Casting Out The Evil One

 Luke 4: 31-37

Jesus Heals a Man with an Unclean Demon

³¹ And he went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And he was teaching them on the Sabbath, ³² and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word possessed authority. ³³ And in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with 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 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. ³⁶ 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!” ³⁷ And reports about him went out into every place in the surrounding region.

Jesus taught and acted as one in authority, commanding evil spirits to depart from those whom they possessed. Amazingly enough, these evil spirits recognized Jesus while the ordinary folk didn't. Are we not prone to the same blindness or hardness of heart?  We have the Scriptures and the teaching authority of the Church, two solid pillars of truth, yet, we doubt.  We need  the cleansing that only Jesus can give. As we end another month that seems to have gone by too quickly, let us ask Jesus to cleanse us from the mind-set that refuses to accept his authority and presence in our lives, even in its most basic aspects. 

Bro. Rene