I didn’t intend this to be a commentary on Luke 4. It just turned into that. In truth, I had no idea what this was going to be. I just sat back and let God direct it.
Are we called to a public ministry? Yes. Will we be opposed? Yes. Will God give us the ability to speak with authority? Yes.
All that assumes we walk God’s path. None of it happens if we walk our own path. How can we tell the difference? When you pray, do you ask God to bless what you are doing, or do you ask him to put you on His path, reveal His path, or help you understand His path?
How do we tell if we are on His path or not? Satan does not want us on God’s path. It profits him nothing for us to walk in God’s love doing His work. Let’s look at what happened to Jesus as He began His work.
33In the synagogue, there was a man possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice,
34“Let us alone! What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”
35But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in the midst of the people, he came out of him without doing him any harm.
36And amazement came upon them all, and they began talking with one another saying, “What is this message? For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits and they come out.”
Luke 4:33–36 (NASB95)
Skeptics among us just sighed, rolled their eyes, and mentally mouthed the words “mental illness, not demons.” So, let’s go there for a moment. This is important to explore.
Do you claim to be a Christian? When I ask that question in my Sunday school class, the head nods are immediate. I assume you are reading this during Lent, which means you follow a Christian calendar, celebrating Christian holy days. I will further assume I am writing to someone claiming the title Christian as I do. That means a follower of Jesus who was the Christ, which is a title, not a last name. During Easter, do you celebrate that event as the resurrection of Jesus?
Okay, so we are just fine with someone dying and being brought back from the dead, but Satan having demons who inhabit people is a bridge too far? We are perfectly okay with the concept of Heaven and Hell and with a resurrected man who saves us from the one by getting us admitted to the other by His sacrifice alone, but any other supernatural occurrence in scripture simply must be explained away. Really?
Faith is a thing.
24But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.
25So the other disciples were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”
26After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.”
27Then He said to Thomas, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.”
28Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”
John 20:24–28 (NASB95)
There is nothing wrong with doubting so long as, right behind it, we remember why we believe. Thomas doubted, and Jesus didn’t rebuke him for his doubts. Instead, Jesus demonstrated who He was. Again, this is a risen, resurrected Jesus standing before Thomas with nail holes in His hands and feet and a spear thrust in His side.
Why is it important to relate demons and a resurrected Jesus to supernatural events in scripture? Because we try to dismiss the smaller things while fully accepting the larger ones. We see the one as pivotal, but the other, we think, makes us look silly. It is all faith. It is all true. It is all-important to our belief that God is good. Why? Because we have problems we cannot see a way out of, and only a Lord who can do supernatural things, no one would believe, can solve the problems we cannot see a way out of.
If we accept God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit as capable of raising the dead, casting out demons, and healing the blind, then God showing us a way out of our earthly problems isn’t impossible. If water can be turned to wine and a centurion’s daughter healed from miles away, the storm raging in our life can be fixed too. If we seek refuge in Christ, He can do for us what He did for that first man.
35But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in the midst of the people, he came out of him without doing him any harm.
36And amazement came upon them all, and they began talking with one another saying, “What is this message? For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits and they come out.”
37And the report about Him was spreading into every locality in the surrounding district.
Luke 4:35–37 (NASB95)
Here’s the real reason people scoff at demons. They’re perfectly fine assigning blame to someone else, like a demon, but if they do, that means Jesus can fix it. That means that these people have to admit what they’re doing is in opposition to God, is wrong, and God thinks what they are doing is wrong. That admission means that since Jesus can fix it, they have to change when they admit it. Accepting a larger, higher power means someone else gets to set the rules, and we have to follow them. People don’t want to let someone else be in charge. They don’t want to have to admit that some of the things they want to permit are impermissible. But mostly, they don’t want other people to say bad things about them. If we are followers of Christ, Jesus didn’t give us that option.
16“You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.
17“This I command you, that you love one another.
18“If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you.
19“If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.
20“Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.
John 15:16–20 (NASB95)
This is how you know that you are walking God’s path. The World does not like it when we pursue God’s will. Opposition from those who do not love Christ is one way to know we follow His path. It is also one way we, as Christians, can guard against wandering off His path. We can be on guard for those who walk with us. If we are accompanied by worldly people seeking worldly praise, we are likely straying from God’s path. However, if we are accompanied by happy soldiers of Christ who are also under fire from the world, we are likely on the right trail. Verse twenty should empower your faith. It does mine. God bless and Godspeed.
"When you pray, do you ask God to bless what you are doing, or do you ask him to put you on His path, reveal His path, or help you understand His path?" Mark, that's a powerful question that I needed to be reminded of and one that I need to continue to remember, in my prayers, each day. As for demons, I absolutely believe and have often said that I believe that God has saved me from powerful demons that once controlled my life. Praise be to God for that. Thank you for taking the time to write these daily Lent devotions.