Jesus' Ministry in Galilee

Jesus had been teaching in the synagogue just a few verses earlier. The appearance of this demon is a marked contrast.

A demon generally is a spirit that influences the lives of men, to a greater or lesser degree, for good or for evil. In the New Testament, they are only evil.

The Greek here for "demon" (δαιμόνιον) is the most common term for this kind of thing--used 63 times in the New Testament--and means a small, lesser, or local deity or spiritual being.

δαιμόνιον

• divine power, divinity
• inferior divine being
  (applied to the 'genius' of Socrates)
• evil spirit

This particular term is actually a diminutive form of "demon" (δαίμων):

δαίμων

• god, goddess
  • of individual gods or goddesses, but more frequently of the divine power (while θεός denotes a God in person), the deity; almost, = τύχῃ, by chance
• the power controlling the destiny of individuals: hence, one's lot or fortune
  • frequently in Tragedy of good fortune or ill fortune
  • personified as the good genius or evil genius of a family or person
• souls of men of the golden age, acting as tutelary deities
  • the deified
  • later, of departed souls
  • also, ghost
• generally, spiritual being or semi-divine being inferior to the Gods
  • especially evil spirit, demon

The use of this term in the New Testament clarifies the intended meaning.

Luke 9:42 equates a "demon" with an "unclean spirit": "...the demon threw him to the ground..., but Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit...."
("Unclean" (ἀκάθαρτος) in this verse refers to the Law of Moses and its restrictions on diet, association, etc.; compare Acts 10:14, 28.)

In 1 Timothy 4:1, the teachings of demons compare with deceitful spirits: "Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons...."

In John 10:20, the crowd equates "having a demon" with "being insane" (μαίνομαι): "Many of them said, 'He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to him?'"

The Athenians themselves were still using the word for "demon" as it had been in the time of Plato and Socrates:

Acts 17:18

Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, "What does this babbler wish to say?" Others said, "He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities [demons]"--because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection.

The translators of the Septuagint also used this Greek term in ways helpful to our understanding.

Deuteronomy 32:17

They sacrificed to demons that were no gods, to gods they had never known, to new gods that had come recently, whom your fathers had never dreaded.

Psalm 96:3-5

Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous works among all the peoples!
For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised;
he is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,
but the LORD made the heavens.

Psalm 106:34-39

They did not destroy the peoples,
as the LORD commanded them,
but they mixed with the nations
and learned to do as they did.
They served their idols,
which became a snare to them.
They sacrificed their sons
and their daughters to the demons;
they poured out innocent blood,
the blood of their sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,
and the land was polluted with blood.
Thus they became unclean by their acts,
and played the whore in their deeds.

The New Testament also uses a verb form, an adjectival form, and the original "demon."

The verb form is defined:

δαιμονίζομαι = δαιμονάω

• to be under the power of a god (δαίμων), to suffer by a divine visitation
• in an absolute sense: to be possessed, to be mad

This and later pericopes make a theme of demons recognizing Jesus as the Son of God.

While little is said in Scripture about how knowledge spreads in the spiritual realm, it is interesting to note that the fame of Jesus spreads there as well as here.

The New Testament elsewhere refers to fame in the spiritual realm, but it is only useful for illustration purposes.

James 2:19

You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe--and shudder!

Acts 19:13-15

Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, "I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims." Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. But the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?"

The Lord does not need or want the testimony of demons. Neither the Lord nor his disciples after him ever appealed to demons as any kind of authority, although Paul warned us about some who would do so (1 Timothy 4:1).

The Lord's identity is instead established by the Scriptures about him, the works he does, the teaching he has received and given to us.

John 5:39-41

You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. I do not receive glory from people.

John 14:10-11

Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.

The people rightly perceive Jesus' teaching is different from what they have become accustomed to. The authority of God must be accepted if we are to see the power of God working through the teaching.

Mark makes especially clear the extent of Jesus' notoriety among the people, setting up the problem in Mark 2 where some who wish to see Jesus find there is no room to do so.

As the Gospel story progresses, the crowds become so unmanageable that Jesus begins to tell people not to spread word about him.