Bible Study on Matthew 9, verses 14 to 17, new wine into old bottles

 

Matthew 9:14 ¶  Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not? 15  And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast. 16  No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse. 17  Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.

 

Before we look at the parable Jesus relates it is important to understand that at the time the King James Bible was translated a bottle did not have to be just glass, as it is today, but any container that carried a liquid, such as a leather bag. This can be confirmed by going to Lexicons of Early Modern English online and doing a search by which you will find Thomas Cooper’s 1578 Thesaurus Linguae Romanae et Britannicae and Thomas Thomas’ 1587 Dictionarium Linguae Latinae et Anglicanae and several other sources that refer to a bottle as simply a vessel of some sort with glass bottle being used for that specific container material.

 

 In the following a bottle can be rent or torn so common sense tells you these wily Canaanites were not just carrying around shards of broken glass.

 

Joshua 9:4  They did work wilily, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks upon their asses, and wine bottles, old, and rent, and bound up;

 

The question presented of why the Pharisees, with their long list of traditions, fast a lot and Jesus’ disciples do not was an important note about the dead religion the Pharisees followed. Christ was present and so His followers were joyful. He is the bridegroom and they will celebrate now but He will be taken from them.

 

One way of looking at this parable is that the joy of those who receive Christ cannot be contained in the old and decayed vessels of dead religion. Each of us comes to Christ with a lot of baggage; sins we have committed, and sins committed against us, and this baggage often hampers our walk with Christ even after we are saved by the sins that so easily beset us. We are raised in a culture that, even if conservative and acknowledging of Christ, often carries with it false doctrine and incorrect assumptions about what God wants. Our walk with Christ, our very understanding and interpretation of Scripture is colored by those things. We see the Bible through a lense formed by our own personality, preferences, bigotry, prejudices, and opinions, and, yes, experiences. In order to see Christ clearly we must put our faith in new bottle, without cracks and tears and fissures, coming to the Bible without the weight and the chains of our false beliefs, expectations, and assumptions.

 

For instance, many Christians will tell you that God would never do anything that would hurt you, so if you are hurt or sick or harmed in any way it must be the work of the Devil opposing God.

 

But, the book of Job teaches us that the Devil can do nothing to us which God does not permit. And see;

 

Job 2:10  But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.

 

And Jeremiah will write;

 

Lamentations 3:38  Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good?

 

We bring the false doctrine that we cannot receive anything hurtful at the hand of God and our faith and understanding is colored by that in opposition to the Bible. Old skins, rotten and torn, keep us from holding the doctrine of new wine.

Bible Study on Genesis 39, verses 7 to 12, the wife of Potiphar

 

Genesis 39:7 ¶  And it came to pass after these things, that his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me. 8  But he refused, and said unto his master’s wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand; 9  There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God? 10  And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her. 11  And it came to pass about this time, that Joseph went into the house to do his business; and there was none of the men of the house there within. 12  And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out.

Potiphar’s wife wants to have sex with Joseph. We use different euphemisms in our language for sin such as this. We say she wants to have an affair with him, or she wants to seduce him or some other such drivel to make wickedness seem sophisticated. As he is in an inferior position socially and powerless this is all about lust, a type of attempted rape. It used to be more common than it is now in our culture until sexual harassment laws, although much abused, worked to prevent even the taint of it. But, in our history, for instance, under the racial slavery that existed before the Civil War, no slave had any power to resist the advances of their master or mistress except to flee as Joseph will. It is a barbarous and uncivilized condition that exists still in some countries today, usually afflicting women, where they have no choice but to submit to the humiliation and physical danger or flee to an uncertain fate.

Joseph tells Potiphar’s wife that everything Potiphar has except for her has been put into his hands to care for and he is not about to violate the trust he has been given. The woman continually pressed upon Joseph her desire to do wrong with him daily and we might question why he didn’t tell Potiphar this but then it is likely she would have called him a liar and his situation would have been no better. Finally, she could stand his resistance no further and at a time when he went into the house to work and there were no witnesses, she grabbed his clothing and demanded that he have sex with her. Joseph ran, leaving that clothing in her hand she held it so forcefully in her lust.

His business is not the idiom in English that some use when referencing going to the bathroom. Here it is defined in the Bible as the work that one does.

Nehemiah 13:30  Thus cleansed I them from all strangers, and appointed the wards of the priests and the Levites, every one in his business;

Proverbs 22:29  Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.

The word wotteth is a form of wot, to know.

Genesis 21:26  And Abimelech said, I wot not who hath done this thing: neither didst thou tell me, neither yet heard I of it, but to day.

Exodus 32:23  For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.

Joseph displays a high level of character in holding the trust he has been given in honor. Most men, if the lady of the house wasn’t hideous looking, would have succumbed to her desires and used her favors as a means to gain advantage. Joseph shows himself worthy of the trust he has been given.

Bible Study on Matthew 9, verses 9 to 13, Matthew is chosen

 

Matthew 9:9 ¶  And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him. 10  And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. 11  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? 12  But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. 13  But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

 

Matthew, a hated tax collector in the Jewish social order, is chosen. In fact, many tax collectors and people of questionable repute sit down with Jesus and His disciples. He welcomes all which disturbs the Pharisees greatly. Their social order, like ours used to be, was very exclusionary.

 

Jesus’ argument here is inspiring. “Why do I associate with people that you think merit your disgust? Because with regard to sin, like a physical sickness, it is the sick that need the doctor. So, if you are healthy you apparently don’t need me.” He teaches two lessons here. The first suggests that the Pharisees are sicker than they realize. The second is that mercy is of a higher value to God than ritual worship.

 

God delights in mercy.

 

Micah 7:18  Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.

 

And God gives more importance to mercy on our part than to judgment.

 

James 2:13  For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

 

What Christ did in coming to earth, living as one of us, dying as one of us, paying the penalty for our sins, and rising from the dead was mercy to the uttermost if you take the context of eternity and keep that in your mind.

Bible Study on Genesis 39, verse 1 and 6, And Joseph was brought down to Egypt

 

Genesis 39:1 ¶  And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmeelites, which had brought him down thither. 2  And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. 3  And his master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD made all that he did to prosper in his hand. 4  And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand. 5  And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the LORD was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field. 6  And he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand; and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person, and well favoured.

Joseph was bought as a slave. This is a very unhappy circumstance for Joseph but God can make any difficult circumstance be positive.

Proverbs 16:7  When a man’s ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.

God is going to use Joseph to save his people and Egypt to provide the conditions for the Hebrews’ propagation and increase in preparation for them to return to the land He has promised them in force.

Potiphar, Joseph’s human master, realized the administrative smarts and honesty of Joseph and placed him over the running of his house. Because of his association with Joseph he, too, prospered. This is a positive lesson for us. If you want good things to happen to you associate with good people. Young people can often make friends with the bad because they find them interesting or exciting while older people often make friends with the bad because they see some financial or social gain from it.

Amos 3:3  Can two walk together, except they be agreed?

2Corinthians 6:14  Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

Most of the time it is likely that you will be better off if you associate with a good, strong, and moral person as an employee or an employer, someone humbly devoted to God.

It is important to note here that Potiphar trusted Joseph completely to the point where Potiphar himself didn’t know what he had. It was all in Joseph’s hands. Joseph was, in essence, what we would call today a butler, although the term has changed meaning somewhat over time as we will see shortly. A butler in ancient and medieval times oversaw the valuable wine possessions of the rich household, from the Old French word for bottle-bearer. The steward in the Bible of the New Testament was more like the butler we know today or a combination of a great household’s butler and land agent, a manager.

Joseph was a goodly person, and well favoured. Goodly is built strong and tall and well favoured is filled out well and handsome as it meant beautiful in other contexts. You can cross-reference both in the Bible to see that it is applied that way.

Genesis 29:17  Leah was tender eyed; but Rachel was beautiful and well favoured. (Don’t forget and as a joiner of synonyms as we’ve studied before.)

Genesis 41:2  And, behold, there came up out of the river seven well favoured kine and fatfleshed; and they fed in a meadow…4  And the ill favoured and leanfleshed kine did eat up the seven well favoured and fat kine. So Pharaoh awoke.

Leviticus 23:40a  And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees…

1Samuel 9:2  And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people.

Joseph was quite a looker and very attractive, most likely preoccupied with his work, too preoccupied to pay attention to looks and stares.

Bible Study on Matthew 9, verses 1 to 8, a man sick of the palsy

 

Matthew 9:1 ¶  And he entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into his own city. 2  And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee. 3  And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth. 4  And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? 5  For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? 6  But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. 7  And he arose, and departed to his house. 8  But when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men.

 

He has come back to Capernaum where he was staying and was before He went to the Gergesenes. The faith of these friends of this palsied man is remarkable and Christ forgives him of his sins and heals him. Notice the similarity in Luke’s and Mark’s account with this scene. See Luke 5:17-26 and Mark 2:1-12.

 

Luke 5:17 ¶  And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judaea, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was present to heal them. 18  And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before him. 19  And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus. 20  And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee. 21  And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone? 22  But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts? 23  Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk? 24  But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto

thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house. 25  And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God. 26  And they were all amazed, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things to day.

 

Mark 2:1 ¶  And again he entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noised that he was in the house. 2  And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them. 3  And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four. 4  And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. 5  When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. 6  But

there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, 7  Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only? 8  And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts? 9  Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? 10  But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) 11  I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house. 12  And immediately

he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.

 

If you want to try to imagine this in your setting I think of those who love you praying and praying for you, speaking to God directly on your behalf. I had a mother-in-law who prayed diligently for me and for my family and I believe part of what changed my heart was God’s response to those prayers. Mrs. Mock lowered me through the roof tiles, in a manner of speaking.

 

Notice the people in glorifying God still were not expressing an understanding of who Jesus was, God in the flesh, walking among them.

Bible Study on Genesis 38, verses 24 to 30, bound upon his hand a scarlet thread

 

Genesis 38:24 ¶  And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt. 25  When she was brought forth, she sent to her father in law, saying, By the man, whose these are, am I with child: and she said, Discern, I pray thee, whose are these, the signet, and bracelets, and staff. 26  And Judah acknowledged them, and said, She hath been more righteous than I; because that I gave her not to Shelah my son. And he knew her again no more. 27  And it came to pass in the time of her travail, that, behold, twins were in her womb. 28  And it came to pass, when she travailed, that the one put out his hand: and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying, This came out first. 29  And it came to pass, as he drew back his hand, that, behold, his brother came out: and she said, How hast thou broken forth? this breach be upon thee: therefore his name was called Pharez. 30  And afterward came out his brother, that had the scarlet thread upon his hand: and his name was called Zarah.

Tamar is three months pregnant with Judah’s child. An accusation has been made to Judah that she had done wrong and Judah, who had denied her his youngest son in spite of his promise, wants “justice” to be done and she is to be killed. Clearly, in this culture, as in most on earth, the cards are not dealt in the same manner to men and women. Judah’s use of a harlot is no big deal but Tamar’s supposed indiscretion is worthy of death.

But Tamar has a surprise for Judah. She brings out the items that he had given her, supposing her to be a harlot, as surety against her payment. It is then that Judah is slapped with the truth of his own egregious behavior. Judah admits about Tamar;

…She hath been more righteous than I…

Judah was not angry at Tamar’s deception but acknowledged that he had been in error in not giving her his son as he had promised. One can only wonder at how many women in this culture paid the price for a powerful man’s behavior. Although Tamar was not raped it is nothing today for a woman in certain Muslim regions who has been raped even to be executed herself by the village for the crime committed against her. The fact that the writer, Moses, was led by the Holy Spirit to include that Judah did not use Tamar again in like manner shows that the possibility of her becoming a plaything or concubine for him was a possibility in this culture.

Travail refers to the process of giving birth in verse 27. For confirmation see;

Jeremiah 4:31  For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself, that spreadeth her hands, saying, Woe is me now! for my soul is wearied because of murderers.

Pharez, spelled Phares in the New Testament, was not the one that was expected to come out first, to be the first born, but he was. He is in the genealogical line of Christ, not Zarah.

Matthew 1:3  And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram;

Luke 3:33  Which was the son of Aminadab, which was the son of Aram, which was the son of Esrom, which was the son of Phares, which was the son of Juda,

Zarah stuck his arm out first and a scarlet thread was tied to it, but it was Pharez who actually came out. There are many sermons to be made about this birth and many things can be said about it. For our purposes, in fleshing out the narrative of God’s ministry of reconciliation of mankind to Himself, the old saying goes, “Man proposes, but God disposes.” Christ did not come in the manner the Jews would prefer, as a noble ruler, perhaps a Pharisee, holding court in king’s palaces with the Gentiles coming to Him for His wisdom and approval. He came from a poor background, the physical son of common parents, not aristocrats. What man chooses, indeed, what he holds in high regard, God regards with contempt.

Luke 16:15  And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

Zarah was chosen by Tamar’s mid-wife but Phares was chosen by God to play the part he played in Christ’s lineage without having any will to choose anything himself.

Notice how God’s ministry of reconciliation starts and works through one man or woman at a time. It is only in the very end that Christ comes to take the kingdoms of the world. Right now, they are under Satan’s, the god of this world, control (2Corinthians 4:4) and His own people rejected Him.

John 1:10  He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 11  He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

Mark 12:10  And have ye not read this scripture; The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner:

Tamar says, in surprise, this breach be upon thee which gives us the meaning of his name and points out that Christ did not come to unite mankind but to divide them, the sheep from the goats; those who would trust God and follow Him and those who would worship themselves and the god of this world through their own hearts.

Matthew 10:34  Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.

Luke 12:51  Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division: 52  For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. 53  The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.

So, now, in Christ’s lineage we have a man who is the product of a sexual liaison between a woman and her father-in-law. Not very appropriate from our perspective but clearly showing that the human side of Christ’s lineage contains imperfect people, sinners like He came to save.

A scarlet thread will also come into play in Joshua, chapter 2, for a much different reason.

The Holy Spirit, through Moses, now takes us back to the narrative about Joseph’s experiences in Egypt.

Bible Study on Matthew 8, verses 28 to 34, there met him two possessed with devils

 

Matthew 8:28 ¶  And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way. 29  And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time? 30  And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding. 31  So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine. 32  And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters. 33  And they that kept them fled, and went their ways into the city, and told every thing, and what was befallen to the possessed of the devils. 34  And, behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus: and when they saw him, they besought him that he would depart out of their coasts.

 

In this chapter Christ’s authority over disease and natural occurrences like storms is made apparent. Here He will show His power over the spirit world. Matthew reports that there were two men possessed of devils. Matthew has not been chosen yet so he had to rely on the testimony of those who were there under the Holy Spirit’s inspiration. Mark gives a variant spelling of Gadarenes with Strong’s saying they are the same and John Gill saying they are different towns near each other and Mark only mentions one possessed person but Mark, supposedly John Mark, is also writing based on testimony of others. Only one possessed man is focused on in Mark’s account in chapter 5 of his gospel. The difference is completely irrelevant. I’ve seen many historical accounts that focus on one or a few when many more were participants. If you have ever seen Band of Brothers on HBO you certainly didn’t believe that they were the only soldiers in the U.S. Army during WW2, did you? John Mark was writing, according to tradition and the testimony of early church fathers, from sermons and writings of Peter. I’ve discussed that previously and will again in my study on Mark’s gospel.

 

Possessed people having a fascination with tombs and graveyards is nothing out of the ordinary for us as we have a cult of death in this country that associates everything from satanic rites in graveyards and horror movies to abortion to a mass-die off of the human race to “save the planet” as being good things. Gill wrote that the Jews had many myths about how the deads’ spirits hovered near their bodies for a period of time resulting in some people trying to speak to them like the witch of Endor in 1Samuel 28. He also noted that these tombs were large enough that you could find shelter in them.

 

The violent aspect of possessed people is attested to in other places;

 

Mark 5:3  Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: 4  Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. 5  And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.

 

Acts 19:14  And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so.

15  And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?

16  And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

 

The devils acknowledge that Jesus is the Son, uppercase S, of God, or God in the flesh, and has authority over them. What they plead with Jesus to do, understanding that He will do something, is very interesting.

 

We know that swine are forbidden as food for the Jews. Pork was a big part of the Roman soldier’s diet and there were probably many Gentiles in this area who may have owned the swine. Let’s suppose for now that it was Jews who owned and cared for these swine, whether their intent was on selling to the Romans or not. Jews throughout history have been keen and, indeed, have made a lot of money pandering to the desires of the Gentile. From banking in the Middle Ages to something as unseemly today as peddling pornography they have had a tremendous influence in satisfying the desires of the Gentile populations around them. It would not be impossible to imagine Jews herding swine they could not eat to make money off of the Gentile occupiers.

 

Here in the first recorded instance of “hogicide” or “deviled ham” as Dr. Ruckman jokingly noted. Here is a characteristic of devil possession in animals. They will destroy themselves. This small fortune for the owners is lost and as a matter of good business practice the owners ask Jesus to leave.

 

This is a very easy to understand situation. Can you imagine a revival you were instrumental in causing in a bar and how the owners would want you to leave and stop damaging their livelihood as their clients left? Some commentators say it was out of fear for a greater judgment coming on them. Whatever the reason, this situation caused quite a stir and much evangelism was accomplished as the city knew about Christ’s power over the spirit world.