“And whenever the people who had evil spirits in them saw him, they would fall down before him and scream, ‘You are the Son of God!’ Jesus sternly ordered the evil spirits not to tell anyone who he was”. Mk 3:11, 12 GNB Fear is an emotion that often dominates our lives. For simple, uneducated people it is probably an even greater factor in their lives. If you don’t understand something you are more likely to be afraid of it than if you do. Even so, plenty of educated and otherwise sophisticated people are scared stiff of anything that looks like a snake - whether it is dangerous or not! It would appear that Mark, the writer here, is trying to convey a message by this statement about the people with evil spirits. There was an uncanny recognition by them that Jesus was dangerous to them. And indeed he was. The spirits were evil - they were against God and caused disease in people, leading to a less than full human existence for those possessed by them. The spirits feared Jesus because he banished those with whom he was confronted. He had complete power over them. And they used the title “Son of God” to address him. That was the very title the believing Christians were to come to apply to him. It was to be an expression of faith and trust. Some who believed in him and proclaimed him Son of God were going to die for that faith. But Mark is also saying, “The evil spirits recognize him intuitively, but the evil hearts of the religious leaders fail to - the evil in them blocks any possibility of faith”. Let your faith in Jesus dispel the fears you may have, and just trust him completely. PRAYER THOUGHT Lord, dispel my fears and deepen my faith and trust.
Posted on: Thu, 25 Sep 2014 04:25:18 +0000