Luke 4:31-44: Life with Jesus

Introduction - Little girl influenced by her brothers to climb inside of a claw machine. Trapped! https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/4-year-old-girl-gets-stuck-inside-claw-machine-see-video

Have you ever been trapped? The feeling of you can’t escape. You begin to panic. All of us have been trapped spiritually. Sin held us captive, but Jesus came to free us.

Last few verses of Luke 4 is a day in the life of Jesus. In the one day that Luke focuses on in these verses we see why Jesus came - Jesus came to set us free from the trap of the enemy.

Two choices: You can choose in this life to be trapped by sin - to be held captive by the one who wants to destroy you. Or, you can choose life with Jesus.

This morning, I want to show you what life with Jesus is like. Three truths about life with Jesus that I hope will encourage you to choose today and every day with Him.

Life with Jesus is powerful.

Preaching in the synagogue in Nazareth - Jesus came to proclaim a message of setting captives free - a failure of belief in Nazareth. Now in Capernaum.

Capernaum strategic - home base of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee. Located on Via Maris - main trade route that connected Africa, Europe, and Asia. 70% of Jesus’ ministry in Capernaum- Number of people from all over the world that would witness Jesus’ ministry in Capernaum. Whatever happened in Capernaum would travel to all the known world.

Jesus preaching in synagogue in Capernaum on Sabbath. Preaching as One with authority - people astonished. People used to hearing religious leaders, scribes, Pharisees, etc. BUT, Jesus was different. Everyone else preaching about God, but this WAS God preaching.

First recorded miracles of Jesus in Luke’s Gospel. Luke has established that Jesus is the Son of God. Luke has established that there is authority in His Word - you should listen to what He says.

Now miracles - why miracles? Validate Jesus’ Word - you can believe what He says. Also, signs. (Gospel writer John calls miracles signs.) Signs point to something - Jesus’ miracles/signs point to His ultimate work. Cast out demons - points to the day when Satan and his demons thrown into the lake of fire. Healing sick - points to the day when there will be no more sickness. Raising of the dead - points to the day when all followers of Jesus will be resurrected and glorified. Miracles point to what life with Jesus is supposed to be like - life of complete wholeness.

In synagogue Jesus confronted with demon possessed man. Interesting: Satan and his demons have NO doubts about who Jesus is. (James 2:19) Satan and his demons FEAR Jesus. We live in a culture that does not fear Jesus, but the demonic forces know their fate.

Is there demon possession today? Interesting that in OT demon possessions are rare and rarely mentioned in the NT after the Gospels. During public ministry, an intense time of demonic activity. Son of God was on the earth and an all out war by the devil to stop the work of Jesus. Jesus has come to defeat the works of darkness. Gospel writers showing us that reality.

1 Pet. 5:8. If you are a follower of Jesus, you are possessed by the Holy Spirit. You have been set free from the enemy having control over your life. You can be influenced but not possessed. If you are not a believer, it’s possible to open up your life to the control of the enemy - to be deeply involved in the work of the enemy.

Authority of Jesus - No incantations, no holy water, just His Word… “Be silent and come out of Him!” POWER! Jesus speaks and demons flee. Demons come out without hurting the possessed man.

vs. 36 - People amazed by His authority. Jesus teaches with authority and acts with authority. His fame begins to spread. The King is here!

We’re a people who want to be in authority, but we need HIS authority. What traps us is NOT living under His authority, but you need to understand that life under His authority is powerful.

I need to cling to Jesus’ power instead of ascribing power to the works of the enemy.

You stay trapped because you allow the works of the enemy to have power over your life. When you give into temptation, you are allowing the enemy to have power over your life. When you are unwilling to go to war with your sin, you are allowing the enemy to have power over your life.

When you let sin dominate, the fruit of sin dominates. Worry, stress, fear, anxiety, brokenness in every form. Jesus has come with power to set you free from the works of the enemy.

I cling to Jesus’ power when I give Him authority over my life - when I choose obedience instead of rebellion.

I need to confront the works of the enemy instead of retreating in fear.

FOMO - I fear missing out on the pleasures of sin so I keep giving in.

Call sin what it is in my own life.

Call sin what it is in the lives of those I love.

Call sin what is is in our culture. (We’re really good at calling out sin in others but not in ourselves.)

BUT what you call out be willing to put to death in your own life.

Jesus confronts the work of the enemy by getting intimately involved in the lives of people. (And He calls us to do the same.)

POWER - TEAM IMPACT - Just another reminder of how powerless I am - BUT I know the God of power.

Life with Jesus is personal.

Imagine - the crowd - the fame. Jesus could have stayed in the synagogue and wowed the people with His miracles. Masses would have gathered around him, but it gets personal. Jesus cares.

He enters Simon’s house. Simon-Peter - not yet a disciple of Jesus (Luke 5). Don’t know how Jesus knows Simon, or how Simon convinced Jesus to come into his home, but Jesus leaves the crowd to go to Simon’s house where his mother-in-law is sick.

Small, ancient home. People gathered round the bed of Simon’s mother-in-law. We don’t know her name, but Jesus does. Struggling with a high-fever. In a day where there wasn’t Tylenol or Ibprofen, people concerned with a high fever. Was it a virus, or something more?

Maybe she just had the flu, and it would eventually go away. A fever just doesn’t seem as serious as leprosy, blindness, or many of the other serious diseases that Jesus healed. The first healing of illness that Luke records is healing a fever, not in front of a crowd, but in a small home with a few people gathered.

Notice how Jesus heals. Again, no incantation, no hocus pocus. He has authority over sickness. Simply stands over Peter’s mother-in-law and rebukes the fever. She gets up and begins to serve the people in her home like she had never been sick.

News of what happens in Simon’s house quickly spreads. The crowds come and Jesus heals. Notice that He lays hands on each one. Everyone who was healed got a personal touch.

Notice that Jesus does not want the demons to speak. (vs. 41) He doesn’t want the demons proclaiming who He is.

The point: Jesus is personal. The ONE in authority of everything is personal with everyone.

Jesus makes a personal investment in you. Are you making a personal investment in Him? Jesus is far more than a historical figure or a subject we study. He’s your personal Savior who died and rose again for you. He invites you into a personal relationship with Him. He is at the right hand of the Father interceding for you. (Romans 8:26-27) Are you neglecting the investment that Jesus desires to make in your life?

Jesus calls you to make a personal investment in others. Next chapter - first disciples called - commissioned with authority of Jesus to share the Good News and to do miracles in the name of Jesus. They’ll make a personal investment. The Gospel spreads one relationship at a time when you make the time and effort to personally invest in the lives of others.

Investing in others is greater than personal productivity. Some of us far more concerned with our to-do list than people. (RETREAT - I wanted to DO…NOT sit and talk...)

Don’t say, “I don’t want to get involved.” Gospels - Jesus runs to all kinds of people - Simon’s mother-in-law and the outcasts. The kind of people we want to run from. We make excuses for investing like, “I don’t want to get involved.” Jesus got involved in the mess of your life. Who are you to say, “I don’t want to get involved?”

Do for a few what you wish you could do for all. Jesus is omnipresent, omni-powerful, and omniscient. I’m not. I can’t be involved in every one’s life, but I can be involved in the lives of those God has placed around me. We look around and see so much need we say, “I can’t do anything.” Not true. You can do something. You can get involved in the lives of a few people for the sake of the Gospel.

Life with Jesus is purposeful.

vs. 42 - The next morning Jesus goes to a deserted place. When Mark records these same events, he tells us that Jesus went to a deserted place to pray (Mark 1:35).

Jesus needed to be alone with His heavenly Father, and we do too. Crowds were responding to Jesus. Think of the temptation that surely arose… The temptation to stay in Capernaum. Jesus was popular. Crowds were coming. He could have established First Baptist Capernaum and had the largest megachurch in town. Jesus pulled away to be with His Father. He needed fellowship with His Father. He needed to stay aligned with the purpose that Jesus sent Him for.

If Jesus moved forward without pulling away from the crowds to be with His Father, would he be tempted to take His eyes off the Father and build His Kingdom His way?

Jesus’ response: “I must preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God in other towns, too, because this is why I was sent.” Jesus’ purpose, and your purpose as well - to be used by God to make Jesus known.

You need to pull away with purpose. I get it. Life is busy. Feel like there’s no time to pull away. Your unwillingness to pull away and spend time with your Lord is probably evidence that your life is not aligned with His purpose. Pull away - examine. Are you in alignment with God’s will? You need daily time. Seminary professor - Jim Shaddix - 4:30 a.m. every day. How do you do that? Now, I’m up every day at 5:00 a.m. because if I’m not, I won’t make time in my day. 5:00 a.m. has become my favorite time of the day. Keeps me grounded in my faith.

You need discipline.

If living for God’s purpose is the only way to really live your life, what are you doing now align yourself with God’s purpose?

You need to move forward with purpose. Time with God aligns your will to His will. You can’t move forward with purpose if you are not spending time with God. Know the tendency of your heart to drift and constantly realign. Every day a simple prayer (J.D. Greear Gospel prayer - obviously, helpful to pray more than a sentence, but a good daily reminder: There is nothing I have done that could make you love me less, and nothing I could do that would make you love me more. You are all I need for everlasting joy. As you have been to me, so I will be to others.As I pray, I’ll do so according to the compassion you’ve shown at the cross and the power you demonstrated through the resurrection.

First time Luke mentions Kingdom of God in his Gospel - huge theme in the Gospels. Jesus came to establish His Father’s Kingdom on this earth. Kingdom = rule and reign of God over His people. Gen. 1 - God our King - creates citizens - invites his citizens to take dominion - to rule with Him. We want to rule apart from God - the Fall (Gen. 3). Jesus has come to establish His authority as the true King who restores everything. Good News - the true King has come to die - die in our place and rise again so that we can be restored to God and live out the purpose God created us for.

Have you turned from your rebellion and placed your faith in the King?