Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany

Then He went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbaths. And they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was with authority. Now in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon. And he cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him in their midst, it came out of him and did not hurt him. Then they were all amazed and spoke among themselves, saying, “What a word this is! For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.” And the report about Him went out into every place in the surrounding region. (Luke 4:31–37)

Those whom argument cannot bring to the sure knowledge of Him Who by nature and in truth is God and Lord, may perhaps be won by miracles unto a docile obedience. And therefore usefully, or rather necessarily, He oftentimes completes His lessons by proceeding to the performance of some mighty work. For the inhabitants of Judea were unready to believe, and slighted the words of those who called them to salvation, and especially the people of Capernaum had this character: for which reason the Savior reproved them, saying, “And you Capernaum, who are exalted unto heaven, shall be brought down unto hell.” But although He knows them to be both disobedient, and hard of heart, nevertheless He visits them as a most excellent physician would those who were suffering under a very dangerous disease, and endeavors to rid them of their malady. For He says Himself, that “those who are in health have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” He taught therefore in their synagogues with great freedom of speech: for this He had foretold by the voice of Isaiah, saying, “I have not spoken in secret, nor in a dark place of the earth.”…

The evil demons therefore were cast out, and made moreover to feel how invincible is His might: and being unable to bear the conflict with Deity, they exclaimed in imperious and crafty terms, “Let us alone: what is there between us and You?” meaning thereby, Why dost Thou not permit us to keep our place, while You are destroying the error of impiety? But they further put on the false appearance of well-sounding words, and call Him the Holy One of God. For they supposed that by this specious kind of language they could excite the desire of vainglory, and thereby prevent His rebuking them, returning as it were one kindness for another. But though he be crafty, he will fail of his prey: for “God is not mocked;” and so the Lord stops their impure tongues, and commands them to depart from those possessed by them. And the bystanders being made witnesses of so great deeds, were astonished at the power of His word. For He worked His miracles, offering up no prayer, to ask of any one else at all the power of accomplishing them, but being Himself the living and active Word of God the Father, by Whom all things exist, and in Whom all things are, in His own person He crushed Satan, and closed the profane mouth of impure demons.

Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Luke 12