Matthew 14:33

Verse 33.

(r) "Son of God" Dan 3:25, Lk 4:41, Jn 1:49, 6:69, 11:27, Acts 8:37, Rom 1:4

Mark 1:24

Verse 24. Let us alone. Though but one impure spirit is mentioned as possessing this man, yet that spirit speaks also in the name of others. They were leagued together in the work of evil, and this one knew that if he was punished, others would also share the same fate.

What have we to do with thee? This seems to mean, "Have we injured thee?" or, We have done nothing to injure thee. See "1Ki 17:18". By this the spirit meant to say, that if Jesus cast him out, he would use an improper interference. But this was untrue. The possession of the man was a direct assault on God and his works. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil, and he had a right, therefore, to liberate the captive, and to punish him who had possessed him. So Satan still considers it an infringement of his rights, when God frees a sinner from bondage, and destroys his influence over the soul. So he still pleads to be let alone, and to be suffered to lead men captive at his will.

Art thou come to destroy us? Implying that this could not be the intention of the benevolent Messiah; that to be cast out of that man would, in fact, be his destruction, and that therefore he might be suffered still to remain. Or implying, as in Mt 8:29, that the time of their destruction had not come, and that he ought not to destroy them before that.

I know thee, etc. Evil spirits seem to have been acquainted at once with the Messiah. Besides, they had learned from his miracles that he was the Messiah, and had power over them.

The Holy One of God. The Messiah. See Dan 9:24. He is called the Holy One of God, because,

1st, he was eminently pure;

2nd, because he was the only begotten Son of God--equal with the Father; and,

3rd, because he was anointed, or set apart to the work of the Messiah, the Mediator between God and man.

Luke 4:41

Verse 41. No entry from BARNES for this verse.

(4) "suffered them not to speak", or "to say that they knew him to be" "Christ"

James 2:19

Verse 19. Thou believest that there is one God. One of the great and cardinal doctrines of religion is here selected as an illustration of all. The design of the apostle seems to have been to select one of the doctrines of religion, the belief of which would--if mere belief in any doctrine could--save the soul; and to show that even this might be held as an article of faith by those who could be supposed by no s one to have any claim to the name of Christian. He selects therefore, the great fundamental doctrine of all religion--the doctrine of the existence of one Supreme Being--and shows that if even this were held in such a way as it might be, and as it was held by devils, it could not save men. The apostle here is not to be supposed to be addressing such an one as Paul, who held to the doctrine that we are justified by faith; nor is he to be supposed to be combating the doctrine of Paul, as some have maintained, (Jas 2:1, the Introduction;) but he is to be regarded as addressing one who held, in the broadest and most unqualified sense, that provided there was faith, a man would be saved. To this he replies, that even the devils might have faith of a certain sort, and faith that would produce sensible effects on them of a certain kind, and still it could not be supposed that they had true religion, or that they would be saved. Why might not the same thing occur in regard to man?

Thou doest well. So far as this is concerned, or so far as it goes. It is a doctrine which ought to be held, for it is one of the great fundamental truths of religion.

The devils. The demons, (ταδαιμονια.) There is, properly, but one being spoken of in the New Testament as the devil--οδιαβολος, and οσαταν--though demons are frequently spoken of in the plural number. They are represented as evil spirits, subject to Satan, or under his control, and engaged with him in carrying out his plans of wickedness. These spirits or demons were supposed to wander in desert and desolate places, (Mt 12:43,) or to dwell in the atmosphere, (Eph 2:2;) they were thought to have the power of working miracles, but not for good, (Rev 16:14; compare Jn 10:21;) to be hostile to mankind, (Jn 8:44;) to utter the heathen oracles, (Acts 16:17;) to lurk in the idols of the heathen, (1Cor 10:20;) and to take up their abodes in the bodies of men, afflicting them with various kinds of diseases, Mt 7:22; 9:34; Mt 10:8; 17:18; Mk 7:29-30; Lk 4:33; 8:27,30, et sape. It is of these evil spirits that the apostle speaks when he says this they believe.

Also, believe. That is, particularly, they believe in the existence of the one God. How far their knowledge may extend respecting God, we cannot know; but they are never represented in the Scriptures as denying his existence, or as doubting the great truths of religion. They are never described as atheists. That is a sin of this world only. They are not represented as skeptics. That, too, is a peculiar sin of the earth; and probably, in all the universe besides, there are no beings but those who dwell on this globe, who doubt or deny the existence of God, or the other great truths of religion.

And tremble. The word here used (φρισσω) occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. It means, properly, to be rough, uneven, jaggy, sc., with bristling hair; to bristle, to stand on end, as the hair does in a fright; and then to shudder or quake with fear, etc. Here the meaning is, that there was much more in the case referred to than mere speculative faith. There was a faith that produced some effect, and an effect of a very decided character. It did not, indeed, produce good works, or a holy life, but it made it manifest that there was faith; and, consequently, it followed that the existence of mere faith was not all that was necessary to save men, or to make it certain that they would be secure, unless it were held that the devils would be justified and saved by it. If they might hold such faith, and still remain in perdition, men might hold it, and go to perdition. A man should not infer, therefore, because he has faith, even that faith in God which will fill him with alarm, that therefore he is safe. He must have a faith which will produce another effect altogether--that which will lead to a holy life.

(a) "the devils also believe" Mk 1:24; 5:7 (+) "devils" or, "demons"
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