Temptation of Jesus (Luke 4:1-14)
1 Filled with the holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert
2 for forty days, to be tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over he was hungry.
3 The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread."
4 Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone.'"
5 Then he took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a single instant.
6 The devil said to him, "I shall give to you all this power and their glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I may give it to whomever I wish.
7 All this will be yours, if you worship me."
8 Jesus said to him in reply, "It is written: 'You shall worship the Lord, your God, and him alone shall you serve.'"
9 Then he led him to Jerusalem, made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here,
10 for it is written: 'He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,'
11 and: 'With their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone.'"
12 Jesus said to him in reply, "It also says, 'You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.'"
13 When the devil had finished every temptation, he departed from him for a time.
14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news of him spread throughout the whole region.
According to these texts, after being baptized, Jesus fasted for forty days and nights in the desert. During this time, the devil appeared to Jesus and tempted him. Jesus having refused each temptation, the devil departed and angels came and brought nourishment to Jesus.
Hebrews 4:15 (For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin) states that Jesus is one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are. The author of the book of Hebrews clearly purports that Jesus was tempted in the same way as other men (i.e., without supernatural powers). Granted this scriptural passage, it only makes sense that Jesus was required to pass these tests before God without relying on powers that other men do not have.
C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity says about temptation, “No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good. A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. After all, you find out the strength of the German army by fighting against it, not by giving in. You find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down. A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness — they have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it: and Christ, because He was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means — the only complete realist.”
According to Benedict XVI, Satan seeks to draw Jesus from a messianism of self-sacrifice to a messianism of power: "in this period of "wilderness"... Jesus is exposed to danger and is assaulted by the temptation and seduction of the Evil One, who proposes a different messianic path to him, far from God's plan because it passes through power, success and domination rather than the total gift of himself on the Cross. This is the alternative: a messianism of power, of success, or a messianism of love, of the gift of self.
comments by Dr. Mary Healy, professor of Scripture at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit:
Christian tradition has always recognized the spiritual battle as an essential part of life in Christ. Indeed, all human history is a story of combat with the powers of evil (Catechism, 409). This combat entails both the struggle against our own tendencies to sin and the rejection of Satan and all his glamorous seductions (Catechism, 2752). Following the example of Jesus and empowered by his Spirit, we are to repel the enemy through prayer and perseverance. We may sometimes feel like singularly feeble warriors. But God never leaves us without the help of the angels in this battle, and through faith we can experience the victory won by Christ on the cross.
The Church has always taught, however, that demons are real spiritual beings, fallen angels who were created by God but became evil by their own free choice (Catechism, 391-95). Anyone tempted to dismiss accounts of demons as fables does not have to look far to see evidence of their influence
today. Such phenomena as "racial cleansing;' group suicides, and the sexual abuse of children show a more than merely human malice at work, seeking to destroy the image of God in man. But as frightening and real as is the power of demons, the authority of Christ is infinitely superior. Through his cross and resurrection, Christ definitively conquered the powers of hell. For the present time, however, their malicious actions are permitted by God, who is able to work good out of every evil (Rom 8:28). The grace of baptism affords us protection from demons and the strength to resist their seductive influence.
comments by Pope Benedict XVI (JN):
The story of the temptations is thus intimately connected with the story of the Baptism, for it is there that Jesus enters into solidarity with sinners. We will see Jesus wrestling once again with his mission during his agony on the Mount of Olives. But the “temptations” are with him every step of the way. In this sense, we can see the story of the temptations—just like the Baptism—as an anticipation that condenses into a single expression the struggle he endured at every step of his mission.
Jesus has to enter into the drama of human existence, for that belongs to the core of his mission; he has to penetrate it completely, down to its uttermost depths, in order to find the “lost sheep,” to bear it on his shoulders, and to bring it home.
Matthew and Luke recount three temptations of Jesus that reflect the inner struggle over his own particular mission and, at the same time, address the question as to what truly matters in human life. At the heart of all temptations, as we see here, is the act of pushing God aside because we perceive him as secondary, if not actually superfluous and annoying, in comparison with all the apparently far more urgent matters that fill our lives. Constructing a world by our own lights, without reference to God, building on our own foundation; refusing to acknowledge the reality of anything beyond the political and material, while setting God aside as an illusion—that is the temptation that threatens us in many varied forms.
Jesus “fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was hungry” (Mt 4:2). In Jesus’ day the number forty was already filled with rich symbolism for Israel. First of all, it recalls Israel’s forty years’ wandering in the desert, a period in which the people were both tempted and enjoyed a special closeness to God. The forty days and nights also remind us of the forty days that Moses spent on Mount Sinai before he was privileged to receive the word of God, the sacred tablets of the Covenant. They may also serve as a reminder of the rabbinic tale of how Abraham spent forty days and forty nights on the way to Mount Horeb, where he was to sacrifice his son, how during that time he neither ate nor drank anything and nourished himself on the vision and words of the angel who accompanied him. The forty days of fasting embrace the drama of history, which Jesus takes into himself and bears all the way through to the end.
“If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread” (Mt 4:3)—so the first temptation goes. “If you are the Son of God”—we will hear these words again in the mouths of the mocking bystanders at the foot of the Cross—“If you are the Son of God, come down from the Cross” (Mt 27:40)... Christ is being challenged to establish his credibility by offering evidence for his claims. This demand for proof is a constantly recurring theme in the story of Jesus’ life.
And we make this same demand of God and Christ and his Church throughout the whole of history. “If you exist, God,” we say, “then you’ll just have to show yourself. You’ll have to part the clouds that conceal you and give us the clarity that we deserve. If you, Christ, are really the Son of God, and not just another one of the enlightened individuals who keep appearing in the course of history, then you’ll just have to prove it more clearly than you are doing now. And if the Church is really supposed to be yours, you’ll have to make that much more obvious than it is at present.”
The proof of divinity that the tempter proposes at the first temptation consists in changing the stones of the desert into bread. At first it is a question of Jesus’ own hunger, which is how Luke sees it: “Command this stone to become bread” (Lk 4:3). Did not, and does not, the Redeemer of the world have to prove his credentials by feeding everyone? Isn’t the problem of feeding the world—and, more generally, are not social problems—the primary, true yardstick by which redemption has to be measured? Does someone who fails to measure up to this standard have any right to be called a redeemer? Marxism—quite understandably—made this very point the core of its promise of salvation: It would see to it that no one went hungry anymore and that the “desert would become bread.”
“If you are the Son of God”—what a challenge! And should we not say the same thing to the Church? If you claim to be the Church of God, then start by making sure the world has bread—the rest comes later. It is hard to answer this challenge, precisely because the cry of the hungry penetrates so deeply into the ears and into the soul.
This third temptation has to be interpreted as a sort of vision, which once again represents something real, something that poses a particular threat to the man Jesus and his mission. The first point is the striking fact that the devil cites the Holy Scripture in order to lure Jesus into his trap. He quotes Psalm 91:11 (He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you). The devil proves to be a Bible expert who can quote the Psalm exactly. The whole conversation of the second temptation takes the form of a dispute between two Bible scholars. The fact is that scriptural exegesis can become a tool of the Antichrist. The alleged findings of scholarly exegesis have been used to put together the most dreadful books that destroy the figure of Jesus and dismantle the faith.
The common practice today is to measure the Bible against the so-called modern worldview, whose fundamental dogma is that God cannot act in history—that everything to do with God is to be relegated to the domain of subjectivity. And so the Bible no longer speaks of God, the living God; no, now we alone speak and decide what God can do and what we will and should do. And the Antichrist, with an air of scholarly excellence, tells us that any exegesis that reads the Bible from the perspective of faith in the living God, in order to listen to what God has to say, is fundamentalism; he wants to convince us that only his kind of exegesis, the supposedly purely scientific kind, in which God says nothing and has nothing to say, is able to keep abreast of the times.
The theological debate between Jesus and the devil is a dispute over the correct interpretation of Scripture, and it is relevant to every period of history. The hermeneutical question lying at the basis of proper scriptural exegesis is this: What picture of God are we working with? Is he, who remained without worldly power, really the Son of the living God?
The structural question concerning the remarkable scriptural discussion between Christ and the tempter thus leads directly to the question about its content. What is this dispute about? The issue at stake in this third temptation has been summed up under the motif of “bread and circuses.” The idea is that after bread has been provided, a spectacle has to be offered, too.
Christ did not cast himself down from the pinnacle of the Temple. He did not leap into the abyss. He did not tempt God. But he did descend into the abyss of death, into the night of abandonment, and into the desolation of the defenseless. He ventured this leap as an act of God’s love for men. And so he knew that, ultimately, when he leaped he could only fall into the kindly hands of the Father. This brings to light the real meaning of Psalm 91, which has to do with the right to the ultimate and unlimited trust of which the Psalm speaks: If you follow the will of God, you know that in spite of all the terrible things that happen to you, you will never lose a final refuge. You know that the foundation of the world is love, so that even when no human being can or will help you, you may go on, trusting in the One who loves you. Yet this trust, which we cultivate on the authority of Scripture and at the invitation of the risen Lord, is something quite different from the reckless defiance of God that would make God our servant.
The second temptation. Its true content becomes apparent when we realize that throughout history it is constantly taking on new forms. The Christian empire attempted at an early stage to use the faith in order to cement political unity. The Kingdom of Christ was now expected to take the form of a political kingdom and its splendor. The powerlessness of faith, the earthly powerlessness of Jesus Christ, was to be given the helping hand of political and military might. This temptation to use power to secure the faith has arisen again and again in varied forms throughout the centuries, and again and again faith has risked being suffocated in the embrace of power.
Jesus, however, repeats to us what he said in reply to Satan, what he said to Peter, and what he explained further to the disciples of Emmaus: No kingdom of this world is the Kingdom of God, the total condition of mankind’s salvation. Earthly kingdoms remain earthly human kingdoms, and anyone who claims to be able to establish the perfect world is the willing dupe of Satan and plays the world right into his hands.
Now, it is true that this leads to the great question that will be with us throughout this entire book: What did Jesus actually bring, if not world peace, universal prosperity, and a better world? What has he brought?
The answer is very simple: God. He has brought God. He has brought the God who formerly unveiled his countenance gradually, first to Abraham, then to Moses and the Prophets, and then in the Wisdom Literature—the God who revealed his face only in Israel, even though he was also honored among the pagans in various shadowy guises. It is this God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the true God, whom he has brought to the nations of the earth. He has brought God, and now we know his face, now we can call upon him. Now we know the path that we human beings have to take in this world. Jesus has brought God and with God the truth about our origin and destiny: faith, hope, and love. It is only because of our hardness of heart that we think this is too little. Yes indeed, God’s power works quietly in this world, but it is the true and lasting power. Again and again, God’s cause seems to be in its death throes. Yet over and over again it proves to be the thing that truly endures and saves. The earthly kingdoms that Satan was able to put before the Lord at that time have all passed away. Their glory, their doxa, has proven to be a mere semblance. But the glory of Christ, the humble, self-sacrificing glory of his love, has not passed away, nor will it ever do so.
At the heart of all temptations, as we see here, is the act of pushing God aside because we perceive him as secondary, if not actually superfluous and annoying, in comparison with all the apparently far more urgent matters that fill our lives. Constructing a world by our own lights, without reference to God, building on our own foundation; refusing to acknowledge the reality of anything beyond the political and material, while setting God aside as an illusion—that is the temptation that threatens us in many varied forms. Moral posturing is part and parcel of temptation. It does not invite us directly to do evil—no, that would be far too blatant. It pretends to show us a better way, where we finally abandon our illusions and throw ourselves into the work of actually making the world a better place. It claims, moreover, to speak for true realism: What’s real is what is right there in front of us—power and bread. By comparison, the things of God fade into unreality, into a secondary world that no one really needs.
commentary by Pablo T. Gadenz, Roman Catholic priest of the Diocese of Trenton (NJ) :
Spiritual training. Jesus’ three temptations have been compared to the three temptations — for sensual gratification (gluttony, lust), for power and riches (avarice), and for ostentatious display (pride, vainglory) — against which Christians are warned in l John: “the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life” (1 John 2:16 RSV). These correspond to the original temptations in Genesis: “The woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise” (Gen 3:6 RSV). Remedies for these three temptations are the three practices especially observed during Lent: fasting, almsgiving, and prayer. Scripture commends such exercises of spiritual training (Matt 6:1-18; 1 Cor 9:25-27; 1 Tim 4:7-8). By fasting and other acts of self-denial, we learn self-control. By almsgiving, we practice detachment from material things and avoid creating false needs for ourselves. By prayer, especially using the Scriptures as Jesus did, we humble ourselves before God, relying on his grace.
comments by Edward Sri, professor of theology and Scripture:
This episode has practical implications for Christian discipleship. One is that Jesus gives us an example to follow, in order that we may succeed as he did. For instance, each time the devil made his suggestion, Jesus unsheathed “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Eph 6:17). It was his knowledge of Scripture and his commitment to live by its message that aided him in the fight. For this reason, familiarity with Scripture should be an essential part of Christian formation. It is a powerful weapon for the struggles of the spiritual life.
comments by Francis Martin, president of Father Francis Martin Ministries (FFMM), commentary on the Gospel of John:
St. Thomas Aquinas writes, “Glory, in the sense of fame, is the least permanent of things; in fact, nothing is more variable than opinion and human praise.” The desire for fame and praise from people can be a powerful temptation to sin (Luke 4:5– 8; John 7:1– 10). At one level, it can lead us to do bad things so that others may approve of us. At a deeper level, the desire for fame can make us so self-absorbed that we lose sight of what is good and important in life: love of God and love of neighbor. Ironically, by seeking self-exaltation, we can make ourselves the slaves of others because we allow their opinions to determine how we should live. This temptation to seek human rather than divine approval is especially strong for those in leadership positions of any kind— occupational, political, religious, and so forth. Since the success of such leaders is often measured by how much people like them, it is easy for them to forget that they are accountable first of all to God and that their true value is the approval given by God. Jesus calls us to keep our priorities in order and to live life according to God, who is truth and goodness itself. John 5:41-44:
41 I do not accept human praise;
42 moreover, I know that you do not have the love of God in you.
43 I came in the name of my Father, but you do not accept me; yet if another comes in his own name, you will accept him.
44 How can you believe, when you accept praise from one another and do not seek the praise that comes from the only God?
Jesus returned to Galilee and Rejection in Nazareth (Luke 4:16-30)
14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news of him spread throughout the whole region.
15 He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all.
16 He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read
17 and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:
18 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free,
19 and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord."
20 Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him.
21 He said to them, "Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing."
22 And all spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They also asked, "Isn't this the son of Joseph?"
23 He said to them, "Surely you will quote me this proverb, 'Physician, cure yourself,' and say, 'Do here in your native place the things that we heard were done in Capernaum.'"
24 And he said, "Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place.
25 Indeed, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah when the sky was closed for three and a half years and a severe famine spread over the entire land.
26 It was to none of these that Elijah was sent, but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon.
27 Again, there were many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet; yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian."
28 When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury.
29 They rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong.
30 But he passed through the midst of them and went away.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me: Jesus is portrayed as a prophet whose ministry is compared to that of the prophets Elijah and Elisha. Prophetic anointings are known in first-century Palestinian Judaism from the Qumran literature that speaks of prophets as God's anointed ones. To bring glad tidings to the poor: more than any other gospel writer Luke is concerned with Jesus' attitude toward the economically and socially poor. At times, the poor in Luke's gospel are associated with the downtrodden, the oppressed and afflicted, the forgotten and the neglected, and it is they who accept Jesus' message of salvation.
Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing: this sermon inaugurates the time of fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. Luke presents the ministry of Jesus as fulfilling Old Testament hopes and expectations; for Luke, even Jesus' suffering, death, and resurrection are done in fulfillment of the scriptures.
comments by Marino J. Dasmarinas (priest at Cavite, Philippines):
Homecoming is always an event that we look forward to because of the warmth of the reception that we receive from our relatives and friends. Take for example if you’ve not been to your childhood place for a number of years. Just imagine the warm welcome that you’ll receive from your relatives and childhood friends. However, not all homecoming are filled with warmth and welcoming people there are sad homecomings also.
Jesus was initially admired and was warmly received by His town mates in Nazareth for He spoke with brilliance. But when He spoke of something that His town mates did not like to hear the admiration turned to derision and the warm reception became cold as ice.
Jesus responds by saying that their reaction is something “normal” or expected because “no prophet is accepted in his own native place”. He cites the examples of two pagans—the widow of Zarephath and Naaman the Syrian. Feeling insulted, the people are infuriated and want to throw Jesus off the cliff, but he manages to escape.
But this is the reality of life, people will like us for as long as they like what we say even if what we say is already false for as long as its music to their ears. But when we talk about the truth they will not like us anymore. They will also drive us away as if we are carrying a contagious disease. And the worst part is they may attempt to harm us.
Nevertheless, we must not be cowed from speaking the truth even if it will hurt those who would hear it. This is for the reason that by speaking the truth we correct what is wrong. And by speaking the truth we create awareness that good will always triumph over evil.
Also when we judge people simply by their background, we can lose sight of their real worth. The townsfolk of Nazareth forget Jesus’ marvelous deeds and his gracious words and teachings as they become fixated or scandalized by his “ordinariness.” They are not wise enough to realize that God can reveal himself in ordinary, unspectacular ways.
comments by Msgr. Joseph Prior (priest at St. John the Evangelist Parish, Morrisville (https://catholicphilly.com)):
When we hear of the personal cost involved for the prophet in his mission one might ask “why?” Why is the prophet rejected? Why do the people oppress and fight him? There can be numerous answers to questions like these. Most likely, the word of the Lord, spoken through the prophet, strikes a chord in their hearts, stirs their conscience. Instead of recognizing the opportunity for change and growth, they find a reason to reject that word.
Another question that might prove beneficial to dwell on is “Why does the prophet, why does Jesus, proclaim and take the abuse, rejection and anger of His people?” The answer is love. Jesus loves His people even though they reject him. His love is more powerful than their rejection. His love is more powerful than their anger.
Jesus’s love for the Father and His faith in the Father’s will and protection drives Him forward in His mission. Jesus’ love for His people drives him forward. The love that the Lord lives is best expressed in those oft-repeated words of St. Paul in his First Letter to the Corinthians: “Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, it is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.”
Jesus’ passion and death are foreshadowed here at the very beginning of the public ministry. The threats and actions against His life forecast what is to come in the crucifixion. In a certain sense His passion is already beginning. Jesus’ response to the rejection and threats is powerful. He continues on inviting people to believe in Him, to experience the Father’s love and to personify mercy itself. His whole life is a witness to love. He is love.
Jesus in the Synagogue of Capernaum (Luke 4:31–44)
31 Jesus then went down to Capernaum, a town of Galilee. He taught them on the sabbath,
32 and they were astonished at his teaching because he spoke with authority.
33 In the synagogue there was a man with the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out in a loud voice,
34 "Ha! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are - the Holy One of God!"
35 Jesus rebuked him and said, "Be quiet! Come out of him!" Then the demon threw the man down in front of them and came out of him without doing him any harm.
36 They were all amazed and said to one another, "What is there about his word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out."
37 And news of him spread everywhere in the surrounding region.
38 After he left the synagogue, he entered the house of Simon. Simon's mother-in-law was afflicted with a severe fever, and they interceded with him about her.
39 He stood over her, rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up immediately and waited on them.
40 At sunset, all who had people sick with various diseases brought them to him. He laid his hands on each of them and cured them.
41 And demons also came out from many, shouting, "You are the Son of God." But he rebuked them and did not allow them to speak because they knew that he was the Messiah.
42 At daybreak, Jesus left and went to a deserted place. The crowds went looking for him, and when they came to him, they tried to prevent him from leaving them.
43 But he said to them, "To the other towns also I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God, because for this purpose I have been sent."
44 And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.
What have you to do with us? Have you come to destroy us?: the question reflects the current belief that before the day of the Lord control over humanity would be wrested from the evil spirits, evil destroyed, and God's authority over humanity reestablished. The synoptic gospel tradition presents Jesus carrying out this task.
Comments by Rev. Nathan Dudley:
The demonic spirit knows who Jesus is. That shouldn’t surprise us. They’ve met before. No doubt the demon has vivid memories of being defeated, driven from heaven, and cast down to earth by the Son of God when the rebellion led by Satan failed. So it’s no wonder that it knows Jesus—and fears him – which is the second thing to take note of: the demon knows that it will ultimately be destroyed by Jesus. Not that it will cease to exist, mind you; but that its ongoing destruction in hell will endure forever. The spirit knows that day is coming – and anticipates it with dread. And we know from other encounters Jesus had with unclean spirits that the demons know that that day had not yet come during the time of Christ’s earthly ministry. So part of the demon’s question, “What have you to do with us?” carries the sense of, “Why are you confronting me now? It’s yet not time for the judgment. Why can’t you leave me alone until then?”
But what I find most interesting about the unclean spirit’s discourse is that with the exception of where it says to Jesus, “I know who you are”, it consistently refers to itself in the plural. “What have you to do with us?” And “Have you come to destroy us?” At first glance one might think the demon is referring to itself and all the other unclean spirits out there in the world. But there are two reasons to believe otherwise. First, we’re told the man had only one demonic spirit; and second, that all the other demons know who Jesus is too. So, to be consistent, if it had meant itself and the other demons, the spirit would have said, “We know who you are”. In context, then, it’s pretty clear that when the demon speaks of us, it means my host and me. So intertwined are the two – and so accustomed is this man to having the unclean spirit within him– that the spirit wants him to believe that its destruction means his too. “You can’t live without me” is what the spirit is saying to the man. “We need each other. Remember, we get along just fine. We’re doing okay here. This Jesus is bad news for both of us. We both stand to lose big time.”
None of this is true, of course; but then a demon’s strongest weapon is deception. If it can get the man to believe that Jesus is a threat, if it can get the man to fear Jesus and his authority and to flee from his powerful Word, then its place is secure. It’ll be back to the status quo – for the time being anyway. And then when the end does come, both demon and man will indeed be destroyed forever in hell.
But Jesus is not here to destroy people. As we heard him say last week, he’s come to release the oppressed and set the captives free. And what all people must first be freed from are the lies and deceptions of the evil one. And that’s why Jesus first tells the unclean spirit to be quiet. When Christ speaks his truth, the lies of the devil are put to silence. And then Jesus commands the spirit to get out. And sure, the now mute spirit puts on a pathetic little show of force, tossing the man to the ground – just as elsewhere in the Gospels we see other demons crying out and sending their hosts into spasms as they depart – but in the end, as we’re told here, despite all their noise and flopping around, they are unable to do any real harm to their former hosts.
What follows is an account of the entire congregation’s amazement at the power and authority of Jesus’ Word. And they are justifiably impressed. But what we’re not told, however, is how the man who had been set free responded – though certainly he would have been included among those were amazed at the authority of Jesus’ Word. But put yourself in his sandals for a moment. When he gets up off the ground, stands on his feet, and brushes off the dust, he has a whole new perspective. The lies he’s lived with for so long: that the unclean spirit within him was not inherently dangerous, that it could be accommodated, that it meant him no harm, and that he couldn’t live without it – that’s all been proven wrong. And now he’s free of its evil influence and oppression – free to know Jesus not as a threat, but as the Savior – free to hear God’s Word with proper understanding – free to be filled, illumined, and guided by God’s own Holy Spirit – and free to live in faith in Jesus as a child of God. This man has been given a whole new life in Christ.
And at this point you may be thinking, “Well, that’s just great for him. It’s wonderful; but what does it have to do with me? I don’t have an unclean spirit living within me.” No? I beg to differ. I agree that you probably don’t have a demonic spirit living in you.
But the truth is that all of us do have a fallen, unclean, evil human nature within us. And an evil spirit is an evil spirit, whether human or demonic. They operate pretty much the same way. And they fear Jesus, because they know who he is and what he’s here to do; namely, he’s here to destroy them.
This is why so many people avoid Jesus and his Word of power, either by staying away from the church altogether, or by choosing for themselves churches where God’s Word is distorted, diluted, and explained away with sophistry. Either way, they don’t have to listen to Jesus or be threatened by his authoritative Word.
But you’re here this morning, in a church in which God’s Word is held in highest esteem – where it’s considered to be infallible and authoritative, the only rule and norm for establishing doctrine and prescribing Christian life. And where too I as the preacher try to get out of the way and deliver Christ’s powerful message to you without pulling any punches. And so, in a way, we are all (myself included) like the man in today’s story. Outwardly we look like good, honest, faithful church-going people. And a part of us is. At the same time, we’ve all got that other spirit that belongs to our fallen sinful nature. And let’s be honest: we’ve all come to certain terms with the sinful self inside. “Here’s your area. Here are the sins I’ll still allow myself to indulge in. You stay on your side, I’ll stay on mine, and together we’ll get along just fine.” I’ll bet you know exactly what I’m talking about. As individuals we might draw that line in different places; but it’s there.
And what I’d have you see is that the reason it’s there is that we are deceived. We imagine a certain amount of sin is excusable, or even desirable. Just think how boring life would be without it, we tell ourselves. And we mistakenly think that sin can be contained; that if allowed its own certain space, it won’t work its way into other areas of our lives. It never happens that way; but we sure like to think so. And we believe the biggest lie of all: the sinful nature’s claim that Jesus has come to destroy us, that he’s a threat to us, that he means to ruin our lives completely, because, after all, “You need me”, the sinful nature claims. “I’m the one who looks out for your best interest. I’m the one who makes sure you get your fair share, that you land on top, and that you get the credit you deserve. You can’t live without me”; when all along the truth is that it’s on account of the sin in our lives that we’re dying.
So what we need more than anything is the authoritative Word of Jesus that commands the fearful voice of our sinful nature to be silent and to get out. Jesus hasn’t come to destroy us; he’s come to save us from the sin within us by destroying just the sinful nature so that we can live free in him. He destroys sin by taking it upon himself – our guilt and shame – and carrying it to the cross where he received the damnation and destruction we deserved. And then, rising from the dead, he raises us up with him, like the man in the story, with a whole new perspective – with a whole new life, free of the deceit of sin, and filled with God’s Spirit to enlighten and lead him.
With all this in mind, I’m asking you now to examine yourself. Where is that line I was talking about before – that agreement you’ve made with the sins in your life, the sins that have you convinced that that you need them, that you can’t live without them, that they really don’t hurt your relationship with God or with others, or that have you thinking that they’re simply too difficult to get rid of. Your sinful nature is lying to you. It’s only trying to protect its own turf to your temporal and maybe to your eternal disadvantage. It fears the power and authority of Jesus and tells you that he’s a threat the whole you – that he’s come to destroy you. It’s not true. Jesus has come to set you free from sin and its delusion so that you can live as a child of God in time and eternity. So name the sins. You know what they are. Confess them. And let the authority of Jesus himself silence them and cast them out of your life as you hear these words:
"Almighty God in his mercy has given his Son to die for you and for his sake forgives you all your sins. As a called and ordained servant of Christ, and by his authority, I therefore forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen".
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| Ary Scheffer - Temptation of Christ (1854) |
2 for forty days, to be tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over he was hungry.
3 The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread."
4 Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone.'"
5 Then he took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a single instant.
6 The devil said to him, "I shall give to you all this power and their glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I may give it to whomever I wish.
7 All this will be yours, if you worship me."
8 Jesus said to him in reply, "It is written: 'You shall worship the Lord, your God, and him alone shall you serve.'"
9 Then he led him to Jerusalem, made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here,
10 for it is written: 'He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,'
11 and: 'With their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone.'"
12 Jesus said to him in reply, "It also says, 'You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.'"
13 When the devil had finished every temptation, he departed from him for a time.
14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news of him spread throughout the whole region.
According to these texts, after being baptized, Jesus fasted for forty days and nights in the desert. During this time, the devil appeared to Jesus and tempted him. Jesus having refused each temptation, the devil departed and angels came and brought nourishment to Jesus.
Hebrews 4:15 (For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin) states that Jesus is one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are. The author of the book of Hebrews clearly purports that Jesus was tempted in the same way as other men (i.e., without supernatural powers). Granted this scriptural passage, it only makes sense that Jesus was required to pass these tests before God without relying on powers that other men do not have.
C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity says about temptation, “No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good. A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. After all, you find out the strength of the German army by fighting against it, not by giving in. You find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down. A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness — they have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it: and Christ, because He was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means — the only complete realist.”
According to Benedict XVI, Satan seeks to draw Jesus from a messianism of self-sacrifice to a messianism of power: "in this period of "wilderness"... Jesus is exposed to danger and is assaulted by the temptation and seduction of the Evil One, who proposes a different messianic path to him, far from God's plan because it passes through power, success and domination rather than the total gift of himself on the Cross. This is the alternative: a messianism of power, of success, or a messianism of love, of the gift of self.
comments by Dr. Mary Healy, professor of Scripture at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit:
Christian tradition has always recognized the spiritual battle as an essential part of life in Christ. Indeed, all human history is a story of combat with the powers of evil (Catechism, 409). This combat entails both the struggle against our own tendencies to sin and the rejection of Satan and all his glamorous seductions (Catechism, 2752). Following the example of Jesus and empowered by his Spirit, we are to repel the enemy through prayer and perseverance. We may sometimes feel like singularly feeble warriors. But God never leaves us without the help of the angels in this battle, and through faith we can experience the victory won by Christ on the cross.
The Church has always taught, however, that demons are real spiritual beings, fallen angels who were created by God but became evil by their own free choice (Catechism, 391-95). Anyone tempted to dismiss accounts of demons as fables does not have to look far to see evidence of their influence
today. Such phenomena as "racial cleansing;' group suicides, and the sexual abuse of children show a more than merely human malice at work, seeking to destroy the image of God in man. But as frightening and real as is the power of demons, the authority of Christ is infinitely superior. Through his cross and resurrection, Christ definitively conquered the powers of hell. For the present time, however, their malicious actions are permitted by God, who is able to work good out of every evil (Rom 8:28). The grace of baptism affords us protection from demons and the strength to resist their seductive influence.
comments by Pope Benedict XVI (JN):
The story of the temptations is thus intimately connected with the story of the Baptism, for it is there that Jesus enters into solidarity with sinners. We will see Jesus wrestling once again with his mission during his agony on the Mount of Olives. But the “temptations” are with him every step of the way. In this sense, we can see the story of the temptations—just like the Baptism—as an anticipation that condenses into a single expression the struggle he endured at every step of his mission.
Jesus has to enter into the drama of human existence, for that belongs to the core of his mission; he has to penetrate it completely, down to its uttermost depths, in order to find the “lost sheep,” to bear it on his shoulders, and to bring it home.
Matthew and Luke recount three temptations of Jesus that reflect the inner struggle over his own particular mission and, at the same time, address the question as to what truly matters in human life. At the heart of all temptations, as we see here, is the act of pushing God aside because we perceive him as secondary, if not actually superfluous and annoying, in comparison with all the apparently far more urgent matters that fill our lives. Constructing a world by our own lights, without reference to God, building on our own foundation; refusing to acknowledge the reality of anything beyond the political and material, while setting God aside as an illusion—that is the temptation that threatens us in many varied forms.
Jesus “fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was hungry” (Mt 4:2). In Jesus’ day the number forty was already filled with rich symbolism for Israel. First of all, it recalls Israel’s forty years’ wandering in the desert, a period in which the people were both tempted and enjoyed a special closeness to God. The forty days and nights also remind us of the forty days that Moses spent on Mount Sinai before he was privileged to receive the word of God, the sacred tablets of the Covenant. They may also serve as a reminder of the rabbinic tale of how Abraham spent forty days and forty nights on the way to Mount Horeb, where he was to sacrifice his son, how during that time he neither ate nor drank anything and nourished himself on the vision and words of the angel who accompanied him. The forty days of fasting embrace the drama of history, which Jesus takes into himself and bears all the way through to the end.
“If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread” (Mt 4:3)—so the first temptation goes. “If you are the Son of God”—we will hear these words again in the mouths of the mocking bystanders at the foot of the Cross—“If you are the Son of God, come down from the Cross” (Mt 27:40)... Christ is being challenged to establish his credibility by offering evidence for his claims. This demand for proof is a constantly recurring theme in the story of Jesus’ life.
And we make this same demand of God and Christ and his Church throughout the whole of history. “If you exist, God,” we say, “then you’ll just have to show yourself. You’ll have to part the clouds that conceal you and give us the clarity that we deserve. If you, Christ, are really the Son of God, and not just another one of the enlightened individuals who keep appearing in the course of history, then you’ll just have to prove it more clearly than you are doing now. And if the Church is really supposed to be yours, you’ll have to make that much more obvious than it is at present.”
The proof of divinity that the tempter proposes at the first temptation consists in changing the stones of the desert into bread. At first it is a question of Jesus’ own hunger, which is how Luke sees it: “Command this stone to become bread” (Lk 4:3). Did not, and does not, the Redeemer of the world have to prove his credentials by feeding everyone? Isn’t the problem of feeding the world—and, more generally, are not social problems—the primary, true yardstick by which redemption has to be measured? Does someone who fails to measure up to this standard have any right to be called a redeemer? Marxism—quite understandably—made this very point the core of its promise of salvation: It would see to it that no one went hungry anymore and that the “desert would become bread.”
“If you are the Son of God”—what a challenge! And should we not say the same thing to the Church? If you claim to be the Church of God, then start by making sure the world has bread—the rest comes later. It is hard to answer this challenge, precisely because the cry of the hungry penetrates so deeply into the ears and into the soul.
This third temptation has to be interpreted as a sort of vision, which once again represents something real, something that poses a particular threat to the man Jesus and his mission. The first point is the striking fact that the devil cites the Holy Scripture in order to lure Jesus into his trap. He quotes Psalm 91:11 (He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you). The devil proves to be a Bible expert who can quote the Psalm exactly. The whole conversation of the second temptation takes the form of a dispute between two Bible scholars. The fact is that scriptural exegesis can become a tool of the Antichrist. The alleged findings of scholarly exegesis have been used to put together the most dreadful books that destroy the figure of Jesus and dismantle the faith.
The common practice today is to measure the Bible against the so-called modern worldview, whose fundamental dogma is that God cannot act in history—that everything to do with God is to be relegated to the domain of subjectivity. And so the Bible no longer speaks of God, the living God; no, now we alone speak and decide what God can do and what we will and should do. And the Antichrist, with an air of scholarly excellence, tells us that any exegesis that reads the Bible from the perspective of faith in the living God, in order to listen to what God has to say, is fundamentalism; he wants to convince us that only his kind of exegesis, the supposedly purely scientific kind, in which God says nothing and has nothing to say, is able to keep abreast of the times.
The theological debate between Jesus and the devil is a dispute over the correct interpretation of Scripture, and it is relevant to every period of history. The hermeneutical question lying at the basis of proper scriptural exegesis is this: What picture of God are we working with? Is he, who remained without worldly power, really the Son of the living God?
The structural question concerning the remarkable scriptural discussion between Christ and the tempter thus leads directly to the question about its content. What is this dispute about? The issue at stake in this third temptation has been summed up under the motif of “bread and circuses.” The idea is that after bread has been provided, a spectacle has to be offered, too.
Christ did not cast himself down from the pinnacle of the Temple. He did not leap into the abyss. He did not tempt God. But he did descend into the abyss of death, into the night of abandonment, and into the desolation of the defenseless. He ventured this leap as an act of God’s love for men. And so he knew that, ultimately, when he leaped he could only fall into the kindly hands of the Father. This brings to light the real meaning of Psalm 91, which has to do with the right to the ultimate and unlimited trust of which the Psalm speaks: If you follow the will of God, you know that in spite of all the terrible things that happen to you, you will never lose a final refuge. You know that the foundation of the world is love, so that even when no human being can or will help you, you may go on, trusting in the One who loves you. Yet this trust, which we cultivate on the authority of Scripture and at the invitation of the risen Lord, is something quite different from the reckless defiance of God that would make God our servant.
The second temptation. Its true content becomes apparent when we realize that throughout history it is constantly taking on new forms. The Christian empire attempted at an early stage to use the faith in order to cement political unity. The Kingdom of Christ was now expected to take the form of a political kingdom and its splendor. The powerlessness of faith, the earthly powerlessness of Jesus Christ, was to be given the helping hand of political and military might. This temptation to use power to secure the faith has arisen again and again in varied forms throughout the centuries, and again and again faith has risked being suffocated in the embrace of power.
Jesus, however, repeats to us what he said in reply to Satan, what he said to Peter, and what he explained further to the disciples of Emmaus: No kingdom of this world is the Kingdom of God, the total condition of mankind’s salvation. Earthly kingdoms remain earthly human kingdoms, and anyone who claims to be able to establish the perfect world is the willing dupe of Satan and plays the world right into his hands.
Now, it is true that this leads to the great question that will be with us throughout this entire book: What did Jesus actually bring, if not world peace, universal prosperity, and a better world? What has he brought?
The answer is very simple: God. He has brought God. He has brought the God who formerly unveiled his countenance gradually, first to Abraham, then to Moses and the Prophets, and then in the Wisdom Literature—the God who revealed his face only in Israel, even though he was also honored among the pagans in various shadowy guises. It is this God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the true God, whom he has brought to the nations of the earth. He has brought God, and now we know his face, now we can call upon him. Now we know the path that we human beings have to take in this world. Jesus has brought God and with God the truth about our origin and destiny: faith, hope, and love. It is only because of our hardness of heart that we think this is too little. Yes indeed, God’s power works quietly in this world, but it is the true and lasting power. Again and again, God’s cause seems to be in its death throes. Yet over and over again it proves to be the thing that truly endures and saves. The earthly kingdoms that Satan was able to put before the Lord at that time have all passed away. Their glory, their doxa, has proven to be a mere semblance. But the glory of Christ, the humble, self-sacrificing glory of his love, has not passed away, nor will it ever do so.
At the heart of all temptations, as we see here, is the act of pushing God aside because we perceive him as secondary, if not actually superfluous and annoying, in comparison with all the apparently far more urgent matters that fill our lives. Constructing a world by our own lights, without reference to God, building on our own foundation; refusing to acknowledge the reality of anything beyond the political and material, while setting God aside as an illusion—that is the temptation that threatens us in many varied forms. Moral posturing is part and parcel of temptation. It does not invite us directly to do evil—no, that would be far too blatant. It pretends to show us a better way, where we finally abandon our illusions and throw ourselves into the work of actually making the world a better place. It claims, moreover, to speak for true realism: What’s real is what is right there in front of us—power and bread. By comparison, the things of God fade into unreality, into a secondary world that no one really needs.
commentary by Pablo T. Gadenz, Roman Catholic priest of the Diocese of Trenton (NJ) :
Spiritual training. Jesus’ three temptations have been compared to the three temptations — for sensual gratification (gluttony, lust), for power and riches (avarice), and for ostentatious display (pride, vainglory) — against which Christians are warned in l John: “the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life” (1 John 2:16 RSV). These correspond to the original temptations in Genesis: “The woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise” (Gen 3:6 RSV). Remedies for these three temptations are the three practices especially observed during Lent: fasting, almsgiving, and prayer. Scripture commends such exercises of spiritual training (Matt 6:1-18; 1 Cor 9:25-27; 1 Tim 4:7-8). By fasting and other acts of self-denial, we learn self-control. By almsgiving, we practice detachment from material things and avoid creating false needs for ourselves. By prayer, especially using the Scriptures as Jesus did, we humble ourselves before God, relying on his grace.
comments by Edward Sri, professor of theology and Scripture:
This episode has practical implications for Christian discipleship. One is that Jesus gives us an example to follow, in order that we may succeed as he did. For instance, each time the devil made his suggestion, Jesus unsheathed “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Eph 6:17). It was his knowledge of Scripture and his commitment to live by its message that aided him in the fight. For this reason, familiarity with Scripture should be an essential part of Christian formation. It is a powerful weapon for the struggles of the spiritual life.
comments by Francis Martin, president of Father Francis Martin Ministries (FFMM), commentary on the Gospel of John:
St. Thomas Aquinas writes, “Glory, in the sense of fame, is the least permanent of things; in fact, nothing is more variable than opinion and human praise.” The desire for fame and praise from people can be a powerful temptation to sin (Luke 4:5– 8; John 7:1– 10). At one level, it can lead us to do bad things so that others may approve of us. At a deeper level, the desire for fame can make us so self-absorbed that we lose sight of what is good and important in life: love of God and love of neighbor. Ironically, by seeking self-exaltation, we can make ourselves the slaves of others because we allow their opinions to determine how we should live. This temptation to seek human rather than divine approval is especially strong for those in leadership positions of any kind— occupational, political, religious, and so forth. Since the success of such leaders is often measured by how much people like them, it is easy for them to forget that they are accountable first of all to God and that their true value is the approval given by God. Jesus calls us to keep our priorities in order and to live life according to God, who is truth and goodness itself. John 5:41-44:
41 I do not accept human praise;
42 moreover, I know that you do not have the love of God in you.
43 I came in the name of my Father, but you do not accept me; yet if another comes in his own name, you will accept him.
44 How can you believe, when you accept praise from one another and do not seek the praise that comes from the only God?
Jesus returned to Galilee and Rejection in Nazareth (Luke 4:16-30)
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| Vasily Polenov - Christ among teachers (1896) |
15 He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all.
16 He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read
17 and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:
18 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free,
19 and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord."
20 Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him.
21 He said to them, "Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing."
22 And all spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They also asked, "Isn't this the son of Joseph?"
23 He said to them, "Surely you will quote me this proverb, 'Physician, cure yourself,' and say, 'Do here in your native place the things that we heard were done in Capernaum.'"
24 And he said, "Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place.
25 Indeed, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah when the sky was closed for three and a half years and a severe famine spread over the entire land.
26 It was to none of these that Elijah was sent, but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon.
27 Again, there were many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet; yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian."
28 When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury.
29 They rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong.
30 But he passed through the midst of them and went away.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me: Jesus is portrayed as a prophet whose ministry is compared to that of the prophets Elijah and Elisha. Prophetic anointings are known in first-century Palestinian Judaism from the Qumran literature that speaks of prophets as God's anointed ones. To bring glad tidings to the poor: more than any other gospel writer Luke is concerned with Jesus' attitude toward the economically and socially poor. At times, the poor in Luke's gospel are associated with the downtrodden, the oppressed and afflicted, the forgotten and the neglected, and it is they who accept Jesus' message of salvation.
Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing: this sermon inaugurates the time of fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. Luke presents the ministry of Jesus as fulfilling Old Testament hopes and expectations; for Luke, even Jesus' suffering, death, and resurrection are done in fulfillment of the scriptures.
comments by Marino J. Dasmarinas (priest at Cavite, Philippines):
Homecoming is always an event that we look forward to because of the warmth of the reception that we receive from our relatives and friends. Take for example if you’ve not been to your childhood place for a number of years. Just imagine the warm welcome that you’ll receive from your relatives and childhood friends. However, not all homecoming are filled with warmth and welcoming people there are sad homecomings also.
Jesus was initially admired and was warmly received by His town mates in Nazareth for He spoke with brilliance. But when He spoke of something that His town mates did not like to hear the admiration turned to derision and the warm reception became cold as ice.
Jesus responds by saying that their reaction is something “normal” or expected because “no prophet is accepted in his own native place”. He cites the examples of two pagans—the widow of Zarephath and Naaman the Syrian. Feeling insulted, the people are infuriated and want to throw Jesus off the cliff, but he manages to escape.
But this is the reality of life, people will like us for as long as they like what we say even if what we say is already false for as long as its music to their ears. But when we talk about the truth they will not like us anymore. They will also drive us away as if we are carrying a contagious disease. And the worst part is they may attempt to harm us.
Nevertheless, we must not be cowed from speaking the truth even if it will hurt those who would hear it. This is for the reason that by speaking the truth we correct what is wrong. And by speaking the truth we create awareness that good will always triumph over evil.
Also when we judge people simply by their background, we can lose sight of their real worth. The townsfolk of Nazareth forget Jesus’ marvelous deeds and his gracious words and teachings as they become fixated or scandalized by his “ordinariness.” They are not wise enough to realize that God can reveal himself in ordinary, unspectacular ways.
comments by Msgr. Joseph Prior (priest at St. John the Evangelist Parish, Morrisville (https://catholicphilly.com)):
When we hear of the personal cost involved for the prophet in his mission one might ask “why?” Why is the prophet rejected? Why do the people oppress and fight him? There can be numerous answers to questions like these. Most likely, the word of the Lord, spoken through the prophet, strikes a chord in their hearts, stirs their conscience. Instead of recognizing the opportunity for change and growth, they find a reason to reject that word.
Another question that might prove beneficial to dwell on is “Why does the prophet, why does Jesus, proclaim and take the abuse, rejection and anger of His people?” The answer is love. Jesus loves His people even though they reject him. His love is more powerful than their rejection. His love is more powerful than their anger.
Jesus’s love for the Father and His faith in the Father’s will and protection drives Him forward in His mission. Jesus’ love for His people drives him forward. The love that the Lord lives is best expressed in those oft-repeated words of St. Paul in his First Letter to the Corinthians: “Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, it is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.”
Jesus’ passion and death are foreshadowed here at the very beginning of the public ministry. The threats and actions against His life forecast what is to come in the crucifixion. In a certain sense His passion is already beginning. Jesus’ response to the rejection and threats is powerful. He continues on inviting people to believe in Him, to experience the Father’s love and to personify mercy itself. His whole life is a witness to love. He is love.
Jesus in the Synagogue of Capernaum (Luke 4:31–44)
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| Ruins of the Capernaum Synagogue |
32 and they were astonished at his teaching because he spoke with authority.
33 In the synagogue there was a man with the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out in a loud voice,
34 "Ha! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are - the Holy One of God!"
35 Jesus rebuked him and said, "Be quiet! Come out of him!" Then the demon threw the man down in front of them and came out of him without doing him any harm.
36 They were all amazed and said to one another, "What is there about his word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out."
37 And news of him spread everywhere in the surrounding region.
38 After he left the synagogue, he entered the house of Simon. Simon's mother-in-law was afflicted with a severe fever, and they interceded with him about her.
39 He stood over her, rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up immediately and waited on them.
40 At sunset, all who had people sick with various diseases brought them to him. He laid his hands on each of them and cured them.
41 And demons also came out from many, shouting, "You are the Son of God." But he rebuked them and did not allow them to speak because they knew that he was the Messiah.
42 At daybreak, Jesus left and went to a deserted place. The crowds went looking for him, and when they came to him, they tried to prevent him from leaving them.
43 But he said to them, "To the other towns also I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God, because for this purpose I have been sent."
44 And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.
What have you to do with us? Have you come to destroy us?: the question reflects the current belief that before the day of the Lord control over humanity would be wrested from the evil spirits, evil destroyed, and God's authority over humanity reestablished. The synoptic gospel tradition presents Jesus carrying out this task.
Comments by Rev. Nathan Dudley:
The demonic spirit knows who Jesus is. That shouldn’t surprise us. They’ve met before. No doubt the demon has vivid memories of being defeated, driven from heaven, and cast down to earth by the Son of God when the rebellion led by Satan failed. So it’s no wonder that it knows Jesus—and fears him – which is the second thing to take note of: the demon knows that it will ultimately be destroyed by Jesus. Not that it will cease to exist, mind you; but that its ongoing destruction in hell will endure forever. The spirit knows that day is coming – and anticipates it with dread. And we know from other encounters Jesus had with unclean spirits that the demons know that that day had not yet come during the time of Christ’s earthly ministry. So part of the demon’s question, “What have you to do with us?” carries the sense of, “Why are you confronting me now? It’s yet not time for the judgment. Why can’t you leave me alone until then?”
But what I find most interesting about the unclean spirit’s discourse is that with the exception of where it says to Jesus, “I know who you are”, it consistently refers to itself in the plural. “What have you to do with us?” And “Have you come to destroy us?” At first glance one might think the demon is referring to itself and all the other unclean spirits out there in the world. But there are two reasons to believe otherwise. First, we’re told the man had only one demonic spirit; and second, that all the other demons know who Jesus is too. So, to be consistent, if it had meant itself and the other demons, the spirit would have said, “We know who you are”. In context, then, it’s pretty clear that when the demon speaks of us, it means my host and me. So intertwined are the two – and so accustomed is this man to having the unclean spirit within him– that the spirit wants him to believe that its destruction means his too. “You can’t live without me” is what the spirit is saying to the man. “We need each other. Remember, we get along just fine. We’re doing okay here. This Jesus is bad news for both of us. We both stand to lose big time.”
None of this is true, of course; but then a demon’s strongest weapon is deception. If it can get the man to believe that Jesus is a threat, if it can get the man to fear Jesus and his authority and to flee from his powerful Word, then its place is secure. It’ll be back to the status quo – for the time being anyway. And then when the end does come, both demon and man will indeed be destroyed forever in hell.
But Jesus is not here to destroy people. As we heard him say last week, he’s come to release the oppressed and set the captives free. And what all people must first be freed from are the lies and deceptions of the evil one. And that’s why Jesus first tells the unclean spirit to be quiet. When Christ speaks his truth, the lies of the devil are put to silence. And then Jesus commands the spirit to get out. And sure, the now mute spirit puts on a pathetic little show of force, tossing the man to the ground – just as elsewhere in the Gospels we see other demons crying out and sending their hosts into spasms as they depart – but in the end, as we’re told here, despite all their noise and flopping around, they are unable to do any real harm to their former hosts.
What follows is an account of the entire congregation’s amazement at the power and authority of Jesus’ Word. And they are justifiably impressed. But what we’re not told, however, is how the man who had been set free responded – though certainly he would have been included among those were amazed at the authority of Jesus’ Word. But put yourself in his sandals for a moment. When he gets up off the ground, stands on his feet, and brushes off the dust, he has a whole new perspective. The lies he’s lived with for so long: that the unclean spirit within him was not inherently dangerous, that it could be accommodated, that it meant him no harm, and that he couldn’t live without it – that’s all been proven wrong. And now he’s free of its evil influence and oppression – free to know Jesus not as a threat, but as the Savior – free to hear God’s Word with proper understanding – free to be filled, illumined, and guided by God’s own Holy Spirit – and free to live in faith in Jesus as a child of God. This man has been given a whole new life in Christ.
And at this point you may be thinking, “Well, that’s just great for him. It’s wonderful; but what does it have to do with me? I don’t have an unclean spirit living within me.” No? I beg to differ. I agree that you probably don’t have a demonic spirit living in you.
But the truth is that all of us do have a fallen, unclean, evil human nature within us. And an evil spirit is an evil spirit, whether human or demonic. They operate pretty much the same way. And they fear Jesus, because they know who he is and what he’s here to do; namely, he’s here to destroy them.
This is why so many people avoid Jesus and his Word of power, either by staying away from the church altogether, or by choosing for themselves churches where God’s Word is distorted, diluted, and explained away with sophistry. Either way, they don’t have to listen to Jesus or be threatened by his authoritative Word.
But you’re here this morning, in a church in which God’s Word is held in highest esteem – where it’s considered to be infallible and authoritative, the only rule and norm for establishing doctrine and prescribing Christian life. And where too I as the preacher try to get out of the way and deliver Christ’s powerful message to you without pulling any punches. And so, in a way, we are all (myself included) like the man in today’s story. Outwardly we look like good, honest, faithful church-going people. And a part of us is. At the same time, we’ve all got that other spirit that belongs to our fallen sinful nature. And let’s be honest: we’ve all come to certain terms with the sinful self inside. “Here’s your area. Here are the sins I’ll still allow myself to indulge in. You stay on your side, I’ll stay on mine, and together we’ll get along just fine.” I’ll bet you know exactly what I’m talking about. As individuals we might draw that line in different places; but it’s there.
And what I’d have you see is that the reason it’s there is that we are deceived. We imagine a certain amount of sin is excusable, or even desirable. Just think how boring life would be without it, we tell ourselves. And we mistakenly think that sin can be contained; that if allowed its own certain space, it won’t work its way into other areas of our lives. It never happens that way; but we sure like to think so. And we believe the biggest lie of all: the sinful nature’s claim that Jesus has come to destroy us, that he’s a threat to us, that he means to ruin our lives completely, because, after all, “You need me”, the sinful nature claims. “I’m the one who looks out for your best interest. I’m the one who makes sure you get your fair share, that you land on top, and that you get the credit you deserve. You can’t live without me”; when all along the truth is that it’s on account of the sin in our lives that we’re dying.
So what we need more than anything is the authoritative Word of Jesus that commands the fearful voice of our sinful nature to be silent and to get out. Jesus hasn’t come to destroy us; he’s come to save us from the sin within us by destroying just the sinful nature so that we can live free in him. He destroys sin by taking it upon himself – our guilt and shame – and carrying it to the cross where he received the damnation and destruction we deserved. And then, rising from the dead, he raises us up with him, like the man in the story, with a whole new perspective – with a whole new life, free of the deceit of sin, and filled with God’s Spirit to enlighten and lead him.
With all this in mind, I’m asking you now to examine yourself. Where is that line I was talking about before – that agreement you’ve made with the sins in your life, the sins that have you convinced that that you need them, that you can’t live without them, that they really don’t hurt your relationship with God or with others, or that have you thinking that they’re simply too difficult to get rid of. Your sinful nature is lying to you. It’s only trying to protect its own turf to your temporal and maybe to your eternal disadvantage. It fears the power and authority of Jesus and tells you that he’s a threat the whole you – that he’s come to destroy you. It’s not true. Jesus has come to set you free from sin and its delusion so that you can live as a child of God in time and eternity. So name the sins. You know what they are. Confess them. And let the authority of Jesus himself silence them and cast them out of your life as you hear these words:
"Almighty God in his mercy has given his Son to die for you and for his sake forgives you all your sins. As a called and ordained servant of Christ, and by his authority, I therefore forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen".
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