1 Thess 5:1-6, 9-11 / Luke 4:31-37
No one likes to live in a state of oppression and without freedom.
It is like living in a dark and dirty confined chamber, almost like being in a prison.
Furthermore, the stress and anxiety of a sudden torment out of nowhere will make life like a living hell.
That was probably what the man who was possessed by the spirit of an unclean devil was experiencing.
How he got possessed, we were not told, but we can be certain he was looking for a way out and be freed from this possession.
That was why he made his way to the synagogue to look for Jesus, and it certainly took a great deal of effort on his part, as he had to fight with the unclean spirit who would be trying to prevent him from going there.
But once in the presence of Jesus, the unclean spirit had to expose itself and now it was its turn to break free from the presence of Jesus.
Indeed, Jesus is the true Light who scatters the darkness of sin and evil, and brings us Truth and Love.
The 1st reading reiterates this by saying that we don't live in the dark, and that we are sons of light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to darkness.
But we must also keep encouraging each other and be the light of Christ to each other, so that darkness and evil will not oppress or possess us.