Again, at the synagogue in Capernaum, Jesus’ teaching
amazes the people. They were astonished at His teaching for His word was with authority. Unlike the typical Rabbi who quoted someone
else who was quoting someone else, Jesus opened up the Scriptures and taught
clearly and boldly. Jesus was called to
proclaim good news and He did it.
As Jesus taught He
encountered a man with a spirit of an
unclean demon, one of Satan’s angels.
This happened often (cf. 4:41).
Those demons knew who Jesus was, of course, and Jesus was not interested
in their testimony. He preferred the
testimony of someone who was delivered from the demonic control so He rebuked
the demon and commanded it to come out of the man. As we said, the demons knew who He was and
thus came out immediately.
What happened at the synagogue on the Sabbath
happened later in the day at the home of Peter’s mother-in-law (the photo on
this page is of the supposed home
where this happened, across the street from the synagogue in Capernaum), and
then with abundance in the evening after the Sabbath was over. It would have happened the next day there in
Capernaum as well if Jesus had not known that His purpose and plan required
that He leave the area and preach elsewhere.
Now the people who were astonished at His
teaching with authority (v32) were amazed because with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come
out (v36). Jesus miracles were never
an end in themselves. They were signs
that attested to His claim to be Messiah (as in 4:18-21). And they were illustrations of His message
(cf. John 20:30-31).
What was the word that went out? It was the proclamation of the gospel that
heals the brokenhearted and gives liberty to those enslaved in and crushed by
sin. What better picture could there be
of this good news than for Jesus to demonstrate His power over demons and
sickness.
Think about this. In the Law, where blessing was conditional on
obedience, God had promised to keep Israel free from the diseases they had
suffered in Egypt (Deut. 7:15). But when
Jesus came to earth, in Israel, it seems disease was rampant and many people
were filled with demons. The reason was
that they were not obedient to the Law of God.
Their problem was not with Rome.
It was with the evil of their own lives.
The message of the Messiah is one of salvation for the lost. The miracle illustrated the message. Let us not be as those who only followed
Jesus for the miracles (John 6:26-27).
Let us hear the message and trust the Messenger!
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