Luke 4:38-41 (3)
Gospel of Luke • Sermon • Submitted
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· 26 viewsJesus continues to prove his power and authority over all
Notes
Transcript
Introduction:
-Please Turn to Luke 4:38
-We’re going to be looking at the events that...
…immediately follow those that we studied last week.
(The same day)
-Remember what those events were:
Jesus had been teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum on the Sabbath
He had been astonishing his hearers with the authoritative nature of his proclamation
Then one Sabbath he walks in and is immediately recognized by a demon...
…who was possessing and tormenting a man.
Upon recognizing Jesus, He shrieked in fear, surprise, and anger .
Then he identified him as the Messiah
(The Holy One of God!)
But Jesus rebuked him and commanded him to;
be silent
come out of the man he was tormenting.
Reluctantly and violently, but forthrightly the demon obeyed
The Jewish worshippers responded with wonder and amazement.
They marvelled at his:
Power
Authority
Then the last thing Luke had told us was that:
The news began to spread like wildfire!
-Verse 38 picks up immediately after these events.
It continues Luke’s theme of identifying Jesus’ authority as the Christ!
Read 38-41
Luke 4:38–41
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.
Pray
(4 minutes)
Verse 38:
The sense of immediacy that we see in the first sentence in verse 38...
…indicates to us that these two events have happened in sequence.
-Luke tells us that Jesus:
arose...
left…
entered.
-Mark, in his typical fashion, says here that:
Mark 1:29 (ESV)
...immediately he left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.
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-Upon his arrival, Jesus finds another (divinely decreed) opportunity...
…to manifest his power and authority.
This time:
Not over the spiritual realm...
But over the realm of the temporal and physical .
-Luke tells us (Verse 38: second sentence)
Luke 4:38 (ESV)
...Now Simon’s mother-in-law was ill with a high fever...
Now, there's something notable here:
Simon (Peter) was married!
This refutes the notion (that some have) of obligatory clerical celibacy (define)
Allegedly, Peter was the first Roman Bishop (i.e., Pope)
It’s important that you’re made aware of these things as we come across them in our text...
…so that you won’t be led astray by high claims of “authority” and “sacred tradition”.
If a tradition is truly “sacred” (holy), then it won’t contradict Holy Scripture!
-But, while this detail was intentionally inspired...
…It certainly isn’t the primary focus of our text.
-The primary focus isn’t that Peter had a mother-in-law...
…but the condition his mother-in-law was in when she encountered “The Holy One of God.”
-And Luke, “the beloved physician” describes her condition with language...
…that would have communicated its desperation clearly...
…to his first century audience:
First, he says that she was “ill” (ESV)
Some translations:
“taken”
“suffering”
The word in the original literally means to be:
“seized”
“confined” by something.
meaning they’ve been immobilized by it.
Well, Luke tells us that she was “seized” or “immobilized” by:
“a high fever”
One Commentator explains:
This was a medical term for a dangerous fever. The woman must have been desperate for a cure. - Phillip Ryken
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-No doubt, this was the picture that Luke intended to paint:
One of great desperation
One in which all hope of natural remedy had expired.
Thus, Luke tells us at the end of verse 38 that:
Luke 4:38 (ESV)
...they appealed to him on her behalf.
(7 minutes, 11 total)
Verse 39 tells us how he responded to their appeals:
Luke 4:39 (ESV)
...he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her...
Notice the doctoral imagery:
Jesus “stands over” her bed of affliction.
(only Luke (a physician himself) includes this detail)
Remember, that the passage from Isaiah at the beginning of the chapter...
…is still informing our interpretation of these events.
-Remember what it had said?
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
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Jesus had told them that this day had come... through him.
…and he had been proving it ever since.
Now, the Great Physician stands at the bedside of this afflicted woman...
…and he employs something infinitely more powerful than:
The strongest antibiotic...
…in order to confront her raging, debilitating fever:
He employs his Word.
-Luke tells us simply that he:
“rebuked the fever”
(The word is elsewhere translated as “command” or “order”)
In other words, He’s speaking with the same authority...
...at which the unclean spirit obeyed with fear and trembling.
-Let’s be clear:
The effectiveness wasn’t derived from the words that were said, per se...
…but from the mouth that spoke them.
Ryken explains again:
He had the same power over disease that he had over demons. Both the physical world and the spiritual world were under his divine authority. All he had to do was rebuke the fever, and it was gone.
-R.C. Sproul has famously observed that:
“If there is one single molecule in this universe running around loose, totally free of God’s sovereignty, then we have no guarantee that a single promise of God will ever be fulfilled.”
-Abraham Kuyper said even more specifically:
“There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!” Click Off
This is exactly what Luke is pointing out out to us
-Now, Matthew and Mark place more emphasis on Jesus’ “power,” than upon his “authority.”
Mark 1:31 (ESV)
And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her...
Matthew simply says:
Matthew 8:15 (ESV)
He touched her hand, and the fever left her...
We need to understand what this is implying.
Luke explains it in a later passage:
Luke 6:19 (ESV)
And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all.
Luke 8:46 (ESV)
But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me.”
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-You have something of a parallel emphasis in the NT regarding Jesus’ miracles:
1.Positional and Personal authority (seen through commands)
2.Innate Power and Ability
-Let’s look at a few examples:
Mark 9:25 (ESV)
And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”
Luke 5:13 (ESV)
And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him.
Luke 8:24 (ESV)
And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm.
Matthew 20:34 (ESV)
And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.
On and on it goes.
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-Now, notice something else in verse 39:
Notice the nature and effectiveness of her healing:
Luke says that he:
...rebuked the fever, and it left her, and immediately she rose and began to serve them.
There was no doubt about this healing.
It was complete
It was immediate
It was nothing like the miracles that many claim to perform today:
Gradual
Uncertain
Suspicious...
No, this couldn’t be explained any other way!
She went from being too weak to move...
To immediately having the strength and vigor to serve her guests.
-This is the only kind of miracle that Jesus and his Apostles performed:
And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement.
And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.
And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God.
And Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; rise and make your bed.” And immediately he rose.
And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.
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-These were bona fide miracles.
No Gimmicks
No Tricks
No slight of hand or mind.
Just raw attestations of the limitless power and absolute authority of Jesus Christ!
-They attested to the truthfulness:
Of who Jesus claimed to be...
Of the message that he preached.
(12 minutes, 23 total)
-This is the ULTIMATE purpose of “signs and wonders”
They were the means
They were NOT the end
The thing that was of primary importance was the message being preached.
Not, per se, the physical well-being of the one who heard it.
Remember what the author of Hebrews wrote?
Hebrews 2:1–4 (ESV)
Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.
For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution,
how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard,
while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.
-This is why the apostolic church was given an ability to work miracles...
…that we (if we’ll be honest with ourselves) simply don’t have:
For the establishment and validation of the Apostolic Deposit of Truth
(I.e., the New Testament Canon)
(I.e., the fullest and final revelation of God to men).
It’s vitally important that you understand that.
-Guys, Peter’s mother-in-law got healed...
…but she eventually died!
-We need a much deeper healing than the temporal and physical.
This is the healing that Jesus and his apostles were proclaiming.
A true and lasting, spiritual healing.
A healing from the cancer of our sin...
…and it’s malignant effects upon our souls.
Mark 8:36 (ESV)
...what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?
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-Don’t misunderstand me:
Christ has genuine compassion upon our human frailty and weakness.
(He empathizes with us)
And so often he condescends to heal us of our infirmities...
…and give us good measures of health and prosperity.
(He does that!… at his discretion, but he does)
-But brethren, everyone of those people that we’re going to read about in verse 40 eventually died.
…and some if not many of them may have gone to Hell.
So is it really that big of a deal that they were able to walk for a couple of years first?
(Not if you look at it from an eternal perspective)
-Brethren, what Luke is ultimately showing us is that...
…the one has come, who has the power and authority to heal:
…The sin-sick-soul!
The whole man:
Body and Spirit...
…And we’re seeing His lordship over both spheres...
…being proven in one day at Capernaum.
(6 minutes, 29 total)
-Look at verse 40:
Luke 4:40 (ESV)
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.
-So once the Sabbath was over (Sunset), where they could lawfully carry their afflicted...
…the “whole city” (Mark tells us) gathered at the door of Peter’s house...
…desperate to:
Benefit from the divine authority
Partake of the divine power
-And unlike many alleged healers today (who wouldn’t be caught dead at a hospital with a camera around)...
…Jesus heals every. single. one of them!
-This happened many times over during Jesus’ earthly ministry:
Matthew tells us:
Matthew 4:23–24 (ESV)
And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.
So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them.
-Matthew also tells us (somewhat confusingly) that the events that happened that day in Capernaum were:
Matthew 8:17 (ESV)
...to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”
That makes it sound like it WAS all about the temporal and physical, doesn’t it?
But if you read the original passage, the opposite impression is given:
Isaiah 53:4–5 (ESV)
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
So what do we do with that?
Well, I believe it’s something of an already/not yet scenario.
that isn’t double-speak…it’s NT theology.
Much like we saw a few weeks ago at the Nazareth synagogue, concerning the consummate Day of Jubilee...
Christ is it’s fulfillment.
He has come
These physical deliverances that he was working...
…signaled the arrival of the fulfillment of the promises of God...
…which would find it’s fullest expression and fulfillment...
…in the redemption of the whole man...
…that would take place at the consummate end of this Day of the Lord...
…when he returns to the earth in triumphant glory!
Again: Already… and Not Yet!
(5 minutes, 34 total)
Now, notice one more (now familiar attestation) from this event.
Luke tells us (verse 41):
Luke 4:41 (ESV)
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.
Because we covered this issue at length last week...
…we won’t spend much time on it here.
But, do notice again the other-worldly attestation of Jesus’ true identity.
The Demon in the synagogue had identified Jesus by his human Messianic identity.
These demons were testifying to the divine aspect of his Messianic identity:
As Christ...
...The eternally begotten Son!
-The Reformed Expository Commentary summarizes this verse:
These demons knew who Jesus was, and it terrified them. The Bible says, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8).
And as Jesus began to do this devil-destroying work, the demons recoiled in terror. “Unable to bear the presence of Christ,” writes Kent Hughes, they “writhed in the presence of Jesus’ holiness.” They were filled with unholy dread, shuddering at the power of his mighty word (see James 2:19).
There is no good news for the demons. Jesus has no gospel to save them, but will only condemn them to hell.
-Now, Let that sink in for a minute.
-When the angels fell, they received only justice:
Remember, Jesus said:
Luke 10:18 (ESV)
...“I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
Swift and Sudden
No grace
No mercy...
…just righteous judgment.
The author of Hebrews tells us:
Hebrews 2:16 (ESV)
...it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham.
Well that doesn’t help me...
…I’m not a Hebrew!
Well, don’t despair. Paul would say to you:
Galatians 3:7 (ESV)
Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.
But what does that mean?
What does it mean to be “of faith?”
More importantly:
How can I qualify for the Lord’s help?
How can I receive:
His mercy
His grace
His healing of the whole man?
This is what it means:
Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due.
And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,
That’s what it means.
It means that God helps those who (by His grace) recognize:
That they CAN’T HELP THEMSELVES
And they look to Christ to provide the righteousness required of them...
…on their behalf.
Paul goes on to say that:
Romans 10:4 (ESV)
...Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
Consequently, he says:
Romans 10:10 (ESV)
For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
He concludes:
Romans 10:13 (ESV)
For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Please, look away from yourself this morning...
…and call upon his name.
He alone has the authority and power to save you.
