Albert Barnes Commentary Mark 1:24

"saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus thou Nazarene? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God." — Mark 1:24 (ASV)

Let us alone. Though only one impure spirit is mentioned as possessing this man, yet that spirit speaks also in the name of others. They were leagued together in the work of evil, and this one knew that if he was punished, others would also share the same fate.

What have we to do with thee? This seems to mean, "Have we injured you?" or, "We have done nothing to injure you." (See 1 Kings 17:18).

By this the spirit meant to say that if Jesus cast him out, it would be an improper interference. But this was untrue. The possession of the man was a direct assault on God and His works. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil, and He had a right, therefore, to liberate the captive and to punish him who had possessed him.

So Satan still considers it an infringement of his rights when God frees a sinner from bondage and destroys his influence over the soul. So he still pleads to be let alone and to be allowed to lead men captive at his will.

Art thou come to destroy us? This implies that such an action could not be the intention of the benevolent Messiah; that to be cast out of that man would, in fact, be their destruction, and that therefore they might be allowed still to remain. Or it implies, as in Matthew 8:29, that the time of their destruction had not yet come, and that He ought not to destroy them before that time.

I know thee, etc. Evil spirits seem to have been immediately acquainted with the Messiah. Besides, they had learned from His miracles that He was the Messiah and had power over them.

The Holy One of God. The Messiah. . He is called the Holy One of God because:

1. He was eminently pure;
2. Because He was the only begotten Son of God—equal with the Father; and
3. Because He was anointed, or set apart to the work of the Messiah, the Mediator between God and man.