And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” And he strictly ordered them not to make him known.
Jesus’ ministry was teaching and healing. As He went about He drew massive crowds. The people in those crowds had all kinds of physical conditions and spiritual challenges. In the above passage we read that as crowds came for physical healing, so too did those who were struggling spiritually due to demon possession. We are told on a few occasions that those who brought these types of people to Jesus knew they were demon possessed. On other occasions we are not told if the person(s) coming to Jesus knew if they were possessed or not. In the above lines we are given a general statement by Mark about Jesus’ ministry. Notice that when these demon possessed cases came to Jesus the demons would cry out, “You are the Song of God.” But Jesus warned them not to do this. He had already spoken the same thing, earlier in Mark’s gospel:
Mark 1:34 (ESV)
And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.
Jesus did not allow the demons to tell others about Him. This probably was for many reasons. But one of those reasons might be that Jesus saw the real reason for their declaration was not out of purity of belief but out of fear of judgment. It was not to glorify Him but to want to tell the crowds so that they might fraught the plan of Jesus.
But notice that His disciples did the same thing and He honored it:
John 1:49-50 (ESV)
Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.”
Matthew 14:33 (ESV)
And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
The takeaway here is that that demons only wish to hinder Jesus’ work and His disciples would be those who carried on His work. Jesus wanted the disciples to proclaim Him as Son of God because that would be their mission. He did not want the demons to do so because they were counter His mission. The disciples were coming in faith to Jesus and would carry that faith forward. The demons did so out of fear and evilness:
James 2:19 (ESV)
You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!
And note what Peter did when confronted in his ministry with demon like behavior:
Acts 16:16-18 (ESV)
Paul and Silas in Prison
As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.
Our professing that Jesus is the Son of God is the highlight of our belief. It is simply an act a terror for judgment to come for demonic hosts and it was a way to prevent Jesus’ ministry, not proclaim it.
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