Somehow it is not surprising that such a display of Christ’s divine authority should unleash the forces that would most vehemently oppose it, that is, the demonic world (Mark. 1:23–26). Can you imagine the scene? Jesus was teaching, and suddenly the door opened, and a man came shrieking into the room. The demons within him were crying out, “Let us alone; what have we to do with Thee?” (v. 24, KJV) That’s a revealing confession. There was nothing in common between them; there is nothing in common between the Lord and evil.
As Mark opens his account we find Jesus in the synagogue, teaching the people. We are reminded immediately that the Lord Jesus Christ was God. When He stood up to speak, He spoke as God, and the ring of authority was in all He said. The people were immediately aroused to the fact that here was something new. The Jewish teachers of Jesus’ time spent their days poring over the Law, telling the people what they could and could not do. They spent much more time on the “sin” of lifting a sick person on the Sabbath than they did on the needs of their people. Jesus countered this by clearing away the things that impeded the blessing of men. His words went to the heart of the matter: people were in need, and He had the answer to their needs.
Imagine yourself for a moment as one of the angels who longed to look at Jesus during His earthly ministry. Perhaps you were one of the heavenly chorus who announced His otherwise lowly birth. In subsequent years, perhaps you peered over heaven’s gates to watch Him grow to manhood in the obscure setting of Nazareth. Then finally the day arrives for Jesus to begin His messianic ministry. He is baptized by John in the Jordan, and the Spirit descends like a dove. The Father’s voice thunders past you to the earth below: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Mark 1:11). Though human eyewitnesses may have failed to grasp the significance of these signs, inhabitants of the spiritual world would appreciate the marks of heavenly blessing.
The third temptation reveals the true inner nature of sin. I know nothing more calculated to open our hearts and show us what we really are than to see Satan, the cringing, crawling coward, coming finally to say, “Look, I’m willing to lay all the cards on the table. I’m thirsty for credit—I want a little credit. I want You to admit that I am wonderful. If You’ll just get down on your knees once and worship me, if just once You will acknowledge my worth before the universe, it will satisfy me.” The Lord Jesus answered, “Begone, Satan! for it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve”’ (Matthew 4:10).
In Satan’s second temptation of Christ, he tempted the Saviour to fanaticism. Thwarted in his first attempt, he said, “All right. You’re going to meet me as a man. You’re going to trust in the Word of God. You know, I’m something of a Bible student myself, and I found a verse back in the Psalms that says, ‘He will give his angels charge of you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’
