The people were astonished at his teaching,
for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.
Jesus spoke in the synagogue about the meaning of Scripture. People were used to hearing opinions about possible interpretations of God's word. Even in those cases most people weren't experts explicating their own theories. They would have felt the need to substantiate their own points by pointing to correspondence in the interpretive tradition. But Jesus could say definitively what was the intended meaning of the word of God because he was himself the divine Word. He could correct when one part of the word had been overemphasized in a way that obscured the overarching meaning. He could point to what was intended "from the beginning" (see Matthew 19:8) and even broaden and deepen the content of the Scriptures as he did in the Sermon on the Mount (see Matthew 5:17-48). It was clear this was a highly polarizing style of teaching. One could be enthusiastic about it or hostile to it, but little room was left for middle ground.
In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit;
he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?
Have you come to destroy us?
The preaching of Jesus was triggering for demons because they were only too aware of the authority contained therein. They knew what that meant for the own timebound and limited scope of authority. The power of the preaching of Jesus meant that the Kingdom of God was truly at hand. And that, in turn, meant that the kingdom of darkness was on its way out. In this case this demon thought to turn the tables by his knowledge about who Jesus was. Maybe this would allow him to retain some sense of authority, which he could then twist to his benefit. But Jesus was having none of it.
I know who you are–the Holy One of God!”
Jesus rebuked him and said, “Quiet! Come out of him!”
The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him.
Just as the words of Jesus about the Scriptures were the definitive word about what they meant so too was his word of command to this demon definitive. His word was truth, and accomplished what it signified. The crowds who saw Jesus preach discerned this connection between what he said and what he did, a connection so profound that there was never before anything like it.
In “subjecting” all things to him,
he left nothing not “subject to him.”
Yet at present we do not see “all things subject to him,”
but we do see Jesus “crowned with glory and honor”
We do not yet see all things subjected to Jesus in every circumstance of the world around us in the way that we do see, by faith, that this demon was so subjected. We do not yet individually attain the full truth into which he promised to lead us by his Spirit. But by faith we know that Jesus does possess all authority and all truth. And, in his Church, through our faith, we do already share in it. We recognize Jesus as "crowned with glory and honor" by faith. But it is a faith that welcomes his authority into the here and now even as it draws us onward toward the world to come.
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