Rev. Paul J Cain, Jr.
St. Luke 4:31-44
What Is This Word?
Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany, 03 February 2013
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Sheridan, Wyoming
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit. Amen.
About the Cover: We can’t tell God what He has to do. But He
is free to tell us what He has to do, as He does in today’s Gospel. Jesus says,
“I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God.” Jesus has good news that
He must deliver far and wide—the good news of who He is and the gift of the
Kingdom He has come to bring.
The time had fully
come for Jesus to go home and preach and announce the coming of the age of
salvation. That was our Gospel last week. The Messiah was there, at Nazareth, beginning
His ministry. But it was not time for Jesus to die. The people were not able to
throw this “disappointing” native son off a cliff. He has more preaching,
teaching, and healing to do. So He simply walks through the crowd to safety.
And He was soon on His way back to Capernaum. The people of Nazareth would have
to wait until they heard new reports of good news about the Miracle Worker,
Jesus.
Jesus, the Great
Teacher and Miracle Worker, continues His teaching and healing. The teaching is
our down payment on salvation. That is our possession here and now in 2013. The
accounts of healing in the Gospel according to St. Luke are a foretaste of the
new creation that has begun in Christ. This is the new creation that has
already begun in you who are baptized.
We know another
crowd came for Jesus. It was on the night in which He was betrayed. He would
not walk away through that crowd. No, not that time. The Messiah that Isaiah
foretold was a suffering servant who would be crucified after all of His
preaching, teaching, and healing. Jesus did not walk through the crowd, but He
did walk through death and conquered it, so that death is no longer something
that the Christian must fear. He who did many miracles and raised the dead—He
Himself was raised. He gave us His sacrament of the Altar to proclaim His death
until He comes. Let us do that now. And let us also proclaim that He who once
was dead now lives. And because He lives, when He comes, we will rise and live
as well.
Today, Jesus says, “I
must preach the good news of the kingdom of God.”
What is that good
news? It is the good news of who He is and the gift of the Kingdom He has come
to bring.
Jesus’ teaching has
authority. We take it for granted that an author has ownership over his or her
writing. Intellectual property can be very valuable. Plagiarizing is stealing,
plain and simple, with a © symbol printed or not. Copyrights can be registered
with a government for additional legal protection. Jesus’ teaching has
authority. The word “author” is part of the word authority. Jesus is the author
of creation. His word creates. His word renews. His word for you restores. His
promises are true.
Back at Capernaum’s
synagogue, the people were amazed that Jesus’ teaching had the authority of God
Himself. And then they were further amazed after Jesus exorcised a demon in
their midst: “What is this word?” They asked. “For with authority and power He
commands the unclean spirits and they come out!” Indeed. Such is the power of
the Word of God. Such is the authority of the Word in the flesh who dwells
among us.
Jesus has authority
over unclean spirits, otherwise known as demons. They know who He actually is,
the Holy One of God. Jesus wants us to believe in Him by faith and not by
sight, so He silences the supernatural witness of the allies of our old evil
foe. There will be a day when all must confess the truth about Jesus, whether
they have faith or not.
Jesus has authority
over sickness. This should not surprise us because our Lord is the Creator. For
without Him nothing was made that has been made. Yet, Jesus’ authority over
this world after creation and His caring concern for us and all things would be
surprising to those called the Deists. Deists, like Thomas Jefferson, had no
problem with a divine creation. The beliefs of the Deists could not confess a
God who did anything more than make the world, like a watch, wound it up, and
let it run. Jesus’ authority over sickness, like that of the illness of Peter’s
mother-in-law, distinguishes Biblical Christianity from other religions that
speak of a generic, benevolent, but distant and seemingly powerless so-called
“god.”
It seems there is
something to offend or challenge everyone in today’s text. Roman Catholics will
be uncomfortable with the idea of Peter having a mother-in-law. That Peter was
married undermines the narrative of the necessity of an unmarried Roman clergy
and the need for a Pope in the first place. We have Christ and His Word. That
is more than enough for us and is far less confusing than the contradictory
teachings of popes and church conventions.
As the sun began to
set, Jesus had the opportunity to heal even more people. Demons confessed that
Jesus was the Son of God. Because they knew He was the Christ, He would not
allow them to speak, as before.
Those present there
in Capernaum, the city’s synagogue, and the desolate place near Capernaum so
rejoiced to hear Jesus that they didn’t want to leave. They didn’t want Him to
leave them. Jesus responds: I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God
to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.” There are other
activities going on in our world today. Would that the world were as excited
and hungry for the good news of the kingdom of God!
Jesus not only
proclaims God’s good news. He IS God’s good news. This congregation is here
because of that good news. You are here this morning to receive that good news.
We are also gathered together by our Lord so that we may go forth from here and
share that good news. That is the mission and ministry of Immanuel Lutheran
Church and Martin Luther Grammar School.
We are given to care
for one another in our times of need, to speak God’s Word with His authority,
to care for the sick, to visit the imprisoned and home-bound, to share the good
news of the kingdom of God. Our short Epiphany season wraps up next week with
the Transfiguration of our Lord before we head into Lent. Amen.
In the Name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
31 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.
