Whenever the impure spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” But he gave them strict orders not to tell others about him.
Mark 3:11-12
Demons were proclaiming the gospel?! Why would they do that?
Many believe that these demons were trying to stir up trouble for Jesus. If they could convince the crowds that Jesus was the Messiah then the crowds might take Jesus by force and crown Him King. This would, in turn, be seen as an act of rebellion by Rome and would result in Jesus' death. It’s a rather ingenious plan!
But if these demons were speaking the truth about who Jesus is, then why did He silence them? I think there are several reasons. First, He silenced them because it is not yet His time. It wasn't time for the crowds to fully know who He was yet, and it wasn't yet time for His crucifixion.
But here's another reason why He silenced the demons. The demons were not fit to procalim the gospel. It would have been inappropriate for the Messiah's arrival to have been heralded by demons. To allow them to do so would have sullied Jesus' reputation and it would have elevated theirs. He could not allow either of those things to happen.
Lastly, I think Jesus silenced the demons because even though they were speaking the truth their intent was evil. They were trying to use the truth to work against God’s purposes, and Jesus would have none of it.
This gives us some insight into how we should think about and deal with false teachers. The test for a false teacher isn’t just, “Are they speaking the truth?”, but also “Are they twisting the truth for evil purposes? Is their intent to use the truth for some purpose that is their own and not the Lord’s?" If so, then they should be silenced too.
I think it is a valid application of this passage to say that we shouldn’t listen to everyone who speaks the truth! I would explain it this way. While the truth is always welcome, some mouths don’t deserve to speak it. For example, I like drinking nice cold milk as much as anyone, but I don’t want to drink it out of a dog bowl! Some containers aren’t worth drinking from no matter what is in them. Likewise some people aren't worth listenign to, even when they are speaking the truth. Don’t be tricked into listening to some false teacher just because they speak the truth sometimes. Even the truth can be used with evil intent. So test not only the message but also the person and their motives.
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