“God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.” (Acts 10:38 NIV)
In the desert, Jesus proved to be more powerful than the devil. This became evident when He returned to civilization and encountered all kinds of people who were “oppressed by the devil.” This could manifest itself in possession, but also in all sorts of mental and physical ailments. Jesus healed these people by driving out the unclean spirits. He could do so through the Spirit of God who was in Him (see also Matthew 12:28). Demons proved no match for the Holy Spirit.
These healing miracles demonstrate how deeply God the Father, the Son (= Jesus), and the Holy Spirit are one. Only the Son became human and had a visible body. But He was anointed with the Spirit, and “God was with Him.” These accounts also show that God’s Kingdom pertains to both our physical existence and the underlying spiritual dynamics. Spiritual burdens, physical limitations, mental illnesses, or a combination of these—Jesus can heal it all. For He came to permanently remove the underlying problem of sin and evil. Through Jesus’ redemptive work, the devil loses his grip on people and on the world.
How do you see the devil’s power at work in the world, in the people around you, or in your own life? How does Jesus make a difference in that?