Or, Even Demons Knew the Truth Early
Scripture: Luke 4:31-44
Date: August 9, 2026
Speaker: Sean Higgins
There is a new kingdom in town. The old ways, the old powers, the old dead-end living, have all been upended. The powers of hell recognized this truth early. As soon as Jesus began His public ministry Jesus began to ruin the demonic run of destruction and announce the kingdom of God.
Jesus demonstrated His power not just in the spiritual realm but in the physical realm where sickness and disease were totalizing and demoralizing if not debilitating enemies. Lack of Advil and anesthesia is rough, but the great burden was living in a world where full healing was outside anyone’s imaginative coordinates. If you got sick or injured, you might be done.
At Jesus’ word demons and diseases were done, and that isn’t even the primary work of Jesus’ word. The primary point is to announce His authority and the kingdom of God. Even the demons knew early who they were dealing with, and Jesus kept tipping over the apple cart of people’s expectations as He taught.
In Luke 4:1-13 Jesus bested the best of the devil’s temptations. In Luke 4:14-30 Jesus angered His hometown by identifying Himself as the anointed prophet. In Luke 4:31-44 Jesus exhorts and exorcises and explains His purpose. We’ll see four things about His word.
The headline of this final third of the chapter is that his word possessed authority that astonished them (verse 32). He went down to Capernaum; it was almost 1800 feet lower than Nazareth (so a bit more than halfway up from Marysville to Snoqualmie Pass, a 3000 foot elevation change). Jesus kept teaching, as He had been doing, and as the bookend of the section says again in verse 44.
Authority refers to controlling power. Jesus’ words didn’t just command focus, as in getting others to pay attention, His words had force, causing others to feel the weight. At this moment in the sermon my words are describing things, but Jesus’ words were doing things, invisible things in the soul.
On this Sabbath day there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon. It’s a pile-up of words that refer to an evil, non-physical being with destructive purposes that inhabited a human being to the point of control. It was the demon who yelled at Jesus using the man’s mouth. 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 (verse 34).
Ha! could mean “Go away!” (NIV) or “Let us alone!” (KJV). It’s preemptive smack talk. And who is the us? All the demons, or is the demon threatening that he and the man will be destroyed if Jesus tries to kick the demon out? The next verse suggests the latter.
Jesus rebuked the evil spirit. Three times in this section Jesus rebukes, twice to demons (verses 35 and 41) and once to a fever (verse 39). His word commands a new situation. In this case, the demon obeyed and, though he had thrown [the man] down in their midst the demon was able to do no harm to the human.
So all of them were amazed. The rhetorical question is about His commanding word: What is this word? For with authority and power he commands and it is done (verse 36). As authority is power to control, this added word for power is the strength and energy to accomplish the thing.
And news got out. Echos/ reports went out about Him into every place in the surrounding region.
We will meet Simon himself at the start of chapter 5 (also called Peter, 5:8), but Simon’s here, and Jesus goes to his house. Had Simon started appealing while they were shaking hands at the end of the synagogue service? How forward was Simon about talking more to Jesus anyway?
Simon’s mother-in-law was sick, she was “seized by” or “in the grips of” a high fever. (Matthew and Mark include this story, but don’t call it a “high” fever, however much this connects to Luke as a “physician” Colossians 4:14.) This means Simon was married, and we have confirmation of this from Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:5; that’s just a biographical fact. The key here is that enough people had seen what Jesus did for the guy with the demon, so they asked Him to do something for her.
Jesus spoke a word and she was healed. He rebuked the fever. Because of how specific the comment about the unclean spirit was, and because there were diseased people and demon-possessed people distinguished right after this in verses 40-41, this seems to be the illness personified. But she didn’t have to wait for the meds to kick in.
His word had authority, and she immediately and fully felt better, so much so that she got up and started to serve them.
These verses show that Jesus’ word was personal, and consistent with His purpose, and self-attesting.
We’re later on the same day as verse 31 introduced, but since the sun was setting, that meant the Sabbath day was over, so traveling and maybe even carrying were allowed again.
The population in Capernaum is estimated to have been between 1000-1500, and also the word had gone into every place in the surrounding region, which maybe meant same-day. People brought their sick to Jesus.
He laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. Instead of a blanket word, that healed everyone inside of His speaking radius, He showed personal care for each one. The laying on of hands in the Old Testament didn’t belong with healing, but it did have to do with blessing. It’s not magic, but it is love.
Some of the ones brought to Jesus had demon issues. While they didn’t form two separate lines, one for normal diseases and one for supernatural evil spirits, they can be distinguished even if some of the symptoms looked similar. I point that out because COVID probably isn’t the name of a demon, even if demons had a heyday with it.
These demons cried out, You are the Son of God! I mentioned this last week, that they knew. It’s part of our certainty.
Earlier in the day when Jesus told the demon to “Be silent” (verse 35), it may have been a little different than the rebuke here in verse 41. It may be the difference between “Stop threatening” and “Stop witnessing.”
Why would Jesus tell the demons to stop saying true things? He is the Son of God. But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ. The best answer seems to be because He didn’t need demonic testimony. His Word itself is the self-attesting authority.
The result of His word here is quite different than in Nazareth. There they tried to throw Jesus off a cliff, these guys want to keep Him from leaving. Were they just asking, making verbal appeals? Were they making any physical threats?
but he said to them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.” (verse 43)
He was anointed and sent (4:18). Jesus explains that He had a bigger purpose than being a local doctor. He must preach. His primary work was word work. His message was about a bigger authority than authority over demons and disease.
His message is about His authority over the world and the kingdom of God. This is the first time Luke uses it, and Luke opens and closes Acts with reference to the kingdom (Acts 1:3, 28:31). The kingdom, the reign, of God is a takeover of hostile forces.
Luke refers to the kingdom of God 31 times in this book. He does not tell us everything that it means right here. We’ve got time to learn more, though in context this is a glimpse.
The kingdom of God is the sphere of His sovereign reign, a kingdom that has already begun to spread, that includes individuals who are saved, blessing them with a new life and worldview and fruitfulness, bigger than any person and not bound to the institutional church or any government, though affecting them all. The coming kingdom will be on earth, earthly, just as spiritual, but also manifest in ways earthly kingdoms are now.
Even the demons believe some true theology, and shudder (James 2:19). They knew Jesus:
They knew it early on. This fact also warns that knowing Jesus’ name doesn’t equal living under Jesus’ reign, or enjoying the rule and blessings of His kingdom. The same thing that caused terror for the demons gave certainty to Theophilus.
What do you want from Jesus? Do you desire personal redemption and His return to reign as King over all the earth?
The Word is at work. Jesus’ words are still doing things, in souls, and then into civilization, until the King returns to earth to reign from the throne of David.
You disciples of Christ, you are the salt of the earth. Jesus said so, He gives you saltiness, so live that others would taste that the Lord is good. Pray “Your kingdom come” and walk in the name of the King, established in the faith.
The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. (Romans 16:20 ESV)