MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/19/2026
9:23 AM
My
Worship Time
Focus: “His Power”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference:
Luke
4:35-37
Message of the verses: “35 But Jesus rebuked him,
saying, “Be quiet and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down
in the midst of the people, it came out of him without doing him any harm.36 And
amazement came upon them all, and they began talking with one another, saying,
“What is this message? For with authority and power He commands the unclean
spirits, and they come out!”37 And the news about Him was spreading into
every locality of the surrounding region.
“This passage records a moment in
Jesus’ ministry when He confronts a demon-possessed man in the presence of the
crowd. His direct command, “Be quiet and come out of him,” demonstrates His
authority over evil spirits. The demon’s expulsion without causing harm to the
man shows both His power and compassion. The crowd’s amazement reflects their
recognition of Jesus’ unique authority, and the spreading news about Him
indicates the growing impact of His ministry in the region.”
Now we have already seen in an
earlier SD that Jesus wanted no publicity from a demon. He therefore rebuked him, saying, “Be
quiet and come out of him!” Now as
we can see Jesus did not recite any incantations or perform any rituals; there
was no discussion, debate, or struggle as He just spoke, and the demon had no
choice but to instantly obey Him. So when
the demon had thrown the man down in the midst of the people in a
final, futile act of defiance, he reluctantly came out of him without
doing him any harm. Jesus in His
compassion prevented the demon from hurting the man. Now again as we wrote about earlier we do not
know if this man ever became a believer, for he certainly was not a believer as
he had a demon indwelling him.
Now the crowd that was gathered in
the synagogue had been amazed at Jesus’ authoritative teaching. I think that sometime when we look at and
study the Bible for a long time that we just kind of not truly think about what
is happening and then do not really understand the picture, but think for a
moment if you or I was in that crowd and saw what these people saw. I am sure that our reaction would be much
different that just reading about it.
Now the crowd was even more amazed by this demonstration of His absolute
authority over the supernatural demonic realm, and they began talking with
one another saying, “What is this message?
For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits and they
come out.” What they had just
witnessed was unprecedented. In Matthew
9:33, which goes along with this section in Luke says “Nothing like this has
ever been seen in Israel.” The report
of this remarkable, astonishing act on Jesus’ part began to spread like
wildfire beyond Capernaum into every locality in the surrounding district.
John MacArthur writes in his conclusion to this
section: “This demonstration of Jesus’
power over Satan and the demons reveals His ability to deliver sinners from
their grasp. Though the forces of hell
made an all-out assault on Him during His earthly ministry, Christ effortlessly
defeated them. And by His sacrificial death
on the cross, He accomplished the redemption of His people, delivering them
forever from the kingdom of darkness (Col. 1:13).”
(Col. 1:13)
“13 [For He rescued us from the domain
of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,”
“Believers
share in Christ’s victory over Satan and the demons through their salvation and
union with Him (cf. Gen. 3:15; Rom. 16:20).”
(cf. Gen. 3:15; Rom. 16:20)
“15 I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and
you shall bruise his heel.’”
“20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under
your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.”
“Martin
Luther expressed that truth in his hymn, ‘A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”:
The Prince
of Darkness grim,
We Tremble
not for him;
His rage
we can endure,
For lo,
his doom is sure;
One little
word shall fell him.
I remember a story about Martin
Luther who knew that Satan was against him in all the work that he was doing
for the cause of Christ through an ink bottle at what he perceived to be
Satan. A man named Philipp Melanchthon
(1497-1560) was a close friend of Martin Luther. I think that perhaps he was with Luther when
he through the ink bottle at Satan. You
see Luther was used by God begin the Reformation and so this did not make the
devil happy and so he was fighting against it but God was then and still is now
and has forever been in charge.
Spiritual
Meaning for my Life Today: I have this issue of being upset with those
in our government who are trying to ruin our country, especially those who are
of the party of President Trump, and I know that the Bible teaches that a
person has to be born-again in order to get into God’s heaven, and from their
actions it does not seem like they are.
Perhaps praying for a great revival in our country would help more than
complaining about these people.
My
Steps of Faith for Today: Pray for revival in our country and
trust the Lord to do this in His own time, but hopefully soon!
5/19/2026
10:01 AM
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