Morsels7

 

Morsels 7 Facing the Foe

Scripture

Luke 4:31-36 New International Version31 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.33 In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an impure spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice, 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!”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 words these are! With authority and power he gives orders to impure spirits and they come out!”

Comments Here again we see Jesus confronting the evil that abounds in a world messed up by satanic malice and human folly.

Verse35 says in one translation “Hold your peace!”. What peace has a demon to hold.! From two divergent sources I find it means “ be muzzled” So the NIV gets pretty close. But why did Jesus want the demons to keep quiet about His identity? The realisation of who Jesus is is a spiritual step forward “ Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you Peter” ( Matthew 16:17 )A short statement shouted by a demon will not bring us to that point.

The bystanders realised part of the significance of Jesus’ command to the demon. They were witnessing a confrontation between powers It was all about authority . The Lord of all good must be obeyed by the purveyors of sin. That the order was obeyed tells us much. How it was obeyed tells us even more. The response was immediate but no harm was done to the victim. Behold the power of the presence of the Lord !

This incident is a wonderful reminder of that great and essential truth. The light shone in the darkness and the darkness overcame it not.(John 1) . It is true whatever revolutionary developments we live through.

I am surprised to realise that most of the sayings of our Lord we have studied so far have been addressed to Satan or his minions. We have yet to study our Lord as a Rabbi. As I meditate on the gospels I begin to realise how vitally central in our faith is the spoken word. The Scriptures are often a .record of what was said, Even in the crucifixion more attention is given to the abuse hurled at our Lord and Saviour than the physical pains He bore, We need to pay attention to what we say