The Syrophoenician Woman - Her Life And Times

The Syrophoenician Woman - Her Life And Times

DEMON-POSSESSION

The New Testament teems with stories of people possessed by demons. Demons are fallen angels, emissaries of Satan sent to earth to oppress human beings and lead them astray. Under Satan’s control, their only goal is to further his purposes. They have supernatural powers here on earth: supernatural intelligence — they know and try to hide the truth (1 John 4:1 – 3), and they recognize Jesus as God’s Son (Mark 5:7); and supernatural strength — a man possessed by demons could break away even when chained (Luke 8:29).

Though supernatural in their strength, demons are not more powerful than God or his Son. Whenever demons came face-to-face with Christ or his disciples in the New Testament, they trembled and did their bidding.

What the New Testament describes as demon-possessed people we might today depict as having an illness of some sort, physical or mental. How much distinction can be made between the two is uncertain. After Jesus cast a demon out of one man, he was described as “sitting there, dressed and in his right mind” (Mark 5:15). The man’s demon-possession could easily have been extreme mental illness. At times, demon-possession caused muteness or blindness or convulsions (Matthew 9:32; 12:22; Mark 9:20). We can only speculate whether today we would view these illnesses as purely physical.

It is interesting to note that demons are mentioned only twice in the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 32:17; Psalm 106:37), yet over seventy times in the New Testament — all but a few of those in the Gospels. Perhaps Jesus’ ministry to the sick exposed demonic activity as never before. Or perhaps Satan focused an extraordinary amount of his strength and power over the land of Israel while Jesus walked and healed there.

When Jesus left this earth, he sent the Holy Spirit to indwell his people. The life of Christ within us, as believers, is our defense against the forces of evil. We may suffer from physical, emotional, or mental illnesses that seem like demons within us, and God often uses the power of medical treatment to heal us of those illnesses — but let’s not discount the power we possess within ourselves as children of God. That power forms a hedge of protection around and within us as we maintain a close relationship with God the Father, Christ his Son, and the Holy Spirit, our strength and comfort.