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.
After being rejected at Nazareth, Jesus goes to Capernaum, a fishing town on the Sea of Galilee that will become an important center of His ministry. Once again He enters a synagogue on the Sabbath and teaches. The people are astonished because “he spoke with authority” (v. 32). Almost immediately, Luke shows what the authority of Jesus’ word can accomplish.
A man in the synagogue is possessed by an unclean spirit, which cries out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?” (v. 34). The expression “What have you to do with us?” conveys rejection and hostility, something like “Leave us alone.” Yet the demon recognizes that Jesus has authority over it. Jesus had announced at Nazareth that He had been sent to bring liberty to the oppressed (Luke 4:18). Now, in Capernaum, that mission begins to be seen in action. The authority of God’s kingdom is confronting the evil power that oppresses this man.
The demon also recognizes something about Jesus that the people around Him have not yet recognized, calling Him “the Holy One of God” (v. 34). Jesus does not accept the demon’s testimony or enter into a struggle with it. He simply commands, “Be quiet! Come out of him!” (v. 35). Other exorcists of the period could employ lengthy formulas or other means, but Jesus needs only to speak. His authority does not come from a technique or an external power. His own word, spoken with divine authority, is sufficient.
The result is equally important. The demon throws the man down but comes out “without doing him any harm” (v. 35). Jesus’ power over evil is exercised for the liberation and restoration of the person who has been oppressed. The evil spirit cannot resist His command. Although it throws the man down as it departs, Luke specifically tells us that it comes out without harming him.
The people therefore ask, “What is there about his word?” They have now witnessed what they first sensed in His teaching: “with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out” (v. 36). Jesus’ teaching and His actions reveal the same authority. His word does not merely describe the truth; it has the power to accomplish what He commands. As Luke’s Gospel unfolds, that authority will become even more evident. At Jesus’ word the sick are healed (Luke 7:7–10), the wind and waves become calm (Luke 8:24–25), and even the dead are restored to life (Luke 8:54–55). Here in Capernaum, the people are only beginning to discover the extraordinary power of His word.
This scene also begins to show what the coming of God’s kingdom means. Jesus has entered the struggle against the powers that oppose God and enslave His creatures. Already in Capernaum, the kingdom of darkness is being forced to yield before the word of Christ. The news spreads throughout the region because the people have encountered an authority unlike any they had known before.
Jesus’ authority and the power of His word will be revealed even more fully through His death, Resurrection, and Ascension to the right hand of the Father. The same Lord who commanded the unclean spirits continues to have authority over the forces of evil, and Christians can place their trust in Him when confronting the spiritual dangers of the present world.
Lord Jesus, teach us to hear Your word with faith and to trust the authority by which You free us from evil and lead us into the life of Your kingdom. Help us to receive Your word, obey it, and place our lives confidently in Your hands. Amen.
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Sources and References
- The New American Bible, Revised Edition. Washington, DC: Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, 2011. Notes on Luke 4:31–37.
- Hahn, Scott, and Curtis Mitch. The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2010. 114–15.
- Casciaro, Jose Maria, gen. ed. The Navarre Bible: New Testament, Expanded Edition. Dublin: Four Courts Press; New York: Scepter Publishers, 2008. 263.
- Brown, Raymond E., Joseph A. Fitzmyer, and Roland E. Murphy, eds. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1990. 691, para. 64.
- Gadenz, Pablo T. The Gospel of Luke. Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2018. 104–5.
- Aguilar Chiu, Jose Enrique, et al., eds. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. New York: Paulist Press, 2018. 1048–49.
- Collins, John J., Gina Hens-Piazza, Barbara Reid, OP, and Donald Senior, CP, eds. The Jerome Biblical Commentary for the Twenty-First Century. 3rd fully rev. ed. With a foreword by Pope Francis. London: T&T Clark, 2022. 1310–11.
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