place of abode as any He had in Galilee. There He taught, particularly
on Sabbath days; and the people were astonished at His doctrine, for He
spoke with authority and power.[394] In the synagog, on one of these
occasions, was a man who was a victim of possession, and subject to the
ravages of an evil spirit, or, as the text so forcefully states, one who
"had a spirit of an unclean devil." It is significant that this wicked
spirit, which had gained such power over the man as to control his
actions and utterances, was terrified before our Lord and cried out with
a loud voice, though pleadingly: "Let us alone; what have we to do with
thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee
who thou art; the Holy One of God." Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit,
commanding him to be silent, and to leave the man; the demon obeyed the
Master, and after throwing the victim into violent though harmless
paroxysm, left him. Such a miracle caused the beholders to wonder the
more, and they exclaimed: "What a word is this! for with authority and
power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out. And the fame
of him went out into every place of the country round about."[395]

In the evening of the same day, when the sun had set, and therefore
after the Sabbath had passed[396], the people flocked about Him,
bringing their afflicted friends and kindred; and these Jesus healed of
their divers maladies whether of body or of mind. Among those so
relieved were many who had been possessed of devils, and these cried
out, testifying perforce of the Master's divine authority: "Thou art
Christ the Son of God."[397]

On these as on other occasions, we find evil spirits voicing through the
mouths of their victims their knowledge that Jesus was the Christ; and
in all such instances the Lord silenced them with a word; for He wanted
no such testimony as theirs to attest the fact of His Godship. Those
spirits were of the devil's following, members of the rebellious and
defeated hosts that had been cast down through the power of the very
Being whose authority and power they now acknowledged in their demoniac
frenzy. Together with Satan himself, their vanquished chief, they
remained unembodied, for to all of them the privileges of the second or
mortal estate had been denied;[398] their remembrance of the scenes that
had culminated in their expulsion from heaven was quickened by the
presence of the Christ, though He stood in a body