Luke 4:31-44

Turn to Luke 4. In our previous passage, Jesus went back to his home town of Nazareth. This is where he grew up. This is where the people knew him best. On that Sabbath he went to synagogue and was invited to read from the scriptures. After reading a messianic passage from Isaiah, Jesus proclaimed the prophecy was fulfilled in him. The people took offense and led him out to a cliff where they intended to push him over. But when they arrived Jesus just walked past them and went on his way. They had heard stories about his teaching and miracles but refused to trust in him. Jesus said it was because they knew him and that no prophet was accepted in his home town.

In our passage this evening, Jesus traveled to Capernaum. Capernaum appears to have been the home base of Jesus’ ministry. When Jesus went out he went out from Capernaum. It was his headquarters. The majority of the recorded miracles took place in the areas around Capernaum. Matthew tells us:

. . . and leaving Nazareth, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. (Matthew 4:13)

I’ve shown you pictures of Capernaum before, but I’ll show you just a few to help refresh your memory. Capernaum is located on the northwest side of the Sea of Galilee. It was a prosperous city of its day. Three major roads converged in Capernaum. The Jewish historian Josephus wrote that there were two hundred cities in that region with populations over ten thousand. That means there were over two million people which is more than live in the area today. The red line points to a chapel built over what is believed to have been the home of Peter. The yellow arrow points to the synagogue. That particular building was constructed over a hundred years after Jesus. However, archaeologists discovered another one below it which they believe would have been there when Jesus lived in Capernaum. In Luke 7 we read that a Roman centurion helped pay to have it built. Jesus healed the centurion’s servant. Luke 8 tells us that the ruler of the synagogue was a man named Jairus. Jesus raised his daughter back to life. Both The synagogue and Peter’s home are mentioned in our passage.

31 Then he went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath he taught the people. 32 They were amazed at his teaching, because his words had authority. (Luke 4:31-32)

Jesus went down to Capernaum because Capernaum is six hundred feet below sea level. Once there, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath where he taught the people. Previously, Luke had told us that it was Jesus’ custom to go to the synagogue on the Sabbath. That’s where the community came together for prayer and for the reading of scripture and instruction in the commands of God. Remember, no one had a copy of the scriptures. They were just too expensive. The only copies were at the synagogues. You couldn’t have a daily Bible reading because you didn’t have a copy of the Bible to read. The only time they heard the scriptures is when they were read publically. Synagogue attendance was important for this among other reasons.

Jesus travels to Capernaum, on the Sabbath he goes to the synagogue, and once again he is invited to teach the people, and once again the people were amazed at his teaching. This time we’re told it was because he taught as one with authority.

The people routinely heard religious instruction for the teachers of the law. However, they never spoke on their own. They rarely gave their own opinion as to the meaning or application of the text. Instead, after reading a text and they would quote what some famous rabbi had said the text meant. But Jesus never quoted anyone. Think about the Sermon on the Mount, which was preached not far from Capernaum around this same time. How many times in that sermon did Jesus say, “You have heard that it was said, but I tell you. . . .” Nine times in chapter 5 Jesus said, “I tell you.” It wasn’t, “Gamaliel teaches . . .” or “Hillel once said . . .” but “I tell you.” Jesus was contradicting or correcting what they had previously been taught about the subject. Jesus taught with authority that came from God and the people quickly picked up on it. Jesus was not even a rabbi and yet he taught with authority that even their most respected leaders did not seem to have. Matthew tells us at the end of the Sermon on the Mount:

28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, 29 because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law. (Matthew 7:28-29)

They were not accustomed to that kind of teaching. Back in Luke, Jesus is teaching in the synagogue when there was an interruption.

33a In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an impure spirit. (Luke 4:33a)

The most obvious question is why would a demon possessed man show up at the synagogue? Isn’t that about the last place you would expect him? Yet, here he was. From the statement he’s about to make, it doesn’t seem that the demon is expecting Jesus to be there.

33b He cried out at the top of his voice [that will get your attention], 34 “Go away! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are – the Holy One of God!” (Luke 4:33b-34)

This demon doesn’t want anything to do with Jesus and wants Jesus to leave him alone. And isn’t that the way it is with evil? It wants to be left alone to do its deeds in darkness and secrecy. It doesn’t want to be told that it is wrong or that what it is doing is sin.

The evil spirit then asks two questions:

What business do you have with us?

Have you come to destroy us?

Jesus isn’t going to answer the questions but the apostle John does in his first epistle. There he says:

The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. (1 John 3:8)

The demons recognized the authority Jesus had and that ultimately he would be the cause of their destruction. That’s why he came, but it wouldn’t be just now. Today, Jesus would just limit what they would be able to do.

Perhaps what was most amazing about the evil spirit’s interruption is the last comment:

I know who you are – the Holy One of God!

The demon recognized who Jesus is. The people didn’t, but the demons did.

35 “Be quiet!” Jesus said sternly. “Come out of him!” Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him. (Luke 4:35)

The emphasis here is on the stern part. The Greek word is generally translated as “Be quiet” actually means to close a mouth with a muzzle. For that reason, some commentators say a more accurate translation of what Jesus said might be, “Shut up.” Jesus definitely wanted the evil spirit to stop talking. There would be a time when his identity was to be shouted from the roof tops but it was not now.

We should also note that the demon obeyed. It did not obey though, until after it had thrown the man to the ground. It got in its last punch before leaving the man. And again the people were amazed.

36 All the people were amazed and said to each other, “What words these are! With authority and power he gives orders to impure spirits and they come out!” (Luke 4:36)

Jesus not only speaks with authority but also with power. Jesus orders the demon to leave and it obeyed.

37 And the news about him spread throughout the surrounding area. (Luke 4:37)

The word translated as news is also used to describe the roar of the waves of the sea. It speaks of an uproar that spread out across the land about what Jesus had done that day. “Hey, have you heard?” Everyone was excited. There was a buzz throughout the region about Jesus as word spread.

38 Jesus left the synagogue and went to the home of Simon. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Jesus to help her. 39 So he bent over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up at once and began to wait on them. (Luke 4:38-39)

This story reminds us that the disciples were ordinary people just like us. Peter was married and had a mother-in-law with everything that went them. Following the service, Jesus went home with Peter. It’s like going home to eat after church. However, Peter’s mother-in-law was sick and wasn’t able to prepare a meal. Remember, Luke was a doctor. While Matthew simply said she had a fever, Luke described it as a great or high fever. Greek medical books described two types of fevers, a high and low. A high fever described something more serious in nature. Luke, being a doctor, used this more precise term and by it indicating that she was really sick and probably wouldn’t recover.

It’s interesting that just as Jesus rebuked the demon Jesus also rebuked the fever. Later, he would rebuke the wind the day he was on the sea with his disciples. When Jesus rebuked people it was because they were doing something wrong like when the disciples wouldn’t allow the children to come to Jesus to be blessed, but more often, Jesus rebuked evil spirits. Should we take from this then that Jesus saw the sickness of Peter’s mother-in-law was because of demonic activity? We’re not told. What we are told is that she was immediately well. She felt so good that she got up and cooked for them. One minute she can’t get up from her bed to attend synagogue services or prepare a meal and the next she’s up and serving Peter and his guests.

One doctor told his preacher, “I send the bill, but God does the healing. I take out that part that is offending the body, but God will have to be the Healer.” Jesus is able to heal completely.

40 At sunset, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them. (Luke 4:40)

They waited till sunset to bring their sick to Jesus because it was the Sabbath which began at sunset on Friday and ended at sunset on Saturday. During the Sabbath they were restricted in what they could do. For example, they couldn’t walk more than two-thirds of a mile.

I remember the Sabbath I spent in Jerusalem. Even though it is a secular country, Sabbath laws are observed. All businesses are closed for the day. However, at sunset all the restaurants opens back up. I remember walking down the street from the hotel and it was like a party.

After sunset, when they were able to walk longer distances, they brought their sick to Jesus to be healed. There were no telephones but as Luke has already stated, word spread about what Jesus had done. And Jesus healed them.

41 Moreover, demons came out of many people, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Messiah. (Luke 4:41)

Again, the demon is aware that Jesus is the Son of God and publically says so and again Jesus rebukes the demon.

We might think of these verses as a day in the life of Jesus and it’s a long day. It starts in the morning as he goes to synagogue and doesn’t end till dark. You’d think after a long day Jesus might take it easy on Sunday and sleep in, but he didn’t.

42 At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them. 43 But he said, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.” 44 And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea. (Luke 4:42-44)

How was Jesus able to keep going day after day? I think we find the answer in these verses. Jesus stayed connected to God. Even before the people were able to bring more sick to him for healing, Jesus was up and praying. He probably hadn’t gone too far, but he went to a place where he could be alone. They had to look for him and when they did they wanted him to stay but Jesus said he needed to visit those other towns around the Sea of Galilee as well.

Jesus starts the day teaching and the next day he preaches. There’s a difference. Sometimes we have difficulty differentiating between these two. I came across this explanation for them that makes sense. Chuck Smith said that you preach to those who do not know Jesus, proclaiming to them the good news or the gospel. To those who have received the gospel you teach. You apply the gospel to their lives. I think you can understand the importance of them both.

At a youth conference the speaker talked about the story of Paul being bitten by a snake. When he picked up some brushwood he was bitten by the poisonous snake that had been hiding under it. The speaker pointed out that there are commentators who believe the snake wasn’t actually poisonous. That’s the reason, they explain, that nothing happened to Paul. He then asked who they were going to believe, these modern commentators or the villagers who saw Paul get bit by the snake. Luke tells the story in Acts 28.

3 Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand. 4 When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, “This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, the goddess Justice has not allowed him to live.” 5 But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects. 6 The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead; but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god. (Acts 28:3-6)

They saw the snake. It was hanging from Paul’s hand. They knew what it was and they knew it was poisonous and they expected Paul to die. When he didn’t they knew there was something special about Paul.

There have always been skeptics, those who don’t believe in God or Jesus. From my limited perspective, the doubting has seemed to grow over the last couple of centuries. Perhaps it’s that they have just become more vocal. There has been debate, especially over the last hundred years as the validity of Jesus’ miracles. Did Jesus really perform miracles such as healing the sick or casting out demons? Perhaps, what the referred to as miracles, were really misunderstandings. They didn’t understand as much about illnesses as we do. They didn’t understand anything about mental and psychological issues. Skeptics look at the stories of Jesus casting out demons and argue that these people weren’t really demon possessed but they were actually suffering from some form of epilepsy. Jesus just happened to come along at the right moment and the person appeared to be healed. Or Jesus meets a man who appears to be blind; he spits on his eyes and somehow clears away whatever it was that was blocking his sight. Others suggest that the mere fact that Jesus had a reputation for healing means that there was a strong psychosomatic effect whenever he came near people who were sick. In other words they virtually healed themselves because they erroneously thought that he could.

The assumption is that these miracles didn’t happen because their worldview rules out anything supernatural. Anything that can’t be explained or proven by modern science and modern medicine cannot have actually taken place the way it’s described in the Bible. This skepticism isn’t new though. There were skeptics even in Jesus day.

In this chapter what strikes me most are the different reactions to Jesus, his teachings, and miracles. Think about the three groups we see: those in Nazareth, those in Capernaum, and the demons.

Nazareth was Jesus’ hometown. That’s where Jesus grew up. In that passage we’re told that the people knew Jesus. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked. Matthew wrote:

54 Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked. 55 “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? 56 Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” 57a And they took offense at him. (Matthew 13:54-57a)

Other than his family, they knew Jesus better than anyone but instead of listening to him and accepting his teaching they became offended and tried to kill him.

Then there was the reaction of the demons. They quickly acknowledged who Jesus was. The first refers to Jesus as the Holy One of God and the second as the Son of God but they didn’t want anything to do with him either. Knowing Jesus’ relationship to God, neither would submit to Jesus. They just wanted to be left alone.

And then there were the people at Capernaum. They didn’t know Jesus personally. All they knew was what they’d heard and now what they’d seen for themselves. Jesus taught in their synagogue just like he taught in Nazareth. He even performed miracles. Their reaction was completely different. Instead of trying to kill Jesus, they brought him their sick and asked him not to leave. Only they believed and received Jesus.

You might have thought Jesus would have been warmly received in his hometown and received with skepticism by those who didn’t know him. But that’s not the way it worked out.

I think I can safely say that when we hear these stories we believe them. We aren’t like the modern skeptics who think they know better than the people of the Bible who were there and saw the miracles of Jesus. But even though we believe it’s possible for us to be like the evil spirits who refused to obey. Because we believe it should lead to obedience.

The sad truth is we still have people today who refuse to accept who Jesus is. But there are also people who believe but refuse to submit. CS Lewis commented:

There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, in the end, “Thy will be done.”

Which will we be?