As we approach the 4th Sunday after the Epiphany that will occur on January 28, 2007, we find that the three readings assigned are Jeremiah 1:4-10 (17-19) (Knowing Jeremiah in the womb); 1 Corinthians 12:31b-13:13 (Greatest is love) and Luke 4:31-44 (Reuking demons). The text chosen to elaborate on is Luke 4:35 which has Jesus rebuking the demon and saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!”

Just what was the demon saying that Jesus told him to be quiet? Perhaps he was denying that Jesus was God or that a man could be saved by works. Surprisingly, the demon was confessing Jesus as the “Holy One of God” (verse 34). In fact, it gets worse. In verse 41 Jesus again rebukes demons for crying out and saying, “You are the Christ, the Son of God!”

This is a good passage to understand why you simply cannot take the Bible out of context. For the obvious application would be that Jesus also rebukes you if you refer to Him as the Son of God or the Christ or the Holy One of God! What is going on here? First, we interpret; then we apply. First, we use “Scripture interprets Scripture” and then we use “Law and Gospel.” For if you get the interpretation wrong, you certainly will get the application wrong.

From the context of the New Testament we know that many of the people in Jesus’ day were not looking for the kind of Messiah (Hebrew) or Christ (Greek) to come that was spoken of in the Old Testament books. Instead of the suffering and dying Messiah Who was to come to take away the sins of the world, the people were looking for a triumphant Messiah come to take away Roman domination and restore the land of Israel to its former self.

Though it appears at first reading that the demons are properly confessing Jesus as the Messiah, they are in reality attempting to make Jesus out to be a “bread king” as the 5,000 fed with loaves and fish had concluded. Even the disciple Peter who confessed Jesus as the Messiah heard a few moments later these words from Jesus, “Get thee behind Me Satan” as Peter attempted to dissuade the LORD from going to Jerusalem to be crucified.

The interpretation is clear. God will not tolerate a false confession even if the words sound okay. The application is therefore clear. The easy one would be to accuse the Mormons, JWs and Muslims of pretending to honor Jesus but in realtiy making a mockery of His real mission and purpose. They do that by asserting that salvation is by our own works rather than by His works and His alone.

However, the finger of accusing Law needs to be directed at each Christian in the pew also. That is done by reminding each of us that we, like the disciples, often don’t like how God truly reveals Himself. We show our displeasure with His revelation by continuing to sin not only by deed but also by thought and by word and not only by commission but also by omission. If we truly understood the mission of Jesus and what He did for us, we would never sin.

Yet the Gospel is also good news to those who in faith are contrite over their sins and trust in the saving work accomplished for us by the Christ because of His birth, sufferings, death, burial, resurrection and ascension to the right hand of God. Even Jesus makes clear that His mission is not to sort out the problems of this world by setting straight the kingdoms of the earth. Instead, He insists that IT IS NECESSARY for Him to “preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent!”