And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. (1:21-22)
I came to shine of the love of the Father in this world, and this impressed many. I did not try to rely on human authorities, but I simply came to do the will of the Father. In these days, the teachers and the scribes would often quote each other, a specific teacher, a specific Rabbi. They would spend so much time in this that they rarely sought God for His word and His direction. This is a problem that is also very present in the world today, for instance in Christian settings, where people write or speak and quote ‘respected Christians,’ and forget that before listening to ‘Christian authorities’ I would like for them to listen to me, to the Holy Spirit and to the Father. It is strange to me that so few learn to listen to my voice, and still claim to be my disciples and to be ‘christlike’. How can they be christlike, if they don’t follow my example? Some get used to say that they follow me although they don’t follow my example in deeds or words. My example was very simple, I listened to the voice of the Father, and did what he showed me or said to me. I never added, and faithfully followed His direction. Since the Father is in me and I am in the Father, since I am the way to life, I want to speak to all the children of the Father and help them to follow Him. When they do so, when their words are the words they receive from me, when their actions are what I ask or show them to do, they discover the same authority that I had when I spoke at this synagogue, and this authority is real and touches many. Learn from me, listen to me and do what I ask from you. This is the path of holiness, this is the path to the loving power of the Holy Spirit, this is the path to humble and real authority.
I want to transform this world with the love of the Father, and in order to do so I want to guide many humans to hear my voice and do my will. Each human who learns to do so becomes a light in the darkness, tasty salt in communities, healing hands for broken men and women.
And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, “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.”
This man oppressed by an unclean spirit had been going to the synagogue for many years, and nobody noticed anything. Some people have this strange idea that by going to specific ‘holy places’ they are protected spiritually from evil spirits. That is simply not so, and has never been. The only protection is a real communion with God. You recognize that you are in such real communion with the Father when you sense the presence of the Holy Spirit in you, when you can speak with me and hear me guide you in your days. If not, then come to me and I will show you. To enter the Kingdom of heaven it is so simple, you need to come as a child to his heavenly Father and ask for His direction. I came to be a mediator, to guide all who want to come to the loving Father. I don’t speak out of myself, and with the Holy Spirit we have one purpose: to glorify the Father in you and in all the creation.
This man did not have a real communion with God, like many who go to synagogues or churches still today, and he was following a set of rules that did not deliver him from the unclean spirit that harmed him. As Paul said, the letter kills, it is the Spirit - through a living communion with God - that gives life.
When I came to this synagogue, the Spirit of the Father was ruling in me. Then, the unclean spirit had no choice but to flee. Unclean spirits cannot come close to God or stay close to Him. Either they pull away from God the people they are plaguing or they have to leave the persons. It is the presence of God, the presence of the Holy Spirit that casts out unclean spirits. This holy presence in me revealed what was going on inside this man, the unholy and ugly presence of an unclean spirit in him.
The unclean spirits follow well their leader, the devil, who is the father of lies. They try to tell a truth in a wrong way, to lead people to think wrong, to believe a lie. They knew that I did not come to destroy the Roman empire, but to destroy the work of the devil and his minions. They said the truth when they asked if I was coming to destroy them, I was indeed. What they added then was to induce people in error, by saying that I was ’The Holy One of God’. I was indeed, but it was neither the time nor the place for such a declaration. Their hope was to lead people to quickly project on me their wrong ideas about the role of the Messiah. There were many self-centered ideas that people had developed in their hearts - a Messiah coming only for Israel, a Messiah coming for crushing the Roman empire. I did not come for that. I came to deliver first Israel and then all the peoples of the world from their real enemy, this insidious enemy that is the devil. I did not come for a surface deliverance, but for the deep and absolute deliverance of the Holy Spirit. I came to cast out any unclean spirit from the hearts of men and women and to bring the Holy Spirit’s presence in the hearts of all, for them to become fully the children of the Father, temples of the Holy Spirit.
The unclean spirits did not want people to realize what I was doing and teaching, they wanted to encourage people to project their biased and self-centered desires on me so that they would not learn, so that they would later get angry with me. In fact, it is what happened, when the crowd later asked for my crucifixion, since I did not match their idea of what the Messiah - the Christ - was supposed to be, according to their biased minds.
I did not come to hide my purpose, but neither did I want people to be confused and mistaken on my mission, by having people putting the name ‘Messiah’ on me too quickly. They needed first to see the works of the Father through my works. They needed first to hear the teachings of the Father through my words, and how I fulfilled all the teachings of the Holy Scriptures.
But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. (1:25-26)
I did what I could to shut the mouth of the unclean spirits, although I knew well that their lies would still seep through the hearts of many and bring trouble for me. I knew my path and the cross I would have to carry. I also knew the Father had a way to counter these lies, a way that would transform the cross from a failure into the greatest victory of the Father’s love on earth.
As I was carrying the Holy Spirit in me, the unclean spirit was no match for this spiritual authority, he had to leave this poor man. I commanded him and he had no choice but to leave, convulsing the man and crying out with a loud voice. The unclean spirits have no real power over men. The only power they get is a power wrought through lies and seductions. Once they are exposed, they have to leave. Through prayer, you can follow my path and learn to let the Holy Spirit dwell in you richly, and then you can experience how you can cast out impure spirits - not through your own power but simply through the power of the Holy spirit in you, through the power of my name - Yeshoua, which means ‘God delivers.’
And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee. (1:27-28)
People were amazed about two things. The first thing is that they saw unclean spirits manifest themselves while in the past they could remain hidden even in the midst of ‘holy places’ like the synagogues. The second thing is that they realized that the authority they saw in me was not only attracting their attention in a new way, it was an authority that could command unclean spirits to leave people or places.
People are always looking for power, for authority, this has always been the case. When they see an authority like the one I displayed, an authority both in the physical and in the spiritual world, then they become very interested. This interest is still often self-centered, but it is an important first step to lead people to the real love of the Father.
My fame spread very quickly. It is true that I had hoped it would be a little slower, so that I could freely move and act a little longer, but it did not surprise me to see the crowds quickly building up, I was ready for this challenge.
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