Jesus Commands the Evil Spirits

Capernaum’s synagogue was the site of the first exorcism that Jesus performed during His earthly ministry, as both Mark and Luke put it at the beginning of our Lord’s work in Galilee. Casting out demons was one of the most frequent acts of healing that Jesus performed during the three years that He ministered before going to the cross. In fact, one cannot walk away from reading the Synoptic Gospels—Matthew, Mark, and Luke—without being struck by the flurry of demonic activity that characterized the Holy Land in the first century.

Satan and his demons are mentioned throughout the Bible, and we are told to put on the armor of God to battle them successfully (Eph. 6:10–20). We should not be surprised that our Lord’s earthly ministry was the occasion of an increase in demonic activity. After all, 1 John 3:8 explains that “the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.” The evil spirits opposed Christ because they knew who He was and that He came to bring about their final defeat (Luke 4:33–34).

In the first century, exorcism was not completely unknown, and many Jewish and even some gentile exorcists claimed to be able to liberate people from demonic oppression. The work of these exorcists involved elaborate rituals and incantations often resembling what we would call magic. Jesus’ method of exorcism was much different. Continuing our look at Christ’s encounter with the demon-possessed man in the synagogue in Capernaum, we read in today’s passage that the only thing Jesus did to free the possessed man was to command the evil spirit to be silent and to come out of the person. Immediately, the demon came out and the man was unharmed (Luke 4:35). The people were amazed at the strength and authority that this act displayed, and they began to talk about Jesus even more throughout the region (Luke 4:36–37).

Besides demonstrating Jesus’ incomparable power over evil, this episode points to the sovereignty of Christ over all things. Jesus could command even the devil to obey because He is the sovereign King, and everything, even evil itself, must bow to His command. Satan and the demons are not equals to our God and to His Christ but servants—unwilling servants to be sure, but servants nonetheless. Matthew Henry comments, “Even the prince of the power of the air is [Christ’s] vassal, and trembles before [Jesus].”