.” The Cross solved the sin problem of man. Trust in Christ makes forgiveness for the person who trusts a reality. The Gospel is the power of God to save anyone who trusts.