Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him;
Mark 5:6 (NASB1995)
Our scripture today is a well-known story, which we may read quickly without noting the fine details – I know I have. In such a quick read, I have assumed that the one bowing before Jesus is the possessed man – but this misses an important point. The point in question is highlighted further in the next verse: “and shouting with a loud voice, he said, ‘What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me!” The one approaching and addressing Jesus is the many demons in the man – he is only the host for these wicked creatures. It was the demons who ran up and bowed before Jesus! This is a common occurrence between our Lord and evil spirits in the Gospels.
As Christians, we are warned to “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). To us, he is a formidable enemy of whom we must be forever watchful. But our scripture today reminds us that our Lord is greater than Satan and his evil hordes – they fear Him; “Whenever the unclean spirits saw Him, they would fall down before Him and shout, ‘You are the Son of God!” (Mark 3:11). As I meditated upon the meeting in our scripture (and others like it), it occurred to my mind that the last time the evil spirits met Him was before their fall from Heaven – they knew who He was, and they feared Him. Their fear of the Lord is confirmed in striking language in James 2:19: “You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.” [emphasis mine]
Dear Reader, be encouraged today – Satan and his demons are a defeated enemy who fear our Redeemer and Lord. We all must bow before Him – “so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth” (Philippians 2:10); evil spirits bow in grovelling fear of their punishment at the hands of a Righteous God, where we bow in gratitude and admiration of His grace poured out on us.
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on Devotional Treasures
