Unclean Spirits

June 6

Read: Mark 5:1-20

(1 of 5)

Unclean Spirits

“And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit…” (v.2)

There is a spiritual realm functioning all around us. In our midst are “clean spirits”… angels… spiritual beings that are working with God for his purposes as well as those “unclean spirits”who have rejected the Lord and are against him. These spirits are in a great cosmic rebellion led by the angel Lucifer who we now know as Satan. (cf. Rev. 12:7-9) There is a tremendous amount of misunderstanding about the spiritual realm amongst the people of God… what I call “Christian Folklore”. This passage gives us a unique window into the reality of the spiritual realm. Over the next handful of days I want us to look to this passage so we may seek the truth and understand more deeply.

The picture in Christian folklore is that demon possession means a total loss of volition and reason. The picture is probably formed more by Hollywood and fairytales than it is the scriptures. We have this cultural picture of a person sort of foaming at the mouth with their eyes rolled back being controlled by the demon like some sort of robot. This is simply not true. This is one of the first things I want us to notice about the passage:

Although this man was severely oppressed by a legion of unclean spirits, he still had enough volition and agency to make movement towards Jesus. (cf. v.2) Who did you think caused the man to draw close to Jesus and approach him? It is not the demons… they are petrified of Jesus. (v. 7) Despite his terrible affliction, this man still had some sort of “choice” and ability to act… and he used what little freedom he had left to run to the Lord! When our “demons” set upon us, we still have a choice… the opportunity to run to Jesus in our “affliction”.

As long as the people of God frame spiritual warfare / “unclean spirit” problems in Hollywood or fairytale terms, they will overlook them even when they are in their midst. But there is something else important to note. If this is true for “unclean spirits” it is also true for the “cleanest of spirits”… the Holy Spirit. As Christians, we are “Holy-Spirit-Possessed “ … we have a “clean spirit” dwelling within us. We also have a sense of volition, agency, and freedom to act. The Holy Spirit does not run us as robots anymore than an evil spirit does. In both instances the spirit / Spirit within us shapes our actions but we still play a part.

No matter how dark or many your “demons” are, there is always the opportunity to run to Christ. No evil spirit can fully control us like robots… we still have a part to play. When the Holy Spirit comes to live within God’s people we also have our part to play. This is good news. We should not wait around for the Holy Spirit to start running us like robots. Rather, we should expect the Spirit within us to shape our thoughts, actions, and emotions while acknowledging we still have a role to play… just like this man approaching Jesus. How are we using our own lives? Have we surrendered to something that we shouldn’t. Are you using your freedom, agency, or volition to move closer to Jesus? This is the first lesson that we can learn from this story… there is more to come. Love you guys. - JDP