In the context of the unclean spirit being a heckler who was a religious / spiritual person, perhaps having some authority, such as a Pharisee, Mark tells us the demon told Jesus to let them (i.e. both him and the other Jews) alone, and what had they in common with him (Mark 1:24)? The man understood Jesus’ Gospel of the Kingdom of God (Mark 1:15) to be Messianic in nature (cp. Luke 1:67-75), and interpreted it to mean the Jews would need to rebel against Rome, viz. “Are you come to destroy us?” or “You are come to destroy us!” (Mark 1:24; cp. John 11:47-48). Notice, as well, that the heckler said, “I know you[1] (meaning your house, i.e. the house of David), you are, the Holy One of God,” but how should we understand his words?
Many folks today want to put the whole Christian theological worldview in the man’s mouth, knowing Jesus’ intent in the Gospel right down to his coming judgment of mankind. Nevertheless, this would be wrong. Much of our modern understanding comes from believing the unclean spirit is a literal, sentient evil spirit with a mind of its own, who has taken control of the man’s mind. Nevertheless, there is no such thing as a literal, sentient evil spirit with a mind of its own.[2] What we have in Mark 1:23-24 is a troubled man, whose mind wasn’t functioning properly, and this would be very clear to the reader, if he would permit the text to speak for itself without forcing a pagan context into it.
The heckler said he knew Jesus, meaning he was of the house of David. Perhaps he had this knowledge of him through word of mouth or from a prior meeting. The text doesn’t say, but going on, he also says that he knew Jesus was the Holy One of God (Mark 1:24). The phrase Holy One is usually used of God, himself, but it is also used of the Lord’s Anointed, or the Messiah (Psalm 16:10). So, the heckler, or the unclean spirit, claimed he knew Jesus was the Messiah, of the House of David. However, was he saying this in the context of him believing it to be true, or in the context of him mocking at Jesus, like Pilate did when he brought Jesus out to the people all bloodied from his scourging (John 19:14). In other words, perhaps the heckler was mocking Jesus “I know you. You’re **the** Messiah of the house of David, the Elect One of God! (bully, bully)”
However, Jesus immediately silenced the man (Mark 1:25), addressing his unclean spirit and commanding it to come out of him. Using his winnowing fork (Luke 3:17), Jesus separated the chaff from the man (2Samuel 4:6). He pruned him (Mark 1:26; John 15:2), without the stage display the scribes and Pharisees often used:
“I have seen a certain man of my own country, whose name was Eleazar, releasing people that were demoniacal in the presence of Vespasian, and his sons, and his captains, and the whole multitude of his soldiers. The manner of the cure was this: He put a ring that had a root of one of those sorts mentioned by Solomon to the nostrils of the demoniac, after which he drew out the demon through his nostrils; and when the man fell down immediately, he abjured him to return into him no more, making still mention of Solomon, and reciting the incantations which he composed. And when Eleazar would persuade and demonstrate to the spectators that he had such a power, he set a little way off a cup or basin full of water, and commanded the demon, as he went out of the man, to overturn it, and thereby to let the spectators know that he had left the man; and when this was done the skill and wisdom of Solomon were shown very manifestly.”[3]
The people were amazed with Jesus, questioning and debating among themselves about this new doctrine and its authority, for Jesus simply commanded the unclean spirit to leave the man, and it was done, no theatrical display, just a command! (Mark 1:27-28). Thus, Jesus’ reputation grew and spread throughout Galilee (Mark 1:28).
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[1] Jesus claimed the Jewish authorities knew who he was (Mark 12:7) “…this is the heir” (cp. Matthew 21:37; Luke 20:14) or “this is the Messiah” who is the heir of all things (cp. Hebrews 1:2; Psalm 2:6-9). This didn’t require supernatural knowledge, as is assumed in modern commentaries that speak of demons as evil, sentient spirits. All it required was human, logical deduction, and unless we want to say all the Jewish rulers were possessed of demons, i.e. evil, sentient spirits, then Jesus claimed the rulers knew him, and such knowledge wasn’t an odd matter. Neither would it be odd to conclude other human beings, knew Jesus, as well. Their knowledge was acquired from logical deduction from the miracles Jesus did, and what he said about himself, in the Gospel narratives (John 3:2). The problem arose when Jesus’ claims didn’t fit the Jews’ own understanding of who the Messiah should be (John 9:41; cp. John 12:34; 15:22)
[2] See my earlier studies: Who or What Are Demons; Demons ~ Corrupt Spiritualism; and Demons ~ Personification or Living Beings?
[3] Josephus: Antiquities of the Jews 8.2.5 [46-49]
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