Getting a little further out there - Luke 4v31-44

Jesus went down to Capernaum, a town of Galilee. He used to teach them every Sabbath. They were astonished at his teaching, because his message was powerful and authoritative.

There was a man in the synagogue who had the spirit of an unclean demon.

'Hey you!' he yelled out at the top of his voice. 'What's going on with you and me, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are - you're God's Holy One!'

'Shut up!' Jesus rebuked him. 'Come out of him!'

The demon threw the man down right there in front of them, and came out without harming him. Fear came over them all. 'What's all this?' They started to say to one another. 'He's got power! He's got authority! He tells the unclean spirits what to do, and they come out!' Word about him went out to the whole surrounding region.

He left the synagogue and went to Simon's house. Simon's mother-in-law was sick with a high fever, and they asked him about her. He stood in front of her, rebuked the fever, and it left her. And straight away she got up and waited on them.

When the sun went down, everyone who had sick people-all kinds of sicknesses-brought them to him. He laid his hands on each one in turn, and healed them. Demons came out of many people, shouting out 'You are the son of God!' He sternly forbade them to speak, because they knew he was the Messiah.

When day dawned he left the town and went off to a deserted place. The crowds hunted for him, and when they caught up with him they begged him not to leave them.

'I must tell the good news of God's kingdom to the other towns,' he said. 'That's what I was sent for.' And he was announcing the message to the synagogues of Judea.

A lot of people, including a lot of Christians, do not believe that demons exist or that it is just another way of saying 'issues'. I know because I was one of them until recently. After I had some of the most intense experiences with God and I received the Holy Spirit after years of seeking out this Jesus, even teaching the scriptures ...a battle ensued that manifested itself spiritually, physically and took my mind on a ride to the edge of insanity and back again. I'll stop for a second and remind those reading of how much of a logical, straight edge person I am. If I were to be told this stuff, I would have me locked up. As I went through it, I actually did spend five days in a hospital because nobody knew how to handle it other than to pray and fast and even then nobody had dealt with anything like it before...so it was Jesus and me in this.

So what hands-down convinced me that demons are real and that Jesus is my King, my savior. Glazed over eyes, knowing things that just can't be known, seeing sin everywhere and in everyone, my whole body heating up, being thrown into convulsions while dry heaving, commanding them out of myself, Pastor Joe on the phone with my friend Todd praying over the situation, doing my best to speak the words 'bind them in Jesus name' as I would feel them leaving me...I didn't want those things loose in my house or around my wife and kids, as I lay sweating in my bed, my friend Todd was reading scriptures over me to cool me down, my wife praying, Todd later told me he was reading Colossians. My mind is blown at this point, all my transgressions and fears started flooding my mind. I was crying out to God to make it stop, to deliver me...and he did after about a month and a half of getting progressively stronger again after that initial battle. Finally I was back to my normal self after many more, albeit smaller, battles and a lot of prayer, only now on fire even more than ever, clean and victorious by the grace of God...meanwhile, absolutely stumping psychologists and psychiatrists alike, the Lord actually using the case to turn one back to his faith from his initial 'clinical ideas' upon first meeting me. All that being said, three things...1) demons are real, there is a real enemy 2)Make sure you confess your sins and deal with your wounds sooner rather than later...they use those for footholds in your mind and finally and most importantly 3)Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord, God Almighty...and worthy is His Lamb.

The point is that I did not know who I was in Christ until Christ showed me, I did not understand His authority or power until He came and grace flowed like a river. I taught about his kingdom coming, about it breaking in and transforming, but I had never experienced it...not like this anyway. My wife is still in shock from the situation, part of her is waiting for the next shoe to drop. I can't blame her it scared a lot of people. Just like the people in this scripture, 'What is this?' To all of them I say fear not the Lord is with us, turn to Him... As for me, I have never felt more free in my life...I am absolutely in awe of our King and His Kingdom. This was more than the casting out of a demon for me, this was a full-blown temple cleansing, baptism of the Holy Spirit...if I was on a horse, I've been knocked off it. This was a two and a half month ordeal and in my mind at one point it cost me everything and He restored everything and then some. I know the Lord let me go through it to teach me, prepare me, refine me...because we serve an AWESOME God who is reconciling all things, making all things new and that happens with power by the Holy Spirit. I won't even begin to get into all the stuff He showed me in the scriptures, but WOW...

In this scriptures we see both the casting out of demons and the healing of 'normal' illnesses. We also see Jesus concern that he not be identified as the Messiah, but that the message of God's Kingdom breaking in, of YHWY becoming King in a powerful, fresh and unexpected way be spread. The casting out of demons and healings was evidence, sign posts pointing to that reality, with the ultimate signpost being the resurrection of Jesus himself. Notice the way the healing and casting out of demons was done: not with magic tricks, candles, chicken or long prayers or fancy strategies...but with simple, authoritative commands, they just have to come out...not always without resistance...it says the demon threw the man on the ground, but ultimately left him unharmed. This all pointed to the fact that God's Kingdom was and is finally and truly breaking in to our fallen, depraved and sinful world...healing and restoring and making whole, bringing glory to God and our Lord Jesus Christ whose kingdom is everlasting. That Word can't just hang around, it has to go and do what it was sent to do.

ps Many thanks to all the faithful who were praying for us through all of it and to those who supported us in all the ways you were led to.

Jesus said...if I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.