One Little Word

Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations 4534 Secret of Greatest Missionaries

The men who have accomplished most for God have been men of prayer. John Wesley was one to spent at least two hours each day in prayer. Samuel Rutherford rose at three o’clock each morning to wait upon God. John Fletcher was said to have stained the walls of his chamber by the breath of his prayers. The greatest missionaries have been uniformly men of prayer.

Think of David Brainerd dying at the age of twenty-nine, and Henry Martyn at the age of thirty-one, and yet their names stand out as among the brightest stars in the missionary firmament. These young men exerted a profound influence not only upon their own generation, but upon all succeeding generations as well. It was not by their actual labors, which were soon cut off, so much as by their prayer life and their resultant saintly characters.

Blessed Lord, You have caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning. Grant that we may so hear them, read, mark, learn, and take them to heart that, by the patience and comfort of Your holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life. … through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever, Amen.

The Book of Concord (Large Catechism -The Lord’s Prayer: the Third Petition)

[32] For whenever a good Christian prays, “Dear Father, your will be done,” God replies from above, “Yes, dear child, it shall be done indeed, in spite of the devil and all the world.”

Luther’s words from the Large Catechism on the Lord’s Prayer remind us that the privilege of prayer establish the difference between our work in the Lord and the world’s works against the Lord. It is the reason why the World and the Church will never agree regarding righteousness, why the world’s misrepresentation of justice inevitably reveals itself as vengeance and is destructive rather than comforting, even for those to whom it claims to offer comfort.

“A mighty fortress is our God, A trusty shield and weapon; He helps us free from ev'ry need That hath us now o'ertaken.”

The population in Gary has shrunk to 1/3 of what it was when St. John’s and Good Shepherd were two of many LCMS congregations. For the most part, it seems our two congregations sit on the outside looking in with regards to the issues affecting this city. I myself feel like “a voice in the wilderness, crying “Prepare the way of the Lord,” to which even those who name the name of Christ reply “The way of the Lord is not fair. It calls us to a form of worship that does not tickle our ears and entertain our senses. We like our leeks and onions better than your bread.”

“The old evil foe Now means deadly woe; Deep guile and great might Are his dread arms in fight; On earth is not his equal.”

When Jesus comes to Capernaum - a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew כפר נחום (kapar nahum), meaning “village of comfort,” He already has a reputation. After His baptism by John and the following 40 days spent in the wilderness in which He was tempted by the devil and comforted by angels, Jesus went to work doing His Father’s business.

Luke 4:13–15 ESV

13 And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. 14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. 15 And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

When He entered Nazareth, the town where He had been brought up, they had heard about his activities in other places, including Capernaum. Jesus even anticipated their inner aspirations, saying, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, Physician, heal yourself. What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.” They recoiled at His accurate diagnosis of their condition, and chose to seek to remove Him from their presence permanently rather than repent of their sinful thoughts.

In a way, that makes the opening five verses of today’s text rather seem rather strange:

Luke 4:31–37 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.

Why were they “astonished” and “amazed?” This wasn’t the first sign that Jesus had done. The miracle at the wedding held that honor, although perhaps it was not well known outside of His disciples since Jesus did nothing to call attention to it. It would seem that Jesus had “done” things though. Both Mark 2:1-12 and John 4:46-53 record miracles that our Lord had done in Capernaum. It was the teaching - not just one teaching; every lesson for many sabbaths. Jesus wasn’t a “one-hit wonder” like some traveling evangelist who has one good message that he or she just rehashes in every place he or she visits and then turns into a book. On top of it, everything that Jesus spoke, He spoke with authority, not from authority, with authority. He didn’t quote from other people to support His teachings; He only quotes the Word and applies it as if He is the source.

Jesus’ authority is not simply something that has educational value. The same authority that opens hearts to the divine possibilities of God’s promise also sets people free from Satan’s oppressive dominion. Who knows how long this man had been “having a spirit of an unclean demon?” Jesus spoke the Word in response the demon’s taunting query “Ha! What to us and to You, Jesus Nazarene? You came to destroy us (!)? I know you - who you are, the Holy One of God.” “Be muzzled and come out of Him!” As Dr Luther would later write in in the 3rd verse of Hymn #656, “A Mighty Fortress is Our God,” “One little Word can fell him.”

One little Word - but it is the Word of God. God watches over His Word to perform it; He will not allow it to fall to the ground unfulfilled. Not for this man, not for Peter’s mother-in-law, and not for us. Jesus speaks, and that is enough. Peter would later say regarding the healing of the lame beggar in Acts 4:16, “His name - by faith in His name - has made this man strong.”

Faith in the name of Jesus Christ changes individuals, families, communities - and when the Lord Jesus returns, it will change the entire world. Faith in the name of Jesus Christ empowers the Church to speak Christ’s empowering and freedom-bringing Word into lives that are entangled and corrupted by the world, the flesh, and the devil. Faith in the name of Jesus Christ energizes prayer for God’s will to be done when every unbelieving heart cries out in despair that all hope is lost. Faith in the name of Jesus Christ sees light in the darkness and knows that the darkness has not won; it cannot win for Christ has already overcome through the blood of His cross! Every sin, every satanic scheme, every soul-crushing sorrow must bow before the presence of Christ as the Spirit of Christ fills the Bride of Christ - the Church - to walk with Christ in those good works that God has prepared for us.

“The Word they still shall let remain Nor any thanks have for it; He's by our side upon the plain With His good gifts and Spirit. And take they our life, Goods, fame, child, and wife, Though these all be gone, Our vict'ry has been won; The Kingdom ours remaineth.”

And the peace of God that passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.