Theophylact Bulgarian. Commentary on the Gospel of Mark
Mark 1:23. In their synagogue there was a man possessed by an unclean spirit, and cried out:
Mark 1:24. leave! what do you care about us, Jesus of Nazareth? You have come to destroy us! I know You who You are, the Holy One of God.
Mark 1:25. But Jesus rebuked him, saying: shut up and get out of him.
Mark 1:26. Then the unclean spirit, shaking him and crying out with a loud voice, went out of him.
Mark 1:27. And everyone was horrified, so they asked each other: what is it? What is this new teaching that He commands the unclean spirits with authority, and they obey Him?
Mark 1:28. And soon word about Him spread throughout the whole neighborhood in Galilee.
Evil spirits are called 'unclean' because they love all kinds of unclean deeds. To leave a person, the demon considers it 'destruction' for himself. Wicked demons generally impute themselves with malice when they are not allowed to do evil to people. Moreover, being carnal-loving and accustomed to enjoying the substance, they seem to suffer a great hunger when they do not live in bodies. Therefore, the Lord says that the demonic race is driven out by fasting. The unclean did not say to Christ: You are holy, because many of the prophets were also holy, but he said 'Holy', that is, the only one, in His essence, the Holy One. But Christ forces him to be silent, so that we know that demons should block their lips, even if they spoke the truth. The demon throws and strongly shakes the possessed by him, so that the eyewitnesses, seeing what kind of calamity a person is getting rid of, believe for the sake of a miracle.
