4. The battle and victory of Christ over unclean spirits
Matthew 4:1-4
1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. 3 Now when the tempter came to Him, He said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” 4 But He answered and said, “It is written, `Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.`”
The Son of God came into the world to destroy the works of Satan (I John 3:8). He not only became man to glorify His Father in heaven and to save lost humanity, but He also came to overcome the enemy of God. Thus, following His epoch-making baptism the Spirit of God drove Him into the wilderness to defeat Satan. Jesus overcame the evil one amidst great weakness in His body following His forty day fast. He saw through the cunning of the father of all lies and overcame him with the authority of earlier revelations: “it is written!” He recognized that the revealed word of God remains the sword of the Spirit, by which every distortion, temptation, and cunning of Satan can be overcome.
The Spirit of the Lord strengthened Jesus to renounce all temptations that tried to lead Him away from the only course that could bring victory for mankind – His crucifixion. At the end of His temptations, Jesus challenged Satan to worship God and serve Him alone. The evil one indignantly departed from him, for he never desired to subordinate himself to the Father and the Son. There is no Holy Spirit at work in him.
Luke 4:13-15
13 Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time. 14 Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. 15 And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.
Mark 1:23-26
23 Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, 24 saying, “Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are – the Holy One of God!” 25 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” 26 And when the unclean spirit had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him. (Compare Luke 4:34; John 6:69; Acts 3:14; Rev. 3:7 etc.).
Unclean spirits appear to possess a certain level of perception, something which most people lack. They sense and can immediately recognize the one born of the Holy Spirit when He approaches. They are well aware of the fact that the final judgment awaits. They know that, in reality, the sinless Jesus of Nazareth is the Holy God, as well as their incorruptible judge.
These spirits, however, are unable to recognize the love and glory of Jesus, since His holiness is the hiding mantle of His glory, and in whose essence the love of God radiates. Therefore, Jesus firmly commanded the one possessed to not make Him known. He wanted to win the people alone through their trust in His person, and not on the basis of untrue demonic revelations or out of fear of His holiness.
These unclean spirits, who had hidden themselves behind a mantle of hypocritical piety, were cast out without discussion by a two-part order of Jesus.
Mark 2:5-11
5 When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.” 6 But some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 8 And immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, “Why do you reason about these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, `Your sins are forgiven you,`or to say, `Arise, take up your bed and walk`? 10 “But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins” – He said to the paralytic, 11 “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go your way to your house.”
In those days the pious and hypocritical vehemently rebelled against the authority and power of Jesus to forgive and to heal. Such ideas simply did not fit into their rigid religious minds. Jesus read their thoughts in His spirit, but did not punish the rebels. Instead, He challenged them to pragmatic thinking, and asked them: What is easier to be realized – the forgiveness of sins worthy of death through a death of atonement, or the healing of an apparently incurable sick man?
In order to convince them of His authority “to forgive sin”, He commanded the lame man to stand up, roll up his mat, and carry it home. The fanatics of the law, however, determined in their evil hearts to kill Jesus, since He had also carried out His miracle of healing on the Sabbath (Matt. 12:15; John 5:12-16; 8:43-45).
Mark 3:10-12
10 For He healed many, so that as many as had afflictions pressed about Him to touch Him. 11 And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out, saying, “You are the Son of God.” 12 But He sternly warned them that they should not make Him known. (see also Matt. 8:29; Luke 4:41; James 2:29)
Matthew 12:25-28
25 But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. 26 “And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? 27 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. 28 But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.
Whoever carefully reads the gospels can again and again sense the great power and authority of Christ. The self-righteous and the clever, however, were not able to recognize the power of God. Therefore, they reasoned that to appear illustrious before the masses and to draw the crowds to Himself Jesus must have sold His soul to the chief demon of Satan. They charged Jesus with acting in the power of Satan and entering into covenant with the evil one. This amounts to the highest form of blasphemy, and can, as the sin against the Holy Spirit, no longer be forgiven ( Matt. 12:31-32).
Following another attempt to bring His antagonists to their senses, Jesus declared that He drove out demons through the Spirit of God. On another occasion He testified that He drove out the unclean spirits through the finger of God (Luke 11:20). This Oriental parable stated that the ruler, following the legal procedures to ascertain that a capital offence had been committed, need speak no judgment against the guilty person, but simply move his finger in a disdainful manner over the armrest of his throne. The guilty one was then immediately taken out and executed.
The kingdom of God is the region in which the intentions and purposes of the Holy Spirit become fully effectual. The kingdom of God has, in the person of the Spirit born and anointed with the Holy Spirit Jesus, penetrated the power domain of Satan, the alleged prince of this world.