The most remarkable aspect about the demon in Mark 1 is that he knows who Jesus is as soon as he sees Jesus enter the synagogue. In fact, the demon is the first in the Gospel of Mark to recognize Jesus. He first calls him by his name, “Jesus of Nazareth.” And then he addresses Jesus a second time, now using a messianic title, “I know who you are, the Holy One of God” (1:24; this should be compared with John 6:69, where Simon Peter also calls Jesus “the Holy One of God,” which for Simon Peter clearly is a messianic title).
