Marcos 1:25

And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of the man. And the unclean spirit, tearing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him.

It was necessary that Jesus show his absolute power over the evil spirits, and as Bickersteth said, "also that he should show that he had nothing to do with them."[9] There were two excellent reasons why Christ forbade the testimony of evil spirits: (1) it was not the proper time that Christ should be made known as the Son of God, and (2) if it had been permitted, it would have been alleged as proof by the Pharisees that Christ was in league with Satan (Mark 3:22).

Hold thy peace and come out ... Christ ordered the evil spirit not to speak, and no further word was uttered by him, the loud cry being merely a wail and not an intelligible utterance.

Tearing him ... Luke recorded this, "And when the demon had thrown him down in the midst, he came out of him, having done him no hurt" (Luke 4:35). "Tearing him" is therefore a reference to the man's being convulsed and thrown down. Mark preferred the more dramatic word as in Mark 1:12. The Greek word here rendered "tearing" may also be translated "convulsed,"[10] according to Bickersteth. This action by the evil spirit showed his malignity and that he departed from the man unwillingly, solely upon the authority of Jesus. The convulsing of the man also demonstrated that he was actually possessed of a demon. The entire incident therefore provided an effective witness of the power of the Son of God over evil spirits.

[9] E. Bickersteth, op. cit., p. 5.

[10] Ibid., p. 6.