The Wonderful Deeds of Jesus-#4

He Cast Out Devils

Hopewell Church of Christ

January 23, 2000

Introduction

We have discussed three major areas of the deeds of Jesus Christ: 1) His wonderful miracles of compassion, 2) the creation of the world, and 3) his many acts of judgment. Now, we turn to an interesting and different kind of miraculous deed---the casting out of demons from human beings.

It has been noted that there are some 80 New Testament references to devils, unclean spirits, and evil spirits. Demon possession is primarily a New Testament activity. Matthew begins: "And his fame went throughout all Syria and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy, and he healed them. And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan." (Matthew 4:24-25.)

The KJV incorrectly uses the word, devils, instead of demons, which it never uses. There is only one devil, but many demons. The ASV more correctly uses demons instead of devils. "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well. The devils believe and tremble." (James 2:19, KJV.) The ASV says, The demons believe and tremble. The word for devil is diabolos; the words for demon/s are diamon (once) and dimonion (63 times).

Guy N. Woods gave this short, pointed description of demons. He wrote, "Demons were wicked spirits, under the direction of Satan, opposed to God, and capable of causing much misery to man." (Questions and Answers, Open Forum, vol. 1, 232.)

There are two extremes concerning this topic of demon possession. They are: 1) To give too much emphasis to it; to see demons everywhere lurking behind trees and in the air above us; to believe that every strange person is demon possessed. I believe that Virgil Leach's Get Behind Me Satan goes too far. He wrote in dramatic fashion: "Satanic forces can move in on us like a flood and can harass us to the point that life is almost unbearable. Usually the attack is against the mind." ("Demons in our Day," 213.)

2) To give too little consideration to the topic and write it off as non-sense. Remember that this is a New Testament issue brought up 80 times! The question for us is this: Are the NT documents presenting something that is believable and reliable? Is demon possession something incredible for us to believe? "Either these evil spirits were a reality, or else the biblical record is entirely wrong. There is no other way to view the matter." (Reason and Revelation, "Demons: Ancient Superstition or Historical Reality?" Wayne Jackson, April 1998, 25.)

Jesus Christ is described often as casting out demons. Was he just reflecting the common thoughts of the day about demon possession? Was it really different forms of sickness or mental illness? Did Jesus know better than his contemporaries and just pretended to cast out demons? We cannot easily push this issue aside. Jesus is presented in Scripture as solemnly going about showing compassion to those suffering. Why did he not correct them if they were wrong about demon possession? The only possible alternative is to believe that evil spirits did enter into human beings and that Jesus really did cast out demons.

What are demons ?

Over the years, scholars and churches have put forth some interesting views on the origin of demons.

1) They are the spirits of departed men. These spirits have come back to take up residence in other men. Justin Martyr, Iranaeus, Origen, the Jewish historians, Josephus and Philo, as well as Alexander Campbell and J. W. McGarvey embraced this view. Josephus wrote, "Demons are the spirits of wicked men, who enter into living men and destroy them, unless they are so happy as to meet with speedy relief." Philo wrote, "The souls of dead men are called demons." The notion of demons, or souls of departed men, having power over living men, was universally prevalent among the heathen of those times, and believed by many Christians.

Campbell presented a detailed lecture in Nashville, TN, on March 10, 1841, in which he argued forcefully that demons were the spirits of departed men. "We conclude that there is neither reason nor fact---there is not canon of criticism, no law of interpretation---there is nothing in human experience or observation---there is nothing in antiquity, sacred or profane---that in our judgment weighs against the evidence already adduced in support of the position that the demons of pagans, Jews and Christians were the ghosts of dead men, and, as such have taken possession of men's living bodies, and have moved, influenced and impelled them to certain courses of action."

His primary arguments were historical, not biblical. There is simply no biblical evidence for this view. The story of the rich man and Lazarus argues against it. They cannot pass from one part of the Hadean world to the other, much less from Hades to earth. The rich man could not come back to earth to warn his brothers, nor did Abraham allow anyone else to do so. This view was popular in the past, but not so much today.

2) The disembodied spirits of the nephilim. Some suppose that demons came from the cohabitation of angels and certain wicked women of the pre-Flood world. ". . . the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair and they took to wife such of them as they chose." (Genesis 6:1-6.) Some believe that "the sons of God" were angels who lusted after the beautiful daughters of men. This view is incorrect because Jesus described angels as being sexless beings as men one day will be. (Matt. 22:30.) A better interpretation is that the righteous ones were descendants of Seth who fell in love with the daughters of Cain, resulting in an intermixture of good and bad people.

3) Demons came from a race of people before Adam. This is a part of the broader "gap theory" which claims that a pre-Adamic race existed on earth. The Bible presents Adam as the first among men and Eve as the mother of all living. There were no beings on earth prior to Adam and Eve. There is no gap between the first two verses of Genesis. It is simply speculation of the broadest sort.

4) Demons are emissaries of the Devil. Jesus referred to the Devil and his angels. (Matt. 25:41.) Peter and Jude wrote about fallen angels. (2 Pet. 2:4, Jude 6.) The Hebrew writer called angels, spirits. "And of angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire." (Heb. 1:7.) This is presently the most popular view on the origin of demons. However, we cannot be dogmatic because the Bible does not state it clearly. It does describe them as evil spirits, sent by Satan, who oppose God, and caused man great misery.

Explanations For Demon Possession

The concept of demon possession and our Lord casting them out has been hard for many to embrace. A number of theories have been put forth to give an explanation for this strange concept.

1) Popular superstition or mythological. It was an ancient way of explaining maniacs, but had no truth to it.

2) Jesus was simply healing sicknesses or mental illness. Sigmund Freud, in a paper published in 1923, explained demons as psychological in nature, not something in the outer world but something in the inner self. However, the Bible makes a distinction between sicknesses, mental illness and demon possession. "They brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those who were lunatic, and those that had palsy; and he healed them." (Matt. 4:24.)

The physical or mental effects occurred in certain individuals as a consequence of being possessed by demons. There is a difference between cause and effect. The cause is demon possession; the effects can be blindness, inability to speak, prone to violent convulsions. A case recorded by all three synoptic writers tells of a young man who was "epileptic." He suffered grievously, frequently falling into fire or water. He was dashed to the ground and "pineth away." (Mark 9:18.) One man became so violent that even chains could not restrain him!

Therefore, demon possession was not just an unenlightened attempt to explain physical or mental problems. A clear distinction is always made between the possession and the problems caused by the demon possession.

3) Jesus simply accommodated himself to the thinking of the day. Since people thought that there were demons, he worked within the framework of their thinking. This is unacceptable and unrealistic. Jesus did not accommodate himself to their thinking in other areas. He spoke forthrightly and directly.

4) Another explanation is called limitationism. This theory seeks to explain Jesus' accommodation due to His not knowing any better. They say that he was limited in other areas of knowledge (not knowing the time of his second coming) and being physically limited due to being in a human body. They say that his knowledge was limited and sometimes erroneous.

5) No theory concerning demons is acceptable except the literal explanation of their existence. Demons really did inhabit human bodies and cause them great difficulty. Jesus and the apostles had the power to rebuke them and cast them out. This is one of the stated reasons why Jesus came to earth. John wrote, "For this purpose was the Son of God manifest that he might destroy the works of the devil." (1 John 3:8.) Demons were emissaries of the devil. Jesus bound the strong man and spoiled his house.

"If I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? And then he will spoil his house." (Matt. 12:27-29.)

Jesus showed his comprehensive and supreme authority by casting out demons, agents of Satan. This Lord is the creator and ruler of all. He had power over the wind and storms. He could heal diseases of both body and mind. He walked on water. He also had power over the spirit world. This is not an absurdity or strange matter. It is not incredible. When you think about it, something would be wrong if this were not included in the deeds of Jesus while on earth!

Are people possessed today?

No. Some answer strongly, "Obviously not! Even a casual examination of the instances chronicled in the New Testament will show that the circumstances attending demon possession then are not characteristic of our day. Our Lord bound Satan in his own house or domain." (Answers and Questions, Open Forum, vol. 1, 233.)

Yes, but not in Christian lands. "That demons may still give oracles, as they were wont to do before the Christian era, and possess living men in heathen lands, or in places where Christianity has made little progress, is not altogether improbable." (Popular Lectures and Addresses, Alexander Campbell.) He was not dogmatic saying that he did not have sufficient evidence for it. Macknight, a 19th century conservative believer, supposed that there may still be demonic possession in uncivilized areas. Some believe that demons do not bother those today who have embraced the Gospel. However, there are many even in America who are not Christians, yea, even who are atheists. Why are these not tormented by demon possession?

Yes, but not so evident. Some argue that we cannot know what is going on in the spirit world around us. Some may be possessed without our knowing it. Yet, in Scripture the demons spoke out. The effects were very noticeable.

Conclusions

I believe that a strong case can be made against present day activity of demon possession and exorcism. First, Jesus did defeat Satan and bound him. He was cast out of possession of human bodies, defeated spiritually so that no one must continue in guilt and sin, and thrown from his control of nations. This threefold defeat is a fulfillment of what Jesus came to do.

(1 John 3:8.)

Secondly, cessation of miraculous ability among members of the church parallels cessation of demon possession. "Does it stand to reason that God would allow demons to supernaturally assault people today, thus granting Satan an undue advantage over the human family?" (Reason and Revelation, "Demons: Ancient Superstition or Historical Reality?", April 1998, 30, Wayne Jackson.) Zechariah spoke a coming day when God would "cause the prophets and the unclean spirits to pass out of the land." (Zech. 13:1-2.)