Demonic Possession And Jesus Series

Last week we kicked off the series about examining Jesus’ words, or His teaching. Today, we observe His works, or His deeds. Sit in the synagogue with Jesus. Watch the works of Jesus together with fresh eyes. Come with me and see a day in the life of Jesus:

Today’s Scripture

And he went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And he was teaching them on the Sabbath, 32 and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word possessed authority. 33 And in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, 34 “Ha! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” 35 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm. 36 And they were all amazed and said to one another, “What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!” 37 And reports about him went out into every place in the surrounding region.

38 And he arose and left the synagogue and entered Simon's house. Now Simon's mother-in-law was ill with a high fever, and they appealed to him on her behalf. 39 And he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her, and immediately she rose and began to serve them.

40 Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. 41 And demons also came out of many, crying, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ.

42 And when it was day, he departed and went into a desolate place. And the people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them, 43 but he said to them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.” 44 And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea. (Luke 4:31-44)

All throughout this passage, we witness the reporter, Luke’s concern to tell us of the authority of Jesus. For example, in verses thirty-two and thirty-six, we see Luke telling us Jesus both teaches and casts out demons with authority. Today, we’ll sense that Luke wants us to be impressed with Jesus’ authority over disease and demons.

1. You’ve Never Seen Anyone Like Jesus

Jesus isn’t a once in a lifetime kind of persona. Instead, He is once in all of history kind of unique. This is why Luke wrote this account and this book.

1.1 Jesus Astonishes

Luke is still working on introducing us to Jesus when he tells us the events of Jesus’ Saturday, or His Sabbath. We are told that Jesus is once again in the synagogue, teaching. “Another city, another Sabbath, another sermon,” was His motto. Luke doesn’t tell us what Jesus taught in the synagogue of Capernaum but he tells the effects of Jesus’ words. The reaction to Jesus’ teaching is again astonishment (Luke 4:32), just as it was last week when we saw the crowd’s reaction to Jesus’ teaching in Nazareth (Luke 4:22). As matter of fact, Luke tells us that even Jesus’ parents were astonished at Him when they found Him answering questions as a twelve year old child in the temple (Luke 2:48). There He was but twelve years old sitting among the teachers of the religious law, answering questions. Again, everyone, including the religious experts of the day, was astonished by Him (Luke 2:47).

1.2 Jesus’ Miracles

Jesus’ first miracle was turning water into wine. But both Mark and Luke record that Jesus’ first miracle was an exorcism while Matthew reports the first miracle as cleansing a leper. This is the first of some five miracles that Jesus does on the Sabbath. We will pick up on this theme where Jesus doesn’t conform to man-made rules in future sermons. But for now, let’s focus on His miracles.

As you think of Jesus’ miracles as a whole, you see…

…four miracles that deal with a person’s paralysis of some form;

…three miracles that involve blindness;

…two cases of leprosy;

…one miracle where Jesus cures epilepsy;

…one more where a deaf person hears;

…still another one where Jesus replaces a person’s ear;

… two miracles where Jesus deals with fever, someone who retained excessive fluids;

… and lastly two miracles where the person was hemorrhaging and another who was just described as sick.