Mark 1:21-28:

21. And they went into Capernaum; and straightway on the sabbath day he entered into the synagogue, and taught.

22. And they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes.

23. And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out,

24. Saying, Let [us] alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.

25. And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him.

26. And when the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him.

27. And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this? what new doctrine [is] this? for with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him.

28. And immediately his fame spread abroad throughout all the region round about Galilee.

In Mark 1, verses 21-28, we can see that Jesus went into another city, called Capernaum, on a sabbath day and preached a message in the synagogue. The people in the synagogue were astonished on how Christ was teaching them as if He had some kind of authority. And, just out of the blue, a man in the synagogue, who is said to of has an unclean spirit in him, stood up and started speaking out. Now the way the man, who is said to of had an evil spirit, stood up and spoke out and sounded as if he was speaking for all the others in the synagogue or was he.

As we read on in the first chapter of Mark, we can then understand that the man, with the evil spirit, who was speaking out has spoken and said:

"Let [us] alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us?"

Now, when you read this man's words, the man with the evil spirit that is, you might think that it sounds like he is asking about the judgment that might soon come upon Jerusalem, which happen in AD 70 with Titus' Roman army that came and destroyed the temple, and a very good illustration of this is found in Matthew 21.

Let us read Mathew's account of this incident which i am speaking about which is found in "the parable of the wicked vinedressers." [1]

Matthew 21:33-45:

33. Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country:

34. And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it.

35. And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another.

36. Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise.

37. But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son.

38. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.

39. And they caught him, and cast [him] out of the vineyard, and slew [him].

40. When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?

41. They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out [his] vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.

42. Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?

43. Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.

44. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

45. And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them.

Now, you might be asked, "where is there any mention of the temple to be destroyed, for what you have shared only speaks of the vineyard which will be taken from them and given unto another?" But, if we travel over to Matthew 24, we will see the rest of the story on just how the temple would be destroyed...which i will leave you the reader the time to go and read.

What I have been able to share by far serious sounds like this evil spirit could possibly be referring to the Scribes and the Pharisees; let us now read on.

The man, with the evil spirit, also has spoken out and said:

"I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God."

What did this man, with the evil spirit, mean when he said that he knew who Christ is? Was this man mad and just out right mocked Christ by labeling Him as some overly intelligent person, as if when He speaks it is actually God speaking, because as Deut. 28 verse 28 shares:

Deut. 28:28 "The LORD shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart:"

Was this man outright mad or did he actually know who Christ really was?

I believe, as we read even further along in Mark chapter 1, that this man, with an evil spirit, knew very well what he was speaking about. It might sound dumb founded on the way he spoke but as you see what happen after he mocked Christ Christ then rebuked the spirit, not the man, and commanded the spirit to come out of him. What Christ accrual did was silence the evil spirit.

As David Curtis shares in one of his messages:

"This demon understood that Jesus had come to destroy them:" [2]

Matthew 25:41 (NASB) "Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;

Other verses that shares of Satan's soon destruction are verses like;

Romans 16:20 And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ [be] with you. Amen.

Hebrews 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

 

Endnotes

1. The Reformed Study Bible (NKJV) pg. 1543

2. Dealing with Demons - Mark series - November 13, 2005. Media #330b.

 

Strong's Concordance with Hebrew and Greek Lexicon