'All the people were amazed and said to each other, 'What is this teaching? With authority and power he gives orders to evil spirits and they come out!' (Luke 4:36)
In reading the Gospels you encounter one conflict scenario after another; Jesus and the religious leaders, Jesus and his hometown, Jesus and his disciples. And of course, Jesus and Evil. Straight after his baptism, Jesus is lead by Holy Spirit, where, empowered by the Spirit, he has a showdown with the devil. This power encounter sets the scene for all that follows in his earthly ministry.
Behind the people's astonishment at Jesus' ability to drive out an evil spirit (4:31-36) is the fact they had not seen evil addressed and pushed back in this way. Clearly, what Jesus was able to do what not normal in that day. When evil took root in a person's life it was there to stay. And so people were amazed and confronted at Jesus' incredible authority. And so am I.
I live in a culture and time that pushes to the margins or denies altogether the reality of personified evil. For many, including some in the church, the Devil is a medieval construct and demons are the work of our paranoid imagination. But we ignore the reality of evil at our peril. Jesus came to push back darkness, and has called us to the same in the power of his Name.
So Lord, how and where are you asking me to engage the enemy? How might I be empowered by your Spirit to triumph in you and for you. Thank you that the same Power that raised you from the dead lives in, and is availbale to me (Romans 8:11).
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