A Man with an Unclean Devil - Luke 4:33

Luke the physician shared how, “all” the people “in the synagogue, when they heard these things” from Jesus “were filled with wrath, And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. But he passing through the midst of them went his way, and came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days, and they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power”, and in chapter four and verse thirty-three of his book Luke shared how, “there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil” where we read:

And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil,

and cried out with a loud voice,

The verse reads, “And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, ...” Luke began with the words, “and in the synagogue” or “and within the sacred worship place and assembly of Jews formally gathered together to offer prayers and listen to the reading and expositions of the scriptures” “there was a man” which means “there existed a male human being”, “which had a spirit” or “who possessed a simple essence which was devoid of all or at least all grosser matter and possessed of the power of knowing, desiring, deciding and acting” “of an unclean devil” which means “belonging to an impure, foul, morally lewd and demonic evil spirit”. Luke shared how within the “sacred worship place in Capernaum” “there was a man” with a “demonic spirit” within him.

The verse goes on to say, “... and cried out with a loud voice,” Luke continued with the words, “and cried out” which means “and screamed or shouted” “with a loud voice” or “with a large, long, mighty and strong sound or tone of uttered words”. Luke shared how the man with the “unclean spirit” “screamed” with a “mighty tone of uttered words”.

When we think through Luke's words in this verse, we are made aware of a certain man who was in the “synagogue” during the time Jesus was teaching. This man was “demon possessed”, and he began to “shout out loud”. There are “evil spirits” within the world, and although they are not seen with the human eye, they manifest themselves when they possess people. This man immediately had the attention of everyone in the “synagogue”, and we shall see what Jesus does with him. God loves everyone, and even this man with an “unclean spirit” could be “saved” from his sins if he believed and trusted in Jesus. Those who are wise will examine the way Jesus handles this man and his outburst, and learn how He is able to “save” even the most challenging person from the influence and possession of the “devil” and his “messengers”.

Next time Luke shares how the devils say to Jesus, “Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth?”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".