Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men

 

 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.  Repent, and believe in the gospel."

And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.  Then Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men."  They immediately left their nets and followed Him.  When He had gone a little farther from there, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the boat mending their nets.  And immediately He called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went after Him.  

Then they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught.  And they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.  

 

Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit.  And he cried out, 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 unclean spirit had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him.  Then they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, "What is this?  What new doctrine is this?  For with authority He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him."  And immediately His fame spread throughout all the region around Galilee.

 

- Mark 1:14-28 

 

Yesterday we read the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, according to St. Mark.  As it is written in the Prophets:  As it is written in the Prophets: "Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You." "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the LORD; make His paths straight.'"  John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.  Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.  Now John was clothed with camel's hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.  And he preached, saying, "There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose.  I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."  It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan.  And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove.  Then a voice came from heaven, "You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."  Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness.  And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.

 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.  Repent, and believe in the gospel."  My study Bible comments that Mark's written emphasis on John being put in prison before Jesus begins preaching reveals that a key purpose of the old covenant -- to prepare the people for Christ -- had been completed (Galatians 4:1-5).  Once Christ came, the time of preparation was fulfilled.  To repent, my study Bible says, is to do a total "about-face."  In Greek, the word translated as repentance (μετανοια/metanoia) means literally to "change one's mind."  My study Bible adds that repentance is a radical change of one's spirit, mind, thought, and heart.  That is, a complete reorientation to a life centered in Christ.  This is a lifetime endeavor, not a one-time choice.  

And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.  Then Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men."  They immediately left their nets and followed Him.  When He had gone a little farther from there, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the boat mending their nets.  And immediately He called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went after Him.  My study Bible comments that these first disciples had already heard the preaching of John the Baptist and were prepared to accept Christ immediately.  Although they were illiterate and unlearned in religion (as opposed to the leadership in the temple), these "people of the land" whom Jesus calls will be revealed at Pentecost to the be the wisest of all. 

Then they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught.  And they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.   My study Bible tells us that the word immediately occurs nearly forty times in Mark's Gospel, nearly all of these occurrences before our Lord's entrance into Jerusalem.  It says that the sense of urgency and purpose as Christ journeys toward Jerusalem to fulfill His mission of redeeming the world helps make Mark's account not only the shortest but also the most direct of all four Gospels.

Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit.  And he cried out, 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 unclean spirit had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him.  Then they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, "What is this?  What new doctrine is this?  For with authority He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him."  And immediately His fame spread throughout all the region around Galilee.  My study Bible observes Christ's command to the unclean spirit to be quiet.  It explains that our Lord's refusal to fully disclose His identity as Messiah is foreseen by Isaiah (Isaiah 42:1-4).  It gives the following reasons for secrecy:  First, there is the growing hostility of the Jewish leaders; second, the people misunderstand the Messiah as an earthly, political leader.  Finally, our Lord's desire is to evoke genuine faith which is not based solely on marvelous signs. 

Christ's casting out of the unclean demon is a sign of the spiritual warfare that is always going on unseen by us on worldly terms.  But this is yet another expression of an idea we explored in yesterday's reading, in which Christ's temptation in the wilderness served as a picture of the world.  Yesterday, we quoted from my study Bible, which noted that the wilderness (into which Christ was "thrown" by the Holy Spirit to be tempted by Satan) is a battleground, an image of the world, both the dwelling place of demons and a source of divine tranquility and victory.  Here, Christ's first bold public act is the casting out of a demon, an exorcism.  We should note that the demon knows full well who Christ truly is, "the Holy One of God!"  It gives us a clue about the demonic, that demons do not act out of ignorance, as human beings so often do, and it gives us a clue about judgment, and the time that we human beings are given in this world for repentance.  In essence, right from the beginning, Christ's Incarnation, and of course His public ministry, is all about revelation, exposing or uncovering the spiritual reality of the kingdom of heaven in our midst, but also of the demonic at work.  So, we should not be surprised that as persons and communities we so often find ourselves torn between these choices that can't really reconcile with one another.  So often we seek a compromise in our lives, but when challenges to our faith arise there are times when we simply cannot cross that line.  Thus the history of Christianity is filled with martyrs and confessors, those who have suffered for their faith.  When Jesus teaches (as we shall read) with such drastic sayings such as, "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it" (Mark 8:35), or "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me" (Matthew 10:37), He's talking about the times when we must make such choices.  Perhaps He puts it into clear context when He says, "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon" (Matthew 6:24).  The demons have chosen one way, a rebellion against God, and they have done so within an entirely different context than straying human beings, for they are not human.  We, on the other hand, as human beings are born into a world where we must make choices often as steps to learn, one way or the other, from our mistakes and failures, but also from the joy that comes from serving the Lord, and the peace we may find therein.  We must pause to reflect that in the Greek, the word for "disciple" literally means "learner," and this greatly differentiates us from the demons.  Time is an important concept of our identities as human beings, for it is this living in time, moment to moment, which gives us the sense in which life is a journey, but in spiritual terms for us, it is a journey of the capacity for repentance, to change, to change our minds, to grow.  In this understanding is the mission of Christ:  He brings His light into the world in order for us, and for our world on so many levels, to be transfigured, to become more like Him, to find His "way" for us.  In today's reading, Jesus tells the fishermen, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men."  Here in Christ's words we find a great illustration of what it means to be transfigured into the people Christ calls us to be:  they are fishermen, but He will make them become fishers of men, of people.  His light will transfigure their lives, change them, and they will become something richer and deeper, who they are called to be in His name.  We live in a world of perplexing choices, complicated chances, strange coincidences, and one that demands of us faith.  But we must know ourselves enough to understand that as human beings, we are made for worship, and so we must choose carefully Who and what that is, what we will serve and what we put first.  It is Christ who calls us by our true name, who gives us true meaning.  Who will you follow? 

 

 

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.

What a word is this! 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 is this!  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 temptation by the devil 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 our hearing."  So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth.  And they said, "Is not this 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 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.   My study Bible quotes St. Ambrose of Milan, who comments that Christ here begins preaching and healing on the Sabbaths in order to show that "the new creation began where the old creation ceased."  Jesus teaches with authority, and the people were astonished, because unlike the prophets of old and the teachers of His day who taught in the third person ("The Lord says"), Christ taught in the first person ("I say to you").  See also Matthew 5, 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 is this!  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.   My study Bible comments that Christ's refusal to fully disclose His identity as Messiah is foreseen by Isaiah (Isaiah 42:1-4).  There are various reasons for secrecy given here.  First, there is the growing hostility of the Jewish leaders (if He's preaching in the synagogues the rulers are bound to take notice, especially after this event).  Second, the people's misunderstanding of the Messiah has led to expectations of an earthly, political leader, which Christ is not.  Finally, Jesus' desire is to evoke genuine faith, not based solely on marvelous signs.

Let us note Jesus' authority and power.  My study Bible comments on the authority with which Jesus speaks, teaching in the first person ("I say to you"), and how this is distinctive for the people.  In today's reading, Jesus not only teaches, He commands the unclean spirits, thus expressing authority in an even more astonishing way.  This is a kind of sign, in which not only does Jesus command the unclean demon to "come out of him!" but the demon also speaks, identifying Jesus as "the Holy One of God."  Of course, the healing of the man by the exorcism of the demon is another sign of Christ's authority, as the people exclaim, "What a word is this!  For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out."  So in these first episodes we're given of Christ's public ministry, we see a common theme of declaration of authority, and acting with authority.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus announced to His neighbors in His hometown of Nazareth that Isaiah's prophecy (Isaiah 61:1-2), which He read in the synagogue, was fulfilled in their hearing on that day -- a decisively authoritative thing to declare!  Moreover, when they responded by rejecting Him, He declared that "no prophet is accepted in His own country," and furthermore proceeded with the examples of Elijah and Elisha, who were sent by God to foreigners. This further enraged the people in His hometown who then proceeded to attempt to throw Him from a cliff!  But Jesus speaks with authority, and is not afraid to do so, and this is His public ministry.  He does not openly declare that He is the Christ for the various reasons given, but the "signs" -- His speaking and teaching with authority, and His casting out of the demon (also the demon's exclamation that Jesus is the Holy One of God) -- are all things that point to the presence of deity, the root of His authority and power.  In this context, let us think about how Jesus in some sense declares His identity without openly stating it.  He teaches with authority, speaks with power, casts out demons and gives them commands which they must obey.  Let us consider, then, how we may show the world our identity as followers of Christ simply by living the Christian life and following His commands.  In what ways do we tell the world who we are without actually literally telling anybody a name or title?  For this is the unafraid example He sets for us, unabashed to act, but prudent enough to know when it is "time" to go further.

 

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 to them, "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.   After his forty-day period of fasting and temptation in the wilderness, and His journey and preaching in His hometown of Nazareth of Galilee, Jesus begins His public ministry in an even fuller sense.  My study Bible notes that, according to St. Ambrose of Milan, Christ begins preaching and healing on the Sabbaths to show that "the new creation began where the old creation ceased."  Capernaum is the city which will become His "headquarters" for His ministry, the home of Peter and Andrew.

And they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was with authority. To teach with authority that Jesus' teaching differs from the prophets of old and the teachers of His day.  They taught in the third person ("The Lord says"), while Christ teaches in the first person ("I say to you").  See also 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.  Here is also evidence of Christ's authority, and we see that reflected in that the people were all amazed at his power to command the unclean spirits.  Note that Jesus rebuked the demon who identifies Him as the Holy One of God, by saying, "Be quiet."  My study Bible notes several reasons why the Lord refuses to fully disclose His identity as Messiah, and remarks that this was foreseen by Isaiah (Isaiah 42:1-4).  The reasons for secrecy include first, the growing hostility of the Jewish leaders which is soon to come in response to His ministry.  Second, the people misunderstand the Messiah as an earthly, political leader.  Finally, the Lord's desire is to evoke genuine faith, which is not based solely on marvelous signs.  

We might wonder at the authority of Jesus, expressed so early in His ministry.  What did He do before that?  Why are the people of His hometown so astonished at His gracious words?  (See yesterday's reading, above.)  When Jesus decided it was time to begin His public ministry, with His baptism in the Jordan by John, it is clear that this was the appropriate time.  As the prophecy of Isaiah says, He proclaims "the acceptable year of the LORD."  This is the time to begin to use His authority, to express Himself with it through His words and teaching, and even to cast out the unclean demons through that authority.  It might occur to us to consider why Jesus didn't bother throwing out all the unclean demons, and the devil, and whatever spiritual evil exists in the world while He was at it.  Why didn't He just fix everything to be always good before He left this world?  (Of course, we must also throw in upon this subject the question of why He had to die the way He did.)  All of these things are connected to what is called "theodicy."  This is the question of why God permits evil in the world.  Hidden in the notes on today's text is an important reason, that Christ wants people to come to faith not because they are convinced by "proofs" (like the miraculous signs He produces), not because they are astonished through such things, but rather willingly, of their own internal volition.  This is genuine faith He desires, a kind of longing and loyalty that really comes from love, and is a response to the love God brings to us, especially in the Person of Jesus Christ.  God does not compel us to love God back; this has to be voluntary.  Faith and love are deeply, closely connected, for they are both rooted in trust.  Who is it that you really trust in your life?  To whom do you give your trust?  This is the real concept of faith, in essence, and we can see its link to love and to loyalty.  St. John writes, "We love Him because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19).  One does not need to have been one of Christ's first earthly disciples to feel and experience this love, and it is also shared through the saints -- most notably Christ's mother, to whom so many have turned in their own pain, difficulties, and sorrow.  This kind of compassion in communion can truly be experienced through faith.  But still, even so, why does God permit evil in the world?  This is because, strange as it might seem -- and paradoxical as well -- we human beings are at the center of God's concern.  If God truly desires those who can worship in spirit and in truth (see John 4:23-24), then we must come to faith voluntarily and not through compulsion.  If we had no choices in our pathway in life, how different would life be?  Would we be those capable of faith although beset by temptations -- just as Christ faced worldly temptation in the wilderness?  Jesus has spoken of faith as work ("This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent" -- see John 6:28-29), and so it is.  It is a struggle to find the true place in our hearts where we know that our Redeemer lives, just as did Job who struggled with evil in this world (Job 19:25).  It is the way we carry our own cross, as Christ carried His (Luke 9:23).  This is what it is to work the work of faith, for we are His prized precious children, who come to Him voluntarily, and through struggle, to realize His love and to return that love ourselves.  Let us consider the authority of Christ, and His love for us, for we know His struggle for us as well.

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

 

Jesus teaching in the temple, fresco, 14th cent. (after John 7:37).  Vysokie Dechani Serbian Orthodox Christian Monastery, Kosovo

 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 days of temptation, 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 not this 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 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 own way.

 

Then He went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbaths.  My study bible cites St. Ambrose of Milan, who comments that Christ begins preaching and healing on the Sabbaths in order 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.  To teach with authority makes Jesus quite different from both the prophets of old and the teachers of His day.  Usually teaching would happen in the third person (i.e. "The Lord says"), or citing the teaching of a famous rabbi.  But Christ teaches in the first person, saying, "I say to you."

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!"   Here is something to remark about:  Jesus' presence stirs the demons and exposes them.  They know who He is, and that He is their powerful opponent.

But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!"  Jesus commands the unclean demon to be quiet so as not to reveal His identity as the Christ, the Messiah.   My study bible offers several reasons for this, citing the prophecy of Isaiah as foreseeing this need (Isaiah 42:1-4).   The reasons for secrecy include first, the growing hostility of the Jewish leaders.  Then there is the danger of the people's confusion of the Messiah with an expected earthly, political leader, as opposed to Jesus' preaching the gospel of the Kingdom.  Also, Christ's desire is to evoke genuine faith, which is not based solely on marvelous signs. 

 

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 forbids the demon from openly declaring Him to be the Christ, the Holy One of God.  But let us note that His authority and power cannot be hidden. 

 

Christ's public ministry begins with a revelation of His identity, although inadvertent.  It does not come from Jesus, but comes from the unclean demons responding to His presence.  Once He has begun to preach on the Sabbaths, the response of the demons makes it clear they fear His presence.  They worry that the time has come for their destruction, and they clearly know that Christ, "the Holy One of God," has this power.  They already fear a final judgment, and that the time has come.  So what our text tells us today is that although Jesus does not want to make any sort of public declaration about His identity as Messiah, His authority and power are nevertheless revealed, and cannot be hidden.  They are at work in the power to cast out the unclean demon and also to silence it.  His authority and power are at work in His preaching, in which He notably speaks in the first person -- that is, "with authority" -- and the people clearly notice and remark upon this.  So what we can notice about this is that, even though Jesus refrains from speaking in public about His own identity as the Christ, and He also commands the unclean spirit to be quiet so as not to reveal this identity, the signs of His identity are nevertheless all there.  This is an important thing to realize when we speak of Christ and the stories in the Gospels, because the notion of a "sign" is quite important.  Everything Jesus does:  the preaching of the Gospel of the Kingdom, and especially His miraculous doings such as turning water to wine, healing the sick, and most exceptionally the raising of Lazarus, are all "signs," and quite clearly called so especially in the Gospel of John.  All of these signs can also be called manifestations of the presence of the Kingdom, and the power and authority of the Son of God.  The title by which the demon refers to Jesus, "the Holy One of God," is most particularly an important title for today's reading, because it establishes, so early in the public ministry of Christ, a particular distinction for Jesus.  He is not "a" holy one of God.  He is "the Holy One of God."  The word Christ or Messiah is not openly used by the demon, but "the Holy One of God" has a clear and distinct meaning without naming Him as Messiah.  However, Jesus' distinctiveness, despite His "hiding" of His full identity as Messiah at this stage of His ministry, is nevertheless present in the signs so far observed by people.  He speaks with authority, and He commands the demons, so both His authority and power are manifest as signs of who He is.  And this should make us think also about our own identities in Christ, and who we are.  We might not be called to go out and proclaim something about ourselves, but as followers of Christ, we nevertheless hope that we, also, manifest signs of the presence of the Kingdom, also known to us as fruits of the Spirit.  St. Paul lists among these fruits love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.  And he adds that against such there is no law, testifying to the grace present in these fruits.  (See Galatians 5:22-23.)   Without publicly declaring ourselves as figures of discipleship with some sort of title to identify ourselves, these fruits or signs that manifest of our faith and the works that are products of that faith tell us about ourselves and our identity, and they tell others as well -- who may or may not understand the fullness of what is manifest and whence it comes.  But we will know and feel the products of grace in our lives.  Just like Jesus' "fruits" are signs of His real identity, so these signs or manifestations -- as small as they might seem -- are clues to who we are.  Possibly most importantly, they are clues as to vocation.  They give us hints about the road we're on, the journey our faith in Christ takes us on.  Just like the demons, there may be some people in our lives who react quite adversely to what we know to be manifestations of our faith, and that may -- fortunately or unfortunately -- give us a clue about where our own path of vocation in Christ may diverge from the paths of others.  On the other hand, there are those who will recognize the fruits of the Spirit in us for what they are, and value them deeply -- again, giving us a clue as to vocation and where our paths coincide with others who are part of the communion we have joined.  So for today, let us think about vocation, and observe how Christ's vocation or true identity cannot help but be manifest in the various signs that cause people to marvel and demons to fear.  We are but followers of our Lord, and our own paths must also be met as vocation, the signs of grace giving us help for discernment and the leading of the Spirit.  In all things, Jesus follows the Father and is helped and led by the Spirit.  He has also been ministered to by the angels, and will continually seek personal time in prayer.  Let us be like Him, for the disciple is not greater than the Master (Luke 6:40).  If we follow in humility, so we also might bear signs of the Kingdom.  In the icon fresco, above, Jesus offers the waters of the Holy Spirit to all who thirst (John 7:37), and so it is for those who would find their true vocation in faith.

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 

 

Yesterday we read that after being tempted by the devil, 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 thorughout 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.  My study bible quotes St. Ambrose of Milan, who explains that Christ begins preaching and healing on the Sabbaths in order to show that "the new creation began where the old creation ceased."  Regarding teaching . . . His word . . . with authority, my study bible comments that Christ doesn't teach like the prophets of old and the teachers of His own time, who taught in the third person ("The Lord says").  Christ instead teaches in the first person ("I say to you").  See also Matthew 5, 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 commands the unclean demon to Be quiet, as He does not want His messianic identity revealed at this early stage of His ministry -- and certainly not this way, but rather in the way His ministry will unfold with His disciples.  My study bible explains that Christ's refusal to fully disclose His identity as Messiah is foreseen by Isaiah (Isaiah 42:1-4).  The reasons for this secrecy would include the growing hostility of the Jewish leaders, the people's misunderstanding and expectation of the Messiah as an earthly and political leader, and Christ's desire to evoke genuine faith which is not based solely on marvelous signs.  The people marvel at Christ's authority and power, shown in His command to the unclean spirits.

So what is authority and where does it come from?  Where does power come from?  These are the things that distinguish Christ from all the others the people hear preaching.  Christ speaks from His own authority and acts from His own power.  But how would we recognize this authority and power?  My study bible makes note of the ways in which Christ preaches, that He speaks direct from His own authority, in using phrases like, "I say to you," such as when He preaches regarding the Law in the Sermon on the Mount.  In Matthew 5:21-48, Jesus uses the formula, "You have heard that it was said to those of old . . .  But I say to you . . . ," adding, refining, building upon the Law, in just the same way in which the New Testament illumines, expands, and further reveals and enlightens what was given in the Old.  So Jesus conveys power and authority in His speech, but speech alone would not be enough to convey what truly exists with Christ.  In our story of the synagogue in Capernaum in today's reading,  Jesus commands the unclean demon and the demon must obey.  This is another display of authority and of power.  But still, exorcists did exist within the Jewish tradition -- to cast out an unclean demon was not an exceptional sign, but the sign of the authority and power of Christ Himself was something exceptional.  He needs no other name in which to act, no other authority other than what He possesses within Himself.  These are the things to which the people respond and for which they marvel about Christ.  His authority is in His identity, in Himself.  Once again, when pondering this question of authority and power, we return to Christ's relationship to the Father and the Holy Spirit.  His authority and power is in His identity as Son.  As such, this authority and power is something new in the world, something the people have not seen before.   As my study bible reminds us, Christ's preaching is bringing something new into the world, a new creation.  But as "sons" by adoption, how does this authority and power work in us, or through us?  St. Paul writes, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:17-21).  If Christ's power and authority have come into the world in order to reconcile all the world to Himself, and therefore to save, then what is our place in this "ministry of reconciliation" which Paul writes about?  How is Christ's power and authority extended through us?  Ultimately, the power of the Cross is the way of Christ, and that power and authority work in this world, through the good and the bad, for God's purposes.  Let us keep in mind, as we read that the people marvel at Christ, that this power and authority was brought into the world for us, and continues in the ministry He's given to us, and through us.  We each have our place within and among this power and authority which is shared with us, and distributed through the Spirit.  What grace does God share with you?  How does power and authority translate to grace, in order to be at work in your life, and through your part as one among the faithful?  Christ's power and authority startle the people of His time, but in our own lives at this time, we perhaps need that more than ever -- to rely on it, to participate in it, and especially to make it real in this world by living through it.  Let us consider the new creation as one that is ever-renewed, continually made new in us, and our part to play in what is meant for the life of the world.  

"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!"

 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 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 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 cites St. Ambrose of Milan, who comments 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 does not speak like the prophets of old, nor like the teachers of His own day, who taught in the third person ("The Lord says").  But Christ teaches in the first person ("I say to you").  See also Matthew 5, 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!"   Everything that has occurred so far in this early ministry of Christ has been done through the work of the Holy Spirit, as our readings have attested (3:22; 4:1, 14).  But here, the spiritual world "breaks out" into the open, and it is clear there is a kind of battle going on, a war for a kingdom within a spiritual setting, in which we also dwell.   But Christ wishes to keep His messianic identity a secret ("Be quiet . . .!").  Isaiah foresaw His refusal to fully disclose His identity as Messiah (Isaiah 42:1-4).  My study bible says the reasons for secrecy include:  (1) the growing hostility of the Jewish leaders; (2) the people's misunderstanding of the Messiah as an earthly, political leader; and (3) Christ's desire to evoke genuine faith, which is not based solely on marvelous signs. 

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.  One revelation of Christ's identity occurs through His interact with unclean spirits; He commands them with authority and power. 

Jesus' identity breaks through His own self-imposed silence.  There is a spiritual battle going on, a kind of war for the world.  Human beings are in distress.  In the action of the demons, there is all the symbolism and signs of an invading army:  occupation, brutality, violence, oppression, hostility, imprisonment, hostage-taking.  The unclean spirits impose harsh sentences and penalties upon those who are their victims.  There are many different "evidences" of demons presented in the Gospels:  a boy who's thrown into a fire, a man occupied by a "legion" of demons that destroys his life and his ability to live among people, and here, a man thrown down in the middle of the synagogue.  In all ways, the action of the demons parallels that of an occupying, hostile enemy force.  But in comes Jesus who comes to speak in the synagogue, and it prompts panic from this enemy force, who, unlike the human beings who deny Christ (as in His hometown of Nazareth, in yesterday's reading, above), know precisely who He is:  "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!"   The demons fear His power and they cannot resist His commands.  They wonder what He is doing here in our world -- if He's come to destroy them.  It's as if the world is a kind of wilderness where they may roam free, but all of a sudden the One who has the true power and authority to assert order and peace has come into the world.  Has He come to destroy them?  Not quite yet.  Our Savior has come to redeem us, to liberate us.  We needn't be hostages to this force which alienates us from God.  But we are meant to cooperate in our own liberation.  Our Redeemer does no healing and saving apart from our own cooperation and assent to this work.  We are part and parcel of His ministry, and He has come for us, not for the unclean forces that seek to draw us apart from God's love.  Love comes first of all to claim its own, the ones capable of loving in return, and who desire life with Christ -- and to follow where He will lead.  With Christ's word, His entry into our world, just as He enters into the synagogue, He offers us a choice, a freedom, a liberation that asks us to follow Him and make a choice for ourselves.  We are His own creatures, capable of using intelligence and will, and love will not compel us to follow nor love back.  This is a force of love, not manipulation.  We await a final judgment and reconciliation, but in the meantime His life is here, His forces are here, and He offers us this choice to realize who we are in relation to Him.  And this is our healing.  The signs are all there, but who is capable to read them and to know Him and follow? 

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

 Yesterday we read that after Jesus was tempted in the wilderness,  He 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 filled 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 tells quotes St. Ambrose of Milan, who comments that Christ begins preaching and healing on the Sabbaths to show that "the new creation began where the old creation ceased."  (See Genesis 2:2-3.)

And they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was with authority.  The people are astonished because Jesus teaches with authority.    The prophets of the Old Testament and also the teachers of Jesus' time would teach in the third person; i.e. "The Lord says").  But Jesus teaches in the first person ("I say to you").   Those of old were very few who heard God's voice directly, but Jesus speaks directly to all.

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.   The demons know who Jesus is.  But Jesus' identity will not be revealed through declarations and proclamations; His ministry must unfold as it unfolds, through the works He is given to do and the word He is given to teach.  He doesn't openly declare Himself Messiah.  There will be all kinds of complications in this ministry:   the hostility of the leadership, the people misunderstand what the Messiah is to be and expect an earthly political leader, Jesus wants genuine faith in His relationship to His followers -- not to convince by signs alone.  He manifests His identity, but not simply through open declarative proclamations.

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.  The expression of Jesus' ministry is authority and power through the works He is given to do.   It is in this way He manifests His identity as Incarnate Christ.

We note in this beginning of Jesus' ministry that it is begun in the power of the Holy Spirit:  He was filled with the Holy Spirit when He returned from the Jordan (His Baptism) and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan regarding His ministry.  Then  He returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee (yesterday's reading, above).   Everything works through the holy power of God manifest through the work of Father, Son, and Spirit.  In reading through the Gospels, we should not separate the work of Father, Son, and Spirit together.  Christ says over and over again that those who have seen Him have seen the Father.  In John's Gospel, at the Last Supper, we understand His promise that if we abide in Him and follow His commands, He, the Father, and the Spirit (whom He calls the Helper) will dwell with us and make their home with us.  The Holy Spirit is always at work in the story of Jesus' ministry, preparing the way and helping to lead Him to the events that will make up this ministry.  In today's reading, Jesus' power and authority astonish the people.  The ministry unfolds to tell a story of what this Messiah is all about, to reveal God, and to reveal God in God's fullness as Trinity.  It is this story that we watch, and this unfolding in a particular way, that the Spirit helps to lead and to make manifest for us.  Even as Jesus' ministry is fulfilled through Father, Son, and Spirit, we should never minimize the importance of all three at work in our own lives.  We call on and pray to Christ, but where One is, so is the Trinity, as He has promised and taught to us. But the example of the specific unfolding of Jesus' ministry should let us understand the power that we have to call upon through prayer.  There are specific prayers to the Holy Spirit (for example, this prayer that begins all Eastern services), as we have the prayer given to us by Jesus to pray to Our Father (Matthew 6:9-13), and there are also short, simple prayers to Christ called the Jesus Prayer or Prayer of the Heart, to pray at any time, in concentration or while doing other tasks.  We see the specific way Jesus is called upon to develop His ministry and to reveal Himself as God to the world.  So should we follow His example, and always ask through prayer for how the journey of our own life is to be led and to unfold.

I know who You are

 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 temptation by Satan in the wilderness, Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and the 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 the land; but to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath, in the region to 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 Ambrose of Milan:  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.  My study bible contrasts Jesus with the Old Testament prophets and the teachers of His own day, who taught in the third person ("the Lord says").  Christ taught in the first person: "I say to you."  We can also reference the Sermon on the Mount, with its declarative quality in the Beatitudes:  "Blessed are the poor in spirit . . ."  as well as Jesus' own declarations about Himself:  "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets.  I did not come to destroy but to fulfill."

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 tells the demon to "be quiet" as the demon names Jesus as "the Holy One of God!"  But Jesus will not fully disclose His identity; there is a pattern to what He is doing.  He reveals truth and power with authority.  But His ministry is not one of "proofs."  He invites a voluntary faith, and doesn't identify Himself at this point as Messiah or Christ.  My study bible cites reasons for this secrecy, and begins by referencing Isaiah (42:1-4) as foreseeing this need.   Other reasons for secrecy are given as well:  (1) the growing hostility of the religious leadership, (2) the people's misunderstanding of the Messiah as an earthly, political leader; and (3) Christ's desire to evoke genuine faith not based solely on marvelous signs.  Instead, His ministry reflects a growing reputation in which it is His teaching that is in some sense exemplified or made manifest in the signs to the people.  Without declaring Himself Christ, Jesus displays authority in His speaking and preaching, and power in the encounter with the demon.

It seems like things happen in Jesus' ministry that are meant, or perhaps function in some way, as revelations.  There are certain things we accept as direct revelation, such as the appearance of the Father's voice, or the Holy Spirit's descent, at Jesus' baptism by John.  That revelation gave us a manifestation of the Holy Trinity.  Here in today's reading we have a different kind of revelation, one that is almost seemingly inadvertent, in the contact with the unclean demon.  The demon speaks out, "I know who You are!"  The demon speaks in fear of what is to happen; why is this Holy One of God present in the world?  Jesus' response is to assert His spiritual authority:  "Be quiet!"  It is every bit as important to understand the power in this command as it is to understand Jesus' effect as He heals the man whom the demon has possessed.  That which plagues and ails human beings seemingly has no choice but to obey Christ.  It is another sense of the understanding that Christ is here to ransom human beings:  the man held hostage to the demon is freed by Christ.  But human beings are capable of grasping what is in their midst at face value.  Jesus may simply be a powerful exorcist, a great -- if surprising or shocking -- teacher, a man who mysteriously speaks with a kind of authority that the people haven't seen before.  Perhaps He's even a prophet (some will surmise later on in His ministry).  But the idea that He is Christ or Messiah is hidden, elusive, and He will neither declare it nor allow the demons who try to rebel against His authority to reveal it.  There are too many false expectations surrounding the notion of Messiah for the Jewish people.  Jesus will first declare Himself in what He preaches and teaches, and what He does, before revealing Himself as Messiah.  He is not going to be a political, nationalist liberator; He is here to reveal the things of God, to be a spiritual missionary who changes the qualities of all of our lives, and offers Himself as Christ to the world, not only to one nation.  Things must unfold accordingly; there is a great deal of "worldly" understanding and expectation He is going to disrupt.  It's ironic that the demon identifies Him, knows who He is.  But in this appearance of the demon is revealed another thing:  that there is a spiritual battleground present in this world.  We may not see it nor understand it, but we do feel its effects, and Christ is here as a powerful ransomer meant to liberate human beings from one side in that battle, the demons who've sought to break from His authority and instead to assert their own.  So far in Luke's Gospel, we've understood that Christ resists Satan and in that sense has shown more power and authority.  Satan withdrew from that contest, awaiting a "more opportune time" for his temptations.  Here, the demon is told to "be quiet" and must follow the command to come out of this man in the synagogue.  But we are still in a battleground; our own interior lives may be a kind of mysterious battleground for all kinds of impulses, things that make slaves of us, and hold us hostage.  Inside, we may be held hostage to all kinds of false beliefs, oppressive beliefs we don't understand about ourselves, things that cause us to be vulnerable to self-harm, giving a false picture of ourselves as unworthy of dignity, or too weak to stand in faith against all sorts of forms of temptation for self-destruction.  What does it mean to walk as a  human being with the dignity Christ gives us, and implies that we are meant for?  What does it mean to see human beings in His sight:  worthy of His sacrifice of His life, so that we are not held hostage to the things that keep us bound and enslaved to false notions?  What is it, really, to understand that our very bodies are created for God's glory, our lives given in order to reflect God's light into the world?  This is the liberation He offers us.  We are surrounded by the effects of the things that hold us hostage, that teach us self-hatred and self-denigration, that mask true humility as some form of masochism, that keep us from understanding the value and worth we find as those who are faithful to God's love for us.  We may be held hostage to a false egotism that supposedly offers us a good sense of ourselves, but masks our own need for change and healing, the weaknesses we need to address.  Repentance is a way of being liberated from the things that enslave us in our interior, a way to be free and go forward.  We shouldn't let modern problems persuade us that somehow times are different now -- there are just new forms of the same problems, and we still need the help and strength of our Ransomer.  Let us call upon it at all times.  Let Him lead us to the life He desires for us.

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 Sabbath.  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 learned that Jesus' ministry had grown quite successfully in Galilee; He was "glorified by all."  Then He went to His hometown of Nazareth.  As was His custom, He opened the scroll given to Him, which was the Book of Isaiah.  Jesus read:  "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."  Jesus began to tell them, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."  All marveled at His gracious words and said, "Isn't this Joseph's son?"  He told 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."  He began to teach how in the Old Testament Scriptures, in the events of Israel's history, many times it was Gentiles chosen for God's showing of grace.  By this He indicated that relationship alone isn't enough to guarantee the working of Spirit among them.  They were enraged at this, throwing Him out of the city, and trying to toss Him off the cliff upon which the city was built.  But 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 Sabbath.  Capernaum, my study bible notes, "was a major city on the northern shore of the Lake of Galilee."  It will become Jesus' "headquarters" in His Galilean ministry.

And they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was with authority.   In a sense, this is a repetition of events at the synagogue in Nazareth, with the difference being the response of those in attendance.  Jesus has an authority that isn't derived from "the glory" or praise of men, but from God, as Messiah or Anointed One.  He doesn't have worldly credentials for this authority, not having studied, for example, with a famous rabbi.   This is something new, and it is astonishing to the people.

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!"   Here is something indeed showing another kind of authority, not of this world.  It's a kind of unmasking or revelation, a hint of what is going on behind the veil of what we know and see and hear with our five senses.  A demon speaks out in a person, who knows who Christ is.  It's a recognition that comes from somewhere else, where a spiritual battle has been going on.  My study bible notes that the plural we is from both the demon and the possessed man.

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.   It seems to me this is something to marvel at, for more reasons than we might usually understand.  Not only does Jesus command this unclean spirit to leave the man alone, rebuking the spirit for speaking out, but we have to note the difference between the treatment of this demon and the people in Nazareth.  Jesus is here to protect and save human beings from the oppressive rule of such demonic power; He commands the spirit and it has no choice but to obey.  But with human beings, God does not compel:  we are free to choose, as did the people of Nazareth in rejecting Jesus' teaching.  He is here to claim our world for the kingdom and for this work.  He invites us in to participate in His work claiming this world for the kingdom; but His authority is already clear over the demon.

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.  The people note also this authority.  Who is He that He can do this?  How does His word have such power?

It's said that with every new understanding come more questions.  This is especially so when we speak of the mysteries of God and God's kingdom.  Here, we can ask another question from this scene.  Why does Jesus use His authority over the demons, and yet with human beings He "Lord's it over" no one?  It's a question that begs to be asked, one that has many indications and also opens up yet more questions.  One thing we can certainly see is a revelation of Jesus' authority:  that whether or not He is here in the world as a man without an army, or worldly authority or command, He's clearly in authority in this place of a spiritual kingdom.  And furthermore, yet another question opens itself up to us:  Why does the demon know who He is?  How does this unclean spirit know Jesus of Nazareth, and His identity as the "Holy One of God" and yet people don't know and understand that from their worldly point of view?  So, we have to seek those answers, and we come to know our faith more through the questions we must ask in response to God's revelation and manifestations of grace to us than anything else.  Everything Christ does invites us into a mystery, into His kingdom, as participants who can learn and grow, deriving from grace more questions, and more answers, and more ways of looking at God who is the absolute mystery.  But grace invites us in, and invites our questions.  Why does He compel no one to love Him, and yet rules over the demons?  Clearly our world is a place where there is a battle going on, one in which a lot of people fail to engage or take note; and yet, it is a battle for hearts and minds, a battle for our souls, something within us that we don't quite know or see all the time.  When we engage with our Creator in love, we seek to bridge that space of separation from one kingdom to another.  We pray, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."  For God so loved the world, His Son comes into our lives, sharing every bit of it with us, going first to show us His Way.  Let us step into His Way, into the mystery to which He invites us on a lifelong journey, with our questions, and our hearts and minds open to His love.