Have You Come To Destroy Us?

          Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an impure spirit cried out, “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”

          “Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!” (Mark 1:23-25)

          As we look back through 2000 and more years at 66 documents written by 35-40 authors who lived on three continents and in a variety of cultures, it’s understandable that we struggle to understand some of what is said. Since God is the main focus of much of the writing, it’s not surprising that we would not understand. It makes sense that the people living when Jesus walked the Earth didn’t understand.

          But impure spirits, demons, devils, and angels? It feels a little strange to say that they didn’t get it either. I think I tend to think of them as being almost omniscient. The reality is that they know what they know through the same sources that we do: through revelation and through experience. If God didn’t sit down with them and explain all His plans and purposes, they are left with guesses, and those would be in line with their own natures. It’s impossible to know how long before the creation of the universe God created angels, or how long after that passed before Lucifer and his followers rebelled, or the effect that their rebellion had on them. Did this impure spirit accurately remember Heaven? It’s impossible to say. Was his memory adorned with his hatred? Undoubtedly.

          All this means that it’s possible that it truly thought that Jesus had come to destroy it. It’s also possible that this question was propaganda, a way of suggesting to the people witnessing the scene that God is a hateful being who enjoys torturing and destroying those who disobey. That would make the impure spirit’s rebellion seem noble.

          I tend to think that its question is malicious. It seems to me that when Jesus is asked a question by someone who actually wants an answer, He answers. It may not be the answer the person sought, but it’s an answer. When Jesus is asked a question by someone using the question as a trap or a challenge to His authority, He doesn’t tend to answer. At least, He doesn’t answer with the sort of answer that provides the information sought. I may be wrong, but it seems to me that this impure spirit isn’t seeking information.

          And what is Jesus’ answer? It seems to be “No, I didn’t come to destroy you.” He could have sent the impure spirit to hell, or heaven (which would have been hell.) He could have destroyed what He had created. He could have done a lot of things. What He did is kick the impure spirit out of his home, leaving him free to go wherever it wished, to torment others.

          The passage doesn’t tell us why Jesus chose plan B over the impure spirit’s stated plan A. He might have had pity on the impure spirit, hoping that someday, it would repent. I know some believe that’s not possible, and it may not be, but if we’re going to speculate, we may as well give the full range of speculation. Even knowing that the impure spirit will never repent or willingly submit to Him, I believe He still loved the impure spirit. Removing it was sufficient to the needs of the man in whom it resided.