Demons Vs. Jesus Christ — No Contest!
The Bible reveals that demons are evil spirits—malevolent spirits—who are also described as unclean or impure spirits (see this article for proof). In other words, they’re filthy spirits, the express opposite of the Holy (absolutely pure) Spirit.
Whether people believe in evil spirits or not, they’re viewed as uber-scary beings in our culture and are fittingly the adversaries in many horror novels and flicks. This includes the devil, since he’s the principle evil spirit. The Exorcist franchise is a good example (not that I’m a fan of those films, although I watched the first one decades ago). With this understanding, did you know that demons are actually afraid of Jesus Christ? Observe in this passage how evil spirits respond to the Messiah:
They [Jesus & the disciples] sailed to the region of the Gerasenes (JAIR-ah-seens), which is across the lake from Galilee. 27 When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torture me!”…
30 Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”
“Legion,” he replied, because many demons had gone into him. 31 And they begged Jesus repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss.
Luke 8:26-28,30-31
As you can see, these demons literally cry out and beg Christ not to torture them, pleading with Him repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss. “The Abyss” is the furnace-like pit where the most defiant evil spirits are imprisoned (Revelation 9:1-3 & 20:1-3) and Yeshua had the authority to send these demons there. (See this article for why some rebellious spirits were imprisoned there).
What’s so great about the fact that demons are afraid of Jesus Christ? Simple: Our culture holds demonic spirts as the epitome of what is scary and dreadful and yet we observe them in the Bible shrieking in horror at the mere sight of the Mighty Christ. More than that, they literally beg Him not to torture them and throw their filthy hind ends into the Abyss!
We’ve got to get away from this idea that Jesus Christ was some effeminate milksop walking around in a white dress during his earthly ministry, as if he was some impotent smiley guy. Sure, he walked in love and was gentle and humble (Matthew 11:28-30), but this doesn’t negate that He was also courageous, astonishing, amazing, authoritative and frightening. The four Gospels offer thorough evidence of this.*
* See, for example, Matthew 7:28-29, 14:26, Mark 1:27, 2:10-12, 4:37-41, 7:37, Luke 5:8-11, 7:14-16, 20:20-26, 20:40 and John 2:13-17.
Christ’s love walk was a balance between gentle love and tough love, yet the only side of Jesus that’s stressed in our culture is the mild and gentle. What about the fortitude it took to boldly confront the corrupt religious leaders of Israel, which infuriated them to the point of wanting to murder him (Luke 11:37-54)? What about the passion and fierceness it took to clear the Temple of the greedy and ungodly? Jesus cracked a whip, yelled, scattered coins, overturned tables and drove all the fools & animals out. No one even dared attempt to stop him; in fact, the religious leaders responded with fear and the bystanders with amazement (Mark 11:15-18). Are these the actions of a milksop? Would a weak doormat inspire fear or amazement and provoke arrogant leaders to plot murder? Of course not. Although this type of extreme behavior was not the norm, the incident appears in all four Gospel accounts. In other words, this is clearly a side of the Messiah our heavenly Father wants us to grasp.
If you’re a believer and ever deal with a situation involving demonic spirits, just remember that the very name of Jesus Christ provokes them to shriek in horror and beg for mercy! This explains something James pointed out:
You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror.
James 2:19 (NLT)
Related Topics:
Exorcism and the Believer’s Authority
Spiritual Warfare — The Basics
This article was edited from ANGELS, available for a special low price (345 pages); or you can purchase the Kindle eBook for just $2.99!
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