Gospel (Lk 4:31-37)

And Jesus went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And he was teaching them on the sabbath; and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word was with authority. And in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon; and he cried out with a loud voice, “Ah! 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.” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in the midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm.

And they were all amazed and said to one another, “What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.” And reports of him went out into every place in the surrounding region.

Commentary

Jesus is teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum, a village by Lake Gennesaret. People are amazed at his teaching, because He confirms his words with his power. A man possessed by a demon cries out: “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.”

Jesus doesn’t answer the unclean spirit or dialogue with it. With full authority, he orders the demon to be quiet and leave that man. And the demon obeys.

The existence of Satan and his angels is a truth revealed by God and taught by the Church. They want to lead us to perdition. But we have nothing to fear, because the one who has authority over the devil is Jesus, our God, who has given his life for us, to rescue us from the power of the devil, sin and death.

God puts his authority at our disposal, because He loves us. “Often, for us men, Benedict XVI said, “authority means possession, power, dominion, success. For God, in contrast, authority means service, humility, love.”^[1] Since God uses his authority to serve his children, what have we to fear?

Faced with the healing of the man possessed by a demon, people are amazed: “What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.” Who can pronounce a word like that? Who is this man? And the fame of Christ spreads throughout all the region.

Jesus’ miracles help us believe that He is the Messiah, the Son of God, and to give our lives to Him. But they only help us if we have a heart well-disposed through humility, if we have the good will to sincerely seek the truth and desire what is good.

Some people have a lethargic faith, with hardly any practical consequences in their lives. We want to have a living faith that fills our life on earth with joy and hope, shown by striving to give ourselves to others, to build a more just, more humane, more Christian world. May our faith spur us to spread with the witness of our lives the good aroma of Christ everywhere, throughout the entire world.

^[1] Benedict XVI, Angelus, 29 January 2012.