Q: #491. How many times did Jesus cast out a demon in the Bible?
A: In the Gospels, I find 12 instances where Jesus is said to have “cast out a demon.” In the following chart, I will list who had the demon (was demon-possessed), and the verses where it mentions each instance.
Who Had The Demon Verses
Many (Mk 1:32-34)(Mt 8:16-17)(Lk 4:40-41)
People In Galilee (Mk 1:39)
A Man At The Capernaum Synagogue (Mk 1:21-28)(Lk 4:31-37)
A Man In Capernaum (Mt 9:32-33)
A Second Man In Capernaum? (Mt 12:22)(Lk 11:14)
People In Capernaum? (Lk 6:17-19)
The Gentile Woman’s Daughter (Mt 15:21-28)(Mk 7:24-30)
Mary Magdalene (And Other Women) (Lk 8:2)(Mk 16:9)
People At The Sea Of Galilee (Mk 3:10-12)
Two Men At Gergesenes (Gadarenes) (Mt 8:28-32)(Mk 5:1-13)(Lk 8:26-33)
A Man’s Son At Caesarea Philippi? (Mt 16:13) (Mt 17:14-21)(Mk 9:17-29)(Lk 9:38-47)
A Crippled Woman (Lk 13:10-13 – implied)
In (Mt 10:1,8)(Mk 6:7,13)(Lk 9:1)(Mk 3:15), Jesus gave His 12 disciples (and the 70 – Lk 10:1,17-20) “power over unclean spirits.”
In 5 of these instances, Jesus “spoke” to the demon in the process of casting it out. In the previous question, I list how many times Jesus spoke to a demon in the Gospels.
***Note: It is interesting to note that Jesus is never shown to cast out a demon, or speak to a demon in the Gospel of John.
I’ve been trying to find an instance where the word gives any amount of time or repetitive words/verses Jesus used (like catholic and deliverance ministries nowadays) during the process of casting out a demon. According to the word, it seems as if it didn’t take Jesus hours on end or even have the need to repeat verse after verse, battling a demon. I could be missing something, would like to… Read more »
I don’t think you are missing anything Richard. Casting out demons is not shown to be a drawn out process in the Bible. There was an instance where the disciples tried to cast out a demon and could not (Mt 17:14-21), but Jesus explained why they could not.