Luke 4:31 - Meaning and Application

When Jesus was forced out of Nazareth, he went to Capernaum, another city in Galilee. The account of his teaching and miracles there had already been given in Mark 1:21 and following. In this verse, notice his preaching: he taught the people on the Sabbath days, Luke 4:31. Hearing the word preached, as God appointed it, is a way of worshiping him, and it is fitting work for the Sabbath.

Christ’s preaching made a deep impression on the people, Luke 4:32. They were amazed at his teaching, because every word carried weight, and his words opened up wonderful truths to them. His teaching was amazing, not only because it came from one without formal schooling. His word came with power. It had a commanding force and a working power that reached people’s consciences. This showed that the message Paul later preached was from God, because it came in the Spirit’s power, with clear proof.

The miracles are also important here. Two are named in particular, and they show Christ as one who rules over Satan and one who heals disease. He shows himself to be the conqueror of Satan in the world and in human hearts, because he has power to cast Satan out of people he has taken hold of. For this very purpose, he appeared, to destroy the works of the devil.

Notice several things about the demon, that is, the evil spirit. First, the devil is an unclean spirit, totally opposite to the pure and holy God, and fallen far from what he was at first. Second, this unclean spirit works in human beings, in their souls as well as he once worked in bodies. Third, someone can be deeply under Satan’s power and still be found in the synagogue, among the worshipers of God. Fourth, even the demons know and believe that Jesus Christ is the Holy One of God, sent by God. Fifth, they believe and tremble. This unclean spirit cried out in fear, expecting judgment and sensing that Christ had come to destroy him. Evil spirits live in constant fear.

Sixth, the devils want nothing to do with Jesus Christ. He did not take on the nature of angels, and he does not seek fellowship with fallen spirits. Seventh, Christ has the devil fully under control. He rebuked him and said, “Be quiet.” He spoke with power. Christ did not only tell him to stop speaking, he shut his mouth and forced him into silence. Eighth, when Satan’s power was broken, both the enemy’s malice and Christ’s overruling grace were seen clearly. The devil showed what he wanted to do when he threw the man down in the middle of them, with force and fury, as if to tear him apart. But Christ showed his greater power by forcing the devil to leave without harming the man, not even with a final blow. Satan would do all the harm he can to those he cannot destroy, but he cannot go farther than Christ allows. In fact, he cannot do any real harm at all. The man came out unharmed, though the devil left in such rage that everyone thought the man had been torn to pieces.

Ninth, Christ’s power over demons was openly recognized and praised, Luke 4:36. No one doubted that the miracle was real. It was clear beyond argument, and no one could lessen its glory. Everyone was amazed and said, “What kind of word is this?” Those who claimed to cast out demons used charms and spells to calm the devil, as if to lull him to sleep. But Christ commanded with real authority and power, which they could not resist. Even the prince of the power of the air is his servant and trembles before him. Tenth, this miracle, more than many others, spread Christ’s fame. The eyewitnesses, who were not foolish people but thoughtful men, greatly honored what they had seen, Luke 4:37. Because of this, his fame spread farther than before through the surrounding country. At the start of his public ministry, Jesus was talked about widely. Later, people’s amazement faded as the wonder of novelty wore off.

Christ also showed that he was a healer of diseases. In the first miracle, he struck at the root of human misery, Satan’s hatred and the source of all evil. In this one, he dealt with one of the most common effects of that misery, bodily sickness. Diseases came in with sin. They are among the most common and visible punishments for sin in this life, and they add much to the sorrow of our short lives. Our Lord Jesus came to take away their sting, and he often confirmed his teaching with miracles that actually removed the diseases themselves.

Of all bodily sicknesses, fevers are among the most common and deadly for adults. They can strike suddenly and just as suddenly bring a person’s life to an end. Here we see Christ healing a fever with a word. The setting was Simon’s house, and the patient was Simon Peter’s mother-in-law, Luke 4:38-39. Christ is a guest who pays well for his stay. Those who welcome him into their homes and hearts will never lose by doing so, because he comes with healing. Even families visited by Christ may still be visited by sickness. Homes blessed with his special favor are still subject to the common troubles of life. Simon’s mother-in-law was sick with a fever. “Lord, the one you love is sick.”

Even godly people may sometimes suffer very severe afflictions, worse than others. She had a great fever, a strong and dangerous one. It may have affected her mind and made her delirious. Even mild fevers can become dangerous over time, but this one was serious from the start. No age is protected from sickness. Peter’s mother-in-law was likely older, and yet she fell into a fever.

When our relatives are sick, we should turn to Christ for them in faith and prayer. They asked him to help her, and there is a special promise that the prayer of faith will help the sick. Christ cares tenderly for his people in sickness and distress. He stood over her, showing concern and compassion for her condition. He also has sovereign power over bodily disease, and he still does. He rebuked the fever, and with a word he commanded it to leave, and it went away. He tells diseases to go, and they go. He tells them to come, and they come. He can still rebuke fevers, even very severe ones.

This shows that Christ’s cures were truly miraculous because they happened at once. “Immediately she arose.” When Christ gives new life through recovery from sickness, he means that life to be truly new, used more than ever in his service and for his glory. If sickness has been rebuked and we rise from a sickbed, we should set ourselves to serve Jesus Christ.

Those who serve Christ must be ready to serve all who belong to him, for his sake. She served them, not only the one who had healed her, but also those who had asked him to help her. We should make it our aim to be thankful to those who have prayed for us.

A general report is then given of many other miracles of the same kind that Christ performed. He healed many who were sick, without exception, all who came to him, and this happened at sunset (Luke 4:40), in the evening of that Sabbath day he had spent in the synagogue. It is good to do a full day’s work on the Sabbath, to stay busy in good work until sunset, as people do who call the Sabbath and its work a delight. He healed the poor as well as the rich, and he healed people with many different diseases, so no one could think he only had a cure for one illness. He had a remedy for every sickness.

The sign he used in healing was laying his hands on the sick. He was not lifting his hands up in prayer for them, because he healed with authority. He healed by his own power. In this way, he also gave honor to that sign, which was later used when the Holy Spirit was given.

He also cast out many demons from those who were possessed (Luke 4:41). The demon-possessed people were forced to confess him. They said, “You are Christ, the Son of God,” but they said it in anger and rage. It was a confession under pressure, so it could not be accepted as trustworthy evidence. Christ rebuked them and did not let them say that they knew he was the Christ, so it would be clear without any doubt that he had conquered them and had not made any pact with them.

Here is his move away from Capernaum (Luke 4:42, Luke 4:43). He withdrew for a time to a quiet place. He allowed himself only a little sleep, not only because he needed little, but because he was content with little and never gave himself over to comfort. When day came, he went into a desert place, not to live there like a hermit, but to be alone with God at times. Even those who are busiest in public work should do the same, or else their work will go poorly, and they may find themselves no less alone when they are always alone.

He then returned again to the crowds and to the work he had to do there. A desert place may be a useful retreat, but it is not a fit place to stay, because we were not sent into this world to live for ourselves, not even for our own best interests alone, but to glorify God and do good in our time.

He was urgently asked to stay at Capernaum. The people were very fond of him, though I fear more because he had healed their sick than because he had called them to repentance. They searched for him, asked which way he had gone, and came to him even though he was in a desert place. A desert is not a desert if Christ is there. They tried to keep him from leaving, so if he went away, it would not be because they had failed to invite him. His old neighbors in Nazareth had driven him away, but his new acquaintances in Capernaum strongly wanted him to remain with them. Ministers of Christ should not be discouraged when some reject them, because others will gladly receive them and their message.

Christ chose instead to spread the light of his gospel to many places, rather than fix it in one place, so that no one city could claim to be the mother church over the rest. Though he was welcome in Capernaum and had done much good there, he was sent to preach the gospel in other towns too, and Capernaum could not demand that he stay. Those who enjoy the blessing of the gospel should be willing for others to share it as well, and not try to keep it for themselves alone. In the same way, ministers who are not forced out of one place may still be drawn to another by the chance to do more good.

Though Christ did not preach in vain in Capernaum’s synagogue, he would not be limited to that one place. He preached in the synagogues of Galilee (Luke 4:44). What is good naturally spreads itself. It is a great mercy for us that our Lord Jesus has not tied himself to one place or one people, but wherever two or three gather in his name, he is there among them. Even in Galilee of the Gentiles, his special presence is in the Christian synagogues.