Capernaum

He went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbath. They were astonished at His teaching because His message had authority. In the synagogue there was a man with an unclean demonic spirit who cried out with a loud voice, “Leave us alone! What do You have to do with us, Jesus—Nazarene? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”

But Jesus rebuked him and said, “Be quiet and come out of him!”

And throwing him down before them, the demon came out of him without hurting him at all. They were all struck with amazement and kept saying to one another, “What is this message? For He commands the unclean spirits with authority and power, and they come out!” And news about Him began to go out to every place in the vicinity. (Luke 4:31–37)

Mark tells the same story about the demon possessed man in the synagogue. After the demon recognized Jesus, Jesus told the demon to “be quiet” and to “come out of him,” which the demon then did without another word, without complaint, without asking where to go.

The people were amazed by Jesus’ power. And yet, all Jesus did to the demon was tell it to go. Why did the demon obey? Because of who Jesus was. The power that Jesus has to expel demons, to heal the sick, to preach and teach, and to die for our sins came from his Father, who was and is God. We take Jesus for granted, too often. We sometimes fail to fully comprehend the significance of our relationship with God. Demons will not listen to us, but they will listen to Jesus. Therefore, in confronting evil, the key is to recognize that the conflict is not between ourselves and the evil that stands before us, but rather the conflict is between evil and Jesus. When we give the problem over to him, he can overcome it. We do not have the strength to overcome our evil desires. But Jesus does.

In our lives, Jesus power may mean that our problem goes away and never troubles us again. But it may simply mean that Jesus gives us the strength to endure it. Whichever Jesus grants us, our victory is no less complete. We can be happy with Jesus in our lives when we give him the mastery over us.

Send to Kindle