Casting Out Evil - Luke 4:31-37

And He came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and He was teaching them on the Sabbath; and they were amazed at His teaching, for His message was with authority.

After Jesus was about to be killed for His preaching in the synagogue of His hometown Nazareth, He went “down” (by way of the sea; See Luke 4:29) to a place in the region of Galilee to a city called Capernaum. Just because one audience wouldn’t listen to the truth, didn’t mean that Jesus was going to stop preaching. Notice that the text shows no sign of timidity but rather states that Jesus went on teaching on the Sabbath and, “His message was with authority”.

We live in an age where most people are no longer interested in their soul's salvation. So many are rejecting the invitation of the Lord to obey the gospel and be saved. This is not necessarily a new trend of indifference and neglect, but it is growing to be more and more of a problem in our local communities. This should not discourage us from sharing the message of the Bible with others. It is not our responsibility to accept the truth for someone else. It is our responsibility to accept the truth for ourselves and try to spread that message to others, in the hope that someone will respond positively.

The text tells us that on this occasion when Jesus taught, the people, “were amazed at His teaching”. When you come with a message that is founded upon the authority of God, people cannot help but to be amazed at the harmony and power of the gospel truth. We have the opportunity and the privilege of being amazed every time we open the pages of God’s word and study His will. When we gather together for edification and growth in the body of Christ, our goal should be to delve into pages of the Bible and stand amazed and in awe of everything that God has done for us. It is then that we learn how we ought to live for Him, that we might always bring praise, glory and honor to His name.

One of the reasons that the crowd was so amazed at the way that Jesus taught was due to the fact that He never claimed to be quoting another authority. He was, and is, and always will have, all authority in heaven and on earth (Matt. 28:18). It was a regular practice of other religious leaders to say, “The prophet said…” or “Rabbi _________ says…” Jesus simply speaks, and He claims the authority to do so. He is the Word of God! (Jn. 1:1; Heb 1:1). It is no wonder that the people were amazed. Are you amazed?

"In the synagogue there was a man possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, 'Let us alone! What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have 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 down in the midst {of the people} he came out of him without doing him any harm."

Luke enjoys including stories that have to do with the healing works of the Great Physician, Jesus Christ. As a doctor, these lessons speak to him as a writer.

Anytime that we begin a discussion on things pertaining to the spirits, many questions begin to surface. Can mankind be possessed today by the spirit world? Is it possible to be so influenced by those spirits that we would be harmed or would say or do something that would be beyond our control? It is obvious that during the time of Jesus, many people believed in the interaction of the spirits with mankind. As a truth, almost all sicknesses and hardships were associated with evil spirits that came into the body through the air, food, drink etc.

Barclay states, “The Egyptians believed that there were thirty-six different parts of the human body and any of them could be entered and controlled by one of these evil spirits. There could be a spirit of deafness, of dumbness, of fever; spirits which took a man’s sanity and wits away; spirits of lying and of deceit and of uncleanness. It was such a spirit that Jesus, in this passage, exorcised from this man. To many people this is a problem. On the whole, modern thought regards this belief in spirits as primitive and superstitious and as something, which men have outgrown. And yet Jesus seemed to believe in them.”

Barclay went on to explain that we must offer 3 suggestions, which we will summarize:

1. Jesus actually did believe in the possessive evil spirits (See Matt. 12:43-45)

2. Jesus lived in a superstitious generation and yet didn’t believe in the possessive evil spirits, but He allowed the ill person to believe in evil spirits as the cause of his ailment, in order to heal him.

3. Jesus’ day and our modern day have very few differences and whatever ailments cannot be explained by doctors and or healed by medical treatment, must have some association with evil spirits.

No matter what you think about the evil spirits in the days of Christ, one fact remains; the Holy Spirit revealed to the writers of the NT that evil spirits were causing certain people to function differently. These spirits not only caused individuals to act in strange ways, but they also spoke through their hosts. Jesus interacted with an unclean spirit through a discussion in this text.

One of the men, being present when Jesus was teaching, was filled with an unclean spirit of a demon. This spirit was causing this participant on the Sabbath to speak as if he knew the Lord in a very close way.  No demon can claim that they know Jesus on a first-hand basis, for He has no association with evil and error. The point that Jesus was making on this occasion, was not that he wouldn’t accept homage under the name, “the Holy One of God!”, but that the evil spirit had no right to claim an acquaintance with Him. While Jesus is without question the Holy One that was sent to earth by God, no demon has a right to claim that he knows the Lord (See James 2:18-20). While the demons believe in who Jesus is, they certainly did not prove their faith by their service to the devil. Neither can we say that we believe and know the Lord unless we are faithfully serving Him. Think about that!

The demon-possessed man was forced to cry out, “Let us alone! What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are-- the Holy One of God!" Some translations render the first part of the spirits speech as, “Ah” or “Aha” since the first word in his address was a word of interjection. Since the word also means “let it be”, some have translated this word “Let us alone!”. In either case, another reason that Jesus was moved to rebuke the demon spirit, was because he was testing Jesus to see if He would fulfill the work that he came to do (I Jn. 3:8b).

A point that we can make application of at this time, is that we usually feel safeguarded from the devil when we are seated in the assembly of those of the faith. This text is a good example to prove that the devil is always at work in trying to lead others astray from what is right and true. Even in the midst of the assembly, the devil will try to give us a negative attitude or an improper spirit, in trying to take our focus away from our purpose. In these cases people are led to disobedience and indifference to the truthful message that is delivered from the Bible.

Many congregations have faced the terrible effects of a split, where one or more members decided they were going to do something that would surely lead to falsehood and error and the rest of the congregation must choose between following them or separating from them. Satan is at work in such situations where God’s people are no longer in unity and harmony with one another. We need to learn how to cast out the unclean spirits from our midst, or we may find ourselves in the same situation. Warnings about such error and sinful practices, among God’s people, abound in the New Testament for the Lord’s church, and we would do well to hear and heed each and every one of them.

This section of our text concludes in telling us that, “Jesus rebuked him, saying, ‘Be quiet and come out of him!’ And when the demon had thrown him down in the midst {of the people} he came out of him without doing him any harm.” One thing we must always remember, is that our Lord has more authority and is more powerful than any tactic or scheme that Satan can bring against us. He has even given us the authority to stand against the devil and overcome his plans (See Eph. 6:10-13; James 4:7). Jesus demonstrates that power here, when he tells the demon spirit to be quiet and leave the body of this man in the assembly on the Sabbath day. Think about something that is hindering you from faithfully following the Lord and remain true to His word. Tell that unclean spirit to “shut up and get out” and then focus on the goal of heaven and press on toward the prize that God has in store for the faithful. Don’t let some unclean spirit keep you from the Holy Spirit that you are supposed to have dwelling in you. Does sin dwell in your body? (See Rom. 7:18-8:14)

The eastern world was filled with exorcism, but obviously their methods of healing were much more exhaustive and extensive than what Jesus has done on this Sabbath day. Jesus uttered a short command for each of the actions that he wanted the evil spirit to obey. One was basically “shut up” (phimoo (fee-mo'-o); “to muzzle”) and the other was “get out” (exerchomai (ex-er'-khom-ahee) “to issue” [literally or figuratively] and apo (apo') "off," or “away”) (Vine’s).

Notice that the text concludes that the spirit came out of the man without doing him any harm. Mark records how this man went into convulsions and then the spirit cried out loud and left his body (Mark 1:26). Apparently, when a spirit came out of a man, it would in some cases do physical harm to that individual.

In this assembly in the text, the evil spirit threw the man to the ground and yet no harm was done to him. Something that we should understand is that when trying to cleanse ourselves of habits involving sin and unrighteousness, there may be times when we find ourselves down and we are struggling to overcome the viciousness of an evil unclean spirit. It is then that we really need to rely on the Lord for help.

It is good to address the fact that the evil spirit works together in leagues with other spirits. Notice that when the evil spirit spoke through the man, he said, ““Let us alone! (plural) What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us?”. This tells us that while the text implies that only one evil spirit had possessed this man on the Sabbath day, when he spoke, they spoke as a league of demons in using the word “us” and “we”.

Even today, something may have a tight grip on your soul right now and you may need to get rid of it. Don’t wait another day to purify your soul in obedience to the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ and faithfulness to the same (I Peter 1:22; Mark 16:16-17a). Seek the Lord and His direction for being made free from sin and all uncleanness.

Barnes commented on this and said, “…The possession of the man was a direct assault upon God and his works. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil, and Jesus had a right, therefore, to liberate the captive, and to punish him who had possessed him. So Satan still considers it an infringement of his rights when God frees a ‘sinner’ from bondage and destroys his influence over the soul. So, he still asks to be let alone, and to be suffered to lead people captive at his will.”

Jesus never rebuked or chided the man on this occasion, but he went to the source of the problem, that is the evil spirit and rebuked it to leave the man. This tells us that within every person there is the potential to be everything that God intended for us to be. In many cases it will require us to remove any evil that still lingers before we can excel in the faith of Jesus Christ. Think about that!

"And amazement came upon them all, and they {began} talking with one another saying, 'What is this message? For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits and they come out.' And the report about Him was spreading into every locality in the surrounding district."

As you can probably guess, the people in attendance were amazed in the presence of the Lord, as He performed a mighty work on this demon possessed man. Their questions concerned the powerful authoritative message that Jesus was speaking.

The congregation wanted to know, "What is this message?” That is a great question that we all must learn the answer to. The message of Jesus is one of hope that gives us a bright future. That is really the lesson for this occasion. Jesus wasn’t casting out a demon, simply to prove His power and authority, as much as His message was we can be freed from the evil spirits that hold us back from a Spirit-filled relationship to God…You can overcome the devil and be found victorious if you have been saved from your sins…You can have eternal life if you will not give in to the wicked schemes of the devil in this life.

What a message this truly is for a people that have been looking for the Messiah to deliver them and set them free from the captivity of Satan (See Luke 4:17-21). We are told how to be become servants of God, rather than servants of the devil (Rom. 6:16-23).

As we have pointed out in previous lessons, news about Jesus was spreading, because He was involved in doing the will of God the Father. The text says, “And the report about Him was spreading into every locality in the surrounding district.” Has word about Jesus and His message spread into your place? If it has, have you been so excited about it that you have obeyed the message and spread the same to others? Could it be said of your congregation, that when you hear good news (gospel) about Jesus in your assemblies, that you spread it into “every locality” (place) “in the surrounding district”. Perhaps you think of your district as your city or country, but perhaps we could make application of this in every place that we go (home, school, work, play etc.). Every people in every place need to hear about Jesus. We need to let Jesus be our main topic of discussion as we live from day to day and we realize how much He means to us.

I want to take this moment to tell you about Jesus, if you don’t know him. Remember that knowing Jesus is more than simply believing that He exists or that He is who He said He was. Knowing the Lord, requires us to listen to His words and act upon them (Luke 6:46-49). He speaks with authority because He speaks the word of God. He tells us exactly what we need to do in order to be saved and have the hope of eternal life. We need to believe and be baptized to be saved (Mark 16:16; Matt. 7:21-29). It would take us an eternity to even begin to explain in full detail what Jesus means to us, but let it be said that he came to seek and to save that which was lost…and that includes you if you have never obeyed the gospel of Jesus Christ (See II Thess. 1:7-10).

Not much is said about the man who was freed of the evil spirit after the event took place. One thing is sure, he was free from the burden of the evil that had possessed his life for so long. No doubt he was giving thanks to the Lord and he was eternally grateful for his deliverance from that wickedness. What about you? Can I help you to come to the Lord for deliverance? Are you willing to let Jesus set you free from the burden of sin (John 8:31-37) If I can assist you further in learning about the gospel and being saved, please reach out to me.