The Sovereign Authority of Christ

Luke 4:31-44

Jesus Casts Out an Unclean Spirit

31 Then He went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbaths. 32 And they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was with authority. 33 Now in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon. And he cried out with a loud voice, 34 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!"

35 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. 36 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." 37 And the report about Him went out into every place in the surrounding region.

Peter's Mother-in-Law Healed

38 Now He arose from the synagogue and entered Simon's house. But Simon's wife's mother was sick with a high fever, and they made request of Him concerning her. 39 So He stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. And immediately she arose and served them.

Many Healed After Sabbath Sunset

40 When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them. 41 And demons also came out of many, crying out and saying, "You are the Christ, the Son of God!"

And He, rebuking them, did not allow them to speak, for they knew that He was the Christ.

Jesus Preaches in Galilee

42 Now when it was day, He departed and went into a deserted place. And the crowd sought Him and came to Him, and tried to keep Him from leaving them; 43 but He said to them, "I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent." 44 And He was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee.

We see the evidence of the sovereign authority of Jesus the Christ over the seen and unseen realms of all creation as He commanded demons to depart from people, as He healed many of various diseases, and as He preached the kingdom of God with that same divine authority and power to all who would stop and listen.  As Jesus was teaching in the Capernaum synagogue on the Sabbath, He encountered a possessed man crying out against Him to not destroy him because that one knew who Jesus was from his own fall in the heavenly realm (Galatians 1:8).  The demon called Jesus the Holy One of God as an admission of His Majesty as God’s Son who rules over all in heaven and on earth.  Though the fallen one begged Jesus to leave it alone, He commanded the unclean spirit to vacate the residence of the possessed man.  The onlookers were dumbfounded in awe at such authority and power over the demons and so spread the word of this miraculous event to all who would hear.  Jesus went on to heal Peter's Mother-in-Law of a fever of which we can only assume it was severe enough as to keep her from showing the hospitality.  He rebuked that fiery heat in her body and she was instantly cured to serve.  The fever fled her body as readily as the demon fled the man in the synagogue at the commanding rebuke of the sovereign and divine Lord!  He went on to heal many more who came to Him after the sun set on the Sabbath.  Many possessed people were set free as the demons attempted to reveal the Holy Christ before it was His time to come out before the world and finish the work (John 4:34, 17:4, 19:30, Romans 9:28) he came to do on earth.  He commanded these unclean spirits to shut their mouth to keep His identity hidden until it was time to reveal His work of redemption by His blood because if the religious authorities knew, they might not crucify Him as was necessary for sacrificing Himself to save His people.  God’s work was done in His way and time just as when He will return to judge the world in righteousness (Psalm 96:13, Acts 17:31).  He went from there to find brief solace from the pressing throngs and then went on throughout Galilee preaching the coming kingdom of God in their synagogues where those looking to please God might be found to listen and hear the gospel of the sovereign authority of the hidden Christ in the time of His visitation (Daniel 9:24, Luke 19:44) among them.  May we who hear recall these events and hear His voice to enter His rest (Hebrews 4:3) and find eternal lasting peace with God (Romans 5:1) in Christ.  These accounts demonstrated The Sovereign Authority of Christ over demons and diseases for deliverance from sin and redemption for salvation.