I know who You are -- the Holy One of God!

 

 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.

 

- Luke 4:31–37 

 

Yesterday we read that, after His forty-day period of fasting and temptation in the wilderness,  Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region.   And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.  So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up.  And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.  And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah.  And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:  "The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD."  Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down.  And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him.  And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."  So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth.  And they said, "Is this not Joseph's son?"  He said to them, "You will surely say this proverb to Me, 'Physician, heal yourself!  Whatever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in Your country.'"  Then He said, "Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country.  But I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land; but to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath, in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.  And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian."  So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, and rose up and thrust Him out of the city; and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff.  Then passing through the midst of them, He went His way. 

 

  Then He went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbaths.  My study Bible cites the commentary of St. Ambrose of Milan, who says that Christ begins preaching and healing on the Sabbaths to show that "the new creation began where the old creation ceased."

And they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was with authority.   Jesus teaches with authority; that is unlike the prophets of old and the teachers of His time, who taught in the third person ("the Lord says"), Jesus taught in the first person ("I say to you").  See, for example, the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5.  

 

 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.  Christ is careful to keep hidden His identity as Messiah, in this beginning of His ministry ("Be quiet...!").  My study Bible comments that this hidden or secret quality is foreseen by Isaiah (Isaiah 42:1-4).  There are several reasons for this secrecy.  First, there is the growing hostility of the Jewish leaders which Jesus knows will happen (Jesus has already dealt with rejection in His hometown of Nazareth; see yesterday's reading, above).  Second, the people have particular expectations of the Messiah which are focused on an earthly, political leader quite different from Christ's own messianic mission.  Finally, the Lord's desire is to evoke genuine faith, which is not based simply on marvelous signs. 

 

The first thing we notice about Jesus is, indeed, His authoritative presence, and presentation of Himself.  As my study Bible points out, He doesn't simply teach like one of the scribes, nor does He speak as did the prophets.  He speaks from Himself.  He doesn't declare His identity to the world in proclamations about Himself, but instead His actions reflect who He is.  They give us a portrait of messianic authority.  As the people say, "For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out."  He speaks with authority and power, commanding the unclean spirit, and this is, indeed, Christ's own authority and power.  This is important for us to understand, because without such authority within Himself, He could not command us in the ways that He does throughout the Gospels.  When He speaks and teaches with authority, such as in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 - 7) or the Sermon on the Plain (Luke 6:20-49), we're given commands that Jesus teaches are "everlasting life," because He speaks whatever the Father has told Him to speak (John 12:50).  Elsewhere Jesus teaches that His words are spirit and they are life, because it is the Spirit who gives life (John 6:63), and the Spirit rests on Him.  Moreover, John the Baptist teaches (in John's Gospel), "The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand" (John 3:35).  Everything that we know points to Christ's authority as Son, which has been given Him by the Father.  In John 16:15, Jesus says, "All things that the Father has are Mine."  Therefore, the authority in Christ is a kind of absolute, for it is conferred by the Father.  Even the sheep who belong to Christ, those who come in faith, are drawn by the Father to Christ (John 10:27-30); so therefore, Christ's authority is complete in all the ways we can think of.  Even the power of judgment is conferred to Christ by the Father (John 5:22-23).   In today's reading, Christ's actions express who He is.  In some sense, He's hidden in plain sight, but clearly, in the words of the unclean spirit, the spirit world knows who He is.  For us, it's important to understand that whatever we see in life (or think we see) there is this hidden, mysterious realm that is part of our reality.  It might not show so well to us, it might not be obvious, but Christ, the saints, the prophets before Him, and the faithful of the Church, testify that that reality amidst us.  Christ's authority is clear to the unclean spirit, and it obeys.  But we, who might not be aware of all that goes on around us, are left to discern what perhaps we cannot so clearly see.  Jesus will teach us that "every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them" (Matthew 7:17-20).  Christ speaks with authority and acts with authority, and these fruits of His early ministry bear witness to Him.  How will we know what's real and what's true?  We will follow His command, seeking His help for discernment, for His authority is what leads us and protects us from false prophets, from the darkness that rejects the light of the Holy One of God.