After Jesus was so hated and ill treated at His own town of Nazareth (Luke 4:2424And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country. (Luke 4:24)), He went to Capernaum, a town not far away on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee. He had been there before and had done great miracles (Luke 4:2323And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country. (Luke 4:23)), and seems from this time to have made it His home, returning there from His journeys.
He taught them each Sabbath when they met in the synagogue, and they were astonished at the power of His words. “He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes” (Matthew 7:2929For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. (Matthew 7:29)). It must have indeed been wonderful to hear their scriptures taught by the one who knew so well God’s wish to bless them.
Setting People Free
One day He showed His power in another way. A man came into the synagogue who had an evil spirit, called “unclean” as whatever was not fit to be used for God was called, and he should not have been allowed inside. Wicked spirits, living within persons, seem to have been common in that land where many people had for years turned from belief of God and worshipped idols. The spirit was not seen, but had control of the person to cause him to harm himself, never to do him good, and he was a helpless captive, and no one could help him.
Jesus had told the people that He had come to set captives free (Luke 4:1818The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, (Luke 4:18)), and this He did for the poor man, commanding the spirit to leave him. The people, who well knew the dreadful condition of the man, were more than ever amazed at the authority Jesus had—that the wicked spirit obeyed Him. This was told everywhere, and He later freed many others from evil spirits. All the people should have known that Jesus was the promised Messiah who could do such blessings for them, as no prophet ever had.
The evil spirits were servants of Satan and knew, as he did, who Jesus was: they spoke loudly that He was the Holy One from God, not to honor Him but with contempt, saying, “Let us alone. What have we to do with Thee?” They called Him the Holy One of God, yet in a scornful way.
Jesus commanded them to be silent. He did not want their witness to who He was although He is pleased when people who believe on Him say He is Lord and Christ. The wicked spirits are always against Him; they know God’s power, but do not want His way; “the devils also believe and tremble” (James 2:1919Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. (James 2:19)).
All would at last be the captives of Satan, except the Lord Jesus had come to free them, which He did by taking the punishment for sins by His death (Hebrews 2:1414Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; (Hebrews 2:14)). But any sin which we do not repent of and leave, makes the doer captive to it in this world. Maybe the young know how hard it is to stop some habit, such as wrong words or untrue reading. But surely since the Lord Jesus freed those helpless captives to evil, He can now free His people if we trust Him.
Further Meditation
1. How did the people respond to the Lord’s teaching in the synagogue?
2. We are often trapped by temptation into repeatedly sinning against the Lord. What are some of the resources that God has given us that can set us free from that bondage?
3. We all would benefit from considering the subject of resisting temptation and being set free from sin. You might find the Audio CD How Can the Tyranny of Sin Dwelling in the Body Be Overcome? Practical Deliverance, Romans 5-8 by C. Crain to be a wonderful help in your spiritual growth.