The real enemy in the Gospels is Satan.
The overarching theme in these verses is Jesus fighting the real enemy of the people of Israel and of humanity and the Creation – Satan. The Bible takes very seriously the presence of Satan and evil in the spiritual realm that bleeds into our world.
I found M. Scott Peck’s book, People of The Lie, chillingly accurate to what we read here in Mark’s Gospel. The noted psychiatrist and Christian author writes about one of the two exorcisms or casting out of the demonic he personally witnessed. (Peck was initially skeptical about the possibility of demonic possession.) He writes, “Yet when the demonic finally revealed itself…The patient suddenly resembled a withering snake of great strength…The eyes were hooded with lazy reptilian torpor [non-expression] - except when the reptile [patient] darted out in attack, at which time the eyes would open wide with blazing terror…. all the team members…. were convinced they were at these times in the presence of something absolutely alien and inhuman.” Like the demons called “Legion” tried to lead Jesus into confusion, Peck writes, “The team would speak with the patient’s healthy core personality or the demon…. for the demon itself seemed to have a marked ability to draw the exorcist or team into confusing conversations that went nowhere.” The hairs on my back (not on my head, of course, LOL) are standing up.
If not on our toes, we can fail to head Peter’s warning in Ephesians 6:10-12, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 ….so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 1For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Clearly, even believers can come under the attack or persuasion of Satan and its evil spirits. Yet, we are not to give Satan much attention or energy for we are told in Romans 8:37-39, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
AMEN for now.
Amen for now,
