Luke 4:41

‘And demons also came out from many, crying out, and saying, “You are the Son of God.” And rebuking them, he would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Messiah.'

And many evil spirits came out at His word, crying out, “(We know Who you are), You are the Son of God.” They too wanted Him to know that He had been recognised. Here we are now made aware that they recognise His divinity, and that He is  the  only Son of God. But He did not want their testimony because He did not want the idea to get around that He was the Messiah, and they were quite well aware of that as well. Such an idea could cause trouble for it would make belligerents gather to Him, and give people the wrong idea about Him, and He did not want that. So he wanted to silence the evil spirits altogether. They were only out to cause mischief.

This is not saying that the titles of Son of God and Messiah were synonymous. It is stressing first what He was and second which name He especially did not want to be spread around. Fortunately they had not used it yet, but they were out to be troublesome and would do so if they suspected that He was afraid of them doing so. Furthermore testimony from evil spirits could only harm Him and give the wrong idea. It would suggest a kind of alliance between Him and them. So He rebuked them, commanding them not to speak because they knew that He was the Messiah. Why did they obey Him? Because they knew that He could bind them and destroy them. Better to be silent than to be bound and destroyed.

Note how this incident parallels the example of the man in the synagogue earlier. And by it He has revealed His superiority over all the power of the Enemy (Luke 10:19). Even the world of evil spirits must obey Him.

It should be noted in all this that in accordance with the terms of Jesus' commission in Luke 4:18 all this was part of the declaration of Who He was. All was preaching and proclamation of the fact that God's Promised One had come, and that Satan was facing ignominious defeat. Each miracle of Jesus declared that eventually, through Him, creation would be restored to better than its original condition, to a condition of purity, innocence and wellbeing (Isaiah 11:6; Revelation 22:1). It reminds us that when we consider a miracle we must ask, what does it show us about Jesus? In Luke 5:1 Jesus causes four fishermen to net a great catch of fish. Then immediately Jesus makes the point that from now on He can make them fishers of men and women. The miracle declares a deeper truth about Him. Another example can be found in Luke 11:20, where Jesus says that if he casts out demons by the finger of God, then the Kingly Rule of God has come on those who hear. God's authority and power is being made known. In Mark the healings of a blind man and a deaf and dumb man point to the fact that the disciples eyes will be spiritually opened, their ears will be spiritually unstopped and their mouths will proclaim truth (with Mark 7:31 compare Luke 8:18; with Luke 8:22 compare Luke 8:27). Do not look at the miracle, He says, consider what it reveals, that the Kingly Rule of God is here and that the ‘Stronger than he' has come. It is only the unseeing crowds who think only of the miracles (Mark 7:37). But He is not speaking merely about the miracle of Luke 11:14. He is speaking about all His activity. The miracles reveal a deeper reality that lies behind them of what Jesus is, as does all that He does. Every healing was an indication of the creative and saving power of Jesus, and of the possible healing of the soul, and of the perfection of Heaven which is to come, and the multiplication of them was an indication that His blessing was open to many. It is what Jesus was as a whole that should make its impact on our life. The sad thing is how many in His crowds saw the miracles but missed out on Who Jesus really was.