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

 

 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, following His forty-day period of testing 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 brokenhearted, 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.  And they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was with authority.  According to the commentary of St. Ambrose of Milan, Christ began to preach, heal, and teach on the Sabbaths to show that "the new creation began where the old creation ceased."  Jesus speaks with authority, astonishing the people.  The prophets of old and the teachers of Christ's time taught in the third person ("The Lord says").  But Christ teaches in the first person ("I say to you").  See also Matthew 5, the first chapter in the Sermon on the Mount.  

 

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.  Jesus rebukes the demon for speaking ("Be quiet!").  The Orthodox Study Bible comments that Christ's refusal disclose His identity as Messiah is foreseen by Isaiah (Isaiah 42:1-4).  The reasons for secrecy include first of all, the growing hostility of the Jewish leadership.  Then there is the people's misunderstanding of the Messiah and expectations for an earthly, political leader to bring material wealth and power to Israel.  Finally, our Lord desires to evoke genuine faith not based solely on marvelous signs.  See Matthew 12:16-21.

 

 As Jesus begins His ministry, we see the spiritual conflict that is at the heart of His mission coming out into the open.  The devil is called "the ruler of this world" by Jesus in St. John's Gospel.  And those demons who oppress human beings and make their lives a misery serve under that particular "god of this age," as St. Paul put it.  It is part of Christ's saving mission to lay claim to our world as rightful Lord, and claim it away from the one who holds sway, and refuses to serve the true God.  So, in today's reading, Jesus' power and authority come not merely through His teaching and speaking, and His startling way of phrasing what He says ("I say to you").  It comes through His power over the demons, who also recognize Him.  It comes through His power to cast out the demon, commanding the demon to "come out of him," and -- perhaps startlingly -- it comes through His power to command the demon to "be quiet!"  Jesus is the Master of His ministry, and it is only He who will reveal His identity, and in the proper time, for the proper purposes.  He does not want to be identified by the demons, who know who He is.  They say, "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!"   They identify Jesus as "the Holy One of God."  The One is the One Son of God, the Holy One.  Notice how they are surprised that He is in their midst, and they even know Him as Jesus of Nazareth.  It's interesting to observe what the demons know and what they don't, because it tells us something about these spirits at work in our world.  They can't second-guess the work of God, although they do recognize the power and authority of Christ, for they have no choice.  They are compelled to do so.  Jesus' first act, after His Baptism by St. John the Baptist, was to go into the wilderness and be tested and tempted by the devil.  The Gospels tell us that in so doing, He was led by the Spirit.  (In St. Mark's Gospel, it is said that Jesus was driven by the Spirit; the literal translation of the Greek tells us He was "thrown" by the Spirit into the wilderness, "cast out."  See Mark 1:12.)  In that time of testing in the wilderness during His forty days of fasting and praying, Jesus defeated Satan in their confrontations through obedience to the Father and the Holy Spirit.  Here the demons are powerless even to challenge Him; Jesus simply commands them.  But it opens up for us Christ's mission as Deliverer and Savior.  For He is not on His saving mission simply to make us good, or better people, to teach us good teachings, or even purely to save souls.  He is here to claim His authority; He is here "for the life of the world" and all the created order.  He is here to displace the false rebellious ruler of this world, and through His ministry He also invites us into this fight.  After all, we are at the center of it, and the battle that goes on here is the battle that takes place for our souls, inside of us.  While the demons use human beings for their tortured and selfish, parasitical purposes, Jesus' mission into the world enlists us also as servants of God, just as He is the Servant of Isaiah's prophecy.  He is here so that in our redemption we may become "sons of God" by adoption, even as the angels (including the fallen ones) are bodiless powers called "sons of God" simply by creation (Job 1:6; 2:1).  In this sense, human beings, by the holiness made possible through grace and Christ's redemptive mission, become a part of Christ's ultimate victory and the defeat of the demons' rebellion, even potentially assuming higher places in the created order of God.  Through Christ's Incarnation, deified human nature may thus take the place of the destiny forfeited by the fallen angels.  So, Jesus' presence among the demons spells their end, in a truly cosmic and final way.  Let us pay careful attention and strengthen our faith in His redemptive mission.  

 

 

Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country

 

 Then 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 brokenhearted,

to proclaim liberty to the captives

And recovering 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 the 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.

 

- Luke 4:14-30 

 

Yesterday we read that, following His Baptism by St. John the Baptist, Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil.  And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.  And the devil said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread."  But Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.'" Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.  And the devil said to Him, "All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.  Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours."  And Jesus answered and said to him, "Get behind Me, Satan!  for it is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.'"  Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here.  For it is written:  'He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you,' and, 'In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.'"  And Jesus answered and said to him, "It has been said, 'You shall not tempt the LORD your God.'"  Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.   

 

   Then 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 brokenhearted, 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."  My study Bible notes that, as Christ is the eternal Son of God, He did not become the world's anointed Savior, but rather has always been our Savior from before the foundation of the world.  It was Christ who spoke through Isaiah who said, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me" (Isaiah 61:1).  Jesus doesn't say, "The Spirit has come upon Me."  When the Spirit of the LORD descended on Jesus at His Baptism (see above, Luke 3:22), this was a sign which revealed an eternal, not temporal, truth to the people.  The acceptable year of the LORD is the time of the Incarnation, when the Kingdom of heaven has come to earth (see 2 Corinthians 6:2).  

 

 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.  According to my study Bible, this double response of both marveling and rejection occurs frequently in those who encounter Christ (see Luke 11:14-16; John 9:16).  Being rejected in His own country fulfills the rejection of the Old Testament prophets such as Elijah and Elisha.  Moreover, it foreshadows Christ's rejection by the whole Jewish nation at His trial before Pilate (John 19:14-15).  My study Bible adds that Christ accepts death according to the Father's will, not at the will of the Jews.  Here, the hour of Christ's Passion has not yet come (see John 8:20).  Important to note is that Jesus' statement, "Assuredly, I  say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country," appears in all four Gospels (see also Matthew 13:57; Mark 6:4; John 4:44).

 

We all face rejection in our lives, perhaps on a frequent basis.  But shall we consider Christ, the Lord of the Universe, and the rejection He goes through in His earthly ministry?  There is not simply this rejection that we read about in today's reading, but, as my study Bible also notes, the rejection to come from the entire nation.  Perhaps it is important that this first rejection comes so early in His ministry, and it happens in His hometown of Nazareth.   We may find familiarity with what we've experienced in life; that is, the humiliation of being embarrassed, and rejection in front of a body of our peers.  This is important, because Christ gives us a sense of what it is to persevere in doing what is right in God's sight, and out of loyalty and love for God.  In this sense, Christ's rejection is another kind of temptation that bears a small resemblance to the temptations in the wilderness by Satan which we read about yesterday (see above).  In yesterday's reading, Jesus' relation to the Father was tested ("If You are the Son of God. . .") in terms of His needs (bread), worldly power and authority ("all the kingdoms of the world"), and the danger He would face ("throw yourself down from here").  In today's reading, we find similar temptations, in that in His hometown He is no longer welcome (so it could not be a place of refuge for Him in the world), His authority is rejected, and He's placed in danger as they try to throw Him off a cliff.  These all repeat, in some sense, the temptations of the devil.  If we examine this pattern closely, we see that for Jesus it will repeat in different forms throughout His ministry, particularly in the patterns of growing hostility and opposition by the religious authorities in Jerusalem, and among those who rule for Rome.  But additionally, the people will also turn against Him at different times, the crowds who are often led in very capricious ways either by authorities or one another.  In all ways, Christ's earthly ministry is meant to heal, and so His rejection becomes a paradigm.  When we find ourselves in this place of rejection or humiliation, we need to turn to Him for how to walk through it, how to find His light in our darkness (John 12:35).  For Jesus, His "pattern" is always to be the Son of God; this is who He is and the life He leads.   But for those of us who desire to become "sons of God" by adoption, it is also the identity we must follow in imitation of Him.  "How does God want me to respond?" is always an important question.  Turning to prayer, to Scripture, to the saints, to worship -- all are essential ways to face our own temptations in the face of humiliation and rejection, the withdrawal of safety and security, the uncertainty of hostility and danger.  This must be an active pursuit on our part, not a passive or lazy one, for each person will face unique struggles and challenges, and God may desire particular responses for each situation.  Such is the nature of spiritual struggle, for which we have been given so much by Christ, including the gift of grace, the Holy Spirit, and all the tools of the Church.  Let us "work the works of God" in our active spiritual life, as He has taught us.

 

The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light

 

 Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee.  And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:

"The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,

By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,

Galilee of the Gentiles:

The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light,

And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death

Light has dawned."

From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

 

- Matthew 4:12-17 

 

Yesterday we read that, after His Baptism by John the Baptist,  Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.  Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."  But He answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'" Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down.  For it is written:  'He shall give His angels charge over you,' and 'In their hands they shall bear you up, / Lest you dash your foot against a stone.'"Jesus said to him, "It is written again, 'You shall not tempt the LORD your God.'"  Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.  And he said to Him, "All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me."  Then Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan!  For it is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.'"  Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.  

 

 Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee.  And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:  "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, / By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, / Galilee of the Gentiles: . . . "   Matthew quotes from Isaiah 9:1-2, a prophesy of the coming of Christ.  My study Bible comments that the term Galilee of the Gentiles indicates that many non-Jews lived in the region.  As Galilee had a mixed population, it says, it was not considered to be a genuinely Jewish land, although many Gentile residents had converted to Judaism during the Maccabean period.  As much of the Jewish population there had been influenced by Greek culture and customs, they were generally looked upon as second-class citizens by the Jews of Judea.

" . . . The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, / And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death / Light has dawned."  My study Bible explains that darkness means ungodliness.  Here it is a representation of the Gentiles' unawareness of God, and the Jews being under the shadow of the Old Covenant.  To sit in darkness means to be overcome by spiritual ignorance.  The great light is the gospel of Jesus Christ.  As we can see from Isaiah's prophecy, this darkness of spiritual ignorance has an association with death and evil.

From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."  Christ's first word in His preaching, like that of John the Baptist, is Repent."  My study Bible comments that the kingdom of heaven is present wherever Christ is.

In the use of Isaiah's prophecy, we see how Scripture is meant to work.  There are echoes of truths throughout the Old and New Testaments; things which are foreshadowed in the Old manifest themselves through Christ's ministry and Incarnation -- right through to Ascension -- in the New.  It is important to understand Scripture as its own kind of literature:  it's not a history textbook, it's not a how-to book, it's not like any other kind of literature.  One thing we can note here is its sense of timelessness, of being outside of time.  Or rather, time is something that is intersected by this place from which literature comes.  Where the kingdom of heaven is, there is no sense of boundaries by time; it is something always "present."  So when the Isaiah is given a prophecy about the great light that dawns in Galilee of the Gentiles, its root is from this place Christ calls the kingdom of heaven, as we know that Isaiah lived and gave his prophecies in approximately the 8th century BC, long before the Galilee of the Gentiles existed and before the birth and ministry of Jesus Christ.  But this is how prophecy works:  it comes out of an experience given to some of the kingdom of heaven, and the prophets in turn give that to us.  Time is immaterial in this sense that the kingdom is present to those who experience it and in turn present what they are given to us.  Of course, we don't know this Kingdom in its true fullness, but we are given glimpses; God visits us in these forms, and manifested as both divine and human in one Man, Jesus Christ.  This is the center of our faith.  Jesus teaches, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."  In the context of what we have just reviewed of the prophecy of Isaiah and its meaning, what do we make of this?  We know that the prophets themselves, such as Isaiah, were frequently persecuted, out of sorts with the world, deliberately called out of the world to serve God -- especially at times of great corruption, to call people back to God and to God's message.  Here is Jesus, God made manifest as human being, fully God and fully human, who teaches us that this kingdom of heaven is present with Him, and He, like the prophets before Him (particularly in the word of John the Baptist from chapter 3), teaches us to repent in order to successfully meet that Kingdom, and to receive it.  The fact that today's reading tells us that Jesus begins His preaching when He knows John has been imprisoned further indicates that this present message is reflected through time.  When Jesus sends out the apostles on their first mission, He will teach them to say the same, that the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matthew 10:7), that it has drawn near.  This is because, as those sent out by Christ, the apostles carry that Kingdom with them, and they go before Him announcing the "good news," the gospel of Christ -- the same way a messenger would be sent out to announce the gospel (εὐαγγέλιον/evangelion) or great message of Caesar or another earthly ruler.  And in that same sense that anything with Caesar's stamp or image on it indicated Caesar's presence and the presence of his realm, so the kingdom of heaven is present where there is an image or icon of Jesus Christ -- most especially where we seek to worship and to honor Him, and within ourselves as we learn that each one of us is made in the image and likeness of God, and to bear that image and likeness into the world.  If all of this sounds confusing, it is meant simply to mean this:  that God is with us (Matthew 1:23), the kingdom of heaven is present to us (Matthew 3:2, 4:17, 10:7), and that it is within us (Luke 17:21).  But we will not realize it without faith (the work of God), and the repentance which accompanies that faith, as we also grow in this image and participate in the Kingdom through worship, prayer, and the sacraments.  But let us consider how this great light dawns in our lives, to dispel our own darkness, to teach us in the love of God, revealed through the beautiful poetry of Isaiah and the gospel of Jesus Christ.  We would do well to remember that this is an ongoing  process and continues today in our world and in us, at all times present and at hand in this way.

 

What a word this is! For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out

 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

In yesterday's reading, we were told that after His temptation and forty days 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 brokenhearted, 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 quotes St. Ambrose of Milan on this verse, who writes that Jesus 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.   There are many things Jesus does that cause people to be astonished.  But the subject of His authority is an essential to note.  He is unlike the prophets of old and the teachers of His day.   My study bible explains that they would teach in the third person ("The Lord says").  But Jesus speaks from Himself; He teaches in the first person ("I say to you").  See also Matthew 5, the first part of the Sermon on the Mount.

 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.   Jesus commands the demon to be quiet, and come out of him.  Although He speaks with authority and His power is evident, Jesus isn't ready to reveal Himself as Christ, the Messiah.  It's not yet His time.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus read from Isaiah to the people of His hometown, Nazareth.  This lack of open proclamation of His identity was also foreseen by Isaiah (see Isaiah 42:1-4).   My study bible cites reasons for secrecy which include the growing hostility of the religious leadership, the people's misunderstanding and false expectations of the Messiah as an earthly and political leader, and Christ's desire for genuine faith not based wholly on persuasive or marvelous signs.  The demons know Him, and they know His power of judgment, but they do not willingly serve that power.  They, however, cannot resist His command.

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.  Jesus expresses His authority and power in what He does, how He ministers.  His is not a ministry of open proclamation and worldly types of persuasion.  Faith must come from those who accept to understand what He does and what He teaches.

Jesus' temptations in the wilderness were all about temptations for worldly use of both His authority and His power.  Satan questioned Christ's relationship to the Father, and His identity as Son; the temptation was to prove it on worldly terms.  In these beginning passages of Jesus' ministry in Galilee, we see the temptations' roots in how His ministry is to be conducted.  He will not give earthly proofs of who He is, although His ministry will express many signs of the divine at work.  He will not declare Himself as a sort of worldly power, commanding armies and legions and using force or manipulation as persuasion.  His ministry is one that calls people to faith, and more.  He calls human beings to use their own capacities for spiritual sight and hearing.  In the unclean demon, we see an example of the spiritual without the true discipline of faith.  It is simply destructive -- and destructive to human beings.  Its work is parasitical, its energy and effect is haywire.  It teaches us that even the "spiritual" does not guarantee good effect, good direction, true healing for human beings, nor good intention and order.  The demon does not love God, nor understand God's love, but only fears destruction -- and therefore does not love human beings.   Ultimately, the real key to faith is love, what we love within ourselves, and the depth of loyalty that builds in terms of faith in the word and teachings of Christ.  In such we come to more deeply know God's love.  Jesus' power and authority come down to the appeal to those who love God, and therefore can know God, recognizing what is before them.  He will repeat this teaching over and over again to the authorities:  that had they known His Father, they would know Him.  So what is this word that is brought into the world by the Word Himself?  How do we really know love, and what is truly good for us?  What is contained in His love that the demon doesn't know?  How is it that we as human beings are capable of discerning this?  There are many reasons why His ministry will unfold as it does, for His way of calling out faith.  But above all, we can see the tie between faith and love.  Do we have ears to hear and eyes to see it?