Title: The good news is preached in the name of Jesus, for you!
Text: Luke 4:31-44
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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.”
C.S. Lewis once said:
Surely what a man does when he is taken off his guard is the best evidence for what sort of man he is.
If there are rats in a cellar, you are most likely to see them if you go in very suddenly. But the suddenness does not create the rats; it only prevents them from hiding. In the same way, the suddenness of the provocation does not make me ill-tempered; it only shows me what an ill-tempered man I am.
C.S. Lewis.
Our brokenness in sin is evident in many ways. We show fourth that brokenness at times in actions. The things we say and do reveal much about who we are.
But Christ and his work on our behalf are greater than the broken flesh we inhabit. It is through him and his work that we are made new.
The good news is preached in the name of Jesus, for you!
Our brokenness is nothing new. Jesus, who last week at his hometown was compelled to do a miraculous work by the people, 23 … “What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.” [Luke 4:23], goes back to Capernaum and there casts out the demon of a man possessed.
The demon cries:
34 “Ha! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?
Have you come to destroy us?”
The truth is yes!
Jesus came to destroy sin, death, and the devil and the brokenness in this world while making peace between God and man, once again restoring our original righteousness that was lost in the fall to sin.
The one, whom the demons know by name - the Holy One of God - is in their midst.
Jesus commands the unclean spirits to come out and they obey.
The people are amazed with this word saying:
“What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!”
What is this word?
At times I’m not sure if we know or remember. The world sure gives us pause. What had been normal is now considered abnormal. Natural law has given way to the law of self and we are a self-serving sinful people.
At times it feels like the 10 righteous in Sodom - are left to be destroyed by fire that comes down from heaven, while the multitude of God’s enemies go free and are blessed.
37 [But] reports about [Jesus] went out into every place in the surrounding region.
What feels like brokenness today was with Christ and the people of our Gospel reading too. The taint of that we are clothed with was not only in the Synagogue, but also in the fever of Simon’s mother-n-law.
The demon was cast out by the word of God and so too the fever which was rebuked by Christ, healing her in an instant as she rose and began immediately to serve them. Not because it was her duty … but out of joyful thankfulness for the blessed gift of the healing she received. We want to get back to the business at hand.
The Kingdom of God is present in Christ and it remains present for you and me today!
“When Jesus laid His hands upon any sick person, it implied:
You are a sinner, I am the Savior of sinners; I take the curse and consequence of sin from you, that is an admonition so that you abstain from [doing]the service of sin.”
P.E. Kretzmann Popular Commentary of the Bible NT Vol.1 Pg 288
40 Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any - who were sick - with various diseases brought them to [Jesus], and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them.
It is Christ’s desire to make you well - to heal you - so that you will know him and know his love for you.
In baptism you have been healed from sin, death and the devil and given new life in him and by his Spirit, and because of this gift you know him and love him.
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.
The Knowledge of Christ is not demonic and he is not made known through the demons whose mouths he shut - though they know who he is and they cower in fear.
It is through the gospel that God delivers forgiveness to the ears of those who need to hear and by that very word of God we are released from the sentence of eternal death and receive the blessing of eternal life in Christ.
42 And when it was day, [Jesus] 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.
When we look to Christ it is God’s Spirit in us pointing you and me to the one who is the way the truth and the life.
In spite of our fears, sin, death and the devil we have been redeemed and made new. And in Christ as his new creation born from above … we … as the word of God says - rejoice in truth.
May this blessed comfort of the word of God be and abide with you now and always.
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit
Amen
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