“And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out,”
Just then a man in their synagogue who had an impure spirit cried out — the demonic interruption arrives in the middle of a Sabbath synagogue service. The spirit's presence in the synagogue is not incidental: demons inhabit the religious space, suggesting the religious establishment is not immune to spiritual oppression. The construction in Mark — the man had an impure spirit, not the man was the spirit — communicates that the man retains his own identity apart from the spirit's occupancy. The cry out interrupts the teaching at the moment of Jesus' first public appearance. The spirit cannot remain passive in Jesus' presence — this is the characteristic pattern throughout Mark: the demonic realm reacts to Jesus before the human realm does.
Church Fathers on Mark 1:23
Since by the envy of the devil death first entered into the world, it was right that the medicine of healing should first work against the author of death; and therefore it is said, 'And there was in their synagogue a man, &c.'
Moreover, how great is the power which the lowliness of God, appearing in the form of a servant, has over the pride of devils, the devils themselves know so well, that they express it to the same Lord clothed in the weakness of flesh. For there follows, 'And he cried out, saying, What have we to do we Thee, Jesus of Nazareth, &c.'
For to come out of man the devil considers as his own perdition; for devils are ruthless, thinking that they suffer some evil, so long as they are not troubling men.
Read all 8 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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