On Line Bible Study - For the Week March 15-21, 2010

Lesson 431

Luke 4: ³¹Then he went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath began to teach the people. ³²They were amazed at his teaching, because his message had authority.

³³In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an evil spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice, ³⁴"Ha! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!"

³⁵"Be quiet!" Jesus said sternly. "Come out of him!" Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him.

³⁶All the people were amazed and said to each other, "What is this teaching? With authority and power he gives orders to evil spirits and they come out!" ³⁷And the news about him spread throughout the surrounding area.

Luke puts a lot into this fourth chapter. It began with Jesus being tempted by the devil - led by the Spirit into this time of testing, Luke presents Jesus as one who has been through the fire and emerged unscathed. The Evangelist then brings Jesus to Nazareth in Galilee where Jesus proclaims the good news as recorded by Isaiah - and says this good news is now fulfilled. This did not sit well with the locals. Though they acknowledged that Jesus did have a kick to his presentation - Verse 22 tells us all spoke well of him... perhaps what is meant is not so much that they respected what he had to say; they did appreciate, however, the power and authority in how he said it. But they were so upset that they ran Jesus out of town.

And so, now Luke brings Jesus to Capernaum - the neighboring community. (If you read this chapter carefully you will see that Jesus has apparently already been to Capernaum. He has a reputation from his work there that preceded him to Galilee. Is there a chronological glitch in the gospel at this point? Or is Jesus, in fact, returning to a place that was more welcoming to him?)

As chapter four began with Jesus facing off with the devil, so now the battle continues. St. Luke wants us to see that the primary battle is between the cosmic forces of good and evil. Two things to note here:

First - the problem in our own time. Scholar Darrell Bock suggests that unless we accept the world view of Jesus day with regard to the spirit world, the accounts would be lies. I wonder about that comment. Must I perceive the world as did the ancients in order for this story to have its intended meaning for me? I think one of the great challenges in every age is to appropriate the essence of the gospel message in ways that are contextually relevant.

A second consideration: Notice the question the demon asks of Jesus: Have you come to destroy us? There seems to be a clear connection between the demon and the man he possesses. To destroy one is to destroy the other.

Regardless of our world view, it seems we have the same challenge today - we have a symbiotic relationship with so much of what is evil. To rid us of the evil could mean the downfall of our economic system, our politics, our networks of social services, our personal lifestyle. Can we be rid of the demons that possess us without it destroying us?

In this sense, Jesus is the Savior, the Liberator, the true Lord. Luke wants us to know that Jesus can free us from what possesses us without destroying us or depriving us of the essence of our own personality.

Next time we will head into chapter 5.