IN THE SYNAGOGUE of Nazareth, as we’ve seen, Jesus read aloud from the scroll of Isaiah. We don’t know if the passage was chosen for him, or if he chose it himself after being handed the scroll; most likely, it was the latter. He declared in front of the whole assembly that the prophecy had been fulfilled in their hearing, and the people were pleased. And why not? The passage itself, as quoted in Luke, was filled with good news:

The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
    and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
    to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. (Luke 4:18-19, NIV)

When Isaiah mentions the “poor,” he doesn’t simply mean people with little to no financial resources. It can refer to anyone who is deeply needy, downtrodden, or marginalized. Look at the references to people in need. It’s not just about the poor, but the prisoners, the blind, the oppressed. God cares about all of them. The idea can be found throughout the Psalms and Prophets. And the people of Israel would have numbered themselves among the poor when suffering persecution by enemies or foreign domination before and after exile.

The good news to be proclaimed is “the year of the Lord’s favor.” At root, this is a reference to the Old Testament tradition of the year of Jubilee, which was to take place every fifty years. Think of Jubilee as a super-Sabbath that takes place after seven cycles of seven years, in which debts are cancelled, servants are freed, and land returns to its original tribal owners. Historically, it’s not clear how often or how long the year of Jubilee was observed, especially after the Israelites found themselves dispersed to other lands. But Jubilee wasn’t forgotten; it became a metaphor for the gracious salvation of God.

Messiah, therefore, would bring a spiritual Jubilee, freedom. This is made tangible in Luke’s story. What Jesus did in the synagogue in Capernaum was an example of setting the oppressed free—he freed a man from demon possession. And what Luke describes next can be seen as yet another messianic act of liberation:

Jesus left the synagogue and went to the home of Simon. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Jesus to help her. So he bent over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up at once and began to wait on them. (Luke 4:38-39)

The apostle we know as Peter was also known as Simon. As a fisherman by trade, he lived in Capernaum, a fishing village. We’ll come to the story of Jesus calling Peter as a disciple shortly, in chapter 5—but apparently, they are already acquainted here in chapter 4.

If Simon’s mother-in-law was living in his home, she was probably a widow. As translated in the New International Version, Luke describes her as suffering from a “high fever.” Some commentators, remembering Luke as a physician, see this description as a clinical one. That may be, but the point is that whatever the malady was, she was quite sick. Moreover, the word Luke uses that’s translated here as “suffering” can also suggest oppression; it literally pictures things being held or compressed together.

Luke, in other words, tells the two healing stories in a highly parallel fashion. One story gives us a man spiritually oppressed by a demon, the other, a widow physically oppressed by serious illness. Jesus gives a stern command to the demon, and it immediately departs; Jesus rebukes the woman’s fever and it leaves. After the exorcism, the man is left uninjured, even though he’s been cast to the ground. And the woman? She doesn’t stay in bed, recovering her strength. She immediately gets up and does what both gratitude and cultural propriety require: she becomes the hospitable hostess, taking care of her honored guest.

Both stories again dramatically demonstrate the authority of Jesus. And they set up what happens next. News of what Jesus did in the synagogue, and possibly what he did to heal Peter’s mother-in-law, must have gotten around Capernaum quickly by word of mouth—the first-century version of social media. When the sun had set and Sabbath was over, people began to flock to Peter’s house:

At sunset, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them. Moreover, demons came out of many people, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Messiah. (Luke 4:40-41)

The people of Nazareth had wanted a miracle from Jesus but didn’t get one, unless you count the miraculous way he escaped their attempt to murder him. Here in Capernaum, however, Jesus has already performed two miracles, and will continue to do more throughout the evening. All of them were acts of compassion that showed the character of the Father.

And once again, we have demons shrieking out Jesus’ identity. They know better than the citizens of Capernaum do who Jesus truly is: the Holy One of God, the Son of God, the Messiah. But whatever the reason, Jesus doesn’t let them continue shouting in this way. It’s not the Father’s way, not the Father’s timing. The people will come to understand through Jesus’ ministry of teaching and healing who the Messiah was called to be, as opposed to who they expect him to be. They will be forced to decide if this is the Messiah they will accept and follow.

That, in part, is the issue behind what happens next.