Luke 4:31-44 comments: teaching and healing

Luke 4:31 ¶  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. 38  And he arose out of the synagogue, and entered into Simon’s house. And Simon’s wife’s mother was taken with a great fever; and they besought him for her. 39  And he stood over her, and rebuked the fever; and it left her: and immediately she arose and ministered unto them. 40  Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them. 41  And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking them suffered them not to speak: for they knew that he was Christ. 42  And when it was day, he departed and went into a desert place: and the people sought him, and came unto him, and stayed him, that he should not depart from them. 43  And he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent. 44  And he preached in the synagogues of Galilee.

In Capernaum Jesus drives an unclean spirit out of a man. His teaching and miracle make him famous round about. Christ’s teaching is profound and powerful and many are edified and blessed by it, obviously.

Simon is another name for the apostle, Peter. See Luke 6:14.

We learn here that Jesus has the power, the authority, to command unclean spirits, to drive them out of a person. An unclean spirit clearly is an entity and not just a twisted mind in an individual. It is an entity that can have a negative impact on a person, taking control of part or all of his or her mental functions, reasoning ability, emotions, and will.

An unclean spirit would lead a person to depravity and moral decay as uncleanness is often referred to as sexual and moral license and depravity or even ritual pollution under the Law. An evil spirit is a reference to a spirit being that is malicious or bent on doing harm. Evil spirit refers to intent while unclean spirit refers to condition.

While most of what we do that is wrong, unclean, or evil comes from our own sin nature, our own twisted spirit of mind, it is clear that on occasion a person is afflicted by something from outside of them. However, there is no evidence that this can happen to a Christian filled with the Holy Ghost so blaming your wickedness on an evil spirit is rather a waste of time and dishonest. These spirits bent on driving human beings mad are also called devils, the objects of worship for religions throughout history as man devolved after the Flood and the dispersal at Babel.

Deuteronomy 32:17  They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.

1Corinthians 10:20  But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.

Jesus heals Simon’s mother-in-law and many others of diseases. He also drove these devils out of many. He commanded the devils not to announce that He was the Messiah, the Christ, which they knew to be true. Christ does not desire the testimony of devils which would be good preaching material about unbelieving people with an agenda furthering the Christian message because it fits some worldly agenda of theirs.

He tells the people who sought Him after He went to a desert place, which was often His practice for prayer and to be alone, that He must also go to other cities of the Jews as His mission required, Jesus then began preaching in the synagogues all over Galilee.