Some Christians object to interrogating demons during a deliverance. They argue that Jesus didn’t talk with demons but told them to be quiet. One account in the Gospels, where Jesus casts out a “legion” of demons, contradicts this belief quite clearly. But before we get to that, we should also confront another fallacy.
It is a mistake to believe that we shouldn’t do something simply because we don’t have a recorded history of Jesus doing it. The Gospel of John says, “There are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written.” John 21:25 NASB
The Holy Spirit is wise; He knows that more could have been written about Jesus’ life. But He gave only the four Gospels. Modern Christian discipleship overlooks several vital Biblical components. The first missing element is awareness of the overarching Biblical narrative. Many people read the Gospels as if they could be understood decontextualized. We often instruct new believers to begin their Christian education by reading the Gospels for practical purposes. This instruction is wise and an excellent place to start. Tragically, many never move beyond the Gospels to gain a greater understanding through the rest of the Bible, and too few Christian teachers know how to tie the Old and New Testaments together in a logically coherent and enlightening way. There is a dramatic meta-narrative of the Bible that makes the whole book cohesive and instructive, and it has to do with creating image-bearers of God out of the human race who can exercise wise, life-giving authority consistent with God’s heart and character but without coercion by God. In other words, being a disciple of Jesus isn’t about playing a copycat game but about thinking and acting like Jesus, according to His accomplishment on the cross and His character and values.
This conclusion leads us to another deficiency in modern Christian discipleship: logic. Logic is one major moral muscle tragically overlooked and, therefore, underdeveloped.
Christian discipleship isn’t about copying Jesus' words and actions verbatim but understanding what His words and actions accomplished and acting accordingly. For example, Jesus said,
“All authority in heaven and are has been given to me.” Matthew 28:18. His following words were not, “So now you must go and acquire authority too.” No. Instead, because Jesus won His authority and shared it with His disciples, we have a job to do: apply the victory of Jesus. To appropriate the victory of Jesus, we have to make real-time decisions about life going forward according to the new reality that Christ is King. Logically, this means that we will make decisions and take actions we didn’t see Jesus do, but we do them because they are consistent with the Gospel proclamation that Jesus is Lord.
Jesus and the Holy Spirit didn’t provide “how-to” instructions on healing the sick, raising the dead, or casting out demons. The only directions in the Gospels concerning these activities are commands such as “Go!” “Heal the sick!” “Raise the dead!” “Cast out demons!” “Freely you have received, freely give!” We must learn as we go because our only instruction was to “go!”
That said, the scriptures provide a solid example of Jesus interrogating a demon.
In Mark’s Gospel, chapter 5, a demonized man approached Jesus. This man lived in a graveyard and constantly screamed and cut himself with stones. Mark says that when the demonized man saw Jesus, he ran up to him (Mark 5:6). But what came out of the man’s mouth was inconsistent with the actions of his body.
“What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?” Said the voice. “I implore you by God, do not torment me!” (Mark 5:7). There are two different wills at work here. The man ran up to Jesus and fell at His feet, but the demons shrieked and told Jesus to go away. The demons implored Jesus not to torment them, and Mark says that the reason they said this was because Jesus was commanding them to come out! Mark describes this scene in an active and progressive sense:
For He had been saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit.” Mark 5:8 NASB.
Mark describes Jesus as actively commanding the demons to come out without getting immediate results. The demons argue, resist, and plead. Jesus is already talking to the demons. We should point out that no demon leaves without being spoken to. It isn’t Jesus’ presence alone that makes demons leave; His exercised command through His speech forces the issue. Jesus didn’t tell the resisting spirits to be quiet but instead asked them their name.
And He was asking him, “What is your name?” And he said to Him, “My name is Legion for we are many.” Mark 5:9 NASB
Technically, we must say that Jesus is now conversing with the demon. However, the nature of the interaction isn’t a casual conversation but an interrogation. Jesus pressured the demons into giving information. If Jesus needed to ask the demons their name, who are we to think we can get away with doing less?
Jesus’ interaction with the demons didn’t end with the question about their name. The demons go on further to make a request.
Now there was a large herd of swine feeding nearby on the mountain. The demons implored Him, saying, “Send us into the herd of swine so that we may enter them.” Jesus gave them permission. Mark 5:11-13 NASB
Why Jesus permitted the demons to enter pigs is an interesting question. It could be that the image worked prophetically for the people of Israel. Pigs are unclean animals and are a metaphorical image of demons. The people of the Ancient Near East understood the sea to be the symbolic source (if not more) of evil and chaos. It is a provocative image to think of Jesus driving the pigs into the sea, back into the abyss, if you will. However, regardless of Jesus' reasoning, we must note that Jesus not only spoke with demons but even granted their request! We should conclude that there is nothing wrong or unbiblical with deliverance ministers interrogating demons. Don’t have conversations with demons, or you will tip into the realm of witchcraft and fortune-telling. But by the power of the Holy Spirit and the authority of Christ Jesus, go grill demons and make them give up the secrets of their hiding places, their legal rights for being present in a person, and their agendas in the lives of God’s children. Once you have the necessary information, use the blood and the authority of Jesus to cancel their rights, expose their secrets, and end their agendas against God’s children. And finally, cast them into the abyss. Interrogate and prosecute demons.
Comments