Amazed by the Messiah

For those of us at Kid’s Camp this week we walked through the life of Jesus. Every year there is some sort of systametic approach of a subject matter to help little ones understand the topic. This year it was the life of Jesus and day by day we covered five topics or phases of Jesus life that make up the gospel story.

Jesus was born—God became men, the word became flesh and dwelt among us, lived with us. He was a boy—he grew in wisdom and stature. His ministry years when he proved his power over sickness, nature and death. His death and resurrection in which he paid the penalty for our sins on that cross and then rose again defeating death. Jesus will return—coming back to rule and to reign—to establish his kingdom forever.

It’s a Wonder what he did for us. And it’s amazing that kids as little as 2 years old got to sit under that for 5 days. What a privilege and a gift we get to do this.

But this morning I ask us a question—know one in here was the target audience for this last week. When was the last time you stopped to think about the power and authority of God. Have you pondered the supernatural abilites that Jesus had on earth? Have you considered the God of the universe coming to earth to heal the sick, the lame, and the blind? That this Jesus came and showed his power of nature—Who is this that even the winds and the waves obey him.

Let’s start with a little activity—at your table, write down 5 miracles of Jesus.

What did you come up with?

Water into wine, healing the paralytic, raising Lazarus, stopping he bloody discharge, healing Jarius daughter.

This Jesus—we get to worship. This Jesus we call friend and Savior.

Let’s jump into our lesson today.

Mission Statement:

Jesus’s power over evil and sickness showed people that He is the Messiah, the One who had come to usher in God’s kingdom.

Turn to Luke 4

What is the most awe-inspiring, powerful thing you’ve experienced? How did it make you feel?

Grand Canyon or Savannah of Africa.

Jesus’ life is filled with awe-inspiring moments. The bible tells us if we were to record all of them, the world itself could not contain the books it would be written in.

Jesus’s powerful teaching prompts astonishment (Luke 4:31-32)

Luke 4:31–32 “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.”

Jesus’s move to Capernaum was not to avoid the Nazarenes but primarily a strategic move to proclaim the gospel in a more diverse, catalytic space.

This open up an interesting question—what is the role of strategy with th gospel? Should we use strategy, plans, utilizing certain gifts, etc?

Yes, we fully acknowledge the authority of God and the dependence of the Holy Spirit, and yet there is room for some strategy or planning. We want to utilize the gifts and abilites God has given us as best we can.

What are ways we do this?

Translation—why do we translate the bible into other languages? God is powerful enough to supercede languages and tongues, he can save people despite that right, and yet its proper and right to translate the bible into dialects so that people around the world can hear the good news of Jesus Christ.

Jesus himself utilizes this, not only in Luke 4 but do you remember what Jesus did in John 10?

John 10:39 “39 Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.”

That is strategy—he fled to be able to go to another place and teach there. He could of stopped their arrest or broken free, he is powerful enough to do that, but his plan was to go elsewhere, evade capture and continue teaching.

So Jesus used some strategy in where he went but his authority is what really shocked them.

We saw this several times in the gospels including Mark 1:22 “22 And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.”

John MacArthur says, “Jesus’ authorative teaching, as the spoken word of God, was in sharp contrast to that of the scribes (experts in the OT Scriptures), who based their authority largely on that of other rabbis. Jesus’ direct, personal, and forceful teaching was so foreign to their experience that those who heard him were “astonished”.

Authority is interesting because throughout history what are some things or ways people proved their authority?

In midevil times they had signet rings they would press into the wax seal proving that message came from so and so and had the authority it said it had.

When you sign a legal document now what do you typically have to get? A notary. What does that notary do? They act on behalf of the government to stamp and sign the document, verifying that the signatures that came from people themselves and no under distress or force—they are willfully signing that document. Person A willfully and knowingly signing that Person B can buy the car for X amount of dollars. the notary verifies and confirms the information is correct and true and that stamp gives them the authority and power to do that.

We see this on social media. How do we see authority or verification on social media? That little check mark symbol. It is saying that this really is who they say they are, it has been verified, its not someone posing as them, its not something pretending to be allowed to represent them—it is truly them. There may be 100 accounts claiming to be Elon Musk but only one can actually be him and that one is marked with a check mark.

But Jesus didn’t need any of that other stuff because his word alone validated him.

Do you remember with what Satan tempted Jesus earlier in Luke 4?

Luke 4:5–7 “5 And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, 6 and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.””

He offered him all authority. The problem is he already had all authority. Imagine I take your car keys and then tell you if you do this or that I will give you this new car. New car? Thats my car—you can’t give me whats already mine.

Jesus rejects him in this passage because Satan has no authority to give the Son of God what he already has.

“Jesus’s deeper and more informed teaching, His revelatory message of life, and His ability to heal through the power of God (through the miracles Luke recorded in 4:33-44 and beyond)—all these demonstrated Jesus’s authority as the Messiah. If this were all we had, there already would be enough in Jesus’s authoritative teaching for the soul filled with faith to trust.”

2. Jesus’s power over unclean spirits fuels amazaement (Luke 4:33-37)

Luke 4:33–37 “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.”

As the sovereign Creator of all things, God the Son—Jesus—by the word of His mouth, commanded the demon and it had to obey.

Demons are found throughout the bible. The carry out the purpose of the evil one: to steal, kill and destroy.

John 10:10 “10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

Through deception and destruction, they attempt to pervert God’s purpose and oppose God’s work.

Demons are powerful, but they are limited by God’s control and can only act within the constraints of what God permits. At the end, all of the demons will be cast into the lake of fire.

So they are in the synagogue and a demon-possessed man that has an outburst. And Jesus begins to interact with him.

1 John 3:8 “8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.”

Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil—to cast out all darkness.

What’s interested is in this passage the demon acknowledges two different titles for Jesus—what were they?

Jesus of Nazareth

The Holy One of God

The demons knew who Jesus was. They recognized Christ’s authority. And so Jesus yes was from Nazareth but he was from God.

The demons knew that Jesus was Lord but that was of no good to the. Head knowledge is never enough. They unlike almost everyone else knew that Jesus was God but failed to submit to the Holy One.

James 2:19 “19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!”

The demons believed that Jesus was God but they shuddered at his power without submitting to his authority.

Jesus didn’t need any elobrate ceremony or ritual to remove this demon. He simply did what? Spoke.

What did he say?

Not to be blasphemous, but to paraphrase—Shut up and leave!

Be silent, and come out of him.

They were already amazed at the authority of Jesus words, but now they were amazed at this Jesus. With the sound of his voice he can command the waters to calm and demons to go away?

3. Jesus’s proclamation of the gospel reveal His mission (Luke 4:38-44)

Luke 4:38–44 “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.”

Jesus repeatedly demonstrated His power, divinity, and care as He healed sicknesses and liberated demon-possessed people. Both the physical and the spiritual are subject to Him.

After multiple stories within the synagogue, Luke gives us a snapshot of a more personal story for Jesus. He goes to Simon’s house to visit his sick mother-in-law.

The story tells us the sun was setting meaning the Jewish restrictions on travel on the Sabbath were being lifted and people were going to flock to Jesus.

imagine that—you hear about this man who can heal people, you would take your loved ones to them if there was any hope of healing them. There are dear people in this church who have hard challenges going on and if Jesus was here healing I guarantee they would do anything to take them or their loved one to be healed.

Luke the doctor here notes that the lady had a high fever, meaning she was in serious danger of dying. She was very sick and needed help bad. Jesus simply speaks, and she is healed.

At the word of Christ the fever leaves and she immediately rose and began to serve. This was just she is going to get better—she has been healed, corrected, made new.

Luke zooms back out as the masses begin to flock to Jesus. Time and time again people come to Jesus and are healed.

Read verses 40-41, what do you notice about what Jesus did? Did he do the same thing over and over or did he do something different?

Luke 4:40–41 “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.”

Why is this significant? He really was all powerful—it wasn’t just that he found the right words to say or tone to say them in, He was God and was all-powerful and able to save in so many different ways.

Luke 4:42–44 “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.”

Jesus was steadfast in His purpose, obeying the Father and fulfilling His mission in all that He did, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God.

Jesus tries to escape but they sought after him to keep teaching. They wanted to hear the good news and so they begged him to keep teaching.

Jesus was steadfast in His purpose, what some theologians call the “divine must.” Jesus wholeheardtedly accept the will of the Father to bring the good news to all who would receive it. Jesus also knew the way God’s will would unfold, and to deviate from the Father’s plan was implausible for the Son. Back in Luke 2:49, even twelve-year-old Jesus held this purpose, this “divine-must”. Once Mary and Joseph found their son, Jesus declared, “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” The Father’s perfect plan and the Son’s abiding obedience always comes through. It would have been easy for Him to just build a movement centered around His power. But He knew He came to “preach the good news of the kingdom of God.”

Jesus was all powerful over sickness, demons and death. Case by case, person by person he proved he had the authority and power to save. Whether in public in front of everyone or in the house of Simon’s mother-in-law, Jesus proved his power. Isn’t he doing the same in our lives? Showing us his power and authority?

What areas of life do you need to remember the reality of God’s ability and power to save?

So how do we apply this to our lives?

Because Jesus has set us free from sin and death, we recognize and embrace His authority over every area of our lives as we proclaim what Jesus has done for us.