Scripture
Luke began the public ministry of Jesus when Jesus was in the region of Galilee. The basic question that Luke asked and answered was: “Who is Jesus?”
Luke began by giving a summary of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee (4:14-15). Next, he gave an example of Jesus’ teaching (4:16-30) and authority (4:31-37). Then, he gave different examples of Jesus’ power (4:38-41).
Let’s read about the power of Jesus in 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. (Luke 4:38-41)
Introduction
If you were asked to summarize the central story of the Bible in one sentence, what would you say?
The Bible is not merely a set of disconnected stories. It is not a set of rules. Nor is it a collection of sixty-six books that have been joined together to form one big book.
I would say that the central story of the Bible is the story of God redeeming a people for himself. After God created Adam and placed him in the Garden of Eden, he fell into sin by disobeying God. God banished Adam from his presence, and from Genesis 3 onwards, the Bible’s central story is the story of God redeeming a people for himself.
At the heart of the Bible’s central story is a Mediator. Because God is absolutely holy, he does not deal directly with sinful men and women. So, in his eternal purpose God planned to send a Mediator to reconcile sinful men and women with himself. This Mediator had to represent God perfectly to people, and he also had to represent people perfectly to God. That is why Jesus was fully God and also fully man so that he could perfectly represent God to man and man to God.
The Mediator would fill several different roles. However, his most prominent role was that of Christ, which is a translation of the Hebrew word, Messiah. Both terms come from verbs that mean “to anoint with oil.” Hence, as titles they mean “the anointed one.” For centuries the people of God believed that he would send the Messiah to bring deliverance to them.
By the time that Luke recorded the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry in his hometown of Nazareth, one of the most popular Bible passages was Isaiah 61. The reason people loved it was because it spoke about the nature of the Messiah’s mission and ministry. The people often read it and prayed that God would send the Messiah soon.
Jesus was asked to read the Scripture in the synagogue in Nazareth. He got up and read from Isaiah 61:1-2 and 58:6:
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.
When Jesus finished reading the Scripture, the people were eager to hear his interpretation of that passage. But they were stunned by what he said. Jesus said, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21). Jesus was saying that he was the promised Messiah!
The people of Nazareth were filled with wrath. They had known Jesus since he was a toddler. The common expectation among Jewish people in those days was that the Messiah would suddenly appear, out of nowhere, as it were, and bring deliverance. So, Jesus did not fit their preconceived notion of how the Messiah would come and bring deliverance. And so they tried to kill him, but Jesus left Nazareth, never to return, by the way.
Jesus then made his way to Capernaum, where he cast out a demon from one of the men in their synagogue. The people of Capernaum were much more favorable to Jesus and his ministry than were the people of Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth.
The point that Luke wants his readers to see is that Jesus really is the Messiah, the Christ, and the anointed one sent by God. When Jesus ministered in Capernaum on that first Sabbath day, Luke indicated to us that Jesus is the Christ by first showing us his authority. Then, he showed us the power of Jesus, which we shall look at in our text today.
Lesson
An analysis of the power of Jesus in Luke 4:38-41 will give us further proof that Jesus is the Christ.
Let’s use the following outline:
1. Jesus Healed People of Diseases (4:38-40)
2. Jesus Delivered People of Demons (4:41)
I. Jesus Healed People of Diseases (4:38-40)
First, Jesus healed people of diseases.
Jesus was teaching in the synagogue of Capernaum on the Sabbath. During his teaching Jesus cast a demon out of a man. Unlike the people of Nazareth, the people of Capernaum were astonished and amazed at the authority of Jesus’ teaching.
The Sabbath service in the synagogue usually ended about noon. People went to their homes and enjoyed a large meal, much like many of us do on Sundays after our Worship Service.
So Jesus arose and left the synagogue and entered Simon’s house (4:38a), which was not far from the synagogue. This is the first time that Luke mentioned Simon, who was also known as Peter. Luke did not need to explain who Simon Peter was because by the time Luke wrote his Gospel, Peter was already well known to his readers. Peter was originally from nearby Bethsaida (John 1:44) but was now living in Capernaum with his wife. Peter ran a fishing business in Capernaum with his brother Andrew (Mathew 4:18) and their partners, James and John (Luke 5:10).
It is not clear whether Peter knew Jesus before they both attended the synagogue that Sabbath morning. However, Peter saw the power of Jesus when he cast the demon out of the man during the service. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was ill with a high fever, and they, presumably Simon Peter and his wife, appealed to Jesus on her behalf (4:38b). And so Jesus went to the home of Peter following the Sabbath Worship Service.
Upon entering Peter’s home, Jesus stood over her and rebuked the fever (4:39a). The Greek word for rebuked “is the same verb used of rebuking or commanding the demons in Luke 4:35 and the verb stresses the fact that both miracles were brought about by the words Jesus spoke.” The use of the word rebuked here in verse 39 “demonstrates that Jesus has authority and power over the forces that debilitate the natural body.”
As soon as Jesus rebuked the fever, it left her (4:39b). Just like that, her fever was gone. And unlike us who need time to recover our strength after a fever, she experienced no lingering weakness at all. In fact, immediately she rose and began to serve them (4:39c). Instantly, after Jesus healed her of her fever, she started serving Jesus and her family.
Now when the sun was setting (4:40a), the Sabbath was coming to an end. You may recall that in those days a day ended with the setting of the sun and the new day began with the onset of nightfall. Presumably the people who had been in Peter’s home that Sabbath were amazed by the power Jesus displayed in healing Peter’s mother-in-law. Word spread quickly that Jesus had power to heal people of their diseases.
So, as soon as the Sabbath drew to a close, and it was now permissible to walk and work again, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to Jesus (4:40b). Friends and family brought every sick person they knew to Jesus with the hope that he would heal them.
Jesus did not disappoint them. He laid his hands on every one of them and healed them (4:40c). Jesus demonstrated compassion by touching every one one of them when he healed them. There was nothing magical about his touch. “No power flowed out of Jesus and the touch of his hand was merely symbolical of bestowing a blessing. It was a gesture of tenderness.”
So, the power of Jesus is seen in the way in which he healed people of diseases.
John MacArthur notes that “the display of healing on that one day may have exceeded all the recorded healings in the entire Old Testament, and Jesus did such things over the three years of His ministry.”
John MacArthur notes further that the power of Jesus to heal people of diseases “set the pattern for the true biblical gift of healing.” He then notes six features that characterized the power of Jesus to heal people of diseases and set his ministry apart from the “faith healers” of our day.
First, Jesus healed with a word. He healed Peter’s mother-in-law simply by rebuking the fever. He did not engage in a special ritual or say some magic words. He simply spoke and she was healed, as he did on other occasions, such as with the centurion’s servant (Matthew 8:5-13).
Jesus did sometimes heal by touching people. That demonstrated his compassion for those afflicted by various diseases. His touch simply was a physical expression of his powerful word of healing.
Second, Jesus healed instantly. After Jesus spoke, Peter’s mother-in-law immediately got up and served Jesus and her family. Similarly, after Jesus spoke, the centurion’s servant “was healed at that very moment” (Matthew 8:13). People did not get better gradually. There were no progressive healings.
Skeptics say that the healing of the blind man in Bethsaida (Mark 8:22-25) was an example of a progressive healing. Some people brought to Jesus a blind man and begged him to touch him. Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?” And he looked up and said, “I see people, but they look like trees, walking.” Now, in the context of the narrative it is likely that Jesus was simply demonstrating the limited apprehension people had of who Jesus was. He simply had the man describe what he could see, which was not much. Then Jesus laid his hands on the man’s eyes again. This time he healed the man instantly, and when the man opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.
Third, Jesus healed totally. Peter’s mother-in-law did not have any lingering ailments or symptoms. After the disease left her body, she was immediately able to resume her normal lifestyle. When John was in prison, he wondered if Jesus was in fact the Christ (Matthew 11:2-5a). So he sent word by his disciples, who said to Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear.” Jesus healed totally.
Fourth, Jesus healed everyone. At the end of that Sabbath day in Capernaum all the sick were brought to Jesus, and he healed every one of them. Matthew said that many people followed Jesus, “and he healed them all” (Matthew 12:15; cf. 4:24). Jesus did not leave anyone unhealed.
Fifth, Jesus healed specific diseases. Any who were sick with various diseases were brought to Jesus on that Sabbath day. He did not heal vague, ambiguous, undiagnosed ailments. People brought to Jesus “all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, . . . epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them” (Matthew 4:24). Jesus healed everyone who came to him of a specific, identifiable, diagnosable ailment. This was a clear demonstration of his power, as even his enemies had to admit (John 11:47).
Finally, Jesus raised the dead. This is not noted in our present text. Nevertheless, from other accounts we know that Jesus raised a young man in his casket on the way to be buried (Luke 7:11-15), a young girl whose death was apparent to all (Mark 5:22-24, 35-43), and a friend named Lazarus who had been dead and buried for four days (John 11:14-44).
Today’s “faith healers” do not work in the same way that Jesus did. Faith healers need to have highly controlled surroundings in order to perform. Jesus simply met people wherever they were and he healed them. Jesus’ power to heal was so unprecedented that people said, “We never saw anything like this!” (Mark 2:12; cf. John 9:32).
Now, several people were healed by Jesus’ apostles (Luke 9:1), the seventy disciples (Luke 10:1-9), and a few close associates of the apostles (Barnabas [Acts 15:12], Philip [Acts 8:6-7], and Stephen [Acts 6:8]). The reason they were able to do so was to authenticate them as preachers of God’s truth. But the important thing to note is this: exactly the same features that marked Jesus’ healing characterized their healing.
The ability to heal sick people was not given to keep people healthy. Rather, people were healed as a sign to unbelievers verifying the truthfulness of the gospel and the authenticity of its preachers.
To claim that healing is the norm in the church undermines its unique role in authenticating Jesus and the apostles as revealers of divine truth.
In keeping with that purpose, healings faded from the scene as the apostolic era drew to a close. Paul (Galatians 4:13-15), Epaphroditus (Philippians 2:25-27), Timothy (1 Timothy 5:23), and Trophimus (2 Timothy 4:20) were all recorded to have been sick. None of them were healed. Nor do the New Testament Epistles, which define the life and theology of the church, refer to a ministry of healing. There is no evidence that the kind of healings seen in the era of Jesus and the apostles was to continue beyond them (cf. 2 Corinthians 12:12).
God may choose to heal through the prayers of his people, but not through “faith healers,” as in the case of Jesus and his associates.
So, the power of Jesus is seen in the way in which Jesus healed people of diseases.
II. Jesus Delivered People of Demons (4:41)
And second, Jesus delivered people of demons.
He did this while healing people of diseases. Luke noted the difference between disease and demon-possession. He was a physician and could tell the difference between the two.
And demons also came out of many, crying, “You are the Son of God!” (4:41a). Like the demon earlier in the day, these demons knew who Jesus was. They knew his true identity. They knew that Jesus was the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, with authority and power to command their total submission to him.
But Jesus did not want demons identifying him, and so he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ (4:41b). Having demons identify him could have created confusion down the road. “It was altogether inappropriate that Jesus’ Messiahship should be proclaimed by representatives of the evil one. Had he allowed this by not silencing the demons, he would have given grounds for a charge brought against him later by the Pharisees, that of being Satan’s ally (Matt. 12:24; Mark 3:22).”
Jesus demonstrated his power by delivering people of demons. This first affirmation of Jesus being the Christ actually came from demons.
Luke once again wanted to show who Jesus is. Jesus really is the Christ, the Messiah, and the promised deliverer.
Luke has shown us in two wonderful ways the power of Jesus: by healing people of diseases and by delivering people of demons. And by thus showing us the power of Jesus, he also proved that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, and the promised deliverer.
Conclusion
So, having analyzed the power of Jesus in Luke 4:38-41, we must believe that Jesus is the Christ.
The people of Nazareth rejected Jesus. They saw the power of Jesus when he delivered a man who had a demon. They could not believe that Jesus, the little toddler who had grown up in their town and had now became a man, could be the Christ. So, they tried to get rid of him by throwing him down a cliff.
On the other hand, the people of Capernaum received Jesus. In fact, they wanted to keep Jesus from leaving them (4:42). They saw the power of Jesus when he healed people of their diseases and delivered people of demons. They believed that Jesus was the Christ. We know that at least four of them, Peter, Andrew, James, and John, actually became his apostles.
We can respond in one of two ways. We can respond like the people of Nazareth, who rejected Jesus. Jesus never went back to Nazareth again. They never had an opportunity to hear him teach about how to come into a right relationship with God and receive the blessings of salvation. What a tragic response!
Or, we can respond like many of the people of Capernaum, who received Jesus. They received the ministry of Jesus. They believed that he was indeed the Christ, the Mediator sent by God to reconcile us to himself. They believed that Jesus would save them from hell, and grant them forgiveness of sins. What a wonderful response!
So, today, which response will be yours?
