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| The Deranged Man in the Capernaum Synagogue by James Tissot |
Pray and Read:
Luke 4:31-44
Key Truth: Luke
wrote Luke 4:31-44 to show that Jesus has authority to help those in
spiritual need, physical need, and gospel need.
Key Application: Today I
want to show you what God’s Word says about the authority of Jesus.
Sermon Points:
1. Jesus
has authority to help those in spiritual need (Luke 4:31-37)
2. Jesus
has authority to help those in physical need (Luke 4:38-41)
Contextual Notes:
At
his birth, Luke calls us to trust in Jesus as the Coming Messiah who fulfills
God’s promises to Abraham and David (Luke 1-2). Trusting Him begins with repentance,
declared Messiah’s Forerunner John the Baptist (Luke 3:1-20). At Jesus’ baptism
(Luke 3:21-23a), Luke calls Jesus the promised Messiah, God’s suffering Servant
through his sacrificial death. With Mary’s genealogy, Luke reminds us that
Jesus fulfills not only the Davidic and Abrahamic Covenants, but unlike fallen
and sinful Adam, he is a completely obedient Son of God (Luke 3:23b-38). So clearly
is Jesus the Perfect Man, that he defeats Satan himself in a test of every
sphere of human temptation: body, mind, and spirit (Luke 4:1-13).
With
Jesus’ Galilean ministry (Luke 4:14-9:50), Luke will present the essence of the
Good News,[1]
culminating at Luke 9:20 with Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Christ. Here
at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in the power of the Spirit, Jesus
encounters unbelief in the rejection in his hometown synagogue of Nazareth (Luke
4:14-30).[2]
But in today’s passage he finds believing faith in the Capernaum synagogue and
victory over the devil (Luke 4:31-44).
Exposition: Note
well,
1.
JESUS HAS AUTHORITY TO HELP THOSE IN
SPIRITUAL NEED (Luke 4:31-37)
a. At Nazareth in the last passage
(Luke 4:14-30), Jesus announced from Isaiah 61:1-3 that his mission was to
declare the good news to the poor and to release the prisoners. Now in Luke
4:31-44 he demonstrates that calling. The primary focus remains on Jesus’
teaching and preaching of the Good News of the Kingdom as seen in the bookends
to the section (Luke 4:31-32, 43-44), and the miracles confirm the message that
God’s Kingdom is breaking into human history (cf. Mark 1:21-28).
b. Luke
4:31 – He went down to Capernaum:
Luke is describing the geography. Jesus walks from the high valley at Nazareth
down to Capernaum at the edge of the Sea of Galilee. Capernaum will become his
base of operations in the Galilee region. The chief ruler of synagogue in
Capernaum is Jairus, whose daughter Jesus would raise from the dead.
c. At Capernaum, in contrast with the
unbelieving Nazareth synagogue, the congregation was not just enamored at the
way he spoke, but they were “amazed at his teaching
because his message had authority” (Luke
4:32). First they were amazed at the content. He spoke the word of God plainly from
the text. He was able to unfold the Scriptures in an understandable way and
brings forth truth that no other teacher had revealed. But second they were
amazed at the authority with which he spoke. Jesus did not rely on centuries of
rabbinical opinion to back up everything he said. He simply stated the truth
and let it stand for itself with his own authority backing it up.
d. Luke
4:32 – Amazed at his teaching:
The rabbis of Jesus’ day based everything they said on hundreds of years of
historic rabbinic interpretation of Scripture. What stunned Jesus’ listeners at
Capernaum was that Jesus spoke as if He had authority Himself (for Luke, through
the Holy Spirit, Luke 3:22; 4:1, 14, 18) and did not need to quote another
rabbi for his authority. What amazed them even more was Jesus’ power which was
demonstrated in casting out a demon. The Jewish and pagan exorcists used long
incantations and magical liturgies to do their work, trying to scare the
spirits away, and their secret was invoking the name of a spirit with higher
authority to get rid of the lower one. Jesus simply commanded and the spirits
obeyed, amazing the people.
e. Luke
4:33-34 – literally,
A man “having a spirit of an unclean demon.” The demon speaks in the plural
(us). The Ha! Is an interjection of surprise and displeasure or may be the
imperative of the verb eao, meaning “let
us alone!” “I know who you are!” Knowing the spirit’s name was a way of gaining
power over it, and the spirit may have been making a futile attempt to express
authority over Jesus. The spirit knew that before the beginning of the Millennium
Kingdom that Satan and those serving him would be bound and that Christ would
reign over an earth delivered of Satan’s power and influence (Rev. 20:1-3).
Jesus commanded silence for two reasons. First, he did not want a demon’s
testimony of his authority. Second, he wanted to preserve the human dignity of
the man who had been victimized by the demon.
f. The title here, “Holy One of God” is
not a traditional title for the Messiah, but it has been used to describe Aaron (Psalm 106:16), the first High
Priest of God whose misspent intercession and sin brought him failure with regard
to the Golden Calf. Jesus, our Great High Priest who lives forever to save
completely those who call on him, ever living to intercede for us at the right hand of the Father. (Heb
7:23-28). Samson (Judges 13:7; 16:7),
the mighty man of God and the first called to a life-long Nazirite vow, whose weakness
and selfishness brought him to failure. Jesus is the Mighty Man of God and not
only the fulfillment of the Nazirite vow, but indeed the Nazarene whose
authority, power, and eventual selflessness would bring hope and healing to the
entire world through the Cross. Elisha
(2 Kings 4:9) was a prophet of Israel who raised the widow’s son from the dead.
His name has the same Hebrew verb root, ysh,
(Eli-yesha, “God saves” as Jesus (Yeshua, “Yah saves”). Jesus came as a
Prophet, raising the dead and being raised from the dead Himself to defeat the
devil’s works. We see Jesus fulfilling perfectly the roles of High Priest,
Jesus the Nazirite, and Jesus the Prophet.
g. Luke
4:35-36 – So in a
dramatic display of the fulfillment of Isaiah 61 in their hearing, a demon
cried out, “Ha, What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth?” (the very town
where his authority was not honored). Have you come to destroy us? I know who
you are – the Holy One of God!” (Luke 4:34). Jesus’ first public miracle was
deliverance from a demon, what Isaiah 61 calls releasing the oppressed. In
swift, short, sharp authority, Jesus silenced the evil spirit and commanded it
come out of the man. No incantations, no prolonged magic, no pleading. Only a
severe, “Be muzzled. Come out.” His authority demonstrated itself by coming out
of the man without harming him (Luke 4:35).
h. Luke
4:35-36 – All the people were amazed. In
Nazareth they were amazed at his teaching (Luke 4:22). In Capernaum they were
amazed at his power (Luke 4:36). We are so familiar with the NT’s telling of
Jesus’ domination of demons that we can hardly imagine how stunning this
encounter was to a first-century Jew. No elaborate rituals or incantations like
the professional exorcists who were around. And the congregation’s response to
this display in the middle of their worship service? Amazement. Recognition of
his authority. Spreading the word about Jesus Christ all over the region.
i. APPLICATION: Perhaps you find yourself in spiritual
need today. You have done all you know to do, but there is some controlling
sin, something you cannot overcome, some addiction, something that plagues your
spirit. Jesus has authority to help you in your spiritual need. You need only
to ask Him to rescue you. There may be some who have lost control in some area
of your life, and you feel that something else controls you in that area. Jesus
overcomes the works of the devil. Confess and repent of your sin; forgive those
who have hurt you; command the spirit to leave you in Jesus’ Name. If you are
in Christ, you have His authority to do that.
j. APPLICATION: We have another application from
the synagogue. Our congregations thrive when they submit to Christ’s authority.
Now I doubt that anyone expected to see a demon come out of an otherwise normal
synagogue member when the parishioners arrived that Sabbath morning in
Capernaum. But Jesus’ presence brought miraculous deliverance. The submission
of God’s people to Christ’s authority brought about Christ’s cleansing,
Christ’s power, Christ’s healing, and Christ’s peace.
k. APPLICATION: And one more thing. Submission to
Christ’s authority also brought about evangelism.
The text says that news about him spread throughout the surrounding area
(4:37). How did that happen? It happened because that congregation, amazed and
submitted to Christ’s authority, talked about that Jesus. They told their
neighbors and their coworkers about Jesus. They told their families about
Jesus. They spread his fame and made his name great in that region.
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| Bringing the sick to Jesus at Capernaum |
a. Jesus’ authority is further
demonstrated in healing and deliverance with others in Capernaum.
b. Luke
4:38-39 – Though Simon
Peter and Andrew were probably born and reared in Bethsaida (John 1:44), Simon
owned a home in Capernaum, and it has been discovered and excavated. Christian
symbols have been found on its walls, suggesting that it was used as a house
church in the first and second centuries AD. Paul mentions Simon Peter’s
marriage in 1 Cor. 9:5. Simon’s father-in-law had probably passed away, and
Simon and his wife had taken her widowed mother into their home. It was common to
care for one’s family.
c. Ancient medical writers
distinguished between small fevers and great fevers. The clarification provides
evidence for Luke the physician’s authorship. Now Jesus rebukes a fever as he
did the demon, demonstrating his authority over physical illness. It does not
mean Luke thought the fever had a demonic connection. He distinguishes between
physical and spiritual ailments (Luke 4:40-41; 7:21; 13:32), though he makes a
connection with some illnesses (Luke 8:29; 9:39; 11:14; 13:11). Disease, like
demonic oppression, is part of the fallen world in which we live, and which
Jesus came to save.
d. Normally a fever, especially a major
one, leaves us weak and nearly helpless. But Jesus’ rebuke not only heals, it
restores! Peter’s mother-in-law began to show hospitality, a high value in that
culture, and the senior woman of the house had responsibility to make sure
hospitality was given. She is completely healed.
e. APPLICATION: Luke invites us to see that
whatever the ruin of our life, at Jesus’ rebuke of sin, we are saved and healed
from the consequences of sin, and spiritual health and vitality will be most
surely restored. Not only that, we are saved from the power of sin in our daily
lives.
f. Luke
4:40-41 – Sickness:
And Isaiah 61’s very words begin to be fulfilled. One of Luke’s themes is Jesus’
concern for the sick and the poor, and we see it here (and Luke 7:22; 14:12-14,
21; 16:19-31). People in biblical times did not blame all disease on demons as
some liberal commentators and professors would have you believe. Luke is a
physician, and he distinguishes here between the two, as he does elsewhere in
his Gospel and Acts. Jesus has power over both natural and supernatural ills. Note
that they brought them when the sun was setting at the end of Sabbath, when they
could do the work necessary to carry their sick without violating the Sabbath
commandment. Demons identified Jesus as the Son of God when they departed (2
Sam 7:14; Psalm 2:7; 89:26).
g. APPLICATION: You came here today scared because
of a physical need. Jesus has authority to help you in your physical need. It
could be a health need, a financial need, a transportation need, a grocery need,
a work-related need, an unemployment need, all physical needs. Cry out to
Jesus. Ask Him for wisdom. Ask him to supply your need. Ask him to heal or
provide. Tell a pastor or deacon privately about what is happening so that this
church can help.
3. JESUS
HAS AUTHORITY TO HELP THOSE IN GOSPEL NEED (Luke 4:42-44)
a. Luke
4:42 – We see in
Mark 1:35 that Jesus withdrew to a solitary place where he could pray. It was
nearly impossible to be alone in ancient towns, with their narrow streets and
sometimes twenty people living in common one-room houses. In archaeological excavations
in Capernaum, researchers have found that most blocks in Capernaum consisted of
four homes facing a common courtyard. Capernaum, like many villages, were often
built close together, and in order to find a place alone, one had to arise
early in the morning.
b. Luke
4:43 – The good news of the Kingdom:
Luke has already made reference to David’s Kingdom (Luke 1:32-33), but here he makes
his first explicit reference to the Kingdom of God, a theme Luke will develop
throughout his Gospel and Acts (Luke 9:2; 10:9, 11; 11:1-4, 18-20; 12:31-31;
13:18-21; Acts 1:3; 8:12; 19:8; 28:23, 31). The kingdom of God meant both God’s
sovereign reign over the universe and the establishment of his righteous
kingdom on earth. Saying God’s kingdom is near (Luke 10:9, 11) is to say that
God is about to intervene in human history to deliver the righteous and judge
the wicked and establish peace, justice, and righteousness. The onset of God’s
Kingdom is an open challenge to Satan’s power and control. In the wilderness,
Satan was on offense (Luke 4:1-13), but since Jesus’ defeat of the devil there,
now Jesus and the Kingdom are on offense, moving in and liberating captives.
Luke will end the sequel to his Gospel, the book of Acts noting that Paul was
preaching the Kingdom in Rome, the center of the Roman Empire (Acts 28:23, 31).
c. Now here we are sitting with one another.
Will we submit to Christ’s authority? Will we celebrate Christ’s Word, even
though it offends our personal, religious prejudice? Will we spread His fame
throughout our region? May Christ grant it by His authority.
Invitation:
Jesus has authority to help you in
your gospel need. We all have done wrong things and fallen short of God’s plan
for us, and though the wages of sin is death, the gift of God is eternal life
found in asking Jesus to forgive you of your sins and submitting your life to
him. Would you do that today?
[1] As Peter’s sermon in Acts 2 gives
his thesis there for Acts.
[2] The incident parallels the beginning
of the birth narrative, in which the priest Zechariah responds in unbelief to
the announcement of the angel Gabriel. The Capernaum synagogue’s faith
parallels the believing faith of the Virgin Mary.
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