Mark 1: 32 At evening, when the sun had set, they brought to Him all who were sick and those who were demon-possessed. 33 And the whole city was gathered together at the door. 34 Then He healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He did not allow the demons to speak, because they knew Him-NKJ
Now in the evening when the sun had set, they brought to Him all who were sick and those who were demonized.
And really, the New Testament hardly makes any distinction. And Jesus did not either.
Almost invariably He dealt with the sick and with the demonized in one overall operation.
And the whole city was gathered at the door. Then He healed many who were sick with various diseases and cast out many demons.
The New King James version and various others use the word demon possessed and cast out demons.
The translation I prefer is that of Phillips where he uses the word expel. Because that doesn’t have a lot of religious connotations.
It’s simple, practical, down-to-earth. If you inhale smoke into your lungs, what do you do to get rid of it? You expel it.
It’s an action of the will, but there’s also a physical aspect to it. And that’s what I like to use.
I don’t always use it, but that, in my opinion, best represents Jesus expelling many demons.
He did not allow the demons to speak because they knew Him.
Mark 1: 39 And He was preaching in their synagogues throughout all Galilee and casting out demons.
Philip’s translation says He continued throughout the whole of Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and expelling demons.
I particularly like the fact that he uses the word continued, which represents a certain tense in Greek.
He brings out the fact that this was not an isolated, dramatic instance that just took place in one synagogue, but that it was His regular practice in every synagogue to do two things: preach the gospel of the Kingdom and expel demons. And He did it through the whole of Galilee.
There must have been hundreds of synagogues in Galilee. You see, a lot of people have got the attitude, well, perhaps every now and then there is a case where It’s necessary to expel demons, but they’re very rare and they’re exceptional.
And usually the attitude is, and if there are such people, they’re either in jails or mental institutions. Well, I simply must point out to you that, that was not the kind of person Jesus was dealing with.
He was dealing with Orthodox Jews who met every Sunday in the synagogue and spent the rest of the week caring for their families, tilling their fields, fishing the sea, keeping their stores, and so on.
They were basically normal, respectable, religious people, but they had, what we could say, certain hang-ups.
Certain areas where they were not in control of themselves. So do not get the impression that a person who needs deliverance must be either a criminal or a maniac.
It’s just the same kind of people that we deal mainly with today, not exclusively.
But good, respectable, religious people who attend church and say the right things, but in their lives, somewhere, there’s an area that’s demonized where they’re not in control.
It may be in their physical desires, it may be in their emotions, it may be in their mind.
But if you can accept what I’ve said, it will clear away a whole lot of prejudices which will keep you from being able to see this subject Objectively.
There are people in one nation that can easily accept that people in another nation need deliverance.
In Denmark, the Danes have no problems in believing that Americans need deliverance.
And the Americans have no problem in believing Africans need deliverance.
You will never meet so many demons in Africa as you will meet in America. There may be cultural differences. But people tend to conform to the environment they live in.
I was taught how to expel demons in a church and bible school I went to in Cleveland Tennessee, New life bible school and church that Novel hayes started when he was still alive, and we were always seeing manifestations of demons on a regular basis.
It was just in that church they dealt with those kind of things, and it was the only church where I saw miracles and healings on a regular basis, so this has become part of my ministry, even though I have moved on in my walk with God, but I was part of the “ Word of faith movement” for many years, that is still around today, a lot came out of Rehma bible college. Kenneth Hagin.