We have emphasized the fact that the Gospel of Luke presents the Man-Savior in the highest standard of morality. The cases recorded in Luke show different aspects of the highest standard of morality. The narration of the instances in 4:38-41, 5:12-14, and 7:1-10 is according to the order of morality. For this reason the narration is different in Luke from that in Matthew 8:2-16 and Mark 1:29—2:1. The order of Mark’s record, showing that Jesus is the Servant of God, is according to history. The order of Matthew’s record, proving that Christ is the King of the kingdom of the heavens, is according to doctrine, with certain instances put together to present a doctrine. The order of Luke’s record, revealing that Jesus is the proper man to be our Savior, is according to morality.
In Luke 4:31-44 the Man-Savior carries out His fourfold commission: teaching, casting out demons, healing, and preaching. Verse 31 says that He came down to Capernaum and was teaching on the Sabbaths. As we have pointed out, His teaching released the word of light to enlighten those in the darkness of death (Matt 4:12-16) so that they might receive the light of life (John 1:4).
Luke 4:32 says that the people “were astounded at His teaching, because His word was with authority.” As the One authorized by God, the Lord Jesus taught realities whereas the scribes taught vain knowledge without authority or power. The Man-Savior had not only spiritual power to subdue people, but divine authority to subject them to the divine ruling.
In 4:33-36 we have an account of the Lord’s casting out of a demon. In verse 33 we are told that a man in the synagogue had a spirit of an unclean demon. This kind of spirit is different from a fallen angel. A demon is one of the spirits of the living creatures who lived in the preadamic age and were judged by God when they joined Satan’s rebellion (see Life-study of Genesis Message 2). The fallen angels work with Satan in the air (Eph. 2:2; 6:11-12), and these demons, the unclean spirits, move with him on the earth. Both act evilly upon man for the kingdom of Satan. A demon’s possession of a person signifies Satan’s usurpation of man, whom God created for His purpose. In His ministry the Man-Savior cast out demons from possessed people so that they might be delivered from Satan’s bondage (Luke 13:16), out of Satan’s authority of darkness (Acts 26:18; Col. 1:13), into God’s kingdom.
In 4:34 the demon said, “Ah! What do we have to do with You, Jesus, Nazarene? Did You come to destroy us? I know You, who You are, the Holy One of God!” “Ah!” is an interjection of anger or dismay. The Greek word may be translated, “Let us alone.” The Greek words rendered, “What do we have to do with You?” literally mean, “What to us and to You?” This is a Hebrew idiom.
Verse 35 says, “And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Be quiet and come out from him! And throwing him down in the midst, the demon came out from him without harming him at all.” Literally, the Greek word rendered “quiet” means muzzled.
After the Lord cast out the demon, “amazement came upon all, and they spoke to one another, saying, What is this word? For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out” (v. 36). Here we see that the Man-Savior has both authority and power to cast out demons. For His ministry He had divine authority not only to teach people but also to cast out demons.
In 4:38 and 39 we have the record of the Lord’s healing of Simon’s mother-in-law, who had been seized with a high fever. This fever may signify a person’s unbridled temper, abnormal and intemperate.
Luke 4:40 says, “And when the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases, brought them to Him; and laying His hands on each one of them, He healed them.” Sickness is an issue of sin and a sign of man’s abnormal condition before God because of sin. Therefore, in His ministry the Man-Savior healed the sick condition of people both physically and spiritually in order to restore them to normal so that they might serve Him.
In addition to teaching, casting out demons, and healing the sick, the Lord was also “preaching in the synagogues of Judea” (4:44). The Man-Savior’s preaching was to announce God’s glad tidings to miserable people in bondage (v. 43). His teaching enlightened the ignorant ones in darkness with the divine light of the truth. His preaching implied teaching, and His teaching implied preaching.