The Authority of Jesus

Scripture Reading

Luke 4:31–44 NKJV

Then He went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbaths. And they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was with authority. Now in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon. And he cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him in their midst, it came out of him and did not hurt him. Then they were all amazed and spoke among themselves, saying, “What a word this is! For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.” And the report about Him went out into every place in the surrounding region. Now He arose from the synagogue and entered Simon’s house. But Simon’s wife’s mother was sick with a high fever, and they made request of Him concerning her. So He stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. And immediately she arose and served them. When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them. And demons also came out of many, crying out and saying, “You are the Christ, the Son of God!” And He, rebuking them, did not allow them to speak, for they knew that He was the Christ. Now when it was day, He departed and went into a deserted place. And the crowd sought Him and came to Him, and tried to keep Him from leaving them; but He said to them, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent.” And He was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee.

I. His Word Carried Authority

On one occasion Jesus went back to Capernaum. Luke has already told us that Jesus was a very skilled speaker; now we learn something else - what makes his words unusual is their power. Now you might be thinking of the words themselves, as Mark points out (Mark 1:21-22). So how did the scribes teach, and how was Jesus’ teaching different? The Scribes taught by referencing other scribes. They all borrowed authority from others in their teaching. You can read Rabbinic commentary today that does the same thing. They’ll cite one Rabbi, then another; or one passage or several Bible passages. But whether they quote another human or the Word of God, they all had this in common - they all knew they did not have authority in themselves, so they needed to find authority so people would listen to them.

Mark 1:21–22 NKJV

Then they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught. And they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

Actually, I teach that way, too. I have no authority in myself; my own opinions aren’t worth any more than anyone else’s opinion. When I write academic papers, they are full of references, not only to the Scriptures, but to other commentaries, dissertations, and essays. That’s because, just like the scribes, I need to borrow authority from others.

Jesus did not teach this way; he sometimes did cite the Scriptures, but even when he used them, he taught as someone who simply had personal authority to declare what God says - He demands you believe him because it is he who said it. Of course, the reason he could do this is not a failure of the Rabbis, or of your preacher, but because Jesus was not like the Rabbis. He really does have the authority to just tell you what God said on his own personal authority.

That’s why his miracles are important. He did not expect you to believe him without evidence; he did miracles to back up his stupendous claims.

However, Luke doesn’t emphasize what Jesus says specifically, but the authority he commands by what he says - that is, he could do things just by talking. He had the power to command unclean spirits, simply by his own person. And lest you think that anyone could do this, remember the seven sons of Sceva. These Jewish Exorcists tried to use Jesus’ name as a magic charm (Acts 19:13-16). So don’t try to copy Jesus’ method here. It only worked because he is Jesus. You’re not him, so it won’t work if you try it.

Acts 19:13–16 NKJV

Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.” Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so. And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

II. He had authority over sickness

These two short verse give us three separate ideas.

not every illness is caused by a demon - here, Simon’s mother in law is sick with a fever. Jesus did not cast a demon out of her; he commanded the fever. It’s clear Luke doesn’t just label everything he doesn’t understand as demon possessed. Rather demon possession is only one thing that can go wrong. So be very careful if you label someone as demon possessed. I would not label every crazy person as demon possessed; I would not label people who do evil as demonic just because they do bad things - We’re quite capable of doing bad things without the Devil’s help. That being said, I do believe that demon possession is possible today. I’ve never met someone I thought was demon possessed, but people I trust say they have.

Jesus’ authority was not limited to the spirit-realm; it extended over nature. The only way Jesus could just speak and heal Simon’s mother-in-law is if Jesus has authority to manipulate nature just by ordering it. Well, God has that authority. After all, he is the one who said, “Let there be light.” Jesus, as God, can heal with only a word of power. Again, there’s no trick here; Jesus can do this because he has authority; you do not, so it won’t work if you try it.

Simon has a mother-in-law - so he must have been married, since that’s the usual way you get one. Romanism orders there priests to be celibate, but this is a serious mistake, as the one they revere as the first bishop of Rome was himself married. Jesus himself declares that while some do have the gift of singleness, most do not. (Matt 19:10-12). My sister has the gift of singleness - I don’t understand it, but she is clearly using her extra time and money to serve Jesus, so God is blessing her.

III. He has authority to choose his preachers

Here I’d like to comment more on what the demons say

The first demon called Jesus “the Holy One”

These ones say that Jesus is “The Christ the Son of God.”

Notice that this is exactly correct. The demons are not lying here. But at this time the humans around Jesus do not know everything the demons know (Matt 16:13-17). Demons have supernatural knowledge, they know exactly who Jesus is.

Matthew 16:13–17 NKJV

When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.

Now we should realize that this confession is at the core of Christianity. Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. Yet here we have demons who not only believe that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God, they are terrified of him. They are really afraid. Yet, of course, the demons are not saved. So what separates real faith from demon-faith? (James 2:19-20).

James 2:19–20 NKJV

You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?

Second question - why did Jesus not allow the demons to speak? Isn’t this what he wants people to know? Well, the demons, obviously, are not the sort of witness you want speaking on your behalf. Demons are smart enough to know this, that’s why they say it. Jesus gets to choose who he is willing to speak for him. He will choose his disciples in the next chapter

Finally, Jesus stayed true to his purpose. the crowds here in Capernaum, unlike those in Nazareth, are very eager to have Jesus as a healer. But Jesus isn’t here to be popular in one town; his purpose is to offer the Kingdom of God by preaching in many towns, so he refuses to stay when they want him to.