We must not be reluctant to identify and deal with demons!
How many pastors and believers skip over the chapters 16:17, and 18 in the Gospel of Mark?
What was Jesus’ primary mission?
Jesus Himself stated His primary purpose:
Luke recorded by The Holy Spirit in Luke chapter 4:
42 Now when it was day, Jesus departed and went into a deserted place. And the crowd sought Him and came to Him, and tried to keep Him from leaving them;
43 but He said to them, “I must preach the Kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent.”
44 And He was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee.
Likewise, after large crowds sought healing, He often left to preach elsewhere.
This suggests His priorities were approximately:
- Preaching and teaching: Primary mission.
- Healing and miracles: Confirmed His message and demonstrated God’s Kingdom.
- Casting out demons: A significant part of demonstrating the Kingdom’s authority over Satan, but not the sole or even primary focus.
Why deliverance was so prominent
Jesus explained the significance of casting out demons in Gospel of Matthew 12:28:
“If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the Kingdom of God has come upon you.”
Every deliverance was evidence that:
- Satan’s kingdom was being overthrown.
- The Messiah had arrived.
- God’s Kingdom was advancing.
This fulfilled the prophecy of Book of Genesis 3:15 that the Seed of the woman would crush the serpent’s head.
While Scripture does not provide a numerical percentage of Jesus’ entire ministry, a reasonable summary would be:
- Preaching and teaching: The central focus of His ministry.
- Healing the sick: A major and frequent activity.
- Casting out demons: One of the most visible signs of His authority, likely accounting for about one-quarter of the recorded miracle narratives, though not one-quarter of all His ministry.
The Gospels frequently pair healing and deliverance together. The writers often summarize entire days by saying Jesus healed “all who were sick” and cast out “many demons,” indicating that deliverance was a regular, though not exclusive, aspect of His ministry. His ultimate mission remained to proclaim the Kingdom, call people to repentance, and accomplish redemption through His death and resurrection.
Casting out demons as a legitimate ministry of the Church, but it is never portrayed as the central mission of every believer or as something to pursue for its own sake.
To whom did Jesus give this authority?
Jesus first gave authority to the Twelve:
Gospel of Matthew 10:1 – “He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out…”
Gospel of Luke 9:1 – He gave them “power and authority over all demons.”
Gospel of Luke 10:17–20 – Jesus also sent out seventy-two disciples, who returned saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your Name.”
Notice that this authority was not limited to the Twelve; it was also exercised by the larger group of disciples.
After Jesus’ resurrection, He spoke in Gospel of Mark chapter 16:
17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My Name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new Tongues;
The Book of Acts records believers casting out demons.
Luke recorded by The Holy Spirit in Acts chapter 5:
14 And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women,
15 so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them.
16 Also a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed.
And in Acts chapter 8:
5 Philip traveled to a Samaritan city and preached to them the wonderful news of the Anointed One.
6 The crowds were eager to receive Philip’s message and were persuaded by the many miracles and wonders he performed.
7 Many demon-possessed people were set free and delivered as evil spirits came out of them with loud screams and shrieks, and many who were lame and paralyzed were also healed.
8 This resulted in an uncontainable joy filling the city!
And in Acts chapter 16:
16 Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling. 17 This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.”
18 And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the Name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And he came out that very hour.
And in Acts chapter 19:
11 God kept releasing a flow of extraordinary miracles through the hands of Paul. 12 Because of this, people took Paul’s handkerchiefs and articles of clothing, even pieces of cloth that had touched his skin, laying them on the bodies of the sick, and diseases and demons left them and they were healed.
Deliverance ministry clearly continued after Jesus ascended.