Jesus' Authority in Capernaum (Luke 4:31-44).

³¹ In Luke’s gospel after being rejected in the Nazareth synagogue, Jesus goes to Capernaum, in Galilee. News about Jesus is spreading and all spoke well of him with the exception of those in Nazareth. So Jesus returns to Capernaum where he teaches on the Sabbath and those who heard were amazed. A big part of Jesus’ ministry was to teach God’s word which he did on the Sabbath in continuity with God’s purposes for Israel. However, his hearers were amazed because Jesus’ taught with authority. Jesus spoke as an expert with an experiential knowledge of God, and God’s plans and purposes. He would have been teaching in a way consistent with his liberating gospel to the poor, prisoners, blind, and the oppressed. Moreover, Jesus was proclaiming the messianic age had come, although God was temporarily suspending his judgment and was extending his grace to all who saw themselves as poor and in need of God’s grace (LK 4:1-14)!

³³ Then in the synagogue, of all places, there was a demon-possessed man. This man was welcome in the synagogue evidently an insider and was not a newcomer. He was not normally disruptive and nobody considered him peculiar or disruptive. So this demon inhabited this man and was undetected until Jesus entered the synagogue. In the presence of Jesus the demon now evokes the man to cry out. In a loud voice, the man cries out in a loud voice, ³⁴ “What do you want Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know you are—the Holy One of God!”

The demon knows exactly who Jesus of Nazareth is and has a pretty good idea about what Jesus came to do. The man under the demons influence or the demon through the man recognizes Jesus the man and knows or otherwise suspects that Jesus has come to destroy him and the man under demonic influence knows that Jesus is the “Holy One of God!” The demon wants to know what Jesus wants and why Jesus was there (1 John 3). Surely the demons are aware that Jesus has overcome Satan’s temptations and that Jesus has come to destroy, not the gentiles, but the demonic evil that is oppressing people.

³⁵ Jesus tells the ‘unclean spirit’ to be quiet and come out; and that is exactly what the demon did. The demon throws the man down without injuring him, evidently the man is being protected by Jesus. Now free from this ‘unclean demonic spirit’ ³⁶ surely the man was happy and we are told that the people were amazed. They express their amazement by asking, “What is this teaching? With authority he orders evil spirits and they come out!” ³⁷ Now as a result of this, the news about Jesus spreads throughout the area. What is the result of the event?

Jesus leaves the synagogue and people throughout the area are talking about Jesus’ teaching with authority and that demonic spirits have to do what he says. ³⁸ Jesus goes to the home of Simon Peter where Simon’s mother-in-law is suffering from a high fever. They asked Jesus to help her. Jesus bends over Simon’s mother-in-law, rebukes the fever and the fever leaves. She gets ups and begins to wait on them. Jesus rebukes the fever, and the fever leaves and Simon’s mother-in-law is and immediately she begins to serve the Lord and his future disciple Simon Peter.  

⁴⁰ The word on Jesus is out; come sunset all kinds of sick people are brought to Jesus and he lays hands on them and they’re healed. ⁴¹ Demons are coming out of many people; and they’re shouting, “You are the Son of God!” Jesus rebukes them since they know that Jesus is the Christ. However, this is not the kind of advertising Jesus is interested in. Moreover, Jesus has a lot of work to do to reprogram his disciples’ wrong ideas about who Messiah is and what he came to do. In time Jesus will make his Messianic identity known but for now he won’t let the word out, particularly coming from demonic spirits.

⁴² At daybreak Jesus heads off for solitary place. Yet, the people go looking for Jesus and when they find him they try to prevent him from leaving. ⁴³ Surely they want him to stay and do more healings, but Jesus said, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, for this is why I was sent.” ⁴⁴ So Jesus goes on a preaching tour of the synagogues of Judea where he proclaims the ‘good news’ of his ‘Kingdom of God movement’!