Devoted To Good Works

I am endlessly fascinated by Jesus Christ. I have been seriously studying the New Testament for more than 4 decades, and I am still coming to new appreciations of the life he lived. Over and over again, as I come to understand what we have written about him, I am stretched as I see how he acted in various situations and realize that I should be like him and fall short.

For example, I like to play it safe, which is safe. But Jesus confronted people over and over again. He made things happen. That wasn’t safe, but he forced people to respond to him, one way or another. And not everyone responded well to him, but he made them think and make choices and many, many people came into the Kingdom of God because Jesus wasn’t afraid to stir things up.

And so I find myself challenged by Jesus over and over again. But, looking back, I can see ways that his life came into my life and I find myself changing, being molded into his likeness. And that’s our goal, to be disciples of Jesus Christ, men and women who will be molded into his likeness, and to make disciples of Jesus Christ. Help others be like him, too.

I struggle to comprehend what a typical day would be like in his life. Was he with the crowds all the time? Where did he stay when he was on the road? Did he ever rest? What was he like to hang out with?

In the fourth chapter of Luke’s gospel we have several events that all happened in one day, a Sabbath day. You’ll remember that he had preached in his home church, the synagogue of Nazareth, and was violently rejected there. How that must have hurt! And we are tempted to jump over that, but faithful disciples want to share with him in his sufferings, to appreciate all he did for us.

Then he moved down to a fishing town on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, Capernaum. And a few weeks ago we looked at his ministry in their synagogue. I once stood right on the spot where that synagogue was. And we don’t know the message that he spoke, only that the people commented on the authority with which he spoke. And that his authority sparked a confrontation with a demon possessed man. And Jesus set that man free.

That was the morning. Do you know what happened with the rest of his day?

Please stand for the reading of God’s word, Luke 4:38-41. You can find it on page 62 of the New Testament section of the pew Bible.

38 After leaving the synagogue he entered Simon's house. Now Simon's mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked him about her. 39 Then he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. Immediately she got up and began to serve them. 40 As the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various kinds of diseases brought them to him; and he laid his hands on each of them and cured them. 41 Demons also came out of many, shouting, "You are the Son of God!" But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Messiah.

So what happened after church that day? He went over to Simon’s house. Do you know who this Simon is? Simon was his Hebrew name. We know him better by the Greek form of his name, Peter. He later became one of Jesus’ disciples, the leader of the disciples. We learn from John’s gospel that Jesus and Peter knew each other. You could say that John the Baptist introduced them before Jesus was baptized and began his public ministry . Maybe Jesus came to Capernaum because he already had a contact there, maybe someone he could stay with.

So we get a glimpse into Peter’s life, too. His mother-in-law was living with them. Peter was married. Did you know that? And this little detail is important. If you believe that Peter was the first pope, then it doesn’t make sense to require popes and pastors to be single. Protestants believe that disciples can serve at the highest levels of the church and marry, too.

And Peter’s mother-in-law was sick, with a high fever. That was before the drugstores were open on Sunday, so they couldn’t get any antibiotics. They asked Jesus for help.

And with a word, he healed her. In fact she was healed so thoroughly that she felt good enough to hop right up and jumped in on putting Sunday dinner on the table.

Here’s a model for disciples of Jesus Christ. He gave her a wonderful gift, the healing of a high fever. And what did she do? In gratitude she jumped up and gave the best gift she could give to him and to others. She responded by serving, in the best, most practical way that she knew how. That’s a model for all disciples. Disciples of Jesus Christ are servants.