Listening to Demons

Read Mark 1:16-34.

Synagogue ruins, Capernaum

"They knew who he was."

It's fascinating to me as I read this part of Mark's Gospel that the only ones who know who Jesus is are the demons. He's healing, he's begun preaching about the kingdom of God, and he is casting out the demons, but they are the only ones who seem to have a clue who this teacher and miracle worker from Galilee is. Even in the synagogue at Capernaum, when the demon directly cries out, "I know who you are—the Holy One of God," the reaction of the crowd isn't, "Oh, that's who he is!" Their reaction is, "Who is this?"

If only they had listened to the demons!

Of course, we don't expect demons or other evil spirits to tell the truth, but when they are in the presence of Jesus they can do no less. They know who he is and who he has been from eternity. Though Jesus silences them, they have to acknowledge who he is. He is the Lord of history, the Lord of all creation, the Lord of all that is—including demons. We're also told elsewhere that the demons know who Jesus is, but they tremble (James 2:19). The demons' proclamation is always full of fear, but they cannot help but confess. They have to.

And so will we one day, one way or the other. Paul reminds us that one day, "at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord" (Philippians 2:10-11). One day, every person and every creature will do what the demons do in Capernaum: all will acknowledge who Jesus is.

Mark will spend several more chapters showing us this one who is the Holy One of God. He tells us up front (as I mentioned yesterday) and then he shows us how this Holy One lives and teaches and impacts lives. Mark's call to us constantly is to live our lives in such a way that we proclaim, with words and with actions, that this Jesus is, indeed, the savior, the Son of God. If even demons can confess that, they we who know who he is without fear should do so all the more.