Luke 4 - part 2

Unfortunately, this is what people think of when they think of an exorcism.  Spinning heads and vomit. Priests leaping from windows. The reality of this kind of oppression is actually worse.  The man in the congregation at Capernaum suffered greatly, with no relief until Christ.  Many suffer the same way in our own day; often, this suffering is diagnosed as some sort of mental illness. (1) We do a disservice when we despiritualize this kind of suffering. (2) We must develop a healing ministry for people who suffer in this way.  Casting out demons is not a matter of some type of incantation, but the healing power of the presence of Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit.

Luke 4

In Luke 4, Jesus begins his ministry in the synagogue.  Jesus preaches with authority, a recurrent theme early in Luke.  What does this authority look like?  What about someone else who reads the same words.  Was Jesus just an effective public speaker? Surely that is not it.  Some have spoken powerful, manipulative words, without this kind of authority.  They led people to their deaths or had them kill others.

Jesus delivers the Old Testament prophetic message with a new authority, full of the grace of God, delivered to an amazed and sometimes angered congregation.  Healing and exorcism accompany these sermons.  Jesus came to transform and show the true power of God for humanity.  As he said, "I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God...I was sent for this pupose."  God be praised.