A TEACHER WITH DIVINE AUTHORITY

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on December 4, 2019 under AM Bible Study |

AM Bible Study Group: December 4, 2019 from Luke 4:31-37

Theme: Our Lord’s encounter with the demon-possessed man in the synagogue shows us that He is a teacher from God with divine authority.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

The point of the story that we come to this morning might be easy to misunderstand. At first appearance, it might seem that it’s primarily about Jesus’ authority over the spiritual realms—and particularly over demons. And that certainly is something that is demonstrated in this story. But really, it is more about Jesus’ authority over the hearts of men than over the powers of darkness.

You see; in Luke’s gospel, the Lord Jesus had just gone to His hometown of Nazareth. As He taught there, the people of His hometown rejected Him (Luke 4:16-30). “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked? They became so offended at Him that they dragged Him to the brow of the hill on which the city was built in order to throw Him off. He escaped; but they had made it clear that they did not receive the authority of His teaching—or of Himself.

Now, we come to another story about our Lord’s teaching ministry—and what a contrast! This time, it’s in Capernaum. This is the city on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee that became known as His new ‘home-base’ In Matthew 9:1, it is referred to as “His own city”. The events in the rest of Chapter 4 are concentrated in Capernaum. Luke tells us;

Then He went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbaths. And they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was with authority. Now in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon. And he cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him in their midst, it came out of him and did not hurt him. Then they were all amazed and spoke among themselves, saying, “What a word this is! 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 4:31-37).

Do you notice that, when the story begins, we’re told that the people were ‘astonished’ at His teaching? The word for ‘astonished’ in the original language means that they were ‘knocked out of their minds’ by it. But by the end of of the story, a different word was used for their response to His teaching. We’re told that they were all ‘amazed’; and in this case, the word that is used is one that means something more like ‘awe’—the kind of response someone would have when they realize that they have just encountered something holy—or someone divine.

And that’s what this story is meant to teach us. Our Lord possesses divine authority. His words are not the words of a mere man. They are the words of God in human flesh. This was proven to the people of Capernaum in a stunning way—so that, when it was all over, they may have thought about Him in a way that was a little like what Peter once said to Him, “You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68).

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Let’s begin by considering …

1. THE TEACHING IN THE SYNAGOGUE (vv. 31-32).

Luke tells us, “Then He went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbaths” (v. 31). Our Lord was faithful to attend to the worship of His Father in the various places He went. All along the shores of the Sea of Galilee were synagogues; and Jesus attended this one regularly. You’ll notice that it says that He “was teaching them on the Sabbaths”; so it must have that He taught there in an ongoing way.

This was a synagogue that was built for the Jewish people by a Roman centurion. Luke will tell us his story later on in Chapter 7. This Roman centurion had sent to Jesus—asking that He come and heal his servant; and the Jewish people told Jesus that he was a worthy man, “for he loves our nation, and has built us a synagogue” (7:5). This very synagogue has been rediscovered and somewhat-restored in recent years; and it is an amazing location to visit today. You can stand and see where Jesus would have stood and taught—as is told us in this passage.

Perhaps someone asked Jesus to step forward and give an ongoing exposition of some passage; and as He did, we’re told “And they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was with authority” (v. 32). What exactly was it about this that amazed them? Mark, in his Gospel, tells us, “for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes” (Mark 1:22). Other teachers—the scribes and Pharisees and scholars of the day—would generally try to bring a sense of authority to their instruction by quoting other scholars. “As you know, brethren, the esteemed Rabbi So-And-So has told us this …”; or, “As it says this in the works of the noteworthy scribe Such-And-Such….” But Jesus didn’t quote other authorities. Instead, He spoke as if He was the authority that the others ought to be quoting. He may have taught them as He did in the Sermon on The Mount: “You have heard that it was said … but I say unto you …” He spoke as if He was the original. As some others who heard Him once said, “No one ever spoke like this Man!” (John 7:46).

Now; the people in the synagogue were ‘astonished’ at this—’knocked out of their heads’ we might say. And it may be that they were simply surprised at the way He taught. But something happened to powerfully demonstrate to them the reality of Jesus’ authority. Luke goes on to tell us about …

2. THE OUTCRY OF THE UNCLEAN SPIRIT (vv. 33-35).

Verse 33 tells us, “Now in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon.” Was he a regular attendee of the synagogue? Or was he a stranger to the people there? We’re not told. But what a shocking thing it must have been to discover a man with an unclean spirit within the midst of the dignified, religiously ceremonious synagogue! He made his nature very obvious to everyone by the fact that he cried out with a loud voice and said to Jesus, “Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!” (v. 35). (And here’s a thought. It may be that a church can have some people within it that are under the strong influence of the devil—and there not be much known about it because there’s nothing much to threaten the kingdom of darkness in the place. But just let Jesus be faithfully proclaimed and put front-and-center in a church—just let His word be faithfully preached—and the servants of the devil will make themselves obvious!)

Look carefully at the things that this demon cried out. He said, “Let us alone!” It was not one demon who had borne an influence upon this man—but many. And it may be that this spirit was speaking for a whole crowd of the devil’s demonic servants. They were not afraid of taking possession of a religious-looking man in a synagogue; but they wanted nothing to do with Jesus! They cried out through this man, “What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth?” In the original language, it’s “What with us and with You—? As it tells us in 1 John 3:8, “He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” The forces of the devil can work along just fine with so many things in this world—but they cannot bear to be around Jesus! The spirit asked Jesus, “Did You come to destroy us?” It seems that the demons were terrified at the thought that Jesus might be about to cast them into the place of their ultimate destiny. Jude 6 tells us, “And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day”; and the demon who was speaking through this man was terrified at the prospect of that “great day”. It’s the prospect of ultimate judgment. This demon feared that Jesus had come to cast him into lake of fire before the time. And finally, this unclean spirit cried out, “I know who You are—the Holy One of God!” It’s interesting to consider that the unclean spirits—who are far more aware of spiritual realities than we are—are also far more fearful of the lake of fire than people are who have rejected God’s grace. And what’s more, they are more convinced of the awesome authority of the Son of God than even many people who pay religious lip-service to Him. They know, with the greatest possible clarity, what is in store for them—and how Jesus is able to send them there at any time!

Now; in hearing this, Jesus first ordered the demon, “Be quiet …” (v. 35a). And why? It may be because the holy Son of God will not allow Himself preached in this world by demons. There’s a story told to us in the Book of Acts of a demon-possessed slave girl was walking around behind Paul and the other missionaries. She was declaring, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation” (Acts 16:17) This irritated Paul greatly. He turned around and—in the power of Christ—cast the demon out. And this may be because the devil is a clever deceiver; and to have one of his demons appear to proclaim the gospel would end up associating the gospel, in the minds of the people, with the works of Satan. In any case, our Lord Jesus has not allowed demons to preach Him—but has instead entrusted that responsibility to us who are His redeemed people!

Then, after telling the demon to be quite, He said, “come out of him!” And we’re told, “And when the demon had thrown him in their midst, it came out of him and did not hurt him” (v. 35b). The unclean spirit came out of the man—but not, first, without putting the poor man in horrible convulsions. The word that Luke used is one that means “to throw violently”—suggesting that the pathetic man was made to thrash around in the midst of the synagogue. But when it was over, the demon came out of the man—and we’re told that it “did not hurt him”. When it was all over, the man perhaps sat in the midst of the synagogue in apparent calmness and peace—with everyone else stunned and shocked.

What a day this would have been in the synagogue!

Now; as we have suggested at the beginning, the focus of this passage is not primarily on Jesus’ authority over demons. It certainly is about that. But it is also—and more primarily—about the authority His teaching bore in the lives of people. The incident with the demon was meant to illustrate an even greater lesson about Jesus’ authority as a teacher from God. And so, we notice next …

3. THE AMAZED RESPONSE OF THE PEOPLE (vv. 36-37).

Luke goes on to tell us, “Then they were all amazed …” (v. 36). They were struck with a new sense of awe because of what had just happened. They realized that they were in the presence of someone whose teaching came with divine authority. We’re told that they spoke among themselves and said, “What a word this is!” And note—it is not just “What a Man is this” but “What a word—what a teaching—is this!” They go on to say, “For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.”

The Lord’s teaching—at first—astonished them because of His method. He taught with an authority all His own. And then, they became amazed with it; because its authority had just been proven to them to possess power that could only be from God. The demon himself cried out that Jesus is the Holy One of God. As verse 37 tells us “And the report about Him went out into every place in the surrounding region.”

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Now; what might we do with the thing that this passage shows us? How should we respond to this Teacher who teaches with such authority? First, we’d better respond by paying heed to what Jesus has taught. To hear the teaching of the Son of God—clearly having been demonstrated to have great authority—and to then sinfully reject it and rebel against it, is a dreadful thing to do. As the writer of Hebrews tells us;

For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:26-31).

Second, whenever you and I proclaim Jesus and the things He taught in this world, we should expect to be opposed by the forces of evil. Jesus Himself very clearly encountered the opposition of the forces of evil when He taught—even in a place of sacred worship. But He was victorious; and so will we be if we cling tightly to Him. The apostle Paul puts it this way;

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:10-12).

And finally, because we have been commanded to declare a message that has been proven to have such great authority—a message that is about a Savior who Himself possesses such great power—then we should do so boldly and confidently. We should never fear those who tell us to stop. Let’s remember what our Lord commanded us;

“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20).

EA