Harmony of the gospels
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23 And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, 24 Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. In these verses we have a demon possessed man in a synagogue listening to the Lord Jesus Christ. He calls out pleading with the Lord to let things be. The demon, a fallen angel, recognises the Lord. He realises that eventually he and all the fallen angels will be thrown into the Lake of Fire which was prepared for Satan and his angels It is of interest that the rabbis who were supposed to be holy men of God and shepherds of the sheep had not spotted this demon indwelt man in the synagogue meeting. Sometimes the fact that a person is demon indwelt is seen in the form of disease, highly unusual attributes or criminal behaviour. This person appeared normal until confronted by the Lord. The demon correctly identifies the Lord Jesus Christ as the Holy One of God. He is called “the Holy One of God” because: 1. Jesus was totally pure and holy. 2. Because Jesus was the only begotten Son of God - equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit. 3. Because Jesus was anointed (set apart) to the work of the Messiah, the mediator between God and man. 25 And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. 26 And when the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him. Jesus Christ is not going to have a demon witnessing for him and so he rebukes the demon and in the Greek tells the demon to be muzzled. We know that a muzzled dog cannot bark, the muzzled demon was powerless to speak. The demon tries to make things as uncomfortable as possible for the man he has indwelt contorts the man in a fit, screams or screeches and comes out of him. We see Jesus here having absolute power over demons who have to obey what the Lord says. Whilst not common in western society where materialism enslaves I have seen this phenomena in a remote village in Africa where after people have come forward for counselling and conversion having been challenged by an evangelical message they have then writhed on the floor as the demons came out of them. It should be noted that a true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ cannot be indwelt by a demon. However many are seduced by Satanic concepts. 27 And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this? what new doctrine is this? for with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him. 28 And immediately his fame spread abroad throughout all the region round about Galilee. It had certainly been an extraordinary morning in the synagogue. First the Lord Jesus Christ had taught with authority. The teaching had been new and fresh which pleased the people but before long will be rejected violently by the hierarchy of Judaism. This had been followed by the removal of a demon from a person in the group purely by the instruction of the Lord who had been challenges verbally by the demon in front of them. It was certainly a major change from the droning of the rabbi speaking about customs, traditions and rules. Later in Acts 8 Simon Magus could not understand how Simon Peter could do his miracles without some secret trick and even offered to buy it. As a result without the use of telephones or emails his reputation was spread rapidly by word of mouth. The fame of this new teacher went out “everywhere” throughout all Galilee and the impression became prevalent that he was the promised Messiah. LUKE 4:31-37 31 And came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days. 32 And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power. 33 And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice, 34 Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God. 35 And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and hurt him not. 36 And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What a word is this! for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out. 37 And the fame of him went out into every place of the country round about. KEY WORDS
BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS 31 And came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days.32 And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power. In Mark’s account we note that Jesus entered into Capernaum. Here it says he came down. Both are correct as Capernaum was down at a lower level than Nazareth. He is seen teaching on the Sabbath with Mark adding that Jesus did not teach as the Scribes did contrasting dull legalism with the Lord’s teaching with authority. 33 And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice, 34 Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God. Here we note that there is demon possession with a man with the spirit of an unclean devil. We as Christians when we see the word devil or demon assume that they are evil. We however have to remember that Luke is primarily talking to the Greek community and they had a concept of both good and bad devils. Luke is therefore confirming that the devil or demon he is talking about is evil. Luke also mentions that when the demon spoke he spoke with a loud voice or really a scream caused by the sudden contact of the demon with Jesus. 35 And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and hurt him not. In this verse Luke adds a couple of observations. Firstly that the demon hurled down violently the person whom the demon had indwelt. Luke then notes the fact that even though the action was violent the person was not injured by it. 36 And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What a word is this! for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out. 37 And the fame of him went out into every place of the country round about. Here there is additional information about the reaction of the people at the synagogue that Sabbath. The imperfect tense of spake shows that they continuously spoke of what had happened. Luke also adds the verb “dunamai” to their comments showing that they saw not only authority which was unusual but also dynamic power in the Lord’s ministry. The word for rumour is “echos” which has the concept of a very audible or powerful rumour much like the roar of the waves on a shore. It had certainly been a dynamic day. APPLICATION We should ensure that we teach the Word of God and apply it to our lives rather than the ritual and traditions of the church group we attend. God wants an obedient heart and not ritual. It is possible to have wolves in sheep clothing within the church. It is the duty of the church leadership to look out for those who are false brethren and protect the flock from them. We are told to resist the devil and he will flee from you. As a believer greater is he that is in you [the Holy Spirit – God] than he who is in the world [Satan] DOCTRINES LEGALISM 1. There are some areas of God's law which the believer would never violate because it is his area of strength. 2. No two people have the same area of strength, no two people have the same area of weakness in their human nature. 3. Violation of one part of the law makes a person a sinner just as another part of the law - all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23) 4. Legalism and self righteousness is prone to forget that all sin comes from the sinful nature. 5. Everyone has a sinful nature. Violation of law demonstrates its existence. 6. The legalist emphasises the commandments he keeps. The honest person recognises the commandments he breaks. 7. Doctrine removes legalism and self righteousness on the basis of grace. 8. Legalism minimises the weakness or besetting sin of the sinful nature while emphasising the weakness or besetting sin of someone else. 9. Legalism condemns those who fail in their own area of strength but legalism does not recognise that all have sinned. 10. Sometimes legalism is so strong that it fulfils both categories of 1 John 1:8, 1 John 1:10. 11. To be guilty one only has to sin once not the thousands of times one does (James 2:10) ANGELS: DEMONS 1. Occult practices such as astrology, divination and spiritism are condemned by the scriptures (Leviticus 19:31; Deuteronomy 18:9-12). This was punishable by death in Israel. (Leviticus 20:27) 2. Demonism has exercised much influence in history (Ezekiel 21:21, Daniel 10:13). Evil is associated with the rule of demon possessed kings. (2 Kings 21:1-17) 3. The judgement of demons involved the destruction of demon possessed people and religious systems associated with idolatry (Isaiah 19:1-3, cf. Deuteronomy 7:5) 4. Many nations have been destroyed for demon practices. a) Canaanites (Deuteronomy 18:9-12) b) Babylonians (Isaiah 46:1-7, 47:1-15) c) The judgement of Egypt's first born included the judgement of demons (Exodus 12:12) 5. The return of nations to the battle of Armageddon is by demon influence (Revelation 16:13-16). 6. Satan and the occult forces will be imprisoned during the Millennium (Isaiah 24:21-23; Revelation 20:1-3). 7. Demons are called "hairy ones" (Leviticus 17:7), destroyers (Deuteronomy 32:17) and demons. 8. Demons a) seek to possess men or animals (Mark 5:1-13). b) deceive man into false doctrines (1 Timothy 4:1). c) believe and tremble (James 2:19). d) speak both truth and lies (2 Chronicles 18:21; Acts 16:17-18).
a) Submission to demons through idolatry (1 Corinthians 10:19-21) and occult practices such as mental telepathy, clairvoyance and spiritism (Deuteronomy 18:9-12). b) Specific dedication of one's body to demons, such as the Hindu soma and shamanism. c) Any practice in which you "lose control" of your mind and senses, such as drugs and alcohol (Galatians 5:20, the Greek word for "sorcery" is "pharmakeia"), meditation and trances, hypnotic rhythms in music and dance. d) Sexual cults, such as the asherah (Judges 6:25-28, 2 Kings 21:3)
i) to blind them regarding the gospel. (2 Corinthians 4:3, 4, 2 Thessalonians 2:9, 1 0) b) Towards believers. i) Satan seeks to hinder our growth and witness. (1 Peter 5:8) ii) Satan will mislead into false doctrine and legalism. (1 Timothy 5:14-15) iii) He persuades believers to ignore the will of God through disobedience (Genesis 2:17, James 4:7-8) iv) Satan often attacks our assurance of salvation so that we doubt God. v) Worry (1 Peter 5, 7-9) vi) Fear of death. (Hebrews 2:14-15) vii) He accuses believers of sin both to God and to the believer (using guilt). (Revelation 12:9-10, Job 1:6-11 viii) He takes our focus off Christ by getting eyes on self (1 Corinthians 1:10-11), on people (1 Corinthians 1:12), on things (Hebrews 13:5-6) ix) When we don't allow the Holy Spirit to control our lives, we open ourselves up to Satanic attack. (1 Corinthians 7:5, 2 Corinthians 2:11, 1 Timothy 5:14-15) x) The Lord will allow Satan to attack a believer as discipline for unconfessed sin. (1 Timothy 1:20 cf. 2 Corinthians 12:7) xi) Satan cannot indwell or possess a believer, only beguile them. (Galatians 3:1) c) Towards the world in general. i) The World - Satan tries to deceive the nations. (Revelation 20:71 0) ANGELS: SATAN'S WORK 1. Satan's sphere of operations among mankind. (Psalm 109:6--l3) a) Satan blinds mankind to the truth of the Word of God by means of religion. (v.7) b) He has the power to shorten life. (v 8a) c) He can remove persons from a place of authority (v 8b) d) Satan can kill (v 9) e) He can persecute children (v 10) f) He can remove wealth (v 11) g) Satan can turn people against each other (v. 12) h) He can cut off man's posterity to the second generation (v. 13)
a) He has the power of death (Hebrews 2:14, 15) b) Killed Job's children (Job 1:12, 18, 19) c) Motivated Cain to murder Abel (John 8:44, cf. 1 John 3:12) d) Often administers the sin unto death (1 Corinthians 5:5)
a) Was responsible for Paul's "thorn in the flesh" (2 Corinthians 12:7) b) Produced illness in Job (Job 2:6-8) c) Uses his demons to inflict diseases (Matthew 12:22, Luke 13:16, Acts 10:38) d) Causes certain types of deafness, dumbness, paralysis and crippling effect by means of demon possession (Matthew 4:24, 12:22, Mark 9:17, 18) e) When demon possession causes the affliction, the removal of the demon or demons produces an instant cure (Matthew 10:1, Mark 1:32-34, 6:13, Acts 8:7, 19:12) 4. Satan as an instrument of discipline a) Desired to discipline Peter (Luke 22:31, 32) b) Was authorised to discipline the Corinthian adulterer (1 Corinthians 5:5) c) Was called upon by the Apostle Paul to administer extreme discipline to Hymenaeus and Alexander (1 Timothy 1:19,20) d) May become involved in the discipline of ministers and deacons (1 Timothy 3:6, 7) e) Attacks through a believer's lack of forgiveness and orientation to grace (2 Corinthians 2:10, 1I 5. Satan as a healer a) Healing was a temporary spiritual gift before the completion of the Canon of Scripture (Acts 19:11, 12, cf. Philippians 2:27, 2 Timothy 4:20) b) God still heals today (Philippians 2:27) c) Since Satan possesses the power of disease he often counterfeits healing by the removal of demons (Matthew 12:24, 24:24, 2 Thessalonians 2:9, Revelation 16:14) 6. Characteristics of Demon Possession a) Loss of individuality: the demon-possessed person no longer has control of faculties of the soul (Mark 5:1-13, Luke 8:27, 9:39, 40) b) Abnormal behaviour: i) Convulsions (Mark 1:26, 9:20, Luke 4:35) ii) Violence (Matthew 8:28) iii) Abnormal strength (Mark 5:4, Luke 8:29, Acts 19:16) iv) Raving (Mark 5:5) v) Foaming at the mouth (Mark 9:20) vi) Nakedness (Luke 8:27) c) Loss of health: i) Dumbness (Mark 9:17, Luke 11:14) ii) Deafness and dumbness (Mark 9:25) iii) Blindness and dumbness (Matthew 12:22) iv) Epilepsy (Mark 1:26, 9:20, Luke 4:35) v) Mental illness (Mark 5:15)
a) So called divine healing b) Alleged speaking in tongues c) Faked contact with the dead (1 Samuel 28) d) Success of self styled exorcists e) Rise of certain world leaders (2 Thessalonians 2.9, Revelation 16:13, 14) f) Cause of some wars (Revelation 20:8) g) Reincarnation h) Fortune telling (Acts 16:16) |