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Sermon Date: 20 March 2020

Text: Luke 4:31-44

Opening Discussion: When you were a student, where you ever given authority at school, perhaps as a monitor, prefect, student body leader or representative?  How did it make you feel? Share your story? 

Summary:

This passage is a passage about authority — God's authority. The challenge is for us to think about what is it that we long for the most? Is it our pleasures? Is it our agenda, or is it God's kingdom? It's a passage about the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God establishes for us who our authority is, and our recognition of that authority is a very important point in our Christian lives.

From the outset of his gospel, Luke wants to establish the point that Jesus Christ is in authority. He is Lord over all, and thus the proper response to Him is to submit to Him and do what He says. After showing us how Jesus was rejected in His hometown of Nazareth, Luke doesn’t want anyone to get the mistaken idea that Jesus is not Lord. So he walks us through a Sabbath day with Jesus, showing us how He preached the Word, cast out demons, and healed the sick with authority. He wants us to see that because Jesus is Lord over all, we should submit to Him and serve to further His purpose.

Our text shows us a typical Sabbath day for our Lord. He went to the synagogue, where He taught the Word. While there He healed a demon-possessed man, the first miracle recorded in Luke. Then he went over to Simon Peter’s home for dinner. Simon’s mother-in-law (Peter was married) was ill with a high fever (only Luke, the physician, notes that it was a high fever), and Jesus healed her. Instantly, she arose with enough strength to serve the Lord and the other guests. Then, after sundown, when the Sabbath was over, the whole town lined up at Peter’s door with their sick loved ones, and Jesus healed them. Early the next morning, Jesus slipped away to a quiet place. The crowds found Him and pleaded with Him to return, but Jesus refused, explaining that He had a mission to preach to the other cities also.

Investigation & Interpretation:

• Read: Luke 4:31-44

1. How did the people in the synagogue respond to Jesus teaching? v.31-32 – How was it different to the initial response of the people of Nazareth? (c.f. 4 v.28-29)
2. What authority and power does Jesus possess and is being demonstrated in verse 36?
3. What authority and power does Jesus possess and is being demonstrated in verses 38-41?
4. Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law. Mark 1:31says that Jesus took Peter’s mother-in-law by the hand, Luke reports in v.39 that He rebuked the fever. Why do you think Luke mentions this?
5. What was Jesus response in v.43-44 when the people came out to persuade Jesus to return to Capernaum?

Application - How must I change?

• Is there a Truth to be believed?

Out text reflects the human race under Satan’s cruel dominion, broken and wounded under the effects of the fall, headed for spiritual judgment, the second death. What are some truths we could share with our anxious friends during the coronovirus pandemic that would reflect hope and healing?

• Is there an Attitude to be fostered?

The people of Capernaum used Jesus to get healed, but they did not submit to Him and serve Him. What are some ways in our attitudes and actions that people today can be guilty of doing this?

• Is there a Behavior to be changed?

The kingdom of God establishes for us who our authority is, but as Paul J. Fritz says, “In order to seek first the kingdom, we must begin by seeking first the King: His praise, His purpose, and His plan.” Why is submission to authority, especially to the authority of Christ such a problem for some people?

Conclusion:

The people of Capernaum are really no better than the people of Nazareth. Both wanted a miracle-working Messiah who would do their bidding. Neither sensed their own sin and the need for repentance. And so it is today. There are many in churches today who know that Jesus is the Son of God, yet have not submitted to Him. There are many in churches today who believe in Jesus as a miracle worker or as a great teacher, but not as Savior and Lord. 

If we see our true condition before God, we’re all like those people in Capernaum—wounded, sick, and needy. We need to do as they did and come to Jesus. When you do that, He deals with you personally, touching your ugly sores and imparting His cleansing and healing to your soul. Then you have a choice: Like the people of Capernaum, you can walk away and never truly believe in and follow the Lord Jesus. Or, like Peter’s mother-in-law, you can rise up and immediately begin serving Him out of gratitude. That is the only reasonable and proper response if you’ve felt the Sovereign Lord’s healing touch in your heart.

What we need much more desperately than physical healing and mighty miracles is the forgiveness of our sins. This is the primary task for which our Lord came to the earth, and it is God’s primary gift to men, which we are to receive. To receive God’s other gifts, and to reject His gift of salvation, is a damnable offense. Let us not be like the Nazarethites, the Capernaumites, or the demonized.

Luke makes it clear in this passage that Jesus teaching is not teaching to be dismissed by anyone. Not by philosophy professors, not by demons, not by anyone. How do you respond to the teaching of God's word? Let us repent, believe and submit to Jesus as our Savior, Lord and King.