The Book of Luke: The Power of Christ (Luke 4:31-44)
Luke 4:31 “31 And came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days.”. Jesus is teaching in the synagogues as he has been doing. Luke 4:32 “32 And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power. 33 And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice,”. We are going to see the power of Jesus in this story. We will look at 3 different areas where his power is shown in this passage of scripture.
The first thing we see is the power of Jesus over devils. In verse 33 it says, “33 And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice,”. Jesus has been teaching on the Sabbath Day and people have been impressed. In verse 32 it talks about the power of his preaching. In verse 33 Jesus is basically in the middle of a Church service and a man who is possessed cries out with a loud voice. Imagine if in the middle of a Church service someone yelled with a loud voice.
Verse 34 “34 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.”. Jesus is not hiding who he is, but he is also not trying to get as much attention as possible. Jesus has a plan and he realizes that if things get too out of control then they might try to kill him before his time. Jesus is trying not to make too big of a commotion. Here this demon possessed man cries out. This man says that he knows Jesus.
A lot of people are confused about who Jesus is. Jesus one day asks his disciples who people say that he is. Matthew 16:13-15 “13 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? 14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. 15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?”. There is a lot of controversy surrounding who Jesus is. By the way, in 2022 there is still a lot of controversy regarding who Jesus is. There is no doubt to the Devils who Jesus is. Luke 4:34 “34 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.”.
Not only does the Devil know who Jesus is but the Devil knows the people who are serving Jesus. Acts 19:13 “13 Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.”. Here we have these vagabond Jews who are phonies. Acts 19:14-16 “14 And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so. 15 And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? 16 And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.”. When you are serving and preaching on behalf of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Devils are going to know who you are.
Over years of ministry you start to learn people’s personalities. We are looking for people that are not afraid to contend. We don’t want contentious people but people that are willing to contend for the truth. We preach that the Devil is trying to destroy us and we are involved in spiritual warfare. I talk about the importance of putting on the whole armour of God. I preach this because it is true but also to try to motivate people to get in the fight. What I’ve learned in ministry is that sometimes when you preach this way it actually discourages people because they are scared. Some people don’t want the Devils to know where they are. People can get scared as they start to serve God. Let me say something that might encourage you. Not only does the Devil have opposition to Jesus but the Devil has submission to Jesus.
Luke 4:35 “35 And 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. 36 And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What a word is this! for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out.”. Yes it is true that the Devil has an opposition to Jesus but he also has submission to Jesus. When Jesus says to close their mouth, they close their mouth. When Jesus says come out of him, they come out.
Let me explain something to you in regards to spiritual warfare and Devils and Demons. This is not something that we should take lightly. This is not something that we want to play around with. There are 2 extremes when it comes to Devils and Demons and these kinds of things. One extreme is that it’s a fairytale and the other extreme is that it is too scary and we don’t do anything for God. We should take it seriously because spiritual warfare is not a joke. Don’t watch these movies with werewolves and things like that. On the other side, don’t let this scare you into not doing anything for God.
In Jude we are going to see Michael the Archangel who was very powerful. Jude 1:9 “9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.”. Michael who is fighting on behalf of God but he durst not or dared not to bring a railing accusation against the Devil. He wasn’t insulting the Devil. Why? Because the Devil is a serious being. Michael just said, “The Lord rebuke thee.”. Don’t take this attitude that we are going to take on the Devil. The Devil is powerful and can destroy us but our power is found in God himself. By the way, that should be the source of all of our strength. When David fought Goliath, David wasn’t being arrogant. David said “The battle is the Lords”. David realized he couldn’t fight Goliath on his own but could with the power of God.
1st John 4:4 “4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.”. Should we be afraid of the Devil? We should have respect for the Devil and realize we shouldn’t just play around with these dark things. However, realize that God is greater than the Devil. By the way, this verse proves that a saved person can’t be demon possessed. Greater is he that is in you than that is in the world. Just because you can’t be demon possessed doesn’t mean that you can’t be demon oppressed. The Devil and his demons can still oppress you and fight against you. Remember though that even though the Devil opposes us, he is in submission to God. James 2:19 “19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.”. Do you realize that the Devil tremble at God. Realize that if God is for us then who can be against us. Jesus has power over the Devil.
Not only do we see from this episode at the synagogue the power of Jesus over the Devil, but we also see that Jesus has power over disease. Luke 4:37-38 “37 And the fame of him went out into every place of the country round about. 38 And he arose out of the synagogue, and entered into Simon’s house. And Simon’s wife’s mother was taken with a great fever; and they besought him for her.”. Let me just stop and say this. Several of you were raised in the Catholic Church. You were taught that Peter was the rock mentioned in Matthew 16 upon which the Church was founded (even though all references to the rock in the Bible are God). However, notice in this story that Peter had a mother-in-law. He was married. The Bible shows us in other passages that Peter was married. Therefore, Peter was not the first Pope. By the way, when Cornelius bowed down and worshipped Peter, Peter said to stand up as he also was a man. Yet today in the Catholic Church, people worship the Pope.
Not only do we see his power over the Devil but also over disease. Luke 4:38 “38 And he arose out of the synagogue, and entered into Simon’s house. And Simon’s wife’s mother was taken with a great fever; and they besought him for her.”. Notice how they are beseeching before Jesus Christ for her. Let me ask, who are you beseeching God to help? Prayer is not just bringing our requests to God for ourselves but also for others. Realize that there are some people in your life that if you don’t pray for them then nobody will pray for them. Think of your children. If you as a parent don’t pray for them then who will pray for them? One reason that people don’t pray is because we don’t really think God answers prayer. We don’t actually believe that he will answer our prayer. We wouldn’t say that but then why don’t we pray? The truth is that if we really believed that we got into the presence of God and he would hear our prayer and have the power to answer our prayer then we would do a lot more praying.
James 5:13 “13 Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. 14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:”. We should not only believe that God hears our prayers but that God can answer our prayers.
Luke 4:39 “39 And he stood over her, and rebuked the fever; and it left her: and immediately she arose and ministered unto them.”. Jesus rebukes the fever and it leaves her. Now in the ancient world people believed that a fever was a disease. Now we know that a disease causes a fever but fever is not necessarily a disease itself. I am here to tell you that Jesus can still heal today. James 5:15 “15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.”. There have been times that I have prayed for people after anointing them with oil and they were instantly healed. That was not in me but the power of God. There have been other times that I have prayed over people and they have not been healed. When it comes to faith, it is believing that God can and that God may or may not. At the end of the day, we must align ourselves to the will of God. Paul besought the Lord 3 different times in his life for the thorn in the flesh but the answer from God was that he would not be healed. We have to realize that sometimes God does want to heal but sometimes he might not. Sometimes God says yes, sometimes no, sometimes not yet.
We see the power of Jesus over the Devil and disease. Let’s look at his purpose in healing. Luke 4:40 “40 Now 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. 41 And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking them suffered them not to speak: for they knew that he was Christ.”. One reason for casting out Devils is to prove who he was. Jesus had power over disease and devils and nature.
However, there is another purpose of healing. Often in the Bible, these healings are an illustration of salvation. Why is this? Mankind has a disease called sin sickness. We are born with a sin nature that will kill us. However, Jesus comes along and heals us when we call on him in faith. When the Bible says “by his stripes we are healed”, he was literally taking that sin upon himself. Healing sickness illustrates salvation.
Luke 4:39 “39 And he stood over her, and rebuked the fever; and it left her: and immediately she arose and ministered unto them.”. Immediately the mother-in-law of Peter starts serving. God healed her that she might serve. When God saved us, he didn’t save us to sin but to serve.
We saw the power of Jesus over devils and disease. We also see the power of doctrine. Luke 4:42 “42 And when it was day, he departed and went into a desert place: and the people sought him, and came unto him, and stayed him, that he should not depart from them. 43 And he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent.”. They wanted Jesus to stay in Capernaum. Luke 4:44 “44 And he preached in the synagogues of Galilee.”. The emphasis of Jesus’ ministry was not on the miracles or healings but on the message Jesus brought. Jesus’ didn’t say that he must go and heal people.
There is an emphasis in this chapter on the power of Christ’s words. Luke 4:39 “39 And he stood over her, and rebuked the fever; and it left her: and immediately she arose and ministered unto them.”. How did he rebuke the fever? With his words. Luke 4:36 “36 And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What a word is this! for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out.”.
To the best of our ability, we try to follow this pattern. We give you doctrine like Jesus did and we do it with authority. When the word of God is preached, it is to be preached with authority. Matthew 7:28-29 “28 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: 29 For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.”. For those men who preach at a men’s preaching night, you need to make sure that you are teaching doctrine. I’m not against using illustrations or humor but people ought to walk away focusing on the doctrine or what was taught. When the crowds and multitudes left, they weren’t leaving, focusing on the healings or miracles but on what he taught. The greatest thing that we could do is take the word of God and teach it to someone and help them grow as a result.
Let’s pray.