JUDGING BY THE REACTIONS, some sermons go well, and others go poorly. And as fallible human beings, we who are preachers can fall into the trap of thinking that a “good” sermon is one that gets an enthusiastic positive response, one that gratifies our sense of pride and accomplishment. We want to see people nod in affirmation, hear them laugh at our jokes, or even give an “Amen” or two at the appropriate places.

And don’t get me wrong: I’m not saying that any of these things are bad. But we’d do well to remember that what people want to hear and what they need to hear are often quite different. Anyone who doesn’t believe this… well, has probably never raised children, who want what they want and need to learn how things really are.

We’ve already seen this in the story of Jesus preaching in his hometown synagogue. The response, at first, was quite positive, just as the overall response to his ministry throughout the region had been. But having read the whole story up to that point, we already knew from the dark portents of Simeon that it couldn’t last. What we didn’t know was how soon in Luke’s tale the opposition would come.

Answer: soon enough, and with murderous intent.

As he was preaching in Nazareth, things began going downhill when he suggested that what the people really wanted was for him to do a miracle like he did in Capernaum. Luke tells us nothing of this prior miracle. But now, ironically, he tells us how Jesus returned to Capernaum and did a miracle that amazed everyone. Again, the story begins with a positive response to his teaching:

 Then he went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath he taught the people. They were amazed at his teaching, because his words had authority. (Luke 4:31-32, NIV)

The devil, remember, had promised Jesus all the authority in the world in exchange for worshiping him. But Jesus already had authority, and it showed in his preaching. The people could hear something different in what he said and how he said it.

I imagine it being something like what one of my mentors told me decades ago, when I first became a professor: “You have to stop just quoting the experts to the students and become an expert the students will quote.” Jesus spoke with his own authority about things he had the God-given right to say, without dithering or evasion. This was so different from what the people were used to that they were “amazed,” a word that can picture people gaping, slack-jawed with astonishment.

And if that wasn’t enough, an even more dramatic moment followed:

In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an impure spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice, “Go away! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” (vss. 33-34)

Luke doesn’t tell us anything else about the man or his place in the community. Did people not know he was possessed? Was he shunned, but allowed to sit in the back? Whatever the case, the demon—apparently afraid of Jesus—interrupts Jesus’ teaching by using the man’s voice to yell at him to go away.

He seems to speak on behalf of other demons: “What do you want with us? Have you come to destroy us?” This, again, might be read as continuing the themes of earlier verses: Jesus had already bested Satan in the wilderness and had his own divine authority. Was this the beginning of the end for Satan and his dominion? In the presence of Jesus, did the demon sense that his own doom had come?

“I know who you are!” the demon shouts. “You’re the Holy One of God!”

For Theophilus and other readers of Luke’s gospel, the demon’s words echo what Gabriel said to Mary: “So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). We’ll see the title “Son of God” again before the chapter is done. The demon knows something about Jesus that the people still have yet to realize fully.

But Jesus orders the demon to stop talking:

“Be quiet!” Jesus said sternly. “Come out of him!” Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him. (vs. 35)

Luke doesn’t explain why Jesus told the demon to be quiet. In the gospel of Mark, such a command is part of a motif known as the “Messianic secret,” in which people who realize that Jesus is the Messiah are urged to keep it to themselves. As you might imagine, the reason for such secrecy has been the cause of much speculation. Suffice it to say that for Jesus’ identity to be revealed in this way at this time is not the Father’s plan. It’s even possible that once the story of what happened in Capernaum got filtered through several layers of gossip, it would turn into the kind of accusation we’ll read about later in Luke 11:15—that Jesus casts out demons by the power of the devil himself.

But here, again, the authority of Jesus is on full display, and the people know it. The demon leaves immediately as Jesus commanded, and the man, now free, collapses to the floor unhurt. Now the people are even more amazed:

All the people were amazed and said to each other, “What words these are! With authority and power he gives orders to impure spirits and they come out!” And the news about him spread throughout the surrounding area. (vss. 36-37)

The news about his teaching had already been spreading throughout Galilee, and the incident in the synagogue only adds to his reputation.

You might think that an event like this could lead to something like a full-scale spiritual revival. And to be sure, there would be those who would believe. It’s in and around Capernaum, after all, that Jesus called his first disciples. But later in the gospel, Capernaum will be one of the Galilean cities that Jesus condemns for its unbelief (Luke 10:15).

People can hear what they need to hear and still not believe. People can even see great miracles, be amazed, and still reject the truth.

Preachers, take note.