Silencing the Spirits

I've started reading in Mark. There are several times when Jesus was recognized by evil spirits and He would not let them speak. Mark 1:24,25, "A man possessed by an evil spirit was in the synagogue, and he began shouting, 'Why are you bothering us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are- the Holy One sent from God!'
Jesus cut him short. 'Be silent! Come out of the man.'" Mark 1:35, "But because they knew who He was, He refused to allow the demons to speak." Mark 3:11,12, "And whenever those possessed by evil spirits caught sight of Him, they would fall down in front of Him shrieking, 'You are the Son of God!' But Jesus strictly warned them not to say who He was."

It would have been so easy for Jesus to allow the spirits to talk. The people would have listened to them, but this was not Jesus' desire. As I have looked at this, I wanted to know all the different reasons that Jesus may have had in silencing the spirits. Maybe, He was wanting people to see His life and how He could help them. Otherwise, it could have been the words that they believed, and people are very deceived by words. While the demons were speaking the truth; they are also covered with deceit. But if you will open your eyes to the things that you have experienced, when Satan tries to deceive you, you will know because you have seen it yourself.

At the bottom of my bible there are several different reasons why Jesus may have wanted the demons to be silent. "(1) By commanding the demons to remain silent, Jesus proved His authority and power over them. (2) Jesus wanted the people to believe He was the Messiah because of what He said and did, not because of the demons' words. (3) Jesus wanted to reveal His identity as the Messiah according to His timetable, not according to Satan's time table. Satan wanted the people to follow Jesus around for what they could get out of Him, not because He was the Son of God who could truly set them free from sin's guilt and power... The huge crowds were looking for a political and military leader who would free them from Rome's control, and they thought that the Messiah predicted by the prophets would be this kind of man. Jesus wanted to teach the people about the kind of Messiah He really was- one who was far different from their expectations. Christ's Kingdom is spiritual. It begins with the overthrow of sin in people's hearts, not with the overthrow of governments."

So many times we are deceived because of words. If we listen to someone enough we are liable to be caught in the trap of their lies. We must always base everything that we believe in, on Christ alone. Most all lies have some sort of truth in them, this is what makes them so powerful. If they were obvious, then we would not have to be careful. Satan knows what we want to hear and he will do everything in his power to make sure "that" is all that we hear.

Mark 4:23-25, Jesus said, "Everything that is now hidden or secret will eventually be brought to light. Anyone who is willing to hear should listen and understand! And be sure to pay attention to what you hear (another translation says, "look at carefully what you hear") The more you do this, the more you will understand..." "Look at carefully what you hear" do you see what is behind the words? Do you see truth? Do you see Christ? We are so easily deceived by words. We cannot rely on what anyone tells us. We must look at what we hear. The way we do this is by looking to Jesus first, then look at what the person is really about. Everyone reveals their true identity if we will truly be watching what they are really doing.

The most deceitful person that I must be careful of, is myself. Self-deceit is the easiest to fall trap to and the hardest to recognize. This is why I am so cautious with myself. I have lied to myself so much; I have believed what I told myself to the point of being truly blind to what reality was. You can convince yourself of anything, if you want to. I must always turn to the truth, the author of truth; in order to see myself for who I really am. If I am going against Him, then I know I am on the wrong road and I must stop and turn around. "Look at carefully what you hear," from others and yourself. There is only one that you can believe in. His words matched His actions. Look to Him for the truth.