Luke 4:41-44

Luke 4:41 (KJB)
And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking them suffered them not to speak: for they knew that he was Christ.

When the Lord Jesus Christ was healing the people which were brought to Him, there were also many people who were possessed with devils and as they were being expelled from the people, they were giving recognition to who Christ was. They had full knowledge that Jesus was the Christ because before they rebelled with Satan, they were up there in Heaven with Him. Jesus did not allow them to speak nor give any recognition to who He was because the praise of God will not come from those who are unsaved but only from those who are saved. The devils were not the ones who would be singing the praises of God only those whom He has redeemed.

Luke 4:42 (KJB)
And when it was day, he departed and went into a desert place: and the people sought him, and came unto him, and stayed him, that he should not depart from them.

The next morning after an exhausting night of healing the crowds, He had gone into a desert place where He could get some rest and be alone for a while. However, it was not possible for Jesus to be alone because all the crowds began to search for Him and when they found Him they had asked Him if He could remain a little longer among them. Jesus was now starting to become very popular among the crowds and that is something which threatens political and religious leaders. It seemed that the disciples had found Him first and then the crowds had found Him.

Luke 4:43 (KJB)
And he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent.

Jesus responded to their query but not in the way they thought He would. He did not plan to stay in one place instead He tells them that they need to go into the next towns to proclaim or herald the Gospel of the Kingdom. Jesus did not come to primarily heal and deliver those who were devil possessed but His calling was to preach the Gospel in other towns also. He came to begin the spread of the Gospel in Israel first. The word “cities” in the Greek carries with it the meaning of “city or a city-state.” So there were many towns of this size which were quite big but yet retained their rural status. It was to these places where Jesus would proclaim the Gospel because many people from the outlying areas would visit the markets daily which means that His hearers would come to Him in a central location.

Luke 4:44 (KJB)
And he preached in the synagogues of Galilee.

Jesus had always visited the synagogues of the places where He went to minister. He headquartered in Capernaum but had made His outreach to the rest of Galilee. The word “preached” in the Greek is in the present tense which means that Jesus was continually preaching in the synagogues in and around the Galilee area. He did not limit His ministry only to Capernaum which was situated on the great caravan trail called the “Via Maris” which means “the way of the sea.” It had its beginning in Mesopotamia, went through Damascus, and then hundreds of miles to Egypt and this made Capernaum a very busy center of trade. Jesus could have remained there and had a full ministry but He chose to reach out to other areas.

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