And he went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And he was teaching them on the Sabbath, and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word possessed authority. And in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, "Ha! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are-the Holy One of God." But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be silent and come out of him!" And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm. And they were all amazed and said to one another, "What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!" And reports about him went out into every place in the surrounding region.
What a difference an audience makes.
Private wicked thoughts and concealed attitudes, secretive opinions and muted criticisms which prove we are sinners to the core translate quite differently before an audience. The real you is filtered somewhere between heart and lip. Something said in one's innards comes out very differently in front of an audience.
The version of yourself you want publicized will depend a great deal on the audience. Confidants hear one version; authority figures another. Conversation in a vehicle stopped for speeding will noticeably change as the window is rolled down. A kid's buddies are a different audience than his parents.
But rarely does anyone hear the real you.
The real you is the private you. We obscure our true selves in public. We are not so different from actors on a stage. The audience is given a show, and we become increasingly talented performers. Using words that follow a script we are practiced pretenders masquerading before an audience.
But before you think this overstated and you take offence in believing you are not so much a fraud, realize just how expert we've learned to fool even ourselves. We become our own best audience with self-congratulations and especially self-exonerations.
I have a loyal audience in me, myself, and I.
The man at the synagogue in Capernaum was diabolic. There was someone else inside him who was playing to an audience. The loud voice with which he spoke was not for Jesus' sake but so others would hear.
Skilled in insinuation and innuendo (as we all are), the demon wasn't about to reveal his true self. He wasn't going to let slip the malicious character he actually was. Devious, yet plainspoken, Machiavellian, though direct, conniving, yet with the appearance of candor, he speaks not so much to Jesus as to the gallery.
Can we get these people to fall for the suggestion that someone else knows better than Jesus Himself why He is here? ("I know who you are.") Couched in questions rather than in direct address, can we get these people to fancy that Jesus may be dangerous? ("Have you come to destroy us?") Can we get these people to swallow the idea that Jesus is unnecessary? ("What have you to do with us?").
The ugly private truth doesn't have to come out. The hidden opposition to Jesus can remain concealed as long as the audience is suckered. That was the aim of the demon, and that's the way we operate so very often, God forgive us.
The poor possessed man has no comfort in explaining, "That's not the real me talking; the devil made me do it."
His deliverance and comfort, as ours, is the authoritative Word of Christ. Jesus deprives the demonic man of his audience. "Be silent," Jesus ordered him. The real truth would be exposed, "Come out of him." All the impersonation and artifice is subdued. The masquerade is ended. The cover-up is uncovered.
The demon tried one more scene for the audience. He threw the man down right there in their midst. He desperately tried one last performance to keep from being "outed."
Sound familiar? In desperate ways we contrive to hide the sin and perversity which lurks in our nature. We have thoughts fraught with fear at being laid bare and known for what we are. We don't want it leaked out for fear of being embarrassed or hurt.
Yet, no such peril will befall you to whom Christ has come. Your true self in baptism is Christ. The congregation around you is not an audience but the fellow redeemed, those who with you have been set free from the twisted oppression of sin and a vile spirit.
You need not fear the truth. We are told the man there in Capernaum was delivered by Jesus, the false spirit "having done him no harm." You and I no longer need to posture in front of people. Christ sees that no harm comes to us. We don't need to fake our way because the authentic Word of Christ is our safety. We may repent without trepidation, confess without anxiety, and speak candidly without alarm because Jesus will never permit us to be harmed.
He will never falsify his forgiveness to you. He will never rig anything to your disadvantage. Jesus went to the cross to spare you and me harm. No one applauded him there. He didn't perform to a crowd. The suffering wasn't a put-on. He showed His true self there, the unfiltered, guileless Jesus Christ who is the very same inside and out. On Calvary He was laid bare so that we may know exactly who God really is. His pure spirit, his public righteousness and private virtue are exactly what He is.
He is none of those things the demon suggested, but that demon's voice has been silenced forever. In its place has been given us the true Holy One of God with absolutely no harm to a single one of us.
No harm. And no more foul.
