Christ's Dominion over Darkness

Luke 4:31–37 NIV84

31 Then he went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath began to teach the people. 32 They were amazed at his teaching, because his message had authority. 33 In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an evil spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice, 34 “Ha! 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!” 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. 36 All the people were amazed and said to each other, “What is this teaching? With authority and power he gives orders to evil spirits and they come out!” 37 And the news about him spread throughout the surrounding area.

Introduction

We are considering together from Luke’s Gospel the very starting point of the ministry of Jesus Christ as recorded by Luke. Last week, we had a look at the first thing that Luke presented concerning the minstry of Jesus Christ, and that was his attempt to preach the -Gospel in his home-town of Nazareth. In that account the people were amazed at his teaching, but when he confronted them with their own sinfulness, specifically their own lack of faith, they became so infuriated with him that they attempted to drive over a cliff-edge. They wanted him dead.

In that account, he made mention to them of the miracles that had been performed in Capernaum. He had said to them that they would no doubt expect of him that he perform the same miracles that had been performed in Capernaum in their presence before they would believe in Him. But thus far in the Gospel of Luke, there is no record of any miracles having been performed in Capernaum.

But in our present chapter, we see something of the miracles that Jesus did perform in Capernaum, as he leaves Nazareth and goes down to Capernaum.

As we consider this text, I would like us to have impressed upon our hearts the great dominion that Christ had over darkness. We will see as we go through this text that Satan and spiritual forces are very real, and they have great power. But we will see also that this power that they have is nothing compared to Christ.

Notice firstly with me from this passage...

1. Christ’s Preaching with Authority (vv.31-32)

We begin in verse 31…

Luke 4:31 NIV84

31 Then he went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath began to teach the people.

According to Luke’s Gospel account, Jesus had been in Nazareth, and was rejected there. following his rejection at Nazareth, he now travels to Capernaum.

A few words concerning Capernaum are appropriate...

According to Matthew 4:13, kactually went and lived in Capernaum. This would really become Christ’s home as he carried out his ministry work, at least in these initial stages. Matthew would later on refer to Capernaum as Jesus’s “own town.”

Capernaum was a city that ws situated on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. It was a center of commerce. It was important as a fishing village, and was also a place where extensive trade took place. It was also a Roman tax polling station. There was an inscription found in Capernaum bearing the words, “The Emporer Caesar of the divine...”

So Jesus has now arrived in Capernaum, this city / town by the Sea of Gaililee, and he does according to what was his standard practice, and that is he goes into the Synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he begins to teach the people there.

What is striking to note once again is the impact that his teaching had on the people that were present. Verse 32 tells us…

Luke 4:32 NIV84

32 They were amazed at his teaching, because his message had authority.

Again we see the amazement of the people, not at the miracles that Jesus would perform (although he would perform miracles) but rather they are amazed at his teaching.

This authority with Jesus taught, and the amazement that the people responded with as they listened to him should give us great confidence as the church. I touched on this briefly last week, but I want to add to it, because it’s so important in our own day and as a church. So often today, churches are seeking to win people by pleasing people. That’s the warning that Paul gave to Timothy. People will gather around them teachers that teach them what their itching ears want to hear. And teachers fall into the trap of feeding the people only that which they want to hear. And the effect is a powerless, watered down Gospel.

But the confidence that we should have is that Christ had authority, and it is based on the very authority of Christ that the Gospel is proclaimed today.

Matthew 28:16–20 NIV84

16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

The fact is, God has chosen to build his church through the simple and ordinary proclamation of His Gospel message, and it is precisely that message that will draw people to seek to know God. We go as a church with the authority of Jesus Christ. As the Spirit of God works to impact that hearts and lives of people, they too will be amazed by the Gospel.

Paul says to the Corinthian believers...

1 Corinthians 2:1–5 NIV84

1 When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.

As Christ went out, preaching the Gospel of the kingdom, teaching the people concerning the ways of God, it was under the power of the Holy Spirit, but involved the proclamation of the Gospel message - that same Gospel message that is ringing out today!

We’ve seen from our text “Christ’s Preaching with Authority,” but in the midst of this a surprise encounter takes place. Secondly, notice with me...

2. Christ’s Confrontation With a Demon (vv.33-34)

Despite the fact that Christ’s preaching was with great authority and power, and that this preaching alone was sufficient for the salvation of men, it does not mean that Christ never demonstrated that his message was true and with due authority from God through the performing of miracles.

As Christ is busy teaching the people in the synagogue, we read in verse 33...

Luke 4:33 NIV84

33 In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an evil spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice,

We see that even within the synagogue, the place of worship of the people of God, a man was present that was possessed by a demon. We are not told if this man was recognsed by those around him to have always been possessed, but probably this was not the first time for the man to be there. But the fact is he was there at this time, and as Christ, the light of the world, enters into the synagogue and begins to preach the Gospel, the demon takes offense.

We need to pause at this point, and take cognisance of the fact that demon-possession is something that was very real. The Scriptures teach here that this man was possessed by an evil spirit. In our modern world, very often the reality of spiritual forces, evil spirits, demons, Satan as a real personal being etc is totally ignored.

R.C. Sproul writes in his book, “Pleasing God”, that in a philosophy class that he was once taking, he asked the class the question of how many people believed in a real, personal devil. Only 3 out of the class of 27 did. The rest of them considered the devil to be a myth.

Much of the culture influenced by science has led such people to believe that such evil beings are not real and do not exist. Scripture teaches otherwise.

Let us be sure that Satan is a reality, and so are evil spirits that are at work in the world. Ephesians 6 makes this clear in terms of our spiritual battle, and the necessity of clothing ourselves with the armour of God. I’ll come more to this point later on.

But let us move on…

We read at the end of verse 33, and into verse 34 that the evil spirit...

“…cried out at the top of his voice...”

Luke 4:34 NIV84

34 “Ha! 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!”

The animosity is evident even from the first words of this evil spirit. The first thing recorded here is an exclamation from the evil spirit. In the English - “Ha!” In the original language, this was an exclamation of surprise, indignation or anger. It is an outburst of displeasure. The evil spirit immediately takes offense at the presence of Jesus, and confronts him with this exclamation.

The demon then poses a question to Jesus. “What do you want with us…?” This question can also be translated, “what business do we have with each other...” The very nature of the question posed by the demon demonstrates the truth that there can be no fellowship with light and darkness.

When Christ entered into the world, he came as the light of the world, but he came to a world that was lost in darkness. Satan and his demons were those that were the cause of such darkness in this world. That is not to say that there was no light of God. God has always been true Lord and Master of this world. But here, as Christ enters into the world and begins to preach the Gospel of truth to the world, they are very aware that light has now come into the wolrd. And they knew full well that there was no fellowship between them and Christ. Light and darkness were now face to face in battle.

We read the words of Job as he struggled with his own situation and how all that he had and owned had been taken, his mind went to the thought of light and darkness, and how the workers of evil conduct all that they do in the darkness. He correctly noted that such people want nothing to do with light, because this light exposes them. His words in Job 24...

Job 24:13–17 NIV84

13 “There are those who rebel against the light, who do not know its ways or stay in its paths. 14 When daylight is gone, the murderer rises up and kills the poor and needy; in the night he steals forth like a thief. 15 The eye of the adulterer watches for dusk; he thinks, ‘No eye will see me,’ and he keeps his face concealed. 16 In the dark, men break into houses, but by day they shut themselves in; they want nothing to do with the light. 17 For all of them, deep darkness is their morning; they make friends with the terrors of darkness.

In this instance, as Christ was coming into the world, and as he now stood face to face with a demon, a worker of darkness, this evil spirit hated the fact that the light of the world was now before Him. He would be exposed, and he despised this thought. The works of evil that were being brought about would be stopped by the light that was coming to transform.

What have we to do with each other....?

Now we must pause at this point to make some application.

We must recognise as those who of the Lord JEsus Christ, those who are in Christ, that our life that is lived under the light of Christ should have nothing to do with darkness. The darkness that marked our former way of life is incompatible with our life in Christ. Hence we must flee the darkness, and everything that is associated with that darkness.

2 Corinthians 6:14 NIV84

14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?

1 John 1:5–7 NIV84

5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

Dear friends, are we walking all the more in the light, allowing that light to expose us and so to cause the darkness to flee. Let us walk in the ways of the light!!

As we go on our in text, and see the response of this evil spirit to Jesus, we notice that he goes on to identify precisely who Jesus is. The people around didn’t necessarily know who Jesus was, and where he had come from. But the demon knows precisely. This is Jesus of Nazareth. This is the Jesus that came from a small town that is generally unknown. And yet, Jesus is clearly known to the evil spirit.

But it is not only that Jesus was identified by the evil spirit, but also that the evil spirit understood the work that Jesus had come to do in this world.

“Have you come to destroy us?” asks the spirit.

Here is at once a sense of the fear of the evil spirit. While the evil spirit may have had a sense of power over this helpless man that he had possessed, he knew that before him was this Jesus of Nazareth that had the power to destroy the evil spirit. There was no power greater than that of Jesus Christ. Even as this spirit exercised power over a weak man, that same spirit had no power whatsoever over the man Christ Jesus. All power that this spirit may have had, was as nothing in this moment as the spirit recognised Jesus.

The spirit further goes on to exlaim, “I know who you are - the Holy One of God!”

The spirit doesn’t merely know that Jesus is from Nazareth, but that he is the Holy One of God.

Notice the definite article - “THE” - there is only one holy one from God. In other words, this was not merely a declaration that JEsus was one holy person out of a long string of holy people. Rather, here was the Son. He was unique in his holiness. None other existed apart from Him in terms of Holy People from God.

We must recognise that Christ was not merely holy in terms of his sinlessness. He certainly was that. Already he had proven that he could withstand the most powerful onslaughts from Satan as he was tempted in the wilderness. He stood firm, and was sinless. But he was also holy in that he was the one set apart by God for this particular task of bringing the Gospel, and bringing salvation to men.

John 10:36 has Jesus speaking about himself as the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world.

This was the one and only Son of God - the one set apart.

There is a stark contrast here between the spirit that is evil, and the Son that is holy. This very event is a strong confrontation between the kingdom of God, and the attempted rule of Satan.

But let us remain certain that Satan has no true authority or dominion. The demons, evil spirits, have no ability to go beyond that which Christ allows.

We must consider then...

3. Christ’s Dominion Over Evil

The response of Jesus to the demon is simple and yet powerful. We see it in verse 35...

Luke 4:35 NIV84

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.

Jesus is in no way intimidated by the forces of evil. He does not feel threatened by them. Instead, He immediately speaks with authority over them.

Two commands are issued by Jesus to the demon.

The first command is, “Be quiet.”

The command here is directed at the evil spirit in order to prevent further expressions concerning who Jesus is. At this early stage in the ministry of Jesus, he was not revealing his true identity for all to know Him. Just a little further on, we will find the reason that Jesus would not allow the demons to speak.

Luke 4:41 NIV84

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 Christ.

This is something that we will see more of as we work through the Gospel.

The second command from Jesus is that this evil spirit should “Come out of him!”

It would be of little use if Christ were merely able to silence demons without the ability to command them to release a person that was under their power.

But as we see, Christ not only had the power and authority over demons to silence them in their speech, but he had the power to command them as he pleased, and they had no power to stand opposed to him. They had to obey him.

In this instance, Christ commanded the demon to come out of the man, and there was instant obedience.

Our text says, “Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him.”

As a last effort in afflicting this man, the evil spirit threw the man to the ground as he came out. In Mark’s record of the account, it says he threw the man into convulsions. But through all of this, it’s interesting to note the way that Luke records that the man was thrown down but uninjured.

Luke was a physician - a doctor. He clearly had a care for people and their health - and we’ll pick this up more as we work through the Gospel. So here he adds the fact that the man was not injured.

As we consider this event, and the way in which Christ delivered this man, we must take note of the theological significance in terms of this battle that is taking place in the Spiritual world.

With Christ coming into the world, he was entering into the battlefield where Satan and his fallen angels were seeking to bring destruction and pain. Satan was at work in the world to afflict and destroy as best he could. He was at work in the world in order to draw people away from God, and away from the worship of God, and to seek to lead people to rather worship him, and to serve themselves.

In this instance, there was a more particular manifestation of the power of Satan over an individual. And the consequences were far more pronounced and evident in the life of this particular man. But let us be sure that the spiritual battle was being waged amidst people in a far more general manner. And we must understand this even in our own day.

We need to recognise that Satan is at work, even in our day. There is an ongoing spiritual battle for the souls of men. We can be encouraged that Satan has no final authority or power. He has no final say, no ultimate dominion. Yet, he is a formidable enemy that we are not to take lightly.

1 Peter 5:8 NIV84

8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

While Christ will most certainly gain the ultimate victory over Satan, in His grand wisdom, God has allowed Satan to have a good measure of power in this world. We must not think that he is not at work, and so become apathetic. Satan looks for someone to devour.

James 4:7 NIV84

7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

I would urge you today, to consider how you perceive these truths, and how seriously you take this spiritual battle. Are you considering that there is an enemy, and he has some great power. You must stand firm in Christ.

Having considered these events, notice finally with me...

4. Christ’s Power Confessed by the People

As the previous verse stated, these things unfolded right before the eyes of all the people that were gathered that day in the synagogue. Had we been present there, it would have been one of those events in life that made the hair on our necks stand up. These people were spectators to a spiritual battle, wherein JEsus was able to command demons.

Note with me the response of the people in verse 36...

Luke 4:36 NIV84

36 All the people were amazed and said to each other, “What is this teaching? With authority and power he gives orders to evil spirits and they come out!”

As the crowds look on at this event unfolding, they were amazed at what they saw. They had been witnesses for many years of teachers that had claimed to teach God’s Scriptures, the Law, the prophets and the writings. They were not unfamiliar with people that taught. The people gathering in this synagogue on this particular day in Capernaum were probably regularly doing this. To them, it would have been a regular day of going to worship God in the synagogue.

But here they were confronted by a man who had a teaching like no other, a man who taught with absolute authority. They are led to ask the question, “What is this teaching…?”

But their description of the teaching speaks to us today. They were profoundly amazed because Jesus taught with both authority and power.

Now, we must recall that Jesus had been teaching extensively, and already we’ve seen that the people were amazed by the authoritative nature of his teaching. In other words, they distinguished even in his teaching that this was authoritative teaching.

But now they are confronted also with the power that Christ had over darkness. His teaching had a peculiar power behind it to do things that shocked them. In this instance, it was the power to give orders to evil spirits, so that they would come out of a person.

This was something that they had never seen or known before. They were confronted by a man who had the abiliity to simply speak the word, and the evil spirits would obey him.

As we work through the gospel, we’ll get a sense of just how common demon-possession was in that day. It was certainly something far more common than what we find today. But even though it was so common in their day, there was no person that had ever been able to do what Jesus did in terms of commanding the evil spirit to leave a man.

It was only with the coming of Christ into the world in this unique time and place that this power of God through His Son was being unleashed in a peculiar and particular manner. The battle was being unleashed. But Christ had authority and power.

Seeing this great working of Christ, we see in verse 37...

Luke 4:37 NIV84

37 And the news about him spread throughout the surrounding area.

True power such as Christ had is spoken about far and wide.

This phrase states that this word concerning the powerful word and the authority of Jesus was going into every locality in the surrounding district. There was extensive proclamation and spread of the Word concerning Jesus.

Application and Conclusion

As we consider this text, and particularly think about some application for today, I want to emphsize the importance of keeping in mind the spriitual battle that is being waged around us. In this account regarding the demoniac, Jesus performed a powerful miracle. But even as this was happening, Christ was simply pulling back the veil for us to see just something of the spiritual battle being waged in this world.

And we would do well to take cognisance of it. As Christians, it is critical that we live our lives with a sober-mindedness. We must think carefully about our lives here, and about how we are living life and what we are doing in this world.

Our confidence should be in Christ

He is the one that has power and dominion over darkness. We have no need to fear.

Romans 8:37–39 NIV84

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Live as people of the light.

Darkness and light have nothing to do with each other. Let us grow in our appreciation of this, and so walk in the light, even as Christ is light.

The peopel were in awe of what Christ had done.

Should people not stand in awe as they behold the work that God would do in our lives as Christians.

Our present life must bear witness to the powerful working of God within us.

We are not called to be those who are stained by the world, and who continue in sin, but rather we are called to be those who evidence a radical deliverance from sin in our lives. God calls us as his saints to be holy, because he is holy. Are we living in this manner?