Good News Demonstrated

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0:00Okay, so we're in the book of Luke in our sermon series, and I was thinking about school this week. My favorite subject in school was always science. I kind of liked school in general, not all subjects equally. Didn't really care so much for history, for English, but I loved science. I've grown, don't worry, I've grown in my love for those other things too, but whether or not you love science, I think you'll admit that, and you'll agree with me that the best part of science class was the demonstrations.

0:32That was the best part of science. And you know what I'm talking about, right? Like the vinegar, baking soda volcanoes, the prism that breaks up the light into all the different colors, the magnets moving, the iron shavings, things like that. Kids, I want to hear after the service today, think during my sermon about what some of your favorite science demonstrations are. Or maybe I should learn about some more newer ones that are happening right now in school.

1:03But I loved the fact that the concepts that you were being taught were taking shape and appearing right in front of your eyes. That you were seeing them. Heat that blasts you, a smell that would make you wrinkle your nose and kind of pull your head away, and colors that would change right in front of your eyes. Those things were not just a show. They were demonstrating to you the principles in the book are true. That they really are real. Those principles were coming to life.

1:34All the things that you can't see, those demonstrations show you that the things that you can't see, the atoms, the energy, the magnetic fields, all of those things are actually real. You can't see them with your eyes, but they're demonstrated in these experiments right in front of your eyes. Now that's exactly the way that you should look at today's passage. Because today's passage shows us that Jesus' power is real. That the things that we can't control, he has power over.

2:01He's demonstrating that his word is true. Just like those experiments demonstrate that your science book has truth in it about the way God's world works. Jesus shows here through miracles that he, what he said about his own power is actually true, it's actually real, and that you can rely on it. In a different town from Nazareth, Jesus gives people a demonstration. He had the audacity last week to walk in front of Nazareth, his hometown, and to declare that he was the one that the prophet Isaiah spoke about.

2:34He was the one that was sent by God in the power of the spirit to give good news to the poor, to set free the captives. And now he comes into Capernaum, to a different town, and he shows us that he has the power to actually accomplish it. So turn with me to Luke 4, starting in verse 31, and we will dive into the word of God together. This is the word of God for us today. It's reliable, it's true, because God is reliable, and he's true. And he went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and he was teaching them on the Sabbath, and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word possessed authority.

3:24And in the synagogue, there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, 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. 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. And they were all amazed and said to one another, what is this word?

3:56For with authority and power, he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out. And reports about him went out into every place in the surrounding region. 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. And he stood over her and rebuked the fever. And it left her, and immediately she rose and began to serve them. Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him.

4:35And he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. 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. 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. But he said to them, I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to other towns as well, for I was sent for this purpose.

5:12And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea. Pray with me. Lord, we're grateful for your word. We're grateful that we can rely upon it. Will you please, by your spirit, move in our hearts. Help the word to go down deep, to bear fruit. Change us. Show us who you are with greater clarity. Give us strength and courage and encouragement as we follow you.

5:47Lord, do this among us today for your glory and your glory alone. Jesus, we pray this in your name. Okay, so the title of my sermon today is Good News Demonstrated. And here's the big idea. Deliverance from captivity by the powerful and compassionate Savior. Let's start here. Jesus arrives with good news. He comes to Capernaum. He's left Nazareth. That was where he was last week. He goes, he leaves Nazareth and he goes northeast to Capernaum. It's about 20 miles away.

6:22Here's a picture of what Capernaum looks like today. It's on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. It sits 680 feet below sea level. So no matter where you're coming from, you go down to Capernaum. I don't know if you know that. I didn't know that until I was an adult. But when you see directions in the Bible, they went up to Jerusalem. They went down to Capernaum. It's not talking north, south, east, west. It's talking about height and elevation.

6:50So everyone goes up to Jerusalem because Jerusalem's on a mountain. And everyone goes down to Capernaum because it's all the way down below sea level. So down to Capernaum. This is a larger place than Nazareth. It's three or four times bigger than Nazareth. Nazareth was about 400 people. This was probably 1,000 or 2,000 people. It's a fishing town. It's an agriculture town. It's a pretty busy place. Just as he had been doing in other places, he goes to the synagogue to worship and to preach.

7:19And like elsewhere, it causes a stir. And they were astonished at his teaching. It's a similar response to the people of Nazareth, but in Capernaum, they feel something. And they call it authority. That's the word they attach to it, authority. Authority is a key theme in this passage. The word authority, power, rebuke, all those things that appear in this passage over and over and over.

7:48You know, I wish that I could go right now and apologize to every substitute teacher I ever had. I don't think I was the worst student they ever had. But it might be close. Like other kids, I recognized that the real authority wasn't in the room. And I took advantage. I was a bit of an instigator. Don't be like that. Kids, yes. That was my wife who just said that. Don't be like that, kids.

8:22We all knew. And kids, you know. You know what it is. You know that what happens when the substitute is there is not going to happen when the permanent teacher comes back. When the permanent teacher comes back, you know all the shenanigans of the day before have to stop. Or that those times when they call an administrator to come to the classroom before the permanent teacher has come back, you know the shenanigans have got to stop. Yes, that did happen a couple times.

8:51When they come back in the room, authority is now back in the room and you just know things are different than they were. We could get away with stuff and now we can't get away with anything. You paid attention. That's something like what happened in Capernaum on this day when he's teaching in the synagogue. They sat up straighter in their seats. They listened with more attention. The kids stopped throwing spitballs and things like that. Authority was in the room.

9:20It was his word. It wasn't his demeanor. We don't know whether Jesus was, I kind of doubt that he was pounding on a podium or something. He was probably very soft-spoken, given that the scriptures say that he's gentle and lowly. It was his word that had authority. The things coming out of his mouth. The summary of his message. There was a weightiness to it. A clarity to it. An undeniable truth to it. And it made sense, right? This is the word made flesh.

9:50Standing in front of them. The one who co-created the whole universe, including them, was now speaking to them, revealing truth to them. Remarks and questions about Jesus' authority, they come up over and over and over in the Gospels. Some people are constantly challenging Jesus. What gives you the authority to do this? But today, in Capernaum, there is no challenge. Everyone just senses it and recognizes it. This man has authority. But then something happens.

10:23Just when they thought that authority was really present, that they understood the full depth of Jesus' power and authority, something happens. The first miracle in the Gospel of Luke. This is good news demonstrated. A man comes forward in the synagogue. He's acting strange.

10:44Remember what I said last week. Synagogue worship was a lot like what our church services are like. It's probably about the same size as this in Capernaum. Imagine this happening here. He had the spirit of an unclean demon. In our modern Western world, we do not give much thought to demon possession, except for in the movies.

11:08We prefer to think in scientific categories, clinical categories. God's Word tells us that demon possession is not a fantasy. Evil spirits can afflict people. Now, provoked by the demon, this man initiates a confrontation with Jesus. He cried out with a loud voice, Ha! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? There's no really good word to translate that Greek word that is ha here. It's not so much like the demon is laughing. It's more just an expression of alarm.

11:47It could be like, ah, or something like that. He's not really laughing. He's terrified. To put what he says in another way, mind your own business, Jesus. You and I have nothing in common. Mind your own business. But this is Jesus' business. You can tell that the demon is terrified. The very presence of Jesus is threatening to him. Take note of that. Jesus' very presence. He says, I know who you are, the Holy One of God. He knows he's in deep trouble.

12:28He wishes Jesus had come to a different town. He tries the only thing that he can do to defend himself. To keep Jesus from acting. The demon says, have you come to destroy us? Now remember, the passage says it's demon singular. And he says, I know who you are. There's only one demon here. But he says, what do you have to do with us? Have you come to destroy us? He's talking about him and the man. That's the us here. The demon is like someone holding a hostage at knife point.

13:05Right? Don't come any closer, Jesus. Jesus, he thinks as long as he has possession of this man, maybe Jesus can't do anything. Maybe Jesus can't act. He can't do anything because Jesus doesn't want to harm the man. This man is a helpless captive. But the demon is wrong. This is no problem for Jesus. Jesus doesn't need an incantation. He doesn't need to pull out some kind of book. He doesn't have a ritual. He doesn't light any candles. He doesn't get out a weapon.

13:38He doesn't need anyone else or anything else. He just speaks. He speaks a word. He rebukes the demon like he was chastising a child. And the demon comes out of him, having done him no harm. The demon is defeated and the man is preserved by a simple word from Jesus. The people are rightly amazed by this. Imagine how we would experience this. They're blown away. What is this word? For with authority and power, he commands the unclean spirits and they come out.

14:22The authority of the word Jesus preached just moments earlier had been applied to drive out the demon. It's not just power that he has to persuade people about what truth is. It literally pushes back evil from among them. Right in front of them.

14:48Now he goes to Simon's house after the worship service is done. Simon is the name for Peter before he was called Peter. Simon's mother-in-law was ill with a high fever. Remember, it must be serious because they appealed to Jesus. Do something about this, please. Remember, the one writing this is a doctor. A more literal translation would not be ill with a high fever. It would be seized with a high fever.

15:19She's captive. She's oppressed. Just like the man earlier except by a different force. Jesus does the same thing he did before. He speaks. I could be wrong, but I think this is the only time in the Gospels that Jesus speaks and the word rebuke is used about a physical disease. He rebukes the virus or whatever it is that's causing this. He stood over and rebuked the fever and it left her. The healing is so immediate, so dramatic that she immediately stands up and she serves Jesus in gratitude.

16:00You don't often see something, a healing so dramatic like this, right? We're used to a gradual progression of getting better. However, when Brie was about two, maybe three, you can correct me here, hon, two or three, we traveled to Texas to visit Nikki's parents. And we arrived late in the evening and we went straight to bed. About an hour after we went to sleep, Brie woke up crying. And we knew right away this is not like a fussy cry. This was a pained cry.

16:32It very quickly got more and more urgent. Until she was howling. We knew that she was in pain. It's the middle of the night. Nikki took her to an all-night clinic. By the time she was seen, she had been screaming in pain for about three hours. She had a really bad inner ear infection. Really bad. The doctor leaned her over, put a few drops of some numbing agent in her ear, and she immediately stopped crying. And then she threw up because she had worked herself up so much.

17:13And then she fell asleep. It was immediate. Now contrast that to Jesus here. Jesus didn't numb Simon's mother-in-law. He literally cured her. He drove out the virus. And he didn't do it with medicine. He didn't look in his bag. Let's see what I have here. Here's the thing that'll treat you. He speaks. The same word that he preached with authority, he rebukes that fever and it left her. He has direct control over the microscopic germs that these people at this time didn't even know anything about.

17:56He has control over each cell in our bodies. Now, what happens next is really cool. Word gets out of Capernaum and people are just flocking to Jesus. Word has spread. There is someone in town who can cast out demons and who can heal. Come quick. And people are just flocking to him. Probably at Simon's house. The sun was setting. Just imagine this sight. The sun was setting. The word is getting out. People are just coming from all over to see Jesus.

18:29It's been a full day for Jesus, right? He's done two miracles. He preached a sermon, two miracles. You know, I would call it a day if that were me. But he doesn't stop his work.

18:48And neither does he take the easy way out. He could have healed them all in mass, right? He wouldn't have even had to get up. They wouldn't have even had to come. He could just speak from where he was and heal everyone in the vicinity, right? But he doesn't. He chooses to heal by laying his hands on them. Each one of them. Each person gets a one-on-one interaction with Jesus. Even though it's late. Even though it takes much, much longer this way.

19:24He heals with a personal touch. Even though they had diseases. And coughing. And open spores. And skin diseases. Even though some of them had demons, probably. Which made them convulse violently. We read in other Gospels that several people had trouble containing some people who had demons. But he wants to interact with them. And lay his hands on them.

19:56He continues healing. Who knows how long this takes. Maybe it takes all night. He keeps going. One after one after one. You're healed. You're healed. I'm casting this out. I'm casting this out. I'm restoring you here. All night long. Until every one of them, the passage says, was healed.

20:22Now here's the central truth of this passage. In Jesus, you have real power in the right hands. Real power in the right hands. Jesus is not a motivational speaker.

20:39He didn't show up on the earth to give people a bunch of sayings to help them live their life better. He didn't show up in Nazareth and proclaim that he was sent by God to set captives free to inspire people. He was not saying, you know what? You go get them. Go attack those problems in your life. I'm with you. I'm cheering you on. That was not his mission. He meant it literally. No, no. I'm saying you're literally a captive. You're a prisoner. And I'm here to set you free.

21:15You cannot free yourself. Here Jesus comes into direct contact with two forces that oppose us and afflict us and oppress us every day. Spiritual evil and physical death. Two great enemies that we have that we can't do anything about in our own strength. And he demonstrates that he can deliver us from that. In John 8, Jesus says, If the Son sets you free, you'll be free indeed. This is not a metaphor. He is being literal.

22:04We have to grapple with and own up to the fact that we cannot free ourselves. We cannot conquer death on our own. We cannot conquer spiritual evil on our own. We need him to do it for us. Whether it's demons or disease, whether it's all the fallen angels in the whole cosmos, or it's all of the effects of the fallen world, Jesus has the power to overcome it. That's what he's showing us here. He says, everything I've said, it's literal, it's true, and I am the one.

22:38I will do it. And, this power is in the right hands. All this talk about authority and power, it might raise some alarm bells for you. We all know that power tends to corrupt. And absolute power corrupts absolutely. Maybe you've been hurt by someone in authority. If that's you, I want to draw your attention to the Jesus of this passage. Look again at the character of Jesus that's shown here. He delivers the man in the synagogue from possession safely.

23:21He restores Peter's mother-in-law immediately. And he ministers to the whole town patiently and personally. That's the one who has the power. You can trust him. When someone this loving has this kind of power, it is good news indeed. Especially for helpless people like you and like me. My invitation today, to me and to you, is to entrust yourself to him and live without fear. Fully entrust yourself to him and live without fear. Recognizing Jesus is not enough.

24:12The demon knew he was the son of God, but he acted in defiance of him. In order to receive his deliverance, you have to recognize who he is and entrust yourself to him. Rest in him. Rely on him. Once you do that, your bondage to sin has been broken. It's true today. You are a captive released. And one of the things that you are released from is fear.

24:45Romans 8 says this, You did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry, Abba, Father. Evil spirits are still at work in this world. Let's be sober to that reality. We are wise to remember that. But they tremble in the presence of your Savior, the one who has your name written on his hands. They're afraid of him. You don't have to fear. Gather with other believers. Go to him in prayer.

25:27Remember that he is going to win that battle. And we still live in a fallen world. I don't have to tell you this on the other side of a pandemic. We know that sickness and sorrow and death is still among us. Peter's mother-in-law and everyone else in Capernaum eventually died.

25:55But for all those who trust in Christ, even death itself has been transformed. It is now only the transition from him being here with you to you being there with him. It's the only thing it is now. It's a transition. It's a door. From him being here with you to you being there with him. It has no threat on your future. It cannot separate you from the love of Christ.

26:29When we face forces like evil and death in this world, forces that we by ourselves cannot overcome, let's remember that we are no longer by ourselves.

26:41Isaiah said this. This is God speaking through the prophet Isaiah. Fear not, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name and you are mine. If Jesus is your Savior, that is your Father speaking to you. Let's close quickly and briefly with the last three verses of this passage. Jesus departs with good news. He came with good news. He demonstrated the good news with the best science experiment ever. And then he departs with good news. Capernaum tries to keep Jesus there.

27:20They think he's healed us now, but what if I break my leg tomorrow? Jesus, don't leave. Stay here. But he can't stay. It's not because he was born a ramblin' man. And he also doesn't stay because he says, I've got to go heal more people. Did you see that in the text? He says, I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well, for I was sent for this purpose. Sometimes I've heard the question, Pastor, why didn't Jesus just heal more people while he was on the earth?

27:57Why didn't he eradicate disease? Give us a cure for cancer. Write a bunch of medical textbooks. That's a great question. I think the best answer, the summary answer is, he has a bigger goal in mind. His mission includes eradicating disease, but it's so much more than that. It's so much better than that. If you travel to Yellowstone National Park, you're going to come to a sign at one of the entrances.

28:31If you were to stop at this sign and camp out next to it, you would be foolish, right? You didn't come for the sign. You came for the geysers and the hot springs and the trees and the views. This sign is just there to tell you, this is it. You found it. Come on and enjoy the park. Jesus' miracles were just a preview. They're just signs that pointed forward to the real deliverance that he was going to accomplish. He was going to go to the cross to take the punishment for sin in the place of all sinners.

29:08He was going to put to death, death itself and overcome spiritual evil for us so that we could receive forgiveness and life and freedom. His miracles on earth were just this sign. He didn't want the people to just stop there. So he went around talking about this. Talking about what he was going to do, what it meant, how to respond to it and what he would do when he returned. Because when he returns, sin and evil and all of the effects of this rebellion will be done away with under his just and good rule.

29:49That is the good news of the kingdom of God. That's what he preaches. He preaches that because people will understand these things that I'm doing. I'm doing them so that you'll put your trust in me, so that you will enjoy me, that you will rest in me.

30:07Don't stop at just having your fever cast out of you. There is so much more that Jesus has to offer. Jesus has the power and the compassion to do away with our greatest threats and set us free. Trust him, live with hope instead of fear and keep going. Fear not, little flock.

30:37It is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. It's good news. Fear not, little flock. It is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Let's pray.

31:00Jesus, thank you for doing what we were helpless to do. Lord, we see this man in this text who was freed from this demon. We hear about Simon's mother-in-law who was freed from her fever and all these townspeople who you touched and personally healed. And Lord, we see ourselves there because this is what you've done for us. This is what you will completely accomplish when you return.

31:38We long and we look forward to the day where there will not be evil, there will not be suffering, there will not be death. There will be nothing else to cast out because it's all done and gone away with. Will you please keep our eyes focused on you and our hearts full of hope because you have the power. You have started it at your death and resurrection and you will finish it. Help us not to fear. Help us entrust ourselves to you completely, Jesus.

32:14We pray this in your name.