The Invincible Authority Of Jesus

Jesus challenged and exercised the unclean spirit of the man who entered the synagogue. The man with an unclean spirit was a slave to the unclean spirit that possessed him. The fact that this evil spirit used this man’s own mouth to speak his thoughts indicates that he (the man) was under the control of the evil spirit that possessed him. Jesus had authority over this evil spirit, rebuked him to silence and ordered him to come out of the man (Mark 1:25). Nobody had ever seen such authority and power that even evil spirits had to obey. And for that reason Jesus got a lot of publicity and notoriety. It has been said in Jesus’ ministry that 20% of the miracles that He brought about had to do with casting out demons. (Leslie B. Flynn. The Miracles Of Jesus. Wheaton: Victor Books, 1990, p. 80).

JESUS EMPOWERS US IN HIS NAME

It is not enough to mention the name of Jesus. Even demons can mention the name of Jesus. Consider Mark 1:23-24: "Just then a man with an evil spirit came into the synagogue and screamed, "What do you want with us Jesus of Nazareth?" (TEV). Consider also Acts 19:11-16: "And God did extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that handkerchiefs or aprons were carried away from his body to the sick, and diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them. Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to pronounce the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, "I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches." Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. But the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?" And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, mastered all of them, and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded" (RSV). The point is clear that it is not enough to mention Jesus’ name. Jesus said, "Not every one who says to me, ’Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ’Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ’I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers’ (Matthew 7:21-23 RSV). Unless we believe in Him and His saving grace and the gift of salvation, then all we have the knowledge of His name. Having the knowledge of Jesus’ name will not save us.

When we have a relationship with Jesus, He empowers us to serve Him in His name. It has been said that William Wilberforce (1759-1833) would not seem like much of a man of stature for those who knew him. He was under medical care for 20 years. for that reason, he had to take medicine to keep his health in stable standing. Though limited, he would not let his infirmities keep him from pursuing the end of the British slave trade. He accomplished that goal. Only one month after his death, the Emancipation Bill was passed and slave trading came to the end in the West Indies in 1833. James Boswell (1740-1795) who once went to hear him speak said afterwards: "I saw what seemed a mere shrimp mounted upon the platform, but as I listened, he grew and grew till the shrimp became a whale." (A. Naismith. 1200 Notes, Quotes and Anecdotes. Great Britain: Pickering Paperbacks, 1988, pp. 101-102). Jesus had made him strong in spite of his weakness.