After the incident in Nazareth, Jesus moved on to Capernaum where once again people were amazed by His teaching. Luke gives us the reason for their amazement; it was the authority with which He taught. Of course many teachers teach authoritatively, but Jesus seems to have had an extra ingredient in His teaching, for all four gospel writers tell us that it was His authority that so amazed people. Apparently, being the Son of God is something that has a way of coming out without ever being mentioned, for it brings forth the authority of God, for who is a greater authority on the Word of God than the Living Word Himself?
On one occasion there was a man who was possessed by demons. The demons knew at once who Jesus was, and we know that from what they shouted through the stricken man:
“Go away! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” (4:34)
Jesus simply commanded that they come out of the man, and they immediately complied with His command, amazing the people even more than before. More importantly, the man was once again made spiritually whole through the words that came from His mouth; the Living Word in action. As His followers, we must come to recognize that it is the Living Word in us, through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that gives us our strength, not our cleverness and not our human strength, but God’s alone.
As one might expect, the news of this incident spread quickly throughout the region: What else could this Jesus do?
I’ve often wondered if, when commanding demons or healing someone, did Jesus do so in the booming voice of today’s televangelists, or a soft commanding voice.