Good and Evil Angels During Christ’s Ministry
131
All was now confusion and alarm. The attention of the people was
diverted from Christ, and His words were unheeded. This was Satan’s
purpose in leading his victim to the synagogue. But Jesus rebuked the
demon, saying, “Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the
devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and hurt him
not.”
The mind of this wretched sufferer had been darkened by Satan,
but in the Saviour’s presence a ray of light had pierced the gloom. He
was roused to long for freedom from Satan’s control; but the demon
resisted the power of Christ. When the man tried to appeal to Jesus for
help, the evil spirit put words into his mouth, and he cried out in an
agony of fear. The demoniac partially comprehended that he was in
[185]
the presence of One who could set him free; but when he tried to come
within reach of that mighty hand, another’s will held him, another’s
words found utterance through him. The conflict between the power
of Satan and his own desire for freedom was terrible.—
The Desire of
Ages, 255
.
He who conquered the archenemy in the wilderness, wrested this
writhing captive from the grasp of Satan. Jesus well knew that although
assuming another form, this demon was the same evil spirit that had
tempted Him in the wilderness.—
The Spirit of Prophecy 2:180
.
The demon exerted all his power to retain control of his victim. To
lose ground here would be to give Jesus a victory. It seemed that the
tortured man must lose his life in the struggle with the foe that had
been the ruin of his manhood. But the Saviour spoke with authority,
and set the captive free. The man who had been possessed stood before
the wondering people happy in the freedom of self-possession.... The
eye that had so lately glared with the fire of insanity, now beamed with
intelligence, and overflowed with grateful tears.—
The Desire of Ages,
256
.
The Healing of the Centurion’s Servant
The centurion saw with the eye of faith that the angels of God were
all around Jesus, and that His word would commission an angel to go
to the sufferer. He knew that His word would enter the chamber, and
that his servant would be healed.—
The Review and Herald, March 11,
1890
.
[186]