Luke 4:31-37 In the City by the Sea
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: July 3, 2018 Luke 4:31-37
Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
And he 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 possessed 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, “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.” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in their 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 about him went out into every place in the surrounding region.
(Understanding the Text) He moved to Capernaum where Peter lived. The SDA commentary says “From the village of Nazareth, high in the hills, to Capernaum, some 20 mi. away on the shore of the Lake of Galilee, it is literally ‘down’–from 1,144 ft. above sea level to 785 ft. below.” I never thought about how much of a climb it would have been to travel up to Nazareth. No wonder it was so isolated. Jesus was walking downhill the whole way to Capernaum out of the mountains and into the plains. It may have been a day or a day and a half journey to Capernaum. He would have been tired when He finally reached Peter’s home that night if He traveled it all in one day.
The SDA commentary says “It is possible that Mary and other members of the family may have accompanied Christ to Capernaum.” It would make sense if some of Jesus’ family left with Him. He had just been thrown out of Nazareth and His family may have been made unwelcome also, especially His mother. Some of His brothers may have come along to take care of His mother. It’s not sure, but it’s a possibility that makes sense.
We do not hear a lot about Peter’s wife and family, but they must have been intimately involved with Jesus, interacting with Him daily during some points of His ministry. Capernaum was on the Sea of Galilee and had a very different view than Nazareth’s mountains.
The synagogue of Capernaum and Peter’s house may have actually been found by archaeologists. The synagogue is probably a later one built on top of the one that Jesus visited. There is a white-stoned one on top and a black-stoned ruins below. The black synagogue is speculated to have been built by the Roman officer mentioned in chapter 7 of Luke for the people of Capernaum according to the SDA commentary and other sources. The house designated as Peter’s may not have been really his, but the ruins would still have been characteristic of the place where Jesus lived.
It’s interesting how so many of these places are gone now. People settle some place and think it will always be settled, but then life happens and ruins are the result. I think this happened more often back when there were fewer people on this earth. Now, there are so many people that towns tend to stay and just grow bigger or smaller as migration takes place. Ironically, Nazareth, which was a tiny village in Jesus’ day, is a big city now. The place that rejected Jesus grew and prospered. The city that accepted Jesus with open arms is a ruin.
This was not Jesus’ first visit to Capernaum. In Nazareth they had heard about miracles in Capernaum. Instead, this was a stepping up of the ministry. This was the time of increase. There was still 1 1/2 years to go before the cross.
(Revelation of God) Jesus taught in the synagogue on Sabbath, and again people were astonished at His teaching just like in Nazareth. His insights into the meaning of the scriptures must have been clear and profound. Not only did He speak with authority, but He also spoke with clarity so that the meanings burned in the hearts of the listeners. According to the SDA commentary, the verb for taught actually is a continuous meaning, i.e. this was not a one-time event but happened on an ongoing basis.
One of the demons decided to disrupt the service, or maybe he did not realize that Jesus would be there that day and was simply shocked into interrupting. Either way, I think that once in the presence of Jesus, the demon forgot about everyone else around except Jesus. It asks Jesus if He has come to destroy it and it’s fellow demons. This tells me that the fallen angels fear that one day they will have to face judgment. They know their own guilt in rejecting God’s ways. This also shows that the demons were not totally sure what was taking place at Jesus’ first coming. The way the scriptures were mixed with the first and second coming sounding like one event, they wondered if Jesus had come to give judgment. Satan had probably told them that Jesus was an avenger, so when it had a chance, the demon asked the burning questions on its mind. “Why are you clothed in human clothing? This does not make sense. I know you are the Holy One. What are you doing here like this? Is this the day that you have come to destroy all of us?”
Jesus did not discuss the answers with the demon. He simply silenced him and threw him out of the human that he was occupying. Here is the big difference between God and Satan. When Satan wants to interact as a man, he or his fallen angel minions steal someone and possess him or her. That person becomes a victim that is used for the demon’s purposes regardless of what the human wants. When God chose to be a man, He was not mimicking or possessing. Instead, God was born to a consenting woman and worked with the natural processes of her body. Jesus did not hurt Mary when He was inside her body and when He exited, He subjected Himself to her will rather than trying to control her. Everything about the process was based on Mary’s choice. Only at His death did Jesus control His mother and that was to simply give her into John’s care. In other words, His only control was through the voluntary obedience of His friend and mother.
Satan takes. Jesus takes care of. Satan holds captive. Jesus frees from bondage. Demons take another’s free will and ability to control his/her own body and voice. Jesus always respects our free will and gave back the control of withered broken bodies. Jesus listens to our voices raised in prayer and advocates for our requests. In other words, he listens and makes our voices stronger. Demons take without asking. Jesus asks us to let Him give us power. Does Jesus limit people? Yes. He limits the destruction that we do to others. He limits us with counsel that we can voluntarily follow. He limits the fallen angels from hurting us.
Luke records that the demon threw the man down as he left. In other words, the demon had malice toward the human that he had occupied. Then Luke tells us that the man was not hurt. Jesus’ words bring no harm. In casting out the demon, Jesus refused to allow it to hurt the human who was so precious to Him. Is this why Satan delights in bringing harm and degradation to us? Is it not just that he himself is degraded, but instead it is that he hates us because God still loves us no matter how low we go, and Satan wants to hurt God by hurting us. He view us as one of the few weaknesses where he can attack God.
The interaction with the demon enhanced the reputation that Jesus had with the people. First, they were impressed by His teaching. Then, they were impressed with His power. However, those are just the beginning of what God wants. Being impressed is not enough. God wants us to love Him because He loves us.
(Application / Prayer) Knowing the character of God should bring me to be able to trust Him more, but I have been so hurt by life, that trust is not natural to me. Teach me to love and trust You with my must vulnerable self. Help me to not keep You out because of my desire to protect myself from hurt. Instead, heal me and make me whole and trusting of You.