Staying away from Jesus is staying close to the evil one!

Luke 4:31-37

31 He went down to Capernaum, a village in Galilee. He was teaching the people on the Sabbath. 32 They were surprised and impressed-- his teaching was so forthright, so confident, so authoritative, not the quibbling and quoting they were used to. 33 In the meeting place that day there was a man demonically disturbed. He screamed, 34 "Ho! What business do you have here with us, Jesus? Nazarene! I know what you're up to. You're the Holy One of God and you've come to destroy us!" 35 Jesus shut him up: "Quiet! Get out of him!" The demonic spirit threw the man down in front of them all and left. The demon didn't hurt him. 36 That set everyone back on their heels, whispering and wondering, "What's going on here? Someone whose words make things happen? Someone who orders demonic spirits to get out and they go?" 37 Jesus was the talk of the town.

Food for thought!

In the meeting place that day there was a man demonically disturbed! This is strange. Someone in the prayer meeting was possessed! Why would a possessed man go to a prayer meeting? And why could the other people stay in tranquillity with a demon possessed man? Were they not aware that one of them was under the gripe of the devil? Or it was that the possessed man pretended to be ok?

Be it as it may, this man's situation show to us that there are things in us that escape us. There are things that we cannot know by our own; we need the Lord to know ourselves. Only with Jesus can we discover what's hidden in us and among us. Without Jesus we really don't know ourselves, we don't know one another. Many times we live with people at home, at our communities, at work that are struggling with heavy burdens. The gospel says that as soon as Jesus showed up, the devil showed himself and screamed aloud "Ho! What business do you have here with us, Jesus? Nazarene! I know what you're up to. You're the Holy One of God and you've come to destroy us!"

The devil did not and could not hide anymore when Jesus came. This means that while the devil can manage to hide among us, it cannot do so with Jesus around. It means that the best way to fight devils and all evil spirits is by staying close to Jesus. Staying away from Jesus is staying close to the evil one. So, let us strive to have Jesus around us, and he will destroy the devil around us.

''No creature can hide from him, but everyone is exposed and helpless before the eyes of the one to whom we must give a word of explanation.'' (Heb. 4:13) ''Come near to God and he will come near to you.'' (James 4:8)