³³ And in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, ³⁴ “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.” ³⁵ 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.

There could not be a more sharp contrast than that of the unbelief on the part of the people of Nazareth, who refused to acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah and the demons who possessed a man and proclaimed exactly who Jesus was. The demons recognized the Messiah, the Holy One of God, when they saw him. Yet, even though they recognized who Jesus was, they refused to submit to him. In that regard they were no different than the people of Nazareth, except maybe even more guilty since they knew who Jesus was.

This shows us that it is possible to have true knowledge about God but still not have faith. Faith requires being willing to trust God and be obedient to him. The demons had knowledge by not trust. Many people today can claim to have a knowledge of God but if they fail to trust him and submit to him, they are no better than the demons.

We also see the power in the words of Jesus. All he needs to do is speak and the demons, who refused to submit to him willingly, are forced to do so by the power of his word. It is that same word that spoke the universe into existence. It is the same word that called forth Lazarus from the grave. It is the same word that pronounced forgiveness on you if you have come to faith in Christ. It is a word of power that accomplishes what God intends it to accomplish. In this case it drove demons out of a man and healed and restored him.

The word of Christ can also heal and restore you. But you need to trust it. You need to believe it is true. When Jesus says you are forgiven you can believe it. When Jesus says you are loved, you can trust it. When Jesus says he will never leave or forsake you, you can depend on it because the word of God is powerful and reliable.