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.
Oh, and three people were raised from the dead! The significance of all these miracles is that a special time had come. The significance of all these miracles is also that a special Person had come.
1.3 Word and Deed
“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” (Luke 4:43). There is a popular saying “Preach the gospel; use words if necessary.” These words are helpful but also misleading. The gospel is primarily about what God has done to save us, and how we can receive it through faith, it can only be expressed through words. Faith cannot come without hearing. Last week we concentrated on Jesus’ words. This week we examine Jesus heals. Our ministry today must follow suit. We cannot simply sit in Bible study and Bible study. You must also go out and do the work of ministry. Jesus was careful to balance teaching and doing. Jesus shows us a model where the Word and work go hand in hand.
2. There’s More to the World Than Meets The Eye
There’s more to what you see that what you see. There are two equal and opposite errors that people tend to fall into when thinking about the devil. One is to not believe in the devil while the other is to have an excessive and unhealthy interest in him. Some of you dismiss demons out of hand because you don’t believe they exist. While others believe there’s a demon behind everything. None other than Satan himself is pleased by both errors. The New Testament portrays Jesus as the One who has power over demonic forces in simple, sober terms.
2.1 The Pages Are Blank
Former Mission Board President, Jerry Rankin, tells about two university students who were studying English with a missionary couple. They enjoyed practicing their English skills with Americans when given the opportunity. Yet, when Rankin’s wife transitioned the conversation over to talk about Jesus Christ, one of the two students began to be uncomfortable. He quickly darted out the door when the conversation moved to Jesus Christ. This young man had previously made a pact with a local witch doctor in order to obtain relief from his abusive father. As the missionary couple talked about Christ with the young man, they got him a Bible so he could read the Word of God. When he looked at the Bible he said, “But there are no words. The pages are blank.” Although the words were on the pages, he keep saying, there were no words for his eyes to see. There’s more to the world that meets the eye. Exorcisms, or casting out demons, are all over the pages of the Gospels.
The Bible says: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).
Not only do we see the account of a demon-possessed man freed in today’s Scripture but we also learn that at the end of day many demon-possessed people are freed (Luke 4:40-41). Of Marks’ thirteen miracle accounts, four are exorcisms. Luke mentions demons twenty-three times in his Gospel while most of Jesus’ demonic encounters are early in the Gospel (around the region of Galilee). So you’ll bump into exorcisms all over the place as you read through the gospels.
The spirit world is minimized in the West today. We explain demons away with words and theories. At times, we call mental illness and perhaps, at times, rightfully so. Many have dismissed the biblical accounts where Jesus casts our demons as nothing more than simple superstitions.
Rudolf Bultmann, a noted scholar of a liberal bent for New Testament studies in the middle part of twentieth century, felt these accounts were the stuff of legend and hyperbole. Bultmann felt that no one can take advantage of modern medicine and technology and still believe in a world inhabited by demons. Yet, if you and I read this account while living in Third-world countries, we would have fewer problems with such accounts.
Just a few weeks ago, we looked at Luke’s account where Satan went on the offensive against Jesus in the desert. Now, we see Jesus on the offensive against Satan’s evil forces. For just a moment, let me pull back and look at the overall biblical portrait of Satan. Satan is not the opposite of God. Instead, Satan is the opposite of the angels, or more specifically Michael, the archangel. Satan is the leader, or the dictator, of the demons. But he is not anything close to godlike in his powers.
Again, Luke writes to show us the superiority of Jesus over Satanic powers. Jesus regularly cast out demons. Simply a demon-possessed individual is where an evil force exercises control and authority over the person. Demon possession goes well beyond ordinary temptation.
2.2 How Do I Open Myself Up to Demon Possession?
It’s very simple: “Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8).
The simple way to see your life influenced by demons is to invite them in. You can be demon-possessed by opening your life up to demons and evil by simple acts of sin. Sin is the breaking of God’s law but it is also the opening of your life’s door allowing Satan and demons to enter. If you want Satan to have influence over your life then So if you want Satan to enter your life, just go into unrepentant, habitual sin. If you want Satan to have influence over your life then start lying, cheating, and being dishonest in school and business. If you want Satan to have influence over your life then continue in pre-marital sex, pornography, homosexual sexual relations, and adultery. If you want Satan to have influence over your life then worship a false Jesus or engage in false religion. If you want Satan to have influence over your life then get drunk or get involved in idle gossip.
Every person who has not experienced conversion is under the power and sway of Satan. Jesus owns Christians; Satan doesn’t own Christians. Satan cannot own the body and mind of a Christian, but he can influence you. When you engage in these things, then the love of God seems distant and you’re confused. Sin is not just breaking God’s rule, but it’s picking teams. Yet, when it comes to the forces of evil, God doesn’t have His hands tied and His back to the wall. Notice in today’s story that the demon is threatened by Jesus’ teaching and His presence (Luke 4:33-34).
The demon wonders why Jesus is bugging him (Luke 4:34). The demon asks Jesus: “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” (Luke 4:34). We need not be surprised that demons have knowledge about Jesus: “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder” (James 2:19)! Yes, Christ had come to destroy Him. Indeed, Christ’s purpose in coming was to destroy the entire demonic realm. “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). Jesus’ power is on display as He not only delivers the man from the threat of the demon but Jesus does so without harming the man in the process. When Jesus delivers someone from a demon, He doesn’t use incantations from Egypt. Jesus doesn’t use magic. By and large, He usually just commands the demonic influence to come out of the person by speaking.
If you break down Jesus’ casting out of demons in playbook fashion, here’s how it usually worked…
1) There an initial dramatic confrontation;
2) We usually hear some words from the demon;
3) Jesus’ commands the demon(s) to leave;
4) The demon(s) plead with Jesus’
5) People see a violent cure.
Satan had devoted years to an arms buildup, now Jesus had come to destroy him and his minions. Luke is working to tell us who Jesus really is. If Jesus was trying to tell people who Jesus really is, why would Jesus silence the demon’s words when they recognize who He is really is? “But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ” (Luke 4:41). The Bible tells us:
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.” (1 John 4:1-3)
2.3 How to Cast Out Demons
On another occasion, Rankin was leading a group of Javanese people, a large group of people from Indonesia. They were huddled together on a dirt-floor house while a flickering lantern provided some light. The windows were filled with curious neighbors as Rankin shared the Bible’s story of Jesus Christ. As he made the step to ask many of these people to commit their lives to Christ, it was at that moment that one of the women started screaming. She had been a part of the group for weeks but she became disruptive at the moment when the group was asked to give their lives to Christ. Everyone tried to hush her but she kept screaming. Rankin said he intuitively demanded that she stop in the name of Jesus. At these words, she suddenly slumped in her chair as if she were in a trance. In a few moments, she appeared to be normal when she indicated she wanted to give her life to Christ.
The Bible indicates that Christ’s followers have the power to cast out demons. And this story is indicative of how to do it. Christ-followers, people who have experienced Jesus by having their lives transformed by Him, can command evil spirits to leave in Jesus’ name. I say Christ-followers for a reason. In Luke’s second volume, he writes about seven Jewish exorcists who decided to make some extra money by going around and casting out demons. Demons and demon possession is rare when you exit the Gospels and enter into the remaining pages of the New Testament. But these seven Jewish exorcists see Paul do it and figure they’ll give it a try. Watch carefully how not to do this: “Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims” (Acts 19:13).
Notice the demons reply back to these men: “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you” (Luke 19:15b)?
Because the demons did not recognize their authority, here’s the result: “And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded” (Acts 19:16). Now, I’m not an expert of fighting and all things of the World Wresting Entertainment, but when you enter a fight with clothes on and leave without clothes… I’ll let you make the call. These men fundamentally failed to take into account they must cast out demons not for entertainment but they must do so from a life that has been transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. To cast out demons, you must do so in the name of Jesus.
3. Jesus Keeps Going
Like the Energizer Bunny, Jesus just keeps going. Remember all of this happens in a day. Much like Jack Bauer in his hit show 24, all of this account we’re reading happens in one day. Right after the account where Jesus encounters the demon in the synagogue, He enters Simon Peter’s house, where Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law. After this, the Bible says Jesus that Jesus continued to heal and cast out demons as the sun went down (Luke 4:40-41). Yes, we believe that Jesus heals. Yes, we as a church pray for healing. Jesus has authority over disease and demons both then and today. God doesn’t owe us healing and many times He doesn’t heal us. When you encounter people and they ask you to pray for them, I encourage you to stop, lay hands on them, and pray. Note that Jesus lays hands on these people (Luke 4:40). I encourage you to do this as it is a sign of love. But note carefully the difference in how Jesus is accepted in two towns ten miles apart.
The day is over and the sun has set. Capernaum had anywhere from 600-1,500 people living there as it was the main fishing village of the surrounding region. The hills around it are filled with small farms. It was quite likely that there are no extremely wealthy people in the town as excavations reveal no fine pottery or marble.
If you were to travel there today, you would see an enormous body of water there, the Sea of Galilee. The Sea of Galilee is really a lake but it is thirteen miles by eight miles. It’s the next day when the people find Jesus: “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…” (Luke 4:42). People are crowding around Jesus and they are bringing those who are hurting to Him. Unlike Nazareth, the people of Capernaum ask Jesus to stay (Luke 4:42).
Why then would Jesus say this about Capernaum: “And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades” (Luke 10:15). A week ago we saw where the people of the town of Nazareth pushed Jesus out to kill Him. Here the people of Capernaum seek miracles from Him. One group of people literally forced Him out while the second group of people tried to force Him to stay. Yet, both people end up the same way – neither group will turn from their sins. Why? From the lips of Jesus: “And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades” (Luke 10:15).
Friend there are not two heavens but one heaven. You must turn from your sin. Again, Sin is not just breaking God’s rule, but it’s picking teams. Satan is in the room today. His demons are here. Satan is a liar and murder is his goal.
Their voice says, “You cannot be forgiven…” “Go ahead and take your life. You will never change.” “God doesn’t love you. You are a loser.” But Jesus is still going today. Jesus is the voice that says, “There’s hope for you.” “God loves you. Christ died for you.”
