Luke 4:31-36
And [Jesus] came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days. And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power. And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice, Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and hurt him not. And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What a word is this! for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out.
MARTYN LLOYD-JONES (1899-1981): I am certain that one of the main causes of the ill state of the Church today is the fact that the devil is being forgotten—any man who believes in the devil today is regarded as almost unintelligent.
C. H. MACKINTOSH (1820-1896): Here we have man presented to us as under the direct power of Satan. This is a very solemn phase of man’s condition, and one not sufficiently pondered—not understood.
JOHN GILL (1697-1771): In the synagogue at Capernaum, as Christ was there teaching, there was a certain man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil: who was possessed with the devil, and was filled with the spirit of the devil, with a spirit of divination, and was acted by him, to impose upon the people; he influenced his mind as an enthusiast, as well as possessed his body: and this was on the Sabbath day.
ADAM CLARKE (1760-1832): It seems the man had lucid intervals; else he could not have been admitted into the synagogue.
THOMAS GOODWIN (1600-1679): Every man, before his conversion, as he is a child of Satan, so, as Ephesians 2:2 hath it, the devil works effectually in him while he is a child of disobedience; he doth ride and act, and fill the hearts of men, as you have it in Acts 5:3…According to the proportion of a man’s wickedness in the state of nature, accordingly hath he devils that possess his soul; that is certain. “According,” saith Paul in that Ephesians 2:2, “to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that works now in the children of disobedience.”—When a man is converted, Satan is judged, is cast out. Before, a man was “taken captive of him at his will,” 2 Timothy 2:26.
MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): It is possible that those who are very much under the power and working of Satan may yet be found among the worshippers of God…This unclean spirit works in the children of men, in the souls of many, as then in men’s bodies.
JOHN CALVIN (1509-1564): This mode of expression which Luke employs, conveys the idea that the man was driven by the impulse of the devil. By the permission of God, Satan had seized the faculties of his soul in such a manner, as to drive him not only to speak, but to perform other movements, at his pleasure. And thus, when the demoniacs speak, the devils, who have received permission to tyrannize, speak in them and by them.
J. C. RYLE (1816-1900): We should notice, in this passage, the clear religious knowledge possessed by the devil and his agents. Twice in these verses we have proof of this. “I know thee who thou art, the holy one of God,” was the language of an unclean devil in one case; “Thou art Christ the son of God,” was the language of many devils in another.
ALEXANDER MacLAREN (1826-1910): Observe too, the unclean spirit’s knowledge not only of the birthplace and name, but of the character and divine relationship of Jesus. That is one of the features of demoniacal possession which distinguish it from disease or insanity, and is quite incapable of explanation on any other ground. It gives a glimpse into a dim region, and suggests that the counsels of Heaven, as effected on earth, are keenly watched and understood by eyes whose gleam is unsoftened by any touch of pity or submission.
J. C. RYLE: Yet this knowledge was a knowledge unaccompanied by faith, or hope, or charity. Those who possessed it were miserable fallen beings, full of bitter hatred both against God and man. Let us beware of an unsanctified knowledge of Christianity. It is a dangerous possession, but a fearfully common one in these latter days. We may know the Bible intellectually, and have no doubt about the truth of its contents. We may have our memories well stored with its leading texts, and be able to talk glibly about its leading doctrines. And all this time the Bible may have no influence over our hearts, and wills, and consciences.
ALEXANDER MacLAREN: What a contrast to the tempest of the demoniac’s wild whirling words is Christ’s calm speech! He knows His authority, and His word is imperative, curt, and assured: “Hold thy peace!”—literally, “Be muzzled,” as if the creature were a dangerous beast, whose raving and snapping must be stopped. Jesus wishes no acknowledgments from such lips.
MATTHEW POOLE (1624-1679): It is both here and in many other places observable, that when the devils made a confession of Christ, yet neither Christ nor His apostles would ever take any notice of it. Truth is never advantaged from the confession of known liars, as the devil was from the beginning.
MATTHEW HENRY: In the breaking of Satan’s power, both the enemy that is conquered shows his malice, and Christ, the conqueror, shows His over-ruling grace. Here, First, The devil showed what he would have done, when he “threw the man in the midst,” with force and fury, as if he would have dashed him to pieces.
THOMAS FULLER (1608-1661): Like a bad tenant—whose lease is out, he hates the landlord and so he does all the damage he can, because he has got notice to quit. Often just before men are converted, they are worse than ever. There is an unusual display of their desperate wickedness, for then the devil has great wrath, now that his time is short.
C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): If Satan must come out of a man, he will do him as much mischief as ever he can before he departs.
MATTHEW HENRY: But, Secondly, Christ showed what a power he had over him, in that he not only forced him to leave him, but to leave him without so much as hurting him—whom Satan cannot destroy, he will do all the hurt he can to; but this is a comfort, he can harm them no further than Christ permits; nay, he shall not do them any real harm. He “came out, and hurt him not;” that is, the poor man was perfectly well in an instant, though the devil left him with so much rage that all that were present thought he had torn him to pieces.
CHARLES SIMEON (1759-1836): If any doubt the existence and agency of devils, the history before us is well calculated to satisfy them upon that head.
MARTYN LLOYD-JONES: I suppose ultimately that the reason we don’t pray more than we do is because we are not clear about the doctrine of the devil, and of the forces of evil, and of hell. ‘Look here,’ says Paul, ‘if you only realize that you’re not wrestling only against flesh and blood, but against these principalities and powers, and spiritual wickedness in the high places, well, you’d very soon realize the absolute necessity of prayer,’ Ephesians 6:10-18. Our Lord knew all about that; our Lord met the devil in single mortal combat; He experienced all the power of the devil and of hell. I say, it is because we don’t realize that, we fail to pray as we ought.
