Big Idea: A typical day in Jesus’s ministry in Capernaum reveals his power over both spiritual and physical oppression.

Understanding the Text

Luke has characterized Jesus’s Galilean ministry as one of teaching (4:14–15), though his words in Nazareth presuppose that he has also been healing (4:23). Now, by setting out the events of a typical day in Capernaum, Luke fills out the picture. The resultant portrait of an authoritative exorcist and healer as well as an impressive teacher will provide the backdrop for the whole of the following account of Jesus’s ministry in Galilee. This section thus continues the general account of the Galilean ministry that began in 4:14–15 but has been interrupted by the striking episode at Nazareth that Luke has inserted. The location in Capernaum now takes…