Luke 4:31–37; 5:12–16

Luke 4:31–37; 5:12–16
Casting Out a Demon (4:31–37)
On a Sabbath in Capernaum, a major trade center on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus again entered a synagogue. The people were “amazed” because He spoke with authority higher than the highest human authority they knew. Even the Hebrew prophets cried, “Thus says the Lord!” And a rabbi typically cited earlier important rabbis who agreed with the point he wanted to make. This custom was a lot like citing precedents in court or quoting authorities in a research paper. Jesus did neither. He spoke on His own authority. 

Jesus also acted with authority in dealing with evil spirits. Many modern Westerners prefer to explain demon possession either as a first-century superstition or just another name for mental illness or epilepsy. However, anyone who adopts this view faces an insuperable difficulty. He or she must explain what there was in either superstition or illness that gave this demonized man such clear insight into Jesus’ character and purpose. Clearly Jesus and the New Testament writers took demons seriously. Indeed, in this very chapter, Luke distinguished between the healing of disease and the exorcising of demons (4:40–41).

A man with an “unclean demonic spirit” spoke for the spirits within. “What to us and to you?” (literally) meant “Why bother us?” or “Leave us alone!” The unclean spirit recognized whom Jesus was and what He came to do. Besides Matthew’s version of this story, the title “Holy One of God” appears only one other place in the New Testament (John 6:69), where it indicates Jesus as coming from beyond this world and belonging to God in a special sense. Clearly the demon addressed Jesus as the divine Son of God. How ironic that the demons readily recognized Jesus while the religious leaders of the day remained stone-blind. “Have you come to destroy us?” shows the unclean spirit knew Jesus had come to destroy it and its Dark Lord and set up God’s kingdom (10:18; Rev. 20:10).

Jesus commanded the demon to be silent and come out of the man. With raging strength, the demon threw the man to the ground but departed without injuring him. Note that Jesus followed no magic formula, appealed to no higher power and used no magic paraphernalia as the other exorcists of His day did. Jesus just laid His naked word on the nasty thing and it had to leave. A word from Him was all it took. The New Testament’s major message is that in Jesus Christ, the demons have met their Master.

Cleansing a Leper (5:12–16)
Leprosy in the Bible was not always true leprosy (Hansen’s “Lepra bacillus”). Chronic psoriasis vulgaris, syphilis, pemphigus and dermatitis herpetiformis, smallpox and fungal infections as well as the pyrodermas were included under the general label “leprosy” (cf descriptions of leprosy in Leviticus 13). Because these skin diseases were considered contagious and incurable, lepers were shut away from society. Also leprosy was considered a sign of moral uncleanness (Num. 12; 2 Kings 5:19–27; 2 Chron. 26:16–21), and the separation meant lepers had no part in the fellowship of God’s people. It was illegal even to greet a leper, much less to touch one.

In one town, a man covered with leprosy, i.e., in an advanced stage, came to Jesus, not requesting cleansing but simply stating, “If you will, you can cleanse me!” Jesus not only spoke to the leper but also touched him. “I will. Be cleansed!” “Immediately” indicates the cure was instantaneous.

A threefold command Jesus gave the man: 1. “Tell no one.” At this stage of His ministry, Jesus did not want to attract men by miracles but wanted to draw them by His word. 2. “Show yourself to the priest,” i.e., who served as a public health official. 3. “Offer the sacrifices the law specifies” (cf Lev. 14).

The miracle hints at Jesus’ personal identity. According to several commentaries, the rabbis said, “It is as difficult to cleanse leprosy as to raise the dead.” The point? Only God could do either. If only God can cleanse leprosy but Jesus cleansed it, then Jesus must be God. They should have known who He was.