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According to Mark, there was in the same synagogue, a man possessed of an "unclean spirit". Demons or devils are the personification of wickedness. Demonology is the study of malignant spirits that early man believed were the originators of disaster, disease, evil etc. Its counterpart, in the Bible, is Angelology, which deals with spirits that bring good to men. According to Jewish tradition, demons were created by God before the world was made. Satan, identified with the Serpent, was the chief demon. (Gen. 3:1-3 and Rev. 12:9)
In another story based on Gen. 6:1-8, certain Angels forsook their allegiance to God, descended to earth and married attractive daughters of men and their offspring were demons.
In the Old Testament (Job), Satan is identified with Beelzebub, the chief of devils (Matt. 10:25) and with the Devil, so dramatically personified in the narrative from Christ's own lips concerning His temptation. In other parables he is referred to as "the enemy" or "the wicked one".
Demons were associated with abnormal forms of human life especially with disease.
Mary Magdalene had seven demons (Luke 8:2) The insane man of Gadarene was possessed by a "legion" of demons which Jesus transferred to a herd of swine which immediately ran over a cliff to their death (Luke 8).
Jesus, who always spoke in the language and understanding of the day and the people to whom He was talking, used demonology and by the power of His word and prayer, readjusted the distorted of this world.
With this as a background, let us look at the lesson called "He heals the sick". After His rejection at Nazareth and the establishment of His headquarters at Capernaum and the calling of at least 4 of his disciples to full time service, He started teaching in the Synagogues of Galilee as none had ever taught, with authority. In this lesson, He heals the sick. This obviously was not his first "healing", but it is the first account dealing with demons. Mark and Luke record this particular incident. Matthew simply states that they brought to Him those who were possessed with demons and He cast out the spirits with a word. Mark and Luke record a conversation between Jesus and the demons. Though the presence of Evil is represented in John's Gospel, demonology is almost entirely absent.
Let us look at this story as recorded in Mark 1:23-34. Here we have our first encounter with a man who appears to be having an epileptic seizure but is really possessed with demons. The story takes place in a Synagogue in Capernaum. Notice the man himself is not coherent. He is not capable of talking or assuming normal functions, therefore, he was not there to be taught or to be healed. His normal functions had been taken over by demons and the conversation was between Jesus and those demons.
Notice the reaction of the demons to the presence of Jesus. They know and acknowledge His humanity and His divinity. They cry out in agony, "Jesus of Nazareth, (indicating His humanity) Holy One of God, (indicating His divinity) let us alone." They knew that Jesus had the power to destroy evil. Notice the confused condition of this demon which is typical of many people today, they do not want to be saved by Him, yet they are afraid of being destroyed by Him.
Notice Jesus commands the demon to come out of the man and he does so but in doing it, he causes the man to have a convulsion. Thus the man was no longer tormented and was able to function normally, healed by the words of Jesus. Notice how astonished those were who saw it. The Jewish leaders who claimed to have power over demons used charm and manipulation to remove them but this Man, commanded them to come out. Immediately, His fame spread throughout all of Galilee.
After Jesus heals the man at the synagogue, He leaves and go to the home of Peter. There He cures Peter's mother-in-law of an illness. This event is recorded in:
A comparison of the three accounts will give us this story. The home of Peter was in or near Capernaum sense it was the Sabbath and Jews were only allowed to go a "Sabbath's Days journey" which was 2000 cubits or approx. 1000 yards. Peter's mother-in-law and his brother, Andrew, lived with him. His mother-in-law is sick with a fever. It is interesting to note that at the time of Jesus the most fatal diseases were called "the fever". Many, if not all diseases, cause, at some point, a fever. When you consider the large list of diseases that had not, as yet, been identified, you can see why so much illness was attributed to the "fever".
Jesus immediately went to the woman and healed her with a word, illustrating so wonderfully the power of the "word" of Jesus. Note she got up and ministered to them. We who have been healed by Jesus, whether spiritually or physically should count it a privilege to serve Christ and His people after He had done so much for us.
A comparison of the three accounts shows very little difference. Matthew does not mention the Disciples but he does point a fulfillment of scripture that the others do not. Matthew calls Peter, Peter, and the others calls him Simon.
Then, after the sun went down, (after the Sabbath) those who had any that were sick brought them to Jesus and He healed them all by His power.
Before we leave this account, two things need to be brought out.
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