He went down to Capernaum, a village in Galilee. He was teaching the people on the Sabbath. They were surprised and impressed—his teaching was so forthright, so confident, so authoritative, not the quibbling and quoting they were used to.
In the meeting place that day there was a man demonically disturbed. He screamed, “Stop! What business do you have here with us, Jesus? Nazarene! I know what you’re up to. You’re the Holy One of God and you’ve come to destroy us!”
Jesus shut him up: “Quiet! Get out of him!” The demonic spirit threw the man down in front of them all and left. The demon didn’t hurt him.
That knocked the wind out of everyone and got them whispering and wondering, “What’s going on here? Someone whose words make things happen? Someone who orders demonic spirits to get out and they go?” Jesus was the talk of the town. (The Message)
During his earthly life and ministry, Jesus was a Deliverer and a Liberator; he came to save people from their guilt and shame, and to free the world from the clutches of evil.
And so, it was inevitable that Jesus would come into conflict with the forces of darkness.
In today’s story, Jesus had a confrontation with an unclean spirit, that is, a demon who is an ally of the devil. The particular demon was not only speaking for himself, but also for his fellow band of wicked spirits.
Christ’s ministry put him in direct opposition to the hosts of Satan. The nub of the issue for the demon was whether Jesus had come for their immediate destruction. Jesus, however, wasn’t in the habit of answering questions from demons.
So, Christ rebuked the demon, told him to get out of the person he was influencing. And that is exactly what happened. The writer, Luke, pointed out that this demonstrated Christ’s authority, that it even includes the power to command unclean spirits, and out they go.
And that is how the liberating and saving ministry of Jesus began.
In the Gospel of Luke, this account of Jesus being confronted by a demon happens just after Christ’s 40 days of being tempted in the desert, even by Satan himself. So, the entire demonic realm was alert to beginning ministry of Christ. They went after Jesus right away, perhaps trying to trip him up before he could get any ministerial momentum.
Jesus was teaching on the Sabbath in the town of Capernaum. We ought not to be surprised that a demonized man was among those observing the Sabbath. The wise believer will be savvy to this reality.
Furthermore, we aren’t told who the man was or of any symptoms he may have had. Apparently, he presented himself as a normal Jewish villager. So, we ought not to think that anyone being demonized will necessarily demonstrate madness or illness of some sort.
The demon was perhaps more aware of who Jesus was than anyone else there on that Sabbath Day in Capernaum. He acknowledged Christ’s power and mission. Jesus indeed came to destroy the power and influence of evil in the world.
You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
James 2:19, NIV
Since Jesus Christ is the rightful authority over all, that means Satan and his wicked spirits are not; and they must submit to that true and real power.
Truth and doctrine are not only about objective facts and right belief. Even though our thinking is important and critical, there is more to it than that: Orthodoxy (right belief) requires orthopraxy (right actions).
A right truth that is only described is not the whole truth. In reality, a false witness and a liar may state the truth, but not entirely, withholding important information; thus, impairing any sort of right action from taking place.
Gaslighting relatives, oppressive bosses, and tyrannical rulers who tell some truth, and even support some good things, are still gaslighting and oppressing others with their narcissistic brand of leadership.
Truly, believers in and followers of Jesus can sometimes be duped into supporting evil leaders who use all sorts of unjust tactics, just because that leader tells the part of truth I want upheld.
Jesus saves; he is Savior of the world – but that is only part of the truth. We must also ask: What has Christ come to save us from? Not just our mistakes, mess-ups, and sins. Christ came to deliver us from the very power of evil that supports injustice and unrighteous behavior to begin with.
If we merely view Jesus as our personal Savior from hell after we die, then we will likely focus almost exclusively on heaven. But if we see all the freedom we need from unhealthy behaviors and unjust ways, then we view Christ as so much more than a fire insurance policy.
We need a more expansive understanding of Christ’s cross. Yes, Jesus died for our sins. Yet, he also died to conquer evil; Christ made it possible for us to become liberated from the shackles of systemic sin and structural evil, as well as personal guilt. In other words, Christ came to topple all evil, and not just human foibles.
And this was why the dark powers of Satan, and his demons, were so afraid of Jesus. They knew their time was short. There is yet another power that has a hold on us today – and that is the reality that many people no longer believe in demons and devils and dark forces.
Since we are a technically advanced people with great understanding of medical science, we now know all sorts of things which cause physical and mental illness. Ancient people did not know about human hormones and chemicals, and the impact of genetic codes on our health. They had no idea about bacteria and viruses, microbes and hygiene.
Therefore, we can jettison all this mumbo-jumbo about demons, right?… Not so much.
Even with all of our modern (and postmodern) explanations for the body and brain, we are still finding ourselves having to contend with the mystery of evil, and the malevolent suffering it causes us.
We modern folk can certainly provide a lot of insight into the cause and effect of particular symptoms a person has according to their biology. And yet, that doesn’t take away the presence of malevolent forces on this earth.
Even with all of our understanding, evil still resides within organizations, institutions, and even faith communities. The meanness and malevolence, the injustice and the ingratitude, and the profound violence (both verbal and physical) which one human being can exact on another is still here – and some would argue that it’s worse than ever.
Knowing something isn’t the same as doing it. If that were true, then education ought to deliver us from evil. Even some intelligent and objective people, who are fluent in facts and figures, still use their calculations for evil.
No matter our creeds or convictions, whether we are religious or not, all of us seem to have a collective sense that this old world of ours is profoundly broken.
All the research dollars in the world has not produced a solution to fix evil. And even if we could completely understand evil, that isn’t the same as ridding ourselves of it.
What’s more, those who put all their trust in changing things through modern means (which means without God) have been some of the worst offenders of producing wars, political tyranny, and gross injustice.
To put all of this perhaps more succinctly in the form of question: We know and understand a lot in combating disease, disaster, and death; but does all of that insight do away with the evil of it? Are things less tragic now?
I argue that is has not. Evil is still evil. Chronic pain, homelessness, poverty, injustice, and health inequities are still wreaking their evil on people.
I believe that evil really does exist, even if it has different language today than it did in the ancient world.
There is real opposition, conflict, and confrontation from evil today. The victory Christ has achieved over the forces of evil has a 2,000 year track record of helping people experience renewed lives, even when their bodies are wasting away.
In the end, the victory of Jesus Christ shall become evident to all the world. Overcoming evil doesn’t come from us, but from God. We can and we must deal with evil in this world. But we are not the Savior or the Liberator.
We need faith in the Son of God who loved us and gave himself for us. Amen.
Rev. Tim Ehrhardt 