Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Greetings on this special day!

And it has been a beauty. We actually attended a community Easter service this morning in Colton (at Camp Colton) that represented the blending of 4 local churches. Good time. Then we had Ray and Lorna (Becki’s sister) over for lunch. Thano and the little boys joined in too. The boys were returned to their mother about 1:40pm. Then we dropped Thano off at his work after our sing session at Pheasant Pointe.

Tomorrow already looks like a very busy day. May it go well for you and yours.

Love, Dad/Ray.

There is obviously a lot of spirit activity going on here beyond what the account actually describes. What would cause this demon-possessed man to run to Jesus and both identify Jesus’ deity and plead for His mercy in His treatment of them? (It’s happened before. See also 1:23-24 and 3:11-12.) Why didn’t the demons run away from Jesus rather than run to Him? I can only conclude that these demons were simply over-powered by the sovereign Spirit of God, or by angel-spirits behind the scenes of visibility, forcing them to identify themselves, to confirm Jesus’ identity, and to vindicate Jesus’ ministry that He came “to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners” (Is. 61:1).

It also seems clear to me that the demon-possessed man was not the only one who was demon-influenced. It looks like the whole community was under a spell of darkness. Why else would they want to cast Jesus out of their area just because He cast demons out of one of their accepted community amusements? Remember that the demons pled with Jesus “again and again not to send them out of the area.” The demons clearly liked it there. I think there were too many willing subjects—too many accommodating dwelling places. Maybe it was one of their strongholds. The fact is they did not “leave the area.”

What is the value of this kind of exposure and conjecture? For one thing, I think it helps us understand that there is a good deal more spirit activity mixed into the affairs of men than is revealed by our physical perception of things. This limited understanding is sufficient to motivate us in the direction of being Spirit-filled people of God, capable of seeing “what is unseen” (II Cor. 4:18) and exercising the authority of Christ over darkness in the vital ministry of proclaiming “freedom for the captives.”