Luke 4,31-37
Jesus went down to Capernaum, a town of Galilee. He taught them on the sabbath, and they were astonished at his teaching because he spoke with authority. In the synagogue there was a man with the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out in a loud voice, "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!"
Jesus rebuked him and said, "Be quiet! Come out of him!" Then the demon threw the man down in front of them and came out of him without doing him any harm. They were all amazed and said to one another, "What is there about his word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out." And news of him spread everywhere in the surrounding region.
Such authority and power in the face of evil! What a reassuring message today's gospel is. Of course, evil spirits can be present in one's life in different ways, and hopefully we won't have to go through an ordeal similar to that of the possessed man. However, we suffer evil in our lives too, don't we?
But we see here who our Savior is! The evil wails at His presence, offends and challenges Him. But how helpless this demon is in the presence of the Almighty. "Be quiet! Come out of him!" As helpless as a shadow facing light.
Let Jesus come! Allow Him to behold the shadowy places inside, let Him look at where you are tormented by evil - fear, envy, hatred, distrust, complexes, anger, and so on. “What have you to do with us?” these dark parts will ask. Our Lord has everything to do with them, for He has come to free us from them. “Deliver us from evil,” we pray every day. Let Him make your soul whole and good and beautiful again.
Today, ask for Christ's love and grace again, so that you can hold out to Him all that isn't good. Instead of hiding it in the dark, bring it into the light. Light casts out the shadows from even the darkest places. Light can cast out all the shadows from your heart too. This merciful light shines in confession and over contrition. For Christ has all the authority and power in the face of evil.