The result of the Lord's first appearance at Nazareth in the synagogue was that, though He Himself characterized His ministry from the word of God, or rather the Spirit of God had already anticipated it as He then openly proclaimed it, as being the ministry of grace, by reading this scripture and declaring that it was that day fulfilled in their ears, man soon turns from it in anger and dislike. Attracted at first, he revolted from it afterward, because grace both tells out the ruin of man and always insists on going out wherever there is need and misery. Nevertheless the Lord did not make it plainly known. that grace should go out to the Gentiles till their rejection of Himself began to manifest itself. And now the same men who were so smitten with the charm of grace at first were ready to turn upon Him and east Him down headlong from “the brow of the hill whereon their city was built. But he, passing through the midst of them, went his way.” His time was not yet come. He “came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days. And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power.” This wag what Jesus showed. It was not first miracles and then glory, but the truth of God. The word, not a miracle, forms the connecting link between the soul and God; no miracle can do this—nothing but the word of God. For the, word addresses itself to faith, while a miracle is done as a sign to unbelief. But as God produces faith by the word, so He also nourishes it by the word. This proves the immense value of the word of God; and Christ's word was with power.
“And in the synagogue there was a man which had a spirit of an unclean devil.” This is the first great work that is recorded in Luke. Our Lord seems already to have done mighty deeds in Capernaum (that is in this very place) before He went to Nazareth; but Luke begins with Nazareth, in order to characterize His ministry by that wonderful description in the word of God which opens out grace to man. Now we find Him in Capernaum, and the first miracle recorded of Him here, whilst He was teaching in the synagogue, was the cure of a man possessed with a spirit of an unclean devil which had the consciousness of the power of Jesus. For the demoniac cried out, saying, “Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God.” It is remarkable here and elsewhere the “I” and the “we” —the man himself and yet the identification with the evil spirit. Moreover this possessed man says, “I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God.” This appears to be the same character in which Psa. 89 speaks of Christ, where it says, “The Lord is our defense; and the. Holy One of Israel is our King.” It is a psalm full of interest because the Holy One there the sole groundwork of the hopes of the people, as well as the stay of the house of David, otherwise ruined. It is just the, same thing in our gospel; save that Luke goes but more widely. The point of Psa. 89. is that every hope depends on Him. Israel have come to nothing; the glory had waned; and at length departed; the throne is cast down to the ground. But then He is the king; and therefore it is perfectly secured. The shame of God's servants shall be removed, and their enemies shall surely be put to perpetual reproach, after the downfall of that pride, and all the painful discipline that the people of Israel shall pass through. '
Here the unclean spirit prompts the man to acknowledge Jesus as this Holy One. But He refuses such testimony; He did not even receive the witness of men, how much less of devils! “Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy Peace, and come out of him. And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and hurt him not. And they were all amazed, and sake among themselves, saying, What a word is this! for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out. And the fame of him went out into every place of the country round about.” He has thus shown that the power of Christ must first put down Satan (but not without a certain allowed humiliation for man;) that this is the chief evil which pollutes and oppresses the world; and that until Satan's power expelled, it no good to expect full deliverance: We must go to the source of the mischief. This; therefore, is the earliest of the miracles of Christ brought before us by Luke. But then there is also compassion—deep and effectual pity for men. So our Lord, when He leaves the synagogue, goes into the house of Simon. “And Simon's wife's mother was taken with a great fever; and they besought him for her: And he stood over her, and rebuked the fever; and it left her: and immediately she arose and ministered unto them.” Not only was there power to dismiss the disease with a word, but there was, contrary to all nature, strength communicated to her. A great fever leaves a person, even when it is gone, exceedingly weak, and a considerable time must elapse before the usual vigor returns. But in this case, as the healing, was the fruit of divine power, Peter's wife's mother not only arose, but ministered unto them immediately.
The same evening, “when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them.” It made no difference. It was not only that He could cure the fever, but He could cure everything. “He laid his hands on every one of them and healed them.” Another thing to be noticed is the manner of it, the tenderness of feeling—He laid His hands on them. This was in no way necessary; a word would have been enough, and the Lord often employed nothing more than a word. But here He shows His human compassion—He laid His hands upon them and healed them. Devils also came out of many, but we find Him here keeping up the testimony to man of the power that Satan had in the world. There are few things more injurious to men than forgetfulness of the power of Satan. At the present time there is exceeding unbelief on the subject. It is regarded as one of the obsolete delusions of the past. But we find most clearly demons going out of many, not in any one peculiar case, “crying out and saying, Thou art Christ, the Son of God.” These acknowledged the Lord, not as the Holy One of Psa. 89, but as the Anointed One, the Son of David, of Psa. 2. He was the King of Israel in both cases. But the Lord accepted not their testimony in any instance. He really was the Holy One and the Son of God, but it was from God that He took His title, and recognition by the demons He refuses. They knew that He was the Christ. What a solemn thing to find that man is even more obdurate than Satan! for the demons were more willing to acknowledge Jesus than the men even who were delivered from the demons, and who were healed of all their diseases. Man for whom Jesus came! What a proof of the incurable unbelief of man and the certain ruin of those who refuse the Son of God! Devils believe and tremble. Man, even when he does believe with his natural heart, does not tremble. He may believe, but he is insensible in his belief. Can such faith save him? The only faith that is good for anything is that which brings in the sinner in his need and ruin before God, and which sees God in infinite mercy giving His Son to die for him. Anything short of this ends in destruction; and so far from natural faith bettering a man, it only brings out his evil and turns to corruption the more speedily. It is a kind of complimenting the Son of God, instead of a lowly and true owning of man's own condition and God's grace.
But there is another thing which this chapter brings before us—namely, that our Lord departs when it was day “into a desert place; and the people sought him, and came unto him, and stayed him, that he should not depart from them. And he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent. And he preached in the synagogues of Galilee.” The great object of the coming of Christ was to preach God's kingdom; it was bringing God and God's power before men—God's power visiting man in mercy. No healing of diseases or expulsion of demons could satisfy the Lord. And when He had by His miracles attracted attention in any place, it was the more reason for going to another. He did not seek His own fame; another should come in his own name who would. But for our Lord Jesus to attract a name, was a reason for departure, not for staying.