1 Jesus Acts with Authority of the King October 23, 2016 Luke 4:31-44 Matt Rawlings Luke 4:31-44 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. 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. [Pray] Especially in North America, we bristle against authority. Often, people point their fingers at authority as the problem. But, when there is no clear authority in a society, chaos ensues. History has proven this time after time. However, when there is an evil authority in power, people live in fear, never knowing what will be done to them or those they love. An evil authority can t be trusted. All around the world, evil dictators have caused problems, and the world has seen evil authorities like Genghis Khan, Pol Pot, Idi Amin, Vlad the Impaler, Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin and Mao Tse-Tung. William Golding s story, the Lord of the Flies, tells the tale of a group of boys that become marooned on the island. At first, they elect Ralph as an authority over them based on the fact that he was holding the conch of power and he was more charismatic. But after a while, a rival named Jack lures the boys away with promises of fun and self-indulgence. It doesn t take long to show that Jack is intent on warfare and he becomes an evil authority. In the end, two of the boys are killed and the novel illustrates the problem of evil and how evil authority is one that comes from our own hearts. It is a really dark ending and the thinking reader is left wondering who can deliver us from this problem of evil that seems to have ultimate authority over us. This isn t a new question though. 1
2 Ever since Adam sinned by rebelling against God s authority, humanity has needed to get God s authority back, to establish the good order that He created. Unfortunately, most of humanity hasn t recognized the need for God s authority. Humanity has been able to see in hindsight though, that when authority is bad, things don t go well. When authority is good, things get better. The problem is, that no human authority lasts. In Jesus s day, the Romans were in authority and the Jews were living in subjection. They hoped for someone to deliver them from their Roman authority, but what they didn t see was that their biggest need was for someone to deliver them from the authority of the devil and the authority that sin had over them. But Jesus came on the scene, sent by God to re-establish God s reign and rule on the earth. What we see in Luke 4 then, is the beginning acts really of Jesus demonstrating His power and authority to set people free, as His kingdom is proclaimed. That is the main idea in this passage and it is the main idea that I hope we all walk away with today. Main idea: Jesus acts with power and authority to set people free as His kingdom is proclaimed. You see, our need is no different than the need of the Jewish people in that day. We know there are problems in our society and in the world around us. We know we need a good authority to deliver us and make things right. In fact, I think in our country right now, there is almost a craving for someone, for some authority to come and make things right. There seems to be much disagreement about who that needed authority is though, doesn t there? We are almost at each other s throats, at least verbally, over what authority we want aren t we? It seems almost a little like Lord of the Flies is being played out in our society at times. What we need most right now is the authority and power that Jesus brings to deliver us. Sometimes, even as Christians, we forget that though don t we? We can easily lose sight of God and lose hope. In Capernaum, about 2,000 years ago, the people there had lost sight of God to some extent. Their teachers relied on the authority of those who came before them. In verse 31 of our passage, we learn that Jesus was teaching them in their synagogue on the Sabbath day. What we see right away is that Jesus taught differently and the reason he taught them differently is that 1. Jesus has authority That is the first idea Luke wants us to get. Jesus has authority. Jesus s teaching was not like the teaching of the Scribes and Pharisees, or the other Rabbi s of that day, who taught by quoting from prior Rabbis, basing their teaching on the authority of what some teacher before them taught. It was as if truth for them was based on establishing a precedent for an idea. One Rabbi was famous for his boast that I have never in my life said a thing which I did not hear from my teachers. Their teaching lacked power because it relied on the words and opinions of men, instead of resting on the powerful, life-giving Word of God. It would be like saying, well, John Piper says 2
3 this about worship or D.A. Carson says this about true religion, and basing all authority on what someone else said. Instead Jesus taught them directly from Scripture and He taught them without quoting anyone else. He taught them with divine authority that was unlike any other teaching they had heard. He declared God s will directly. And His word possessed authority. The effect was that the people were awe-struck, or shocked by His powerful preaching. I wonder if we see that today? Do we see just how powerful the teaching of Jesus is? If so, do we seek to be taught by Him? Do we submit to His teaching? Do we seek His authority in our lives? The people in the synagogue that day were astonished and His teaching had an effect. But the effect wasn t just in word, it was in deed as well and verses 33-36 show us the second idea that Luke wants the reader to see, that 2. Jesus has authority and delivers from the power of darkness Jesus preaching with authority clearly annoyed the demonic forces. As Jesus taught, it was a full-on, frontal assault against the authority that the devil claimed to have. Jesus was beginning to destroy the works of the devil, and tear down strongholds of deception and rip away the blinders that keep people from seeing the truth of God. When Jesus preached, He was carrying out spiritual warfare. That is always the effect where the good news about Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God is faithfully preached. In fact, later, the Apostle Paul wrote that the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. The preaching of the good news about Jesus and His kingdom has divine power to destroy strongholds. So, when there was a man sitting in the synagogue with an evil spirit, an unclean demon, the demon inside the man couldn t take it any longer. He knew that Jesus has real power and that Jesus could destroy him and his kind. In verse 34, the demon cries out in alarm, surprised and annoyed at Jesus, saying, "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." Obviously the demon was afraid and he wanted to know why Jesus was bothering them. The demon may have even been trying to exercise authority over Jesus by naming Him, because in the ancient world, the magicians believed that naming someone in an incantation could give them power over them. The demon clearly recognized who Jesus is not only a man from Nazareth, but THE HOLY ONE of God. But just knowing who Jesus is clearly didn t mean he was serving Jesus. James, the bother of Jesus wrote in James 2:19, Even the demons believe- and shudder! This demon believed but he wasn t proclaiming faith in Jesus. He recognized who Jesus is and was shuddering in fear, concerned only with himself. Jesus wouldn t allow him to take center stage and claim any authority or distract the people from the message Jesus came to teach though. So, Jesus rebuked the demon with only a word: 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. Jesus didn t do any weird kind of incantation or recite any magic spell. The exorcists in his day would have done all kinds of weird rituals trying to draw the demon out. But Jesus just spoke and commanded with his words. He said, "Be silent and come out of him!". The demon had to 3
4 obey Jesus and the demon threw the man down towards Jesus and came out of the man immediately. Jesus truly has power over demons. Jesus made it plain that He is the stronger one. The devil may have claimed the authority of the kingdoms of this world, but now, Jesus is demonstrating that He came to establish His kingdom, the Kingdom of God, and He is over all the kingdoms of this earth. The man was instantly delivered from his captivity and bondage to the demon. Jesus even kept the demon from doing any harm to him. 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!" Jesus shocked everyone there. Not only did He preach with authority and power, He demonstrated His authority and power. They marveled and said to each other, what is this word. What is this word of the kingdom that has such an effect? This word that declares God s active rule and reign in Jesus is powerful. His teaching with authority was backed up by proving that He really has authority and power over the spiritual realm and all the kingdoms of this earth. Jesus Himself is over the whole demonic realm that controls all the kingdoms of this earth. That is good news isn t it? If the devil was given authority over all the kingdoms of this earth and he was still ruling and reigning in and through all the leaders and governments of the earth completely unchecked, it would be a pretty hopeless situation for life on earth. There would be no hope for deliverance. But Jesus came to set us free from the power of the devil. Jesus proved that He really has fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah that He quoted earlier in the same chapter, where he 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 (Luke 4:18-19). The authority and power of Jesus is good news because it means that there is no earthly kingdom and no earthly authority that is more powerful than Jesus. His authority and power means that we can be truly set free, regardless of any powers or kingdoms of this world. His power and authority mean that we no longer have to be slaves to sin and the devil. We no longer have to be lost in darkness, blind and helpless. The word of Jesus brings powerful, life-giving, death-defeating, sin-killing, eye-opening, lightgiving freedom to all who believe. We may be living in dark times, but Jesus is the light of the world. We still live in this world, but we are not captives to it any longer. Jesus came and proclaimed the year of the Lord s favor, or said differently, God s grace. Previously, we all were deceived and blinded by the god of this world, without hope and without God. Jesus has come though and He has given us the grace of God for all who believe. So, now, despite what demons may rage, despite the devil s efforts, despite whatever the kings and rulers of the earth may do, Jesus has all authority and power over them. And all of us who have trusted in Jesus for our rescue, who have believed in Him and placed our faith in Him to save us, we have the grace of God that no one can take away from us. No matter what happens to us. No matter what governments might do. No matter what powers rise 4
5 up against the cause of Christ, He will not be defeated and God s grace will enable us to stand firm in the midst of temptation. Because Jesus has power and authority over the devil and all the kingdoms of the earth that are influenced by him. Next, we see that Jesus not only has power and authority over the devil and so power over the kingdoms of the earth that He controls. The final idea that Luke is showing the reader is that, Jesus also has authority and delivers from the power and effects of sin. 3. Jesus has authority and delivers from the power and effects of sin In verse 37, we see that Jesus left the synagogue and went into Simon s house probably to get a bite to eat after the message. But when He goes into the house, there is a problem Simon s mother-in-law is sick. Luke writes that Simon Peter s mother-in-law was sick with a high fever. In that day, there were fevers that meant you were sick, and there were fevers that were lifethreatening and from the language used here, it seems that she had a life-threatening fever, whatever the cause was for it. Often, the ancient physician was powerless over the cause of a high fever and there was not much they could do but hope for the best. So, they appealed to Jesus to heal her, since she probably was too sick to make an appeal to Jesus herself. Jesus responded to their appeal and went and stood over her which was a show of authority as well. Then, Jesus demonstrated His authority by just speaking a word and rebuking the fever and it left her. Have you ever had a really high fever, where you were bed-ridden and delirious, unable to eat or get up or do anything at all. Even after you get better, you are often weak and run down and it takes a while to recover, where you are strong enough to get back into the swing of things. But Simon s mother-in-law didn t have to wait she was immediately healed and not only that, the effects of the fever were gone as well, because she was strong enough to get up and begin serving 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. It wasn t long before someone in the house told one of their friends and they told someone else, and soon, the whole town heard the news. So, anyone who had someone sick with any kind of disease, brought them to Jesus. Then, Jesus laid his hands on every one of them. He demonstrated personal care for each and every person who was sick and He healed them all. His authority was comprehensive and it flowed to all who came to Him So, why does Luke include this account? Is it just a neat story about what Jesus did? No, this account is meant to demonstrate something. It is meant to show us something about Jesus. It is meant to show that not only does Jesus have the authority over the devil and his minions, He has authority over all the effects of sin as well. This doesn t mean that sickness is caused by sin directly, but all sickness is the result of sin entering into the world. All sickness is a result of the corruption of our very nature and the world around us. Yet, Jesus has the authority over all the effects of sin too. 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. 5
6 Well, we see in verse 41, that the man with the demon in the synagogue wasn t the only one possessed. Demons came out of many people and when they did, they cried out you are the Son of God. They were shrieking in terror and crying out acknowledging who Jesus is as the Son of God. They knew Jesus was the chosen One, the anointed of God sent to deliver the people from the powers of evil. But Jesus didn t want or need their testimony and He wouldn t allow them to speak. Jesus didn t want them to reveal that He was the Messiah because it would have caused people to seek to make Him their earthly leader and they wouldn t listen to the message of the kingdom of God that He had come to proclaim. People didn t need to respond to the testimony of demons, they needed to see who Jesus was for themselves, from His words backed up by His deeds. 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 The next day, Jesus went out to where He could be alone but the people found Him and didn t want to let Jesus leave. They wanted the miracle man to serve their needs. But verses 43-44 tells us that, 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. He came to proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God, the reign of God come to earth, through Jesus Christ. At the beginning of chapter 4 of Luke, Jesus had just been baptized and begun His ministry, full of the Holy Spirit. As soon as He began His ministry, the Spirit led Him into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. In the wilderness, the second temptation that the devil brought, was when the devil showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time and promised all the authority and glory of the world if only Jesus would worship the devil. Jesus was faced with the very real temptation of bringing peace, establishing His kingdom and taking dominion to rule the whole world the easy way, if only he would turn His back on His calling. Jesus could rule and govern if only He compromised and submitted to Satan. It would have meant taking up earthly glory and not identifying with the sinners He came to save. It would have been a path of worldly glory and not the path that led to the Cross. But, Jesus conquered the temptation by appealing to God s Word and pointing out that God alone is to be worshipped, even if it means giving up everything. In the temptation the devil claimed that all authority had been delivered to him and he was free to give it to whomever he wanted. But now, in this account, Luke reveals that it is Jesus whose very word has authority, but it is not a worldly authority, instead Jesus has the authority of the kingdom of God. Jesus came to proclaim that God is king and that Jesus has come to overthrow the ruler of this world, and one day, He will bring into submission all who do not willingly submit to His rule and reign. Jesus came to proclaim that God is exercising His authority over the fallen world through His Son. The whole purpose Jesus was sent for, was to conquer evil and redeem a people for His kingdom. Later in the book of Acts, Luke would record Peter s sermon to Cornelius, where Peter gave a commentary on what Jesus came to do. He said, you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: 38 how 6
7 God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him (Acts 10:37-38). But the ultimate proof of the authority of Jesus, the ultimate way that Jesus conquered the forces of evil was seen in the Cross. Peter continued his speech and said, And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, 40 but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, 41 not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. 43 To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name" (Acts 10:39-43). Jesus has the ultimate authority in heaven and on earth. He has been appointed by God to be the judge of the living and the dead. He has been given authority to forgive sins for all who believe in Him. Jesus Himself said in Matthew 28:18-20, And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." What we need most right now is not to turn to look to an earthly leader as our ultimate authority. Yes, it is good to pray for the government and to seek governments that will allow us to live in peace, but it is so that we can proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ the gospel of God s authority His kingdom, His reign freely. There is so much fear right now that is ruling so many people. Fear about the future, fear about the economy, fear about the government, fear about war, fear about who will be in power next. But we don t need to fear. Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth and He has sent us as His emissaries, His ambassadors, now, to proclaim His kingdom. Jesus said he was sent for this purpose to preach the good news of the kingdom of God. The reason it is good news, is that Jesus delivers us from the powers of hell. Jesus is greater than any and every earthly authority and kingdom. In the Lord of the Flies, one of the boys, named Simon, discovered that the problem on the island was that they all had a beast within them, that was causing all of their troubles. But he was killed right after he discovered the truth. Jesus came to deliver us from the biggest problem we have and that is our own sinful, evil hearts. Paul sums up in Colossians 2:13-15 what Jesus has done and where our hope should be right now. Colossians 2:13-15 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him. Where is your hope? What authority are you looking to? You have no need to fear, because Jesus is the ultimate authority and He has already conquered. Now, it is just a matter of waiting until His kingdom is fully come. But while we wait, we proclaim His power, and through the 7
8 preaching of the kingdom, people are set free. That is our hope that is where we should be spending our energies and efforts. And Jesus is the One true leader, with ultimate authority that we can trust. Amen. 2016 Redeeming Grace Church. This transcribed message has been lightly edited and formatted for the Website. No attempt has been made, however, to alter the basic extemporaneous delivery style, or to produce a grammatically accurate, publication-ready manuscript conforming to an established style template. 8