Mediationen am Gnadenstuhl: Tuesday Easter II - Luke 4:31-44
Tuesday Easter II
Daily Lectionary Readings: Exodus 23:14-33; Luke 4:31-44; (Sirach 41)
Luke 4:31-44
[31] 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. (ESV)
We self-reliant modern Americans do not allow any room for the demonic to have influence over us because we are just fine at being terrible to one another all on our own. Everyone was astonished by Jesus' teaching because He spoke like one with authority. When the learned Rabbis debated the scriptures in the synagogues, they would loftily and arrogantly say, "Thus spake so and so about such and such." Jesus did not quote anyone – He preached as the source of all wisdom. He was not lofty or arrogant but so plain-spoken even a child could understand. It is we who are lofty and arrogant, refusing to heed the warning in His message. But, as we shall see, it is not merely head knowledge. Just ask one of the many demons He cast out!
St. John tells us, “We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.”1 Everyone and everything in this world are under the influence and bondage of Satan. This includes the possessed man in our Gospel reading from Luke, as well as ourselves. We are indeed capable of terrible things and deep-rooted sins. Our being influenced by Satan does not excuse us. Perhaps it does help us to understand it, though.
Did the possessed man come that morning specifically to hear Jesus? Or, did he come to the synagogue week after week waiting to hear something, anything, that would heal him of his spiritual malady? We do not know. Or, could that synagogue be spiritually dead, not bringing the good news of hope in God to defeat evil, conquer sin, and draw His people to Himself? If so, that is most sad. If you leave church week after week without hearing about what Jesus did for you on the cross, then that church is spiritually dead as well.
But God’s word is never dead, just the opposite, in fact! “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”2 Even when Satan tries to convince you this is not true, Jesus’ authority is asserted.
The demon in this man actively recoiled from Jesus’ authority and holiness: “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.”3 Uncleanness has no place before the sinless Son of God. The unclean spirit could see that Jesus could destroy him utterly. He could no longer hide. The time for judgment has come. We hide our own uncleannesses, even as we hate and despise them. We ignore and rationalize them.
The paradox of sin is that we know our own judgment for our sin and rebellion against God is coming. Still, we try to fool ourselves, lie to ourselves, to continue living in a way we know leads only to misery and death. “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.”4 We are at risk of blurring the line between our own sins and the influence of Satan so badly that the difference can no longer be discerned. Maybe that is why people have such a hard time today acknowledging the presence of demons among us, whispering to ignore their tiny voices – it is just you. It is always about you.
This demon recognizes Jesus for who He is and even publicly confesses Him as Lord. The devil must truly laugh when men deny Christ Jesus's work and even try to convince everyone that there is no God. They say that anyone who believes so is mentally disturbed, and those who teach their children to believe are child abusers! But just knowing about Jesus is not enough, as St. James instructs us: “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!”5
Are we not often much the same as this man with the unclean spirit? It is as though the whole world is crying out, “What have You to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?” Why? Because He is the King, He is unsafe, and we rightly experience some knee-knocking and the mere thought of meeting Him. Because Jesus of Nazareth denies the opposite of uncleanness: a pure life, denial of self, and a life of sacrifice for our neighbor in need. What have we to do with You, Holy One of God?
Wealth cries out, “Leave us alone. We will make ourselves secure. We will build a tower to heaven from our stuff, a monument to our greatness – neighbor, look how much higher my tower is than yours!” Power explodes, "Leave us be, Jesus. We have authority here. We are in charge – let us dominate, maneuver, and manipulate our neighbor according to our will." Ego smugly smirks, "Leave me be, preacher man. I crave the attention and the recognition here. Let my neighbor honor and esteem me (especially when I help him out – because that's all about me, too, and he reaps the benefit). I deserve all the attention and praise. Our flesh crawls toward the spotlight, "Get thee behind me, Jesus. Let me indulge myself. Let me relax. Let the world excite, stimulate, fatten, and indulge, then calm and soothe me."
Just as Jesus exorcised the unclean spirit from the man in the synagogue, He casts out those who torment you and me and, at the same time, casts away our sins. How? “Jesus rebuked him, saying, ‘Be silent, and come out of him!’”6 That is the Lion you have for your King – words of power and authority, living and immediately effective. Jesus exercised His divine will, power, and authority over that evil spirit. “And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm.” The changes in you are just as dramatic and sudden.
This is why people often are repelled by the ones who now have the peace of Christ. Because, to them, it looks just like convulsions. Suddenly, someone who they only knew was a big sinner (though they do not call it that and might not even be aware of the reality of sin, they just know you were not perfect!) becomes so utterly different from the way they were?! Oh, so you think you are so holy and perfect now, don't you? Holy? Why yes. Yes, I am – God declares me so for the sake of Christ. Perfect, no, in the least. At least not yet. But I am filled with joy.
The peace of Christ, His rebuke of the demons that haunt us, and the eradication of our sin have the power to crumble the tallest tower built on Mammon into dust. Jump-started by the words of His true power and authority, make our self-important lust for power look like an old, dead car battery. It causes the most arrogant ego to self-destruct and reform into love for Him and good works done out of love for our neighbor without expectation of reward. In the world to come, our corrupted flesh will shine like His perfect, incorruptible body.
In this sin-addled world full of the mistrust of authority and questions about what authority actually is and who can wield such power, is it not refreshing and a huge relief to hear Jesus teach us with true authority! He is the Son of God who has decisively defeated the power of Satan and given us “a new teaching:” salvation solely by God’s grace through faith in Christ.
11 John 5:19 (ESV).
2Hebrews 4:12 (ESV).
3Luke 4:34 (ESV).
41 John 3:8 (ESV).
5James 2:19 (ESV).
6Luke 4:35 (ESV).