Week 8 February 5, 2012 "What Word Is This?"

Text = This week we covered Luke 4:31-44.

Introduction = This passage we consider this week covers the following events:

1. Jesus’ move to Capernaum (after being rejected at Nazareth last week)

2. Jesus’ teaching in their synagogue

3. Jesus’ first recorded instance of casting a demon out of a person

4. The healing of Simon’s [Peter] mother-in-law, and

5. Jesus’ “Working the Night Shift” to heal all the sick that were brought that night;

6. Jesus departure into a lonely place and his statement of purpose.
Pastor Randy is aware he was mispronouncing "Capernaum" in the video...or maybe he was quoting from the Latin Vulgate?

Other passages to read = Previously we introduced the idea of reading the parallel passages to our text in Luke which are found mainly in Matthew and Mark. So this week we will again encourage you to read "horizontally" in these other passages: Matthew 4:12-17, 23-25; 7:28-29; 8:14-16 [Isaiah 53:4]; Mark 1:21-39.

Other Resources =
Another basic commentary resource is Leon Morris’ Luke (Revised Edition) in the Tyndale New Testament Commentary series. Australian Morris’ work is a good introductory level look at Luke. While he is not especially eloquent…he is solid, accessible, and his easy to read observations may help to clear up most questions a general reader or Bible Study leader might face.
Points to ponder =
We want to be thinking as we are reading. While certainly the following questions are not all that we could be thinking about while we read this text, I think they can serve as seed ideas:

• Why is this demon referred to as an “unclean demon”?
• Why did they receive Jesus so differently than in Nazareth?
• Why was Jesus able to do so many miracles in Capernaum and not in Nazareth?
• What are some of the key words in this week’s passage? Why?
• We are living in a culture that often teaches “any press is good press” and “never pass up free marketing,” so why did Jesus tell the demons to “be muzzled”?
• In reading through Luke, notice the author’s precise use of medical terms and therapeutic details. Why is this? What unique details do we see this week?
• In reading the parallel passage in Mark, what two additional details can we add to our picture of this time in Jesus’ ministry?

Questions to ask ourselves = The following questions are intended to help us move towards greater application of what we learn about Jesus…

• Does the passage give us any clue as to why the people didn’t bring the sick to Jesus until after dark?
• Do we see Jesus’ words as having “authority and power” in our lives today?
• When was the last time you sensed Jesus speaking into your life in a very clear way?
• When we read about Jesus in the Bible, what words would most often describe our emotions and our actions?
• In verse 43, Jesus lets the inhabitants of Capernaum know that his mission is bigger than perhaps they want it to be. How do we respond when we don’t get our way with God?

Pastor Randy's Sermon Notes = Jesus' Authority
The Big Idea of this Passage:  The Authority of Jesus

• Exousia – unquestioned, ultimate authority that is tied into a person’s being, it is borne out of substance/essence.
• Dunamis – explosive power that accompanies authority
• Illustration = Picture of football player (powerful), then referee (authority).

1. Jesus teaches with authority
“And they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was with authority.” (Luke 4:32)

2. Jesus has authority over the demonic
“Then they were all amazed and spoke among themselves, saying, “What a word this is! For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits…”  (Luke 4:36)

“The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work.” (1 John 3:8)

3. Jesus has authority over sickness and disease
“When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them.” (Luke 4:40)
How will I respond to the authority of Jesus?
A) The faith of the Nazarites – no submission, angry at Jesus, refuses to believe in Jesus or in what He say’s.

“But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.” 5 Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6 And He marveled because of their unbelief. Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching. People begin to talk about their astonishment and amazement.”  (Mark 6:4-6)

B) The faith of demons – forced submission –‘shuddering’ faith believes in Jesus but hates Him. 

“You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that — and shudder.” (James 2:19)

“And demons also came out of many, crying out and saying, “You are the Christ, the Son of God!” And He, rebuking them, did not allow them to speak, for they knew that He was the Christ.” (Luke 4:41)

C) The faith of the Centurion – submitted faith, believes in Jesus and in His words.

“Now when He concluded all His sayings in the hearing of the people, He entered Capernaum. 2 And a certain centurion’s servant, who was dear to him, was sick and ready to die. 3 So when he heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to Him, pleading with Him to come and heal his servant. 4 And when they came to Jesus, they begged Him earnestly, saying that the one for whom He should do this was deserving, 5 “for he loves our nation, and has built us a synagogue.” 6 Then Jesus went with them. And when He was already not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to Him, saying to Him, “Lord, do not trouble Yourself, for I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof. 7 Therefore I did not even think myself worthy to come to You. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. 8 For I also am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it. 9 When Jesus heard these things, He marveled at him, and turned around and said to the crowd that followed Him, “I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!” 10 And those who were sent, returning to the house, found the servant well who had been sick.” (Mark 7:1-10)

Quotes & Commentary =Here are several commentary quotes from this section of Luke which have been arranged around four major components of the passage.

1. The response of the people in Capernaum to Jesus’ words v.31-32, 36-37
They we stunned…amazed… astonished blown away! I write more about this in this week's SOAP journal [http://b4lukejournal.blogspot.com ]. The Expositor’s Bible Commentary make two very good points; the first about the reaction of the people and the second about Luke’s focus on the message.

“The reaction of the people, though comparable to that in the preceding incident (vv. 20-22), differs from it in one important aspect. Now they are astonished that this teacher, who in their eyes was not even a rabbi, taught with authority (v. 32). The contrast is sharpened in Mark 1:22 by the additional words "not as the teachers of the law." The majority of rabbis would base their teaching on the chain of tradition, citing the opinions of their predecessors. By omitting this specific comparison, Luke may simply be deferring to his Gentile readership, who would perhaps not be as aware as Jewish readers of rabbinical custom. But it may also be that Luke is emphasizing the absolute authority of Jesus. In support of this is Luke's use of the word "message" (logos, lit., "word"). For the importance of the "word" in Luke, see comment on 1:1-4. Keeping in mind that the parallel passage in Mark does not use "word" but says "he taught them," Luke would seem to be emphasizing the "authority" of Jesus' "word" (cf. v. 36).” (Expositor’s Bible Commentary—Vol. 8, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI, 1984, p. 871)

2. The response of the demons to the presence and authority of Jesus v. 33-35, 41
The translation in English of their response is "Ha!" The word in Greek is "Ea!" (pronounced ay-ah) which Thayer's Greek Lexicon says was "an interjection expressive of indignation, or of wonder mixed with fear." The question, "Have you come to destroy us?" could also be a statement, "You have come to destroy us!" 

"In one respect those who were 'demonized' exhibited the same phenomenon. They all owned the Power of Jesus. It was not otherwise in the Synagogue at Capernaum on that Sabbath-morning. What Jesus had spoken produced an immediate effect on the demonized, though one which could scarcely have been anticipated. For, there is authority for inserting the word 'straightway' immediately after the account of Jesus' preaching. Yet, as we think of it, we cannot imagine that the demon would have continued silent nor yet that he could have spoken other than the truth in the Presence of the God-Man. There must be, and yet there cannot be, resistance. The very Presence of the Christ meant the destruction of this work of the Devil. Involuntarily, in his confessed inability of disguise or resistance, he owns defeat, even before the contest. 'What have we to do with Thee, Jesus of Nazareth? Thou art come to destroy us!21I know Thee Who Thou art, the Holy One of God.' And yet there seems in these words already an emergence of the consciousness of the demonized, at least in so far that there is no longer confusion between him and his tormentor, and the latter speaks in his own name. One stronger than the demon had affected the higher part in the demonized. It was the Holy One of God, in Whose Presence the powers of moral destruction cannot be silent, but must speak, and own their subjection and doom. The Christ needs not to contend: that He is the Christ, is itself victory.

But this was not all. He had come not only to destroy the works of the Devil. His Incarnation meant this - and more: to set the prisoners free. By a word of command He gagged (This is the real meaning of the expression rendered, 'Hold thy peace.' It stills the raging of the powers of evil just as, characteristically, it is again employed in the stilling of the storm, St. Mark 4:39) the confessions of the demon, unwilling made, and even so with hostile intent. It was not by such voices that He would have His Messiahship ever proclaimed. Such testimony was wholly unfitting and incongruous; it would have been a strange discord on the witness of the Baptist and the Voice Which had proclaimed Him from heaven. And, truly, had it been admitted, it would have strangely jarred in a Life which needed not, and asked not even the witness of men, but appealed straightway to God Himself. Nor can we fail to perceive how, had it been allowed, it would have given a true ground to what the Pharisees sought to assign as the interpretation of His Power, that by the Prince of Demons He cast out demons. And thus there is here also deep accord with the fundamental idea which was the outcome of His Temptation: that not the seemingly shortest, but the Divine way must lead Him to the goal, and that goal not Royal proclamation, but the Resurrection.

The same power which gagged the confession also bade the demon relinquish his prey. One wild paroxysm - and the sufferer was forever free. But on them all who saw and heard it fell the utter stupor and confusion of astonishment. Each turned to his neighbor with the inquiry: 'What is this? A new doctrine with authority! And He commanded the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.' Well might they inquire. It had been a threefold miracle: 'a new doctrine;' 'with authority;' and obedience of the unclean spirits to His command. There is throughout, and especially in the account of the casting out of the demon, such un-Jewish simplicity…” (Edersheim, Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, 1883 Version Book III, Chapter 14, [In newer Eerdmans version p 335-336])

3. The healing work of Jesus in Capernaum v. 38-41
After preaching and delivering the demonized man in the synagogue, Jesus healed Simon Peter's mother-in-law of a high fever or "burning fever" one of those unique medical terms Luke uses. After she was healed she immediately served the Lord and his followers. What a great example for all of us. If only our first impulse upon receiving the miraculous working of Christ was to serve Him! Edersheim paints the scene on the canvas of our imagination...

“It was evening. The sun was setting, and the Sabbath past. All that day it had been told from home to home what had been done in the Synagogue; it had been whispered what had taken place in the house of their neighbor Simon. This one conviction had been borne in upon them all, that 'with authority' He spake, with authority and power He commanded even the unclean spirits, and they obeyed. No scene more characteristic of the Christ than that on this autumn evening at Capernaum. One by one the stars had shone out over the tranquil Lake and the festive city, lighting up earth's darkness with heaven's soft brilliancy, as if they stood there witnesses, that God had fulfilled His good promise to Abraham. On that evening no one in Capernaum thought of business, pleasure, or rest. There must have been many homes of sorrow, care, and sickness there, and in the populous neighborhood around. To them, to all, had the door of hope now been opened. Truly, a new Sun had risen on them, with healing in His wings. No disease too desperate, when even the demons owned the authority of His mere rebuke. From all parts they bring them: mothers, widows, wives, fathers, children, husbands - their loved ones, the treasures they had almost lost; and the whole city throngs - a hushed, solemnized, overawed multitude - expectant, waiting at the door of Simon's dwelling. There they laid them, along the street up to the market-place, on their beds; or brought them, with beseeching look and word. What a symbol of this world's misery, need, and hope; what a symbol, also, of what the Christ really is as the Consoler in the world's manifold woe! Never, surely, was He more truly the Christ; nor is He in symbol more truly such to us and to all time, than when, in the stillness of that evening, under the starlit sky, He went through that suffering throng, laying His hands in the blessing of healing on every one of them, and casting out many devils. No picture of the Christ more dear to us, than this of the unlimited healing of whatever disease of body or soul. In its blessed indefiniteness it conveys the infinite potentiality of relief, whatever misery have fallen on us, or whatever care or sorrow oppress us. He must be blind, indeed, who sees not in this Physician the Divine Healer; in this Christ the Light of the World; the Restorer of what sin had blighted; the Joy in our world's deep sorrow. Never was prophecy more truly fulfilled than, on that evening, this of Isaiah: 'Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.' By His Incarnation and Coming, by His taking our infirmities, and bearing our sicknesses - for this in the truest and widest sense is the meaning of the Incarnation of the Christ - did He become the Healer, the Consoler of humanity, its Savior in all ills of time, and from all ills of eternity. (Edersheim, Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, 1883 version, Book III, Chapter 14, in newer versions on p. 335-336)

4. The departure of Jesus for a desolate place v. 42-44
Jesus makes one of his very important "purpose statements" in this passage. They went to "bring him home" from his time of prayer outside the city with the line "the people are looking for you." Jesus' answer, that his mission in proclaiming the Kingdom of God, is bigger than they expect. He had been sent to "look for the people" by preaching in all their towns...not just in Capernaum. N.T. Wright comments,

“Though Capernaum was his base of operations, he spent most of his time on the move. This may have been partly for the sake of the village itself; it couldn’t have sustained having more and more people come there for healing. Some have suggested that Jesus didn’t want to risk people setting up a kind of local industry around him. But the main reason is that he had to go to where other people were. He had to tell people that God was becoming King in a new way, that God’s long awaited salvation was breaking into the world, even though it didn’t look like they had expected it would. And in doing this he had to stay one jump ahead of the authorities. It isn’t too long before we find opposition following him. Crowds and healings, powerful teaching about God’s kingdom: many found it threatening then, and may find it threatening still.” (N.T.Wright, Luke for Everyone, Westminster John Knox Press 2004, p.52.)