Last night, I was part of an interesting conversation. We had been studying Luke 11, starting at verse 14, and on through the rest of the chapter. A couple of stories from Jesus' life are found there, starting with the healing of a man with a mute demon. It then moves on to talk about what happens to an individual who may have a demon exorcised, but not subsequently filled with God's Spirit.
In the course of our conversation, a couple of things came out. First, we talked about the apparent lack of demons and possessions in the Old Testament, which also led us to think about how often we encounter demon stories following the ascension of Jesus. To our recollection, there weren't really all that many, either before the time of Christ, nor afterward. And that got my mind to thinking. Why would that be?
The one thing that jumped into my mind was that Jesus, being the one true God in human flesh and blood, can see that which we sinful humans simply cannot discern, spiritual realities that are beyond our vision in the form of demons. That could be part of why demons are such an integral part of the Gospels, but not really all that common in the rest of the Bible. Since we don't have the ability to see or discern demons with any sense of regularity, it fits that Jesus, being God, would not only be able to see them, but talk about them with His disciples. But then, once Jesus ascended, we sinful humans still are unable to discern demons with regularity, and so things go back to the way they were before Christ's "arrival".
The other thought that came up was that Satan and his followers were extra busy while Jesus was walking the earth. They would be unable to resist Jesus as a mere human being, since God would seem to be limiting Himself by becoming a human being. Thus, if they could show their strength, perhaps they had a good possibility of foiling God's plans.
I'll state right out front that I don't expect any answers to this question on this side of God's eternal kingdom. But it is something interesting to think about, especially in a day and age that either completely denies demons and spiritual forces of evil, or is overly fascinated by them. But above all, it really reminds us that we aren't the ones who have power over demons and evil spirits. That's God's job, and we're probably wise to let God handle those rather than taking on things that are beyond us anyway.
In the course of our conversation, a couple of things came out. First, we talked about the apparent lack of demons and possessions in the Old Testament, which also led us to think about how often we encounter demon stories following the ascension of Jesus. To our recollection, there weren't really all that many, either before the time of Christ, nor afterward. And that got my mind to thinking. Why would that be?
The one thing that jumped into my mind was that Jesus, being the one true God in human flesh and blood, can see that which we sinful humans simply cannot discern, spiritual realities that are beyond our vision in the form of demons. That could be part of why demons are such an integral part of the Gospels, but not really all that common in the rest of the Bible. Since we don't have the ability to see or discern demons with any sense of regularity, it fits that Jesus, being God, would not only be able to see them, but talk about them with His disciples. But then, once Jesus ascended, we sinful humans still are unable to discern demons with regularity, and so things go back to the way they were before Christ's "arrival".
The other thought that came up was that Satan and his followers were extra busy while Jesus was walking the earth. They would be unable to resist Jesus as a mere human being, since God would seem to be limiting Himself by becoming a human being. Thus, if they could show their strength, perhaps they had a good possibility of foiling God's plans.
I'll state right out front that I don't expect any answers to this question on this side of God's eternal kingdom. But it is something interesting to think about, especially in a day and age that either completely denies demons and spiritual forces of evil, or is overly fascinated by them. But above all, it really reminds us that we aren't the ones who have power over demons and evil spirits. That's God's job, and we're probably wise to let God handle those rather than taking on things that are beyond us anyway.
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