Without being flustered by the suddenly changing reactions of people, we must, by the power of the Holy Spirit, proclaim the gospel of Jesus.

Without being flustered by the suddenly changing reactions of people, we must, by the power of the Holy Spirit, proclaim the gospel of Jesus.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Meditating on the passage, ‘In the synagogue there was a man possessed by an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, “Ah! Jesus of Nazareth, what have you to do with us? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him.” And the demon threw him down in the midst of the people and came out of him, having done him no harm. And they were all amazed and said to one another, “What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!” And the report about him went out into every place in the surrounding region.’ (Luke 4:33–37), I wish to receive the lessons given to us:

 

 

 

(1)    When Jesus taught in the synagogue on the Sabbath with words of authority, all the people were amazed (Lk. 4:31–32).  Now, when a man in that synagogue who was possessed by an unclean spirit (v.33) heard Jesus’ rebuking word, the demon threw him down in front of the people and came out of him (v.35).  When I meditate on the statement that all the people who saw this scene were amazed (v.36), it makes me think that Luke, the author of the Gospel of Luke, intentionally recorded that Jesus’ teaching had authority (vv.31–32), and then recorded that this authoritative word also healed (cured) the demon-possessed man (vv.33–37).

 

(a)    What is interesting is that Luke recorded both events as taking place in “the synagogue” (v.33) in the town of Capernaum in Galilee (v.31).

 

(i)                 The reason this is interesting—at least to me—is that after recording that when Jesus first taught in that synagogue (v.33) with words of authority (v.31) all the people were amazed (v.32), he then recorded that Jesus healed the man possessed by an unclean spirit in that same synagogue (v.33) by His authoritative word, and again all the people were amazed (v.36).  By showing through this healing that Jesus’ word was not only authoritative “in word” but also in reality, Luke recorded that in both events the people were all amazed—thereby revealing that Jesus is “the Son of the Most High God” (1:32) [note: John the Baptist is “the prophet of the Most High God” (v.76)], that He is “the Mighty One” (v.49), “the Savior” and “Christ the Lord” (2:11), and “the Sovereign Lord” (v.29).  I believe that the Holy Spirit, the author of Scripture, revealed these truths through Luke as he recorded God’s Word.

 

(b)    Another interesting point is the various reactions of people in Luke 4 to Jesus’ authoritative teaching: (1) “He was praised by all the people” [“All the people gave Him glory" (Korean Modern Bible)] (v.15), (2) “The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him” [“All the people gathered there fixed their gaze on Jesus” (Korean Modern Bible)] (v.20), (3) “All in the synagogue were filled with wrath, and they rose up and drove Him out of the town, and brought Him to the brow of the hill … to throw Him down” [“All the people in the synagogue became enraged at these words … dragged Jesus out to the cliff outside the town built on a hill, intending to throw Him off” (Korean Modern Bible)] (vv.28–29), (4) “They were astonished at His teaching …” (v.32), (5) “All were amazed … ‘What is this word?  With authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!’” [“People saw this and were all amazed: ‘What on earth is happening?  With authority and power He commands, and the demons immediately come out!’ they whispered” (Korean Modern Bible)] (v.36).

 

(i)                 As I meditated on these reactions, I drew the following chart:

 

                                A     “He was praised by all the people” (v.15)

                                       B    “The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him” (v.20)

                                             C     “They were all filled with wrath … and sought to throw Him down”

                                                       (vv.28–29)

                                        B’     “They were astonished at His teaching …” (v.32)

                                 A’    “All were amazed …” (v.36)

 

·            Using this chart to classify people’s reactions, if we say that four reactions (A, B, B’, A’) are positive, then one reaction (C) is very negative.  I consider the negative reaction “C” (vv.28–29) to be central among the five reactions.  My reasoning is this: although the people all marveled (A’) (v.36) when they saw Jesus heal the demon-possessed man, praised Him (A) (v.15), were astonished at His teaching (B’) (v.32), and fixed their eyes on Him (B) (v.20), when Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut for three years and six months and a great famine came over all the land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them but only to a widow in Zarephath in Sidon.  And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed but only Naaman the Syrian” (vv.25–27), all the people in the synagogue who heard this “were filled with wrath, rose up, drove Him out of town … and tried to throw Him off the cliff” (C) (vv.28–29).

 

-             Although the Jews in that synagogue marveled at Jesus’ “gracious words” (v.22) and His “authoritative words” (v.31), and although they were amazed (vv.32, 36), fixed their eyes on Him (v.20), and praised Him (v.15), when Jesus spoke of God’s love for Gentiles—e.g., “the widow in Zarephath of Sidon” (v.26) and “Naaman the Syrian” (v.27)—they suddenly changed, became enraged, and attempted to push Him off a cliff to kill Him (vv.28–29).  This shows that they had not truly received grace through His “gracious words,” nor submitted to His “authoritative words,” but from their own perspective accused Jesus of committing national treason, attempting to execute Him according to the Jewish traditional punishment for traitors—pushing them off a cliff (Hochma).

 

n   Seeing how these Jews, who had been amazed at Jesus’ teaching, fixed their eyes on Him, and praised Him, suddenly accused Him of national treason and attempted to kill Him by the traditional cliff-punishment, helps us understand how those who shouted “Hosanna” when Jesus entered Jerusalem later turned into a hostile crowd shouting, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” (Jn. 19:6) (cf. Hochma).

 

(c)    One more interesting point: when Jesus healed the demon-possessed man, Luke recorded in verse 37 of today’s text that “the report about Jesus spread throughout the surrounding region.”  But he had already written in verse 14, “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and His fame spread through all the region.”  Meditating on this, I see that Luke is emphasizing that after Jesus was tempted by the devil and began His public ministry, the power of Jesus was visibly manifested through the power of the Holy Spirit, causing His fame to spread everywhere (cf. Hochma).

 

(i)                 Consider the statements about Jesus’ fame recorded in Luke: “But now even more the report about Him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases” (5:15); “When he heard about Jesus, he sent the elders of the Jews to Him, asking Him to come and heal his servant” (7:3); “This report about Jesus spread through all Judea and all the surrounding country” (7:17); “When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had long desired to see Him because he had heard about Him, and he hoped to see some sign done by Him” (23:8).

 

·            As I meditated on these verses about Jesus’ fame, I was led to reflect on how the “report” about us—Jesus’ disciples—is spreading today.  And so I hope and pray that, like the believers in the Thessalonian church, the Lord’s word will be spread to the ends of the earth through us, and that the report of our faith will also spread to the ends of the earth (1 Thess. 1:8).