“In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an evil spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice,       “Ha! 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!” “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. All the people were amazed and said to each other, “What is this teaching? With authority and power he gives orders to evil spirits and they come out!” (Luke 4:34-36).

This account of Jesus ministering deliverance to a person has several common elements with many other “deliverance” accounts in the gospels. First of all, we notice that demons often attend church with those they are oppressing. Most demonic oppression does not entirely control a person but rather influences them. These individuals will function normally most of the time and in most areas of their lives.  They will go to work, go home, play with their kids, have friends, and go to church. However, there will be a small but significant part of their life over which they feel little to no control.

This demonic influence will manifest as moments of rage that are always blamed on other people, hidden pornography addictions, persistent and powerful feelings of rejection, jealousy, bitterness, envy or self-loathing.  They may be experienced as fear, anxiety, or bouts of depression and illness.  Most demonic affliction does not look like the Gadarene demoniac who lived among the tombs, cutting himself and crying out. Most demonic manifestations mimic emotional brokenness and illness that occurs in the natural realm and so we seek treatment from the natural realm. Since there is a spiritual force fueling these issues in a person’s life, therapies offered by the world will not solve the issue.  At best a person may learn to manage his rage, his anxiety, his depression or his addictions but will never feel totally free of them.

Many of us who are afflicted by demons have experienced that affliction so long that we think every human being must be dealing with the same issues and so we try out best to manage our feelings and dark thoughts and believe it is just our lot in life to do so. Our secret hope is that those thoughts and feelings we try so hard to repress will never get out of hand.  However, the enemy wears us down and sets us up and those thoughts and feeling so get out of hand usually with very hurtful consequences.

The second thing we notice in this account that is common to other accounts of deliverance is that demonic spirits know exactly who Jesus is and recognize his authority over them. They often cry out in despair and fear and ask if he is going to destroy them or send them to the Abyss (See Luke 8:31).  I’ve always found it interesting that Jesus didn’t destroy them or send them to the pit of hell but cast them out of a person with the possibility that they would simply go and afflict others.  The primary point however is that demons were subject to the authority of Christ even before the cross.  How much more are they subject now after he has been given all authority in heaven and on earth?  I also know that demons become very uncomfortable in the presence of God. Those who are demonized and make it to church will often feel agitated or fearful in worship or as people pray over them.  They are not feeling their own agitation, fear or even hate but they are experiencing what the demons are feeling.  Unfortunately, there are times and places where the presence of God is hardly evident in church services so that demons will be quite comfortable in those places.  We also know that Satan loves to steal the word of God from a heart before it can take root and so the demonic is often present in church services doing just that. How often are we distracted during worship or a sermon or have random thoughts of envy or lust or judgment toward someone we notice in the crowd or on the platform?  The enemy is stealing the word.

Finally we notice that it requires power and authority to cast out the enemy.  Power is defined as the force with which one can impose his will on another.  When Michael warred against Satan and his angels in the rebellion, Satan and those who had joined him were cast down to the earth.  That demonstrated that the power of heaven is superior to that of hell.  Jesus walked the earth with power and authority over the demonic, disease, and even death.  He had power because the power of heaven backed up his commands. Jesus said that the Father had put more than twelve legions of angels at his disposal (See Mt.26:53). Authority is not power but is what directs power.  When an artillery officer gives the command to fire, his words don’t have the ability to destroy the target but his word’s have authority to direct and release the power that can destroy the enemy. Jesus carried the authority of heaven with him and his commands directed the power of heaven.  It takes both to cast out the enemy, heal the sick. or raise the dead.

In Luke 9:1, we are told that Jesus gave that same power and authority to the twelve. They immediately went out to preach the gospel and as they went they healed and cast out demons. In Luke 10, Jesus sent out seventy-two others with the same power and authority.  The effects were stunning. “The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name!”  My guess is that the first time they healed or cast out a demon they were just as surprised as the crowds were who witnessed it.  We struggle to believe the same thing.  We have no doubts that Jesus can heal or deliver or that heaven is more powerful than hell.  What we struggle to believe is that Jesus has delegated his authority to us and that our commands will actually direct the power of heaven into a certain situation. But Jesus promised that those who believed in him would do even greater things than he did when he walked the earth.

We’re told by the writer of Hebrews, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word” (Heb.1:3).  Jesus is the exact representation of the Father.  In other words, Jesus re-presents the Father. He does exactly what the Father does in exactly the same ways the Father does it.  We are the body of Christ and his ambassadors on the earth.  We are called to re-present Jesus just as Jesus represents the Father – not just in actions but also in character. Character comes through the Spirit but action comes by faith.  In the context of healing and deliverance, faith believes that Jesus will honor our prayers and commands in his name and back them up with the power of heaven because we act in his authority.  The demons know his authority over them. We are the ones who sometimes doubt it.

If the enemy cannot blind us to the authority of Christ working through his church today, his fallback position is to convince us that only a few select people in the church can command demons.  Then we all wait around hoping one of those guys shows up.  Every believer is an ambassador of Christ and walks in his authority. I believe Jesus sent out the seventy-two so that we would know his authority was not going to be given to just a select circle of men but to all who follow him.  My hope is that we will all walk in that authority today believing that when we pray or command with the authority of Christ, heaven will train its gun on the target we have selected.  Be blessed.