“Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.”
What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are — the Holy One of God — the spirit's speech is the first Christological confession in Mark, and it comes from a demon. What do you want with us is a Hebrew idiom declaring incompatibility. Have you come to destroy us communicates that the demon understands the eschatological significance of Jesus' arrival: the kingdom's coming means the destruction of the demonic realm. I know who you are, the Holy One of God — the demon's knowledge is accurate but its recognition is not worship; it is the enemy's intelligence report. Throughout Mark, the demons know who Jesus is while the disciples struggle to understand.
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