Arulvakku

31.08.10 REVEAL GOD

Jesus then went down to Capernaum, a town of Galilee. He taught them on the sabbath, and they were astonished at his teaching because he spoke with authority. In the synagogue there was a man with the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out in 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!" 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. 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." And news of him spread everywhere in the surrounding region. (Lk 4:31-37)

 

 

One of the main reasons of the Evangelists for writing the gospels was to reveal to the readers who Jesus was. And this was done so to increase the faith of the readers on Jesus (Jn 20, 31). Jesus was revealed through his teaching, preaching and his healing activities. Many of his followers were those who listened to him or those who were healed. Even when Jesus asked them not to reveal his identity they went about telling everyone about Jesus.

 

Here in this miracle story the author makes use of the demon to reveal who Jesus was. The demon shouted out: "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!". The demon was aware of the identity of Jesus and also the activity of Jesus.

 

Jesus was the holy one of God. The demon reveals that Jesus is from God. He has come to fulfill the activity of God. Work of Jesus was to destroy the evil. The fight between good and evil is from the beginning of creation. Evil is in the world and it is a mystery. Every individual realizes this conflict between good and evil (Rom 7, 13-25). Evil is in the society. It is the work of God and godly persons to destroy the evil and thus reveal the presence of God