Jesus dazzles demons: A talk on Luke 4:38-end.

 

This passage is headed by the title “Jesus Heals” but I want to call my sermon Jesus dazzles demons.

Because yes, this is a passage about healing and of course Jesus heals, but it’s also a passage about what Jesus heals us from. Amongst other things, our demons.

The subject of demons is a tricky one. Do we mean actual demons? Ghosts, poltergeists, or evil spirits?

Is it metaphorical demons? People often talk about wrestling with their demons. They mean bad habits or behaviours that have enslaved them and changed who they are. Alcoholism, or drug abuse.

Or maybe demons is a good catch-all term to describe any mental health issues we might have. Depression can certainly feel like spiritual warfare. It weighs people down under a shadow of darkness that can feel impenetrable and impossible to break through.

It can change a person’s personality so much it can be as if they are indeed possessed by something other than themselves. We might even call it demonic.

But perhaps there are lesser demons. Everyday demons that prey upon us all. I wonder if these are the kinds of demons referred to in our gospel passage.

The first clue is in verse 40 – At sunset, the people brought to Jesus those who needed healing, and that was when many demons came out.

They came out when it was dark, and isn’t that often the way? I’ve had many a sleepless night, lying awake beset by worries and thoughts that won’t leave me be.

Like the demons that Jesus casts out, after sunset, when it’s dark, is so often the time when these demons come out to plague us.

It’s when they shout the loudest: You’re no good, they say. You can’t do it. Everything is awful. Why do you even bother. What’s even the point?

Fear and anxiety is a normal part of being human, but when they dominate like this; when worries scream and shout, we struggle to hear God’s voice over them.

An interesting thing about biblical demons, is that they always, always know exactly who Jesus is. While his disciples dither around in confusion asking each other, “Is he Elijah? Is he Moses? Who is he?” The demons always know.

“You are the son of God,” they scream.

I think they know who he is not because demons have special powers or knowledge, but because Jesus is the light to their darkness. Jesus appearing before them has the same effect as a car with full beams on approaching round a blind bend on a pitch black road. Jesus dazzles demons. They are rebuked and reduced to silence by his goodness.

Jesus dazzles demons. Demons of fear. Demons of worry. Demons of hopelessness. All the things I hear people expressing collectively right now. We are a community, a country, beset by fear, and it risks paralysing us into inaction.

“I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom,” Jesus says. Our task, our calling as his disciples, is to do the same. Not to deny the things that people fear – the cost of living crisis, rising inflation and energy bills, the lingering threat of covid, natural disasters – all that stuff and more. We don’t deny it and respond with cheap hope, but we remain steadfast in our conviction that in ways which are unexpected and unknown to us, Jesus has the power to heal.

When those voices come and shout that all is hopeless we must not let them speak and instead allow ourselves to let Jesus preach to us instead.

Despite everything, the good news is still as good as it ever was.