Saturday, February 28, 2009

The Holy One of God

Well it’s a Saturday and I am home alone. Well not actually alone, I have Maisie and Frieda for company. No they are not exchange students from Denmark. One is my own dog Maisie a black lab and shepherd mix (though for some strange reason she is yellow). The other is a doberman that belongs to my daughter that is visiting us for several days. The two dogs are still trying to figure each other out. I hear a snap and a growl every 5 minutes or so. As you can tell by their names they are both girls so I can't figure out what their problem is. I am reluctant to crate them since I don't want them locked up all day. We will just have to see how it goes.


In previous posts we were exposed to some pretty radical ideas from Luke. You don't hear too much discussion at work or in the store parking lot of Satan, unless its to make a joke. We seem to think that all their is to our world is the things we can see and touch. But at the same time we cling to ideas of love, hope and a seeking to have a relationship with God. We also talked last time about sin. I keep checking the dictionary to see that it is still in the English language. We are uncomfortable with a word that signifies an absolute or that would imply that I am not OK. But as we saw last time their is a spiritual battle going on. Sin is very real. It effects us very deeply in our relationship with God. As we discussed we are prisoners of war, captured by the power of sin.

Some would look at the story from my last post and think that Jesus was referring to our psychological condition. He has come to bring a new teaching that will allow us to think differently and treat each other better. This idea of Jesus being just a good teacher will be blown out of the water by the next set of verses.

Luke 4:31 hen he went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath began to teach the people. 32They were amazed at his teaching, because his message had authority. 33In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an evil spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice, 34"Ha! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!"35"Be quiet!" Jesus said sternly. "Come out of him!" Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him.
36All the people were amazed and said to each other, "What is this teaching? With authority and power he gives orders to evil spirits and they come out!" 37And the news about him spread throughout the surrounding area.

I want to remind you again that Luke writes his narrative with an eye to grounding the events in a place and time. This is not a rough account, sort a "one time something happened" . Jesus went to Capernaum and was teaching in the synagogue.

We learn that there is a man there with an evil spirit. It also appears their was more than one "What to you want with us". The one speaking could have been the spokesman for the rest. I suspect that the folks either didn't know their was a man in their midst with an evil spirit or they didn't know what to do about it. I wonder what we would think if we were aware that someone with an evil spirit was sitting right in our church.

The demon's knew who Jesus was. These demon's proclaimed that Jesus was "the Holy One of God". Their are many references of demons acknowledging Jesus as "Son of God". Their acknowledgement was not one of that would lead to salvation. The demons, as angels, made their choice long ago to be in rebellion to God and their was no turning back. They knew their time was limited and that Jesus had the authority to make them submit to His will.

Now the spiritual battle begins. "Be quiet!!" "Come out of him!!". Jesus is now fulfilling the prophecy brought up in the previous versus. He is setting this captive free. The man is knocked over from the encounter, but is uninjured.

The people are amazed. Jesus didn't set up special sessions, He didn't gather the elders for prayer, He didn't ask the man to leave. He sternly and with authority told the demons to come out of the man and they did. This amazing demonstration of power is what made Jesus popular. This is what got people talking. This person is different that other religious teachers. He has the ability to heal, drive out demons and forgive sins.

If you are searching for a savior isn't this the person you want to come to know? You don't want to be following someone who is just has some clever teaching, is charismatic when speaking or just claims to have authority from God. You want a real savior Jesus Christ "The Holy One of God", "The Son of God", the one who has power over Satan and His demons.