Four different events are combined here to underline the authority of Jesus (4:31–41). (1) Jesus’s teaching in Capernaum astonishes the populace because of its authority (4:31–32). (2) Jesus also manifests his authority over demons by expelling a demon from a man in the synagogue (4:33–37). Many people today discount the reality of the demonic and claim that what we have here is some form of mental illness; however, Jesus never discounted the reality of the demonic world, and oftentimes the rejection of the demonic is due to a rationalistic worldview that rejects any belief in the supernatural realm. One should not, however, rule out that, in some instances, a relationship exists between demonic possession and mental illnes…