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Busy and Happy Days at Capernaum
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desired to know more of the truths He taught. They longed that the
comfort of His love might be with them continually.
Jesus watched the countenances of His hearers. Faces that ex-
pressed interest gave Him satisfaction. As the arrows of truth pierced
through the barriers of selfishness, working contrition and gratitude,
the Saviour was glad. When His eye recognized faces He had seen
before, His countenance lighted up with joy. When truth plainly
spoken touched some cherished idol, He marked the change of coun-
tenance which told that the light was unwelcome. When He saw
men refuse the message of peace, His heart was pierced to the very
depths.
In the synagogue Jesus was interrupted while speaking of His
mission to set free the captives of Satan. A madman rushed from
among the people, crying out, “Let us alone; what have we to do
with Thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art Thou come to destroy us? I
know Thee who Thou art; the Holy One of God.”
All was confusion and alarm. The attention of the people was
diverted from Christ, and His words were unheeded. But Jesus
rebuked the demon, saying, “Hold thy peace, and come out of him.
And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of
him, and hurt him not.”
The mind of this wretched sufferer had been darkened by Satan,
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but in the Saviour’s presence, he was roused to long for freedom
from Satan’s control. But the demon resisted. When the man tried
to appeal to Jesus for help, the evil spirit put words in his mouth,
and he cried out in an agony of fear.
The demoniac partially comprehended that he was in the pres-
ence of One who could set him free; but when he tried to come
within reach of that mighty hand, another’s will held him, another’s
words found utterance through him. The conflict between the power
of Satan and his own desire for freedom was terrible.
The demon exerted all his power to retain control of his victim.
It seemed that the tortured man must lose his life in the struggle with
the foe that had been the ruin of his manhood. But the Saviour spoke
with authority and set the captive free. The man stood before the
wondering people happy in the freedom of self-possession. Even
the demon had testified to the divine power of the Saviour. The eye