Luke 4:31-44 “His Word Was With Authority”

Let’s Pray!

Good Morning, Calvary Chapel Lake City!

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and were able to enjoy time with family and time away from work as we celebrated the birth of our Lord!

Today is our final sermon of 2025… crazy how another year has just zipped on by.

I hope to see and pray with many of you this Wednesday at our New Year’s night of prayer and worship.

What a great way to welcome in the New Year!

And let’s wrap up our final Sunday of 2025 now entering His word. Please open your Bibles to Luke 4. Luke 4:31-44 today.

We are looking at the beginning of Jesus’ first year of ministry… which launched immediately after His baptism and temptation.

John alone would record Jesus travelled to Jerusalem for the first Passover of His ministry…

And then returned north… passing through Samaria… and coming to Galilee He returned in the power of the Spirit and He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

But when Jesus returned to His hometown of Nazareth… things went sideways as He proclaimed now was the time… and He was the fulfillment of Isa 61:1-2a.

The people of Nazareth questioned, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”

Which prompted Jesus to put light on what would unfold… they would mock Him… and request special favors… and just as God did in times past… He would again go to Gentiles.

The people were filled with wrath… seized Jesus and led Him to the edge of a cliff with intent to throw Him over, but Jesus miraculously passed through the midst of them and went His way.

This past week we celebrated Christmas… and this passage of Jesus returning home to friends and family was timely… as that was the reality for many Christians.

Traveling home for Christmas… with the potential for rejection for sharing truth.

And what an encouragement it was in last week’s sermon to meditate upon Jesus’ journey with His own family… who though they initially thought Him out of His mind… and wanted to restrain Him… and even mocked Him…

At the upper room… in Acts 1… Jesus’ mother and brothers were there praying with the other disciples… and would become leaders in the early church and contribute to the writing of the New Testament.

Don’t lose heart with your own family and friends… keep being a light and praying for their day of salvation.

Well… today… Luke writes of Jesus’ next moment of ministry now in Capernaum…

Where Jesus will demonstrate His sovereignty over many things… in a message titled, “His Word Was With Authority.”

And, in reverence for God’s word, if you are able, please stand as I read our passage.

Luke 4:31–44 “Then He went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbaths. 32 And they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was with authority. 33 Now in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon. And he cried out with a loud voice, 34 saying, “Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”

35 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him in their midst, it came out of him and did not hurt him. 36 Then they were all amazed and spoke among themselves, saying, “What a word this is! For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.” 37 And the report about Him went out into every place in the surrounding region.

38 Now He arose from the synagogue and entered Simon’s house. But Simon’s wife’s mother was sick with a high fever, and they made request of Him concerning her. 39 So He stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. And immediately she arose and served them.

40 When the sun was setting, all those who had any that 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 out and saying, “You are the Christ, the Son of God!”

And He, rebuking them, did not allow them to speak, for they knew that He was the Christ.

42 Now when it was day, He departed and went into a deserted place. And the crowd sought Him and came to Him, and tried to keep Him from leaving them; 43 but He said to them, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent.” 44 And He was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee.”

Praise God for His word. Please be seated.

V31 begins with the words, “Then He went down to Capernaum...”

I have a map of Jesus’ journey from V30 to V31… from Nazareth to Capernaum… and you can see that Jesus travels Northeast to Capernaum…

And while we would have a tendency to say Jesus went “up” to Capernaum… first century travel was NOT by car… but by foot and animal… making them much more sensitive to elevation.

You get a sense of the topography by looking at the map…

Nazareth sits in the hilly region of Lower Galilee at an approximate elevation of 1,200 feet above sea level…

While Capernaum, on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee, is at about -680 feet below sea level…

So there was about a elevation drop of about 1900 feet traveling down in elevation from Nazareth TO Capernaum.

Capernaum- is a Hebrew compound word… Kaphar (Village) naoum (Nahum)- meaning the “Village of Nahum.”

Potentially pointing to hometown of Nahum the Minor Prophet… though that’s debated.

Capernaum is a lake town… and quite beautiful… rolling hills positioned next to the Sea of Galilee… which is a large lake.

Capernaum will become Jesus’ base of operations for His Great Galilean Ministry. Matt 9:1 calls Capernaum Jesus’ “own city.” So, let’s take a moment to get to know this town.

In the 1st Century, Capernaum was an important center of commerce, and a Roman tax polling station, since it was on the road leading to Damascus.

In Luke 5… Jesus calls Matthew (or Levi)… the tax collector of Capernaum… to follow Him… and then dines in Matthew’s home where many tax collectors also follow Him.

We read in the gospels of a synagogue in Capernaum.… which was credited as being built by a Roman Centurion, who’s servant was sick and healed, in Luke 7.

That synagogue and the original town was built with black basalt… a durable dark volcanic rock abundant around the Sea of Galilee.

If you visit Capernaum today… you see many foundations of this black rock.

But in the 4th century, white limestone was imported and a new synagogue was built over the synagogue where Jesus preached.

And what a contrast it is to see that white limestone synagogue against the black rock of about every other building.

It must have been something to see the city during it’s peak prosperity in 3rd to 7th centuries A.D.… especially after the synagogue renovation.

We also read of the home of Simon Peter and Andrew in Capernaum… which is considered by many as the “first church in the world.”

From the foundation stones… archeologists can determine that Peter’s home was slightly larger than other homes, but still a simple home consisting of a few small rooms around two open courtyards.

Today… over the foundation stones of Peter’s house stands an elevated ‘spaceship looking’ Catholic Church…

And you can peer down through a glass portion of the floor of the church to the ruins… or go outside and look under the church… and you can see a variety of foundation stones.

In the fifth century, an octagonal church was built over Peter’s home… which is in our next slide… a picture taken likely before the current Catholic church was built.

On our final slide you can see dark blue and gray outlines of the original home of Peter… and light blue lines of the 5th century Octagon church…

… and an actual picture of both with the dark stones being the original foundation for Peter’s house.

So, it was here in Capernaum… and in Peter’s home… that we will read many accounts of Jesus teaching, healing, delivering people from demons…

And despite all that the people of Capernaum witnessed… they would be hard hearted by and large.

Jesus pronounced a scathing denunciation upon Capernaum, and neighboring cities who did not repent.

Jesus said, “Woe to you , Chorzin! Woe to you, Bethsaida”… and in Matthew 11:23–24, “And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 24 But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.”

Despite the blessed privilege they had to have Messiah walk their land and do mighty works in their midst… they did not turn from darkness to light.

Interesting… if you visit the north shore of the Sea of Galilee… all three of these cities remain in ruin…

Jesus pronounced ‘Woes’ upon them… and today they stand only as a tourist attraction… or barren lands… or farm lands.

You have to travel 25 minutes by car… to the west coast of the Sea of Galilee and visit Tiberius if you want to see a bustling city today.

And, how fascinating is this… Woes pronounced… and the city fell into ruin.

Quickly… what happened in Capernaum… was a series of events that led to Capernaum’s gradual decline and eventual abandonment.

In the early Islamic period… there was a 7th century (638 A.D.) conquest of Capernaum.

Then, in 749 A.D.… the devastating Galilee earthquake collapsed many structures… leading to only partial occupation into the 10th and 11th centuries… with full abandonment in the 11th century A.D.

And from that we can see a very natural explanation to the supernatural reality of what Jesus proclaimed “Woe to you Capernaum.”

God often works this way… using enemy armies… or earthquakes… or other means… to accomplish His will and purposes.

It’s enough to allow each person to either respond to Him in faith… or to dismiss Him and His words in doubt.

I choose faith.

And here’s one more example before we move on from this background on Capernaum.

And… I’ll give this example first by asking, “Why did Jesus choose Capernaum as His headquarters?”

Was it just convenient that Peter had a home there? Or that it was nice being by the lake? Or that it was along a trade route… the Via Mares?

Maybe all of those, but even more… Capernaum was chosen in fulfillment of prophecy.

Matt 4:13-16 reads, “And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: 15 “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: 16 The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned.”

Jesus dwelt… meaning He settled in Capernaum…

As foretold some 700 years prior in Isaiah 9:1-2 “...in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali...”

Which was a very Jewish reference to the geography of Capernaum.

Zebulun and Naphtali were the 10th & 6th sons of Jacob respectively… and the land they inherited as leaders of 2nd of the 12th Tribes of Israel… later became the Galilee Region.

And it was foretold that Messiah would dwell in this land and in His first advent He would bring light to this land.

To this rural land… mixed with Jews and Gentiles… away from the Ivory towers of education and prominence in Jerusalem… sending a clear message that Messiah came for all.

One scholar wrote, “God does not act in accordance with the expectations of people, even religious people; he does his great work among the lowly and the despised.”

And so He dwelt in Capernaum… we read in John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us...”

He “tabernacled or tented”… the meaning of “dwelt”… among us...

God is not ashamed of you.

Though He is perfect and Holy and truly too good for us… He made a way for us to be with Him through faith in Jesus.

But, like Capernaum… anyone who is hard hearted and doesn’t receive Him… woes will be pronounced upon them…

Exiting this life… quite literally and spiritually… that person will be “brought down to Hades” in the day of judgment.

Hebrews 9:27–28 “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, 28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.”

Trust in Him as your Savior… if you have neglected this truth in times past.

Make today your day of Salvation… your sins will be forgiven… Heaven and NOT Hades will be your eternal reality… you will be given a new body (a glorified body)… and you will dwell in the presence of God to give Him the glory He deserves.

Don’t even wait to make that your 2026 New Years resolution.

Be resolved to believe in Jesus today. Talk with us and pray with us at the end of service today…

And look… for the rest of us… Capernaum is a warning. We, like Capernaum, have so many privileges… NAMELY… the complete canon of Scripture…

And we shouldn’t take this for granted. Written into scripture are expectations for us to be ‘faithful servants’ in this season that we wait for the Lord’s return.

We will give an account to God before the judgment seat of Christ… for how we treated one another (Rom 14)… of what we did with His minas (Luke 19)…

… no doubt looking to the privileges we have to share the gospel… to represent Christ to the world… the privilege of prayer…

Jesus dwelt in Capernaum… and took Messiah in the flesh for granted.

And, look… there is a tendency for all of us to fall out of abiding…

Otherwise Jesus would not need to exhort us to ‘abide in Him’… John 15.

The writer of Hebrews warns to ‘give earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.’ (Heb 2:1)

These things wouldn’t need to be said if there wasn’t this tendency.

And, look… the new year is upon us… there’s only three more days in 2025… if Jesus doesn’t return before then… and you want a New Year’s resolution…

Paul said ‘bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things...’

Prioritize godliness… abiding in Jesus… hearing, applying and sharing scripture in 2026…

Don’t make the mistake of Capernaum… taking for granted the privileges of her day… and not allowing them to pierce her heart.

So… Jesus went down to Capernaum… He would dwell here in Capernaum…

V31 tells us He “was teaching them on the Sabbaths.”

No doubt in a black basalt, first century synagogue… and the people’s response…

V32 “And they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was with authority.

Luke recorded in V14 that Jesus “returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee”…

… and then beginning in V16… at Nazareth, that Jesus read from the scroll of Isaiah stating, “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me...” and telling all there “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

And now Luke demonstrates Jesus acting in the power of the Spirit through His authority… here in teaching… and in V35 with power over demons.

When the people heard Jesus teach… He stood in contrast to what they were used to hearing… messages where the reader read scripture and quoted some Rabbi (Hillel, Shammai, Gamaliel, and so forth).

They had no authority, but looked to others. It would be like me just reading from commentaries without ever allowing the Holy Spirit space to impress upon me an application… or rhema word.

When I’m studying scripture and preparing a sermon… I appreciate commentaries and other Pastors… especially with tough passages.

But, the Holy Spirit knows this body of believers in this city… in this day and age…

So, there is a certain submission to the Holy Spirit that I must give space to so He can speak into our lives… and He does.

Last week, Ty pointed out how there are so many times the verse by verse teaching of scripture aligns so perfectly with what is happening in the individual lives in this body or the life of this church.

And, I can’t write those stories… and none of us should write off those stories.

Scripture says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” (Heb 13:8)

And just like how those in Capernaum recognized and were astonished at His teaching… which was with authority.

And when the Holy Spirit uses His word… to speak directly into the situations of our life and guide us… recognize that authority.

The teachers of Capernaum were dry guides… who’s words stood in great contrast with Jesus… “for His word was with authority.”

The world authority in Gk is exousia… which in the New Testament appears 103x… 53x translated as “authority”… 39x translated as “power.”

It so often spoke of how Jesus operated… He taught with authority… He had power on earth to forgive sins… He had power over unclean spirits… and to heal sickness.

He had the power to lay down His life and take it up again… and He did these things… in accordance to the Father’s will… to redeem mankind.

And to demonstrate the He was the foretold Messiah as passages like Isa 35:2 predicted Messiah would open the eyes of the blind… and unstop the ears of the deaf…

When Jesus healed the leper in Mark 1… he told him to “show yourself to the priest” so they could offer cleansing… as read in Lev 14… “The Law of the Leper.”

No one had power to heal lepers in that day… and I’m sure the priests would have to go back a re-read the chapter.

“What do we do again according to Lev 14?”

These signs and wonders… this power and authority testified that Messiah… the Savior had come…

Don’t miss it in your lifetime like so many in Capernaum and Israel did.

So… on this day at synagogue… in Capernaum… Jesus would show His authority… yes in His teaching, but also over the demonic.

Look at vv33-34 “Now in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon. And he cried out with a loud voice, 34 saying, “Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”

Fascinating… we read nothing about Jesus addressing these demons yet… but like a moth to the flame… He tells Jesus to ‘go away’… announces WHO Jesus is…

And recognizes Jesus would eventually destroy the armies of Satan.

And it would seem that there were multiple demons as the demon says “we” and “us” and the people refer to the demon in the plural as well in V36 “spirits” and “they.”

But, even one demon is one too many… and would rob this man of quality of life.

Demon possession is terrible… and probably one of the most vivid descriptions of the harm demons cause those they possess is the demoniac in Gadara… Luke 8…

The man wore no clothes… lived in the tombs… he was untamable… Mark 5 states he cried out and cut himself with stones.

Also, in Mark 9:22 a father pleads to Jesus for a demon causes his son seizures, and throws him in fire and water to destroy him…

V33 describes the condition as uncleanness… which stands in contrast to the fruit the Holy Spirit produces in believers… love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness and self-control.

So… anyone fooling themselves into thinking demon possession leads to power or prosperity… that foolish thought stands contrary to what we read in scripture.

Now… this is a hard scene to relate to…

I have questions… like what did the voice of the demon sound like?

Was it a normal voice? We don’t know… often the demon voice is depicted as being rough and guttural… deep… hissing… snarling… generally unsettling.

If you listen to Joe Focht sermons… you may have heard his impression of demons… he speaks loudly into the mic with a very distorted voice…

I feel bad for the guy sleeping during that sermon.… waking up to Joe’s shouting demon impression.

No divine nap for you.

We don’t have many shouting out during church services… some side conversations… sure. But, not those with the spirit of an unclean demon.

And I’m good with that… I don’t have a calling to seek out demons. I’ll deal with it if it comes.

But, the best defense is a strong offense… so I teach the word of God… because even Satan was defeated by the word of God… we saw that in Jesus’ temptation.

But… this shouting out nuisance during a sermon by a demon… it does happen. The week after we departed from Calvary Chapel Ellicott City in Maryland in 2013… to set out on our journey for Bible College in California…

That next week… as my Pastor was teaching through Luke 9… the deaf and dumb spirit who tortured a man’s son…

An Indian man… a guest of some friends… shouted out during the teaching, “I am NOT deaf. My name is Rashad.”

My Pastor… cool as a cucumber… said, “Well, you’re in the right place.”

A few of the guys took him into the hallway… shared the gospel and scripture with him.

He did not believe in Jesus. He was not sealed with the Holy Spirit. He had been praying and inviting demons to give him power. And like a roaring lion… Satan and his minions like easy prey.

But if you’re sealed with the Holy Spirit… because you believe in Jesus…

In the context of false prophets and the spirit of Antichrist… 1 John 4:4 reminds us, “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”

And many Pastors hold this crosses over to the demonic realm… that God is not going to share His temple (YOU) with demons.

I agree with that.

In the context of being set apart and not yoked with unbelievers, Paul asks 2 Corinthians 6:15–16 “And what accord has Christ with Belial? [a synonym for Satan] Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? 16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.”

I struggle reading that and accepting that God will share His temple… I don’t see… from scripture… that believers can be demon possessed.

Jesus doesn’t even want to accept words from demons that are truthful words… like how this demon just shouted out, “You are the Holy One of God!”

That’s truth! But look at Jesus’ response…

V35 “But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him in their midst, it came out of him and did not hurt him.”

Jesus orders a twofold command… Be quiet about Me… and come out of the man.

He silences and evicts the demon… to where we don’t know.

But, this was Jesus’ third miracle… John recorded He first turned water to wine, and then healed an official’s son.

And these miracles would stand to authenticate Jesus’ ministry.

We observe through this account that Jesus wants NO communion with darkness… He never accepts the accolades and proclamations from any demon. He silences them.

Even if a statement is true like Jesus being the Son of God… He doesn’t want to receive anything from the enemy.

How important is that in our lives? Because the enemy will going to tempt… appealing to the lusts of the flesh and eyes and the pride of life.

How important for us… to not allow our pride to be fanned by the flames of the demonic?

He will offer much… and flatter… to lead you down a path of destruction… and death.

Satan is NOT your friend, even if he comes with statements of truth and in a complementary tone.

Jamieson wrote, “Our Lord ever refused testimony from devils, for the very reason why they were eager to give it, because He and they would thus seem to be one interest, as His enemies actually alleged.”

Instead Jesus states “Be quiet!”… and repeatedly in the Gospels Jesus will not permit demons to speak… and He rebukes them…

Not only because they are fallen and evil… and He wants no appearance of being in league with evil… but also because they go against the will of God… prematurely attempting to reveal that Jesus is the Messiah…

… which was NOT for them to do… Jesus waited upon the Father for the right timing and manner to reveal His Messiahship.

We see this in V41 below… “And demons also came out of many, crying out and saying, “You are the Christ, the Son of God!” And He, rebuking them, did not allow them to speak, for they knew that He was the Christ.”

Christ meaning “the Anointed One, Messiah.”

And in Mark 3:11–12 “And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out, saying, “You are the Son of God.” 12 But He sternly warned them that they should not make Him known.”

Which again is about the timing of Jesus being revealed…

God had an appointed time for Jesus to be revealed and crucified.

We presently await God’s timing for the fullness of the Gentiles (Rom 11:25)…

Regarding the Lord’s appearing at the rapture and the period of history afterwards… 1 Thessalonians 5:1 declares, “But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you.”

Regarding His second coming, Jesus said… Matthew 24:36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.”

When asked if Jesus would restore the kingdom to Israel… pointing to Jesus Millennial Kingdom… Jesus told His disciples, Acts 1:7 “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.”

So, for sure… Jesus didn’t want demons running around announcing He was the Christ… so He again demonstrates His authority rebuking the demon and commanding it’s silence… and to come out of the man.

And the demon had no choice but to obey God… so he has one more fit… throwing the man down, but came out of him without hurting him further.

vv36-37 “Then they were all amazed and spoke among themselves, saying, “What a word this is! For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.” 37 And the report about Him went out into every place in the surrounding region.”

Once again the people stood in wonder over Jesus’ word and authority.

There must have been NO Pharisees present on this Sabbath day… for they would have rebuked Jesus for working on Sabbath.

But the people note that His word (His logos)… held commanding authority (exousia) and power (dunamis- miraculous power) over demons… where even by His word they come out…

Jewish exorcist had a much larger ritual to bind a demon by oath in order to expel it. We get a glimpse of this in Acts 19… where the “sons of Sceva” called on the name of Jesus over demons.

Which didn’t work out so well for them… one demon said to them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?”

And he whooped them… they fled that house naked and wounded.

They had NO power or authority… for they had no connection to Jesus.

And look… if you happen upon a person who truly is possessed by a demon… don’t make their mistake.

Jesus’ name is not some magical omen to be tossed around.

Any power God wants to display through us… as a vessel… not as us inherently having power in and of ourselves… begins with our faith in Jesus Christ… and the in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit.

The Jewish exorcists of Acts 19 wrongly concluded that simply vocalizing Jesus’ name would give them power.

And how many times had people ALL throughout Israel witnessed itinerant (or traveling) Jewish exorcists… with their magic incantations… trying to do… what Jesus does with just a word?

Thus the people of Capernaum are amazed by Jesus’ command… and V37 concludes that news spreads about Jesus all throughout Galilee.

vv38-39 “Now He arose from the synagogue and entered Simon’s house. But Simon’s wife’s mother was sick with a high fever, and they made request of Him concerning her. 39 So He stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. And immediately she arose and served them.”

As we saw earlier… it was not a far distance… perhaps a 5 minute walk from the synagogue to Simon’s house in Capernaum.

Jesus enters the house and “Simon’s wife’s mother”… Simon’s mother-in-law had a high fever.

Dr. Luke adds the detail that she had a “high fever” where the other gospel writers just note her fever.

Luke also noted Jesus “stood over her” as a physician would. I appreciate the medical details Luke records.

Though Matthew and Mark record an intimate detail… that Jesus “took her by the hand” and healed her.

And Jesus is all these things… He is our Great Physician who intimately cares for us.

From this account we also observe that Simon… was married.

This is “Simon called Peter” as he is referred to in Matt 4:18… the disciple whom many of us can relate to… as many of us also have “foot in mouth disease” like Peter.

NOT ‘hand, foot, mouth disease’… “foot in mouth disease”… in other words… speaking before thinking,… or ‘ready, aim, fire.’

He was a man of action… typically the first to speak… the first out of the boat… he walked on water… he drew his sword on Malchus.

We’ll grow to love and appreciate Peter because his humanity is on full display… it’s recorded he makes a number of mistakes… and demonstrates awesome faith… and will be a changed man after Acts 2… Pentecost.

He’s relatable.

And we’ll see the grace of God in Peter’s life… for even after he denied Jesus three times… Jesus would restore him and reaffirm His calling upon Peter’s life.

Now don’t take Peter’s silence in this scene as though he’s not on board with his mother-in-law being healed…

Don’t read into that. We do read in V38 “they made request of Him concerning her.” That has to be, at least, Peter and his wife asking Jesus to heal her.

“The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart...” (Ps 34:18)

And Jesus indeed heals her. In the previous scene Jesus rebuked the demon… now He rebukes the fever. Later He will rebuke the wind of the storm.

All demonstrations of Jesus’ power and authority over many realms of creation.

John 1:3 “All things were made through Him…”

Ephesians 3:9 “… the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ;”

Colossians 1:16 “All things were created through Him and for Him.”

Hebrews 1:2 “… in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;”

Psalm 33:6 “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.”

And now Jesus has stepped into His creation… to save His creation from the sin of the fall…

Which led to these ailments Jesus is healing and demonstrating His power and authority over.

And look… God’s original design didn’t include this mess we experience. And disease will be eradicated from His future kingdom…

In eternity… Revelation 21:4 declares, “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

And know… that as we walk through suffering… Jesus grieves that we are in this state that was not His design.

In the account when Lazarus died… before Jesus rose Him again, we read in John 11:33 “Therefore, when Jesus saw her [Lazarus’ sister Mary] weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled.”

Jesus groans in the spirit and is troubled over the death and suffering that has entered His creation because of the sin of the fall.

And He’s not standing idly by… Hebrews 7:25 promises, “Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”

For all who believe in Jesus… He saves them from sin and death… and presently intercedes for them… for you and I believers… in prayer.

For those of you suffering from illness and ailments… know these things are a temporary bother… and Jesus stepped into creation… that through faith… as we exit this life… these former things will pass away… all things shall be made new… including your body.

And I know we all want the miracle… sometimes God grants it… sometimes His grace is sufficient for us… for when we are weak, then we are strong.

But in Peter’s mother-in-laws case… Jesus does heal… and just as the demon left the man after being rebuke by Jesus…

So too does the fever leave her as He rebukes it.

And she needs no time to recover… notice in V39 “immediately she arose and served them.”

Full restoration immediately… I pray the Lord would grant this mercy to all of you who are suffering as well.

vv40-41 “When the sun was setting, all those who had any that 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 out and saying, “You are the Christ, the Son of God!” And He, rebuking them, did not allow them to speak, for they knew that He was the Christ.

So, wrapping up this account we are now reading general summary verses of Jesus authority and power being expressed… all which communicate the Messiah had come.

As word went out to the Galilee region… the sun begins to set indicating Sabbath was ending…

Thus the people misled to be in bondage to the law now feel permission to work on the Sabbath… and don’t waste any time, but bring their sick to Jesus…

And one God story after another was granted… the sick… the demon possessed…

The Lord of the Sabbath… Jesus laid hands on… and healed them ALL.

Perhaps with even a backdrop of a beautiful sunset… the Creators painting in the sky testifying of the Creator in their midst… touching them each personally with healing.

Taking them by the hand… looking them in the eyes… groaning with them.

A.B. Bruce wrote, “Jesus did not heal en masse, but one by one, tender sympathy going out from Him in each case.”

Many stories of miracles and grace we can look forward to hearing in heaven.

And again He silenced the demons for their premature proclamations of His deity and Messiahship… and to show that He was not in any way in league with them… as Pharisees will later accuse Him of.

And wrapping up…

vv42-44 “Now when it was day, He departed and went into a deserted place. And the crowd sought Him and came to Him, and tried to keep Him from leaving them; 43 but He said to them, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent.” 44 And He was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee.”

As morning dawns… Jesus departs to a deserted place…

Perhaps to recharge… perhaps to pray to the Father as He did elsewhere in the Gospels.

And the crowd searched everywhere for Him… and begged Him not to leave.

Sometimes Jesus would look at a crowd like this and expose their motives… they just wanted more bread.

Here… He informs them that He is on mission… “to preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also.”

And, He would do so in this first preaching tour in synagogues across the Galilee… as we’ll see ahead.

A reminder of the ‘kingdom of God’ as we close.

The preaching of the kingdom of God was a proclamation that the King was in their midst… and He extended a first century offering of the Kingdom to come…

The appropriate response would have been for His people to receive Him.

(worship team please come)

Had they recieved Him as Messiah… He would have ushered in the Kingdom.

But, by and large they were not willing. And Jesus would later lament over this saying in Matthew 23:37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!”

Today… we live in a different time called “The Church Age”… where the Gospel has gone to the Gentiles… and we have been called to make disciples and preach the Gospel.

I encourage you to be faithful to your calling… and if you have not received Jesus as your Savior… trust in Him today.

Let’s Pray!

If you need prayer, please join us as we close in song. There will be people on the sides to receive you.

If you’ve asked Jesus for healing… ask again… scripture encourages persistent prayer.

If you’ve never trusted Jesus as Savior… do so today… don’t be as Capernaum… or Israel. Receive Him today.

“The LORD bless you and keep you;

The LORD make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you;

The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” ’

God bless you as you enter the week ahead!