The Power of the Word

Bible Text: Luke 6:17-19

Luke 6:17–19

17 And he came down with them, and stood in the plain, and the company of his disciples, and a great multitude of people out of all Judaea and Jerusalem, and from the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, which came to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases;

18 And they that were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed.

19 And the whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went virtue out of him, and healed them all.

Introduction:

We continue our study through Luke. Some time back we came to the part where Jesus went out into a mountain to pray, and He prayed all night. Afterward He called His disciples and of them He chose twelve to be apostles. And then we took some time to go through each of the disciples lives, to get a closer look at each of them, and learn some valuable lessons about them, their character, and how the Lord would shape them into the missionaries that they would become.

But now we pick up back on the mountain where He had called them.

I. Jesus on the Mountain

A. Where Jesus was

We find Jesus here, as we will many times throughout the gospels, up in a mountain.

The mountain, along with out on the sea of Galilee, were places where Jesus would sometimes go to for a bit of solace. To get alone with the Father and fellowship with Him in prayer. To strengthen Himself for what He would be doing next.

And how important it is for us to have a place of solace, a place for us to get alone with God, to fellowship with Him in prayer and in His Word, to strengthen us for our Christian walk. For what God would have us to do next.

From here Jesus made the all important decision of choosing those that would be His companions, His inner-circle, those that He would send out to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom.

B. Jesus on the Plain, the Level Place

Once that was accomplished, verse 17 says, And He came down with them, and stood in the plain, or on a level place.

Now if the upcoming sermon that Jesus was about to preach was the same as the sermon on the mount found in Matthew chapter 5, then there would seem to be a discrepancy between the two.

Now I do believe they are one and the same event, not that they couldn’t be separate events, much of the content of the two sermons are the same, although Luke’s is a condensed version of it, but I’m sure as Jesus went around preaching, much of what He would be saying would be to different crowds and so it is very likely that Jesus would preach pretty much the same message from time to time, depending on the circumstance.

But the discrepancy would be that in Matthew 5:1 it says, And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:

Here in Luke it says, And He came down, and stood in the plain.

Well that discrepancy is easily laid to rest by knowing a little bit about the topography of the area Jesus was in.

Here in the mountainous area to the northwest of Capernaum, the mountainside is layered. It slopes down for a while and then it plains out and is level ground for a bit, then it slopes down again, and then levels out again. And it does this all the way down to the shore of the Sea of Galilee.

So when Matthew says that Jesus went up into a mountain to speak to the people, that is correct, and when Luke says that Jesus came down with His disciples and stood in a plain to speak to the people, that is correct.

He was standing in one of the level areas, as it would be much more comfortable and accommodating for the vast number of people that had come to hear Him.

And just as a side note,

Critics of the Bible often like to think that if the episodes in the Bible don’t line up exactly word for word that they must be in contradiction with one another, which just isn’t the case.

If you have a group of people separately telling you a story of something that happened, you are going to get varying stories, and different aspects of what happened. Not that any of them are incorrect, just each person telling that same story from a different perspective.

The synoptic gospels also are not a chronological history book. That is not their purpose.

Some episodes that you read in Luke, if you were to read in Matthew, the event before or afterward may be different from what happened before or afterward in another. And that’s OK. They are not meant to be chronological, but each is laid out in a certain way to bring out different aspects of the life of Jesus.

Although, many scholars believe that Luke is the most chronological of all the synoptic gospels.

II. The Popularity of Jesus

Then we read in verse 17, And He came down with them, and stood in the plain, and the company of His disciples, and a great multitude of people… We are beginning to see the popularity of Jesus really take off here. As we will see in a moment that these people were coming from all over the place.

Now of course this had to do with several factors. Because of the authority that Jesus spoke with, none had heard anyone speak with that kind of authority before. Also because of His miracles, He was healing hundreds and thousands of people and word was getting around.

But also, it had to do with where Jesus was.

A. Capernaum, His Home Base

Now where Jesus was again was up in a mountain. It was the mountains surrounding the Sea of Galilee. He was just outside of Capernaum.

Capernaum was a small fishing village on the northwest coast of the Sea of Galilee. It was the hometown of Peter, Andrew, James, and John, as well as Matthew, the tax collector.

And though Jesus was from Nazareth, Capernaum is where He made kind of His home base of operations for His ministry. It became a home to Him.

Capernaum was central to the spread of the news of the miracles and popularity of Jesus. Not only was Capernaum a great fishing village, but it also had great farming land in the hill country, and it had a Roman tax office, where we earlier seen Matthew called from. It was a central trade city, with a major Roman road running through it. It had a constant flow of foreigners from all over coming through.

In fact most of Jesus’ miracles that are recorded for us in the gospels happened within a very small area, within three cities that were no more than 3 1/2 miles from each other, Capernaum, Chorazin, and Bethsaida.

That is the very reason that Jesus pronounced the woes of judgment upon them.

Matthew 11:21–24

21 Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

22 But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you.

23 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.

24 But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.

So many miracles done, so many messages preached, that the word went out all throughout the lands, and thousands came from all around to hear Him, and yet these cities where He mostly ministered were unmoved.

B. Where they all came from

But they were coming from everywhere. Look again at the second half of verse 17, and a great multitude of people out of all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon,

In the other gospels we read of other places they were coming from to this same event.

Matthew says it was a great multitude from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan.

Mark says,

and a great multitude from Galilee followed him, and from Judaea,

And from Jerusalem, and from Idumaea, and from beyond Jordan; and they about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they had heard what great things he did, came unto him.

Friend, they were coming from everywhere. From Jewish cities and from Gentile cities. Some coming from over one hundred miles from the south even below Jerusalem in Idumea.

And from the Gentile cities east of the Sea of Galilee in Decapolis, which the Decapolis is actually a group of ten cities, but they were coming from there.

They were coming from the Gentile cities in the North From the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon some 90 miles away. All walking these great distances to see Jesus. His fame had spread far and wide.

III. Why They Came

Look at verse 17 at why they were coming,

A. To Hear Him

To hear Him!

Friend, I want you to understand the magnitude that though they were awestruck by this man and by His fame and by the great works that He was doing, they had no idea that the man they were coming to hear is the same One that spoke the world into existence.

Friend, He spoke the world into existence!

I want to hear this man. We need to hear this man.

I’m so glad we have His Word, I’m so glad we can hear Him through His Word, through the Holy Spirit of God.

But friend, I look forward to the day when my ears will hear the sound of His voice.

Much like Job longed to see Him,

Job said,

26 And though after my skin worms destroy this body, Yet in my flesh shall I see God:

27 Whom I shall see for myself, And mine eyes shall behold, and not another; Though my reins be consumed within me. Job 19:26–27

We need to hear Him!

Never a man spake like this man, was the proclamation of the officers that the leaders sent to arrest Him.

Jesus asked the disciples when all others forsook Him, will you go away also? Peter said, Lord, to whom shall we go?, thou hast the Words of eternal life.

We need to hear Him, we need to come to hear Him.

When we open our Bibles in the morning for devotion, we need to hear Him!

When we open our Bibles at night, we need to hear Him!

When we come to the Church house on Sundays and on Wednesdays we need to hear Him!

What great lengths and sacrifices these people went through to come these great distances to hear Him, and it’s hard to get us to simply open a Bible that we likely have on several shelves throughout our home.

And if we do open that Bible how often we read in passing, simply as a routine tradition, and never stop to really hear Him!

Yet Jesus said, My sheep hear my voice; and I know them, and they follow Me:

He said to the Church, Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.

Friend, are you dinning with Jesus this evening?

Are you listening for His voice?

Did you come out to hear Him?

Friend, if you came out to hear me, if you came out to hear the pastor, how empty and dissatisfied you’ll leave this place.

But if you came out to hear Him! Then you came out to hear the One that has the power to change your life. To heal and to forgive.

To change that drunkard into an ambassador.

To change that harlot into a queen.

Friend, to change that hell bound sinner, a child of the devil into a child of the King.

To change your clothes from rags of filth, to raiment of white linen.

Friend, they came out to hear Him!

B. To Be Healed

Verse 17, … and to be healed

Friend, not only had His fame went out that He was some great speaker, that He preached with authority from heaven, but thousands were being healed.

What were they being healed of?

1) Their diseases

Gathering up their sick children, their fathers, their mothers, their husbands, their wives. All that were sick with all kinds of diseases, they were coming to Him.

Why?

Because they had heard!

They had heard the great things that He was doing.

Friend, we have a sickness today, we have a disease today called sin. And isn’t that the disease that Jesus really came to heal? Yes, He was healing many physical infirmities, but those were but shadows and types of what He came to do. When He healed the paralytic, He said, thy sins be forgiven you. And he was healed.

Then also, they were being healed of;

2) Unclean spirits

Many that were demon possessed.

Oh, today we will write that off. “No, science says, they were just crazy. Not in their right mind.”

Friend, how many today, I believe are vexed with a demon.

I believe demonic possession is running rampant in the world today.

I believe it is running rampant in our own government today.

Godless people committing Godless acts. Throwing themselves into the fire time and time again.

You don’t think demon possession is real, just watch the evening news on any given night.

Human trafficking running rampant, child abuse and sexual abuse, doing that which is unthinkable to a poor helpless little child.

Grown men and women calling that which God calls evil, good and that which God calls good, evil!

No friend, I believe there is more demon possession today in our day than there ever was.

They need to come out!

They need to come and hear Him!

They need to come and be healed!

C. And They Were Healed

And all were being healed. Verse 18 says: And they were healed.

It was not the lucky few, it was not some here and there. But the Bible says that they were healed, in verse 19, it says He healed them all.

IV. Power From Him

A. Sought to touch Him

Verse 19 says, And the whole multitude sought to touch Him: For there went virtue out of Him,… There went power out of Him…

Friend, this was a massive crowd. We know from Matthew there were 5,000 men there, not counting women and children. So in all likelihood there were over 10,000 people there. All seeking to touch Jesus.

Why?

Because they saw the power that was flowing out of Him.

Like that woman with the issue of blood, thinking to herself, “Oh, if I could just touch but the hem of His garment I will be healed.”

Why?

Because she knew… she had heard… she had seen… His power… she had believed…

Friend, I invite you today, God invites you today. Come and touch the Lord.

He is here tonight.

He is in the gospel being preached.

He is in the Word that you are holding in your hand.

He is within you by His Spirit.

Calling out to you to come.

Come unto Me

Come unto Me, all ye that labor, that are tired and weary and are heavy laden, your loaded down with the cares of this world, your loaded down with the guilt of your sin. It’s such a hard job to wade through the mire and the muck of sin, you’re all given out and can’t go on any further. He says, come, and I will give you rest.

Jesus stood up on that last day of the feast of Booths and cried out to the crowd, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink.

He is that Water of Life.

He is that Bread sent down from heaven.

Closing:

Is it any wonder why His fame spread like it did?

Is it any wonder that thousands would come out to hear Him?

Is it any wonder they wanted to touch Him?

Never had there been anyone like Him. Never will there ever be.

The temple was great, but Jesus said, One greater than the temple is here.

Nineveh repented at the preaching of Jonas, and behold, One greater than Jonas is here.

The queen of Sheba came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, One greater than Solomon is here.

Friend, He truly is like that pearl of great price, that when that merchant in search of fine pearls, when he had found that pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

That’s the message!