Jesus was just beginning His ministry, when the Lord went to Capernaum and spoke at a Synagogue on the Sabbath.

Mark adds that “He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes” (Mark 1:22 NASV).

There was a live demonstration of this authority, when a man possessed by an evil spirit manifested during the service.

While most Bible versions read that this was a man “with an unclean spirit’, the Jamieson-Fausset-Brown commentary points out that the actual Greek reads, he was actually “in an unclean spirit.”

In other words, this man was so deeply embedded in the demonic, that his personality was lost and he no longer had any control.

Because of Christ’s presence, the demon cried out, “What business do You have with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are: the Holy One of God!”

Jesus rebuked the demon and ordered it to come out of the man. The demon threw the man into convulsions before being driven out by the power of the Holy Spirit.

But the sad thing is that this man and that evil spirit had probably attended that synagogue for years. They were sitting shoulder to shoulder with members of the congregation, unbothered by what was going on in the service.

But then Jesus showed up.

This past Easter, Pastor Mike Signorelli, who leads V1 Church in New York City, received permission to hold an Easter morning Sunday service in Times Square.

Many who gathered to listen were not necessarily regular church attenders.

Similar to what happened in Capernaum, demons began manifesting during the outdoor service.

“I was there to preach the Gospel … I got up there and just started preaching,” Signorelli said. “And my team came back and said, ‘When you just started the sermon, there were people all over Times Square that started manifesting demons, and our prayer team had to pray for them, even people that were on the fringes.”

Signorelli added that this was a demonstration of God’s power at work. In addition, there were reports of healings during the service.

“God’s not done with America,” Signorelli concluded.

But the reality of the demonic remains.

Six days later, the NYPD shot and killed a deranged man, who called himself Lucifer. He had attacked and seriously wounded three people with a machete at Grand Central Terminal.

But this is nothing new for Signorelli. Over the past two years, the New York pastor has been dealing with the issue of the demonic.

“For the last several decades… the devil’s never mentioned, demons are never mentioned,” Signorelli said is 2024 interview with Charisma. He noted that throughout His earthly ministry, Jesus regularly dealt with the demonic.

But he also provided a word of caution on the need for balance.

“Not everything’s a demon… but we need the wisdom to know when it is,” he said.