Divine Authority and Power

Introduction

Illustration of “The Painting of the Son”

Most of us in this room have acknowledged the Son of God and expressed a desire to know Him and walk with Him, but until you yield to His authority, you will not know the true riches of God!

As we continue to explore Lessons from the Gospel of Luke, we continue to look at Luke 4.

Here in this text we see a tale of two cities: Nazareth and Capernaum.

The cities are 18 miles apart in distance but worlds apart in their experiences with Jesus.

In Nazareth (Luke 4:16-30), Jesus was experienced as a mere man and rejected as Messiah. They even wanted to throw Him off of a cliff. As a result, he left there and the people of Nazareth didn’t experience His majesty.

In Capernaum, Jesus was experienced as Messiah and as a result people received the Word of God, healing, and the very touch of Jesus Himself!

The difference between the two and the challenge for us today rests in acknowledging Jesus’ divine authority.

I want to spend some time this morning looking at Jesus’ time in Capernaum and look at what lessons we can learn about the Divine Authority and Power of Jesus and what these truths mean for us today!

Luke 4:31–44 ESV

31 And he went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And he was teaching them on the Sabbath, 32 and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word possessed authority. 33 And in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, 34 “Ha! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” 35 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm. 36 And they were all amazed and said to one another, “What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!” 37 And reports about him went out into every place in the surrounding region. 38 And he arose and left the synagogue and entered Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was ill with a high fever, and they appealed to him on her behalf. 39 And he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her, and immediately she rose and began to serve them. 40 Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. 41 And demons also came out of many, crying, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ. 42 And when it was day, he departed and went into a desolate place. And the people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them, 43 but he said to them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.” 44 And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.

1) Jesus’ Words Echo Authority! (v. 31-39)

Astonished at His words (for His word possessed authority). (v.32)

What Jesus said was different from anything they had heard before!

His words were not empty or passed down rhetoric…

Amazed at His authority and power (v. 36)

At His Word He cast out demons. (v. 35)

At His Word He drove out illness. (v.39)

After experiencing Him they shared what they experienced (v.37)

Because of His impact they spread reports of Him.

Because of His impact they served Him. (v.39)

What impact does the Authority of Jesus have in your life?

Are you entertained or merely encouraged by Him, or are you transformed by Him, shaped by Him?

Do you seek Him for the warm and fuzzies, or are you astonished and amazed by His authority and power so that it moves you to transformation and action?

2) Jesus’ Touch Exercise Authority! (v.40-41)

Jesus laid His hands on every sick and diseased person brought to Him and they were healed.

Jesus touched the untouchables and their lives were changed.

Jesus took hold of the broken and diseased and He made them healed and whole.

Jesus’ touch exercised His authority over the fallout of brokenness and despair that sin produced.

Jesus’ touch brought life to those whose lives were floundering and fading.

The people who experienced Jesus’ touch had their lives forever changed.

In the midst of their disease and despair the touch of Jesus brought wholeness and hope.

What about your life? Do you allow the hand of the Lord to be upon your life?

Does the authority of Jesus rest upon your life so that you are touched by Him?

Are you experiencing wholeness and hope by the righteous right hand of Jesus being upon your life?

If you are not yielding to the exercised authority of Jesus upon your life you are robbing yourself of His blessings.

It is one thing to talk about the authority of Jesus…it is an entirely different discipline to yield to the authority of Jesus and to allow His touch to be upon your life.

If we want to experience the hand of the Lord upon our lives we must yield to Him and acknowledge His divine authority over us.

Jesus’ Words Echo Authority…Jesus Touch Exercises Authority…

3) Jesus’ Purpose Exalts Authority! (v. 42-44)

Jesus’ purpose was to do the will of the One who sent Him.

His purpose was to follow the plan of the Father and not be thwarted by the spiritual nor the physical.

The demons were silenced and cast out. They were not allowed to reveal who He was outside of due time.

The people of the region were not allowed to “keep Him from leaving” for He needed to go to the other towns as well.

He could have stayed centralized and made the people go to Him, but His purpose was to go to the towns, not make the towns come to Him.

His purpose was to proclaim “the good news of the kingdom of God” to others.

The preferences of people of Capernaum were not allowed to hinder the purpose of God.

Jesus, in His divine authority, connected to THE divine authority and kept His mission and His purpose in alignment with God’s purpose.

Does the purpose of Jesus carry authority over your preferences?

We must be ever watchful and cautious about trying to make Jesus’ purposes fit our preferences.

Jesus is not to conform to our image, rather we are to conform to His! (Romans 8:29 “29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” )

Jesus is not to work around our preferences, rather we are to work in accordance to His purposes.

We are to exalt the authority of God in all that we think, say, and do, and when we do, we will be blessed to experience more and more the majesty of King Jesus!

Closing

Don’t be like the people of Nazareth who, though they had a natural affinity to Jesus, denied the divine authority of Jesus.

Let us embrace the authority of Jesus in His Word, in His touch, and in His Purpose.

Let us be a people who commit to yielding to His authority that we may be blessed by experiencing more and more of Him!

Right here…Right now you have a choice that will lead to many more choices: Will you yield your life to the authority of Jesus or will you deny Him?

For some of you, that may mean you place your faith and trust in Jesus for the very first time.

For others, that may mean that you start to spiritually grow up and take His Word more serious.

For all of us, this definitely means that Jesus cannot be just a piece of our lives…He must be the fullness of what our lives are about!

The choice is yours…will you be like the people of Nazareth or will you be like people of Capernaum? What you do with the Son makes all the difference!