...
As we come to God's word together, let's pray.
Father, we ask that you would
help us this morning
to
not just gather information,
about
the Bible, or even just
information about you,
but as we come now before
your word, we pray that we would come to know you
truly and better.
That your Holy Spirit would be
poured out this morning so that we might
see you in the face of Jesus Christ
and that
we might know how deep
and how
certain
and how transformative
is your love for us.
We pray this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Luke chapter 4,
verses 31 through 44.
And he, that is Jesus,
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.
And 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?
For 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
and 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.
And he was preaching
in the synagogues
of Judea.
So this winter
and spring,
we are studying
the first part
of the Gospel of Luke,
Jesus' ministry
in Galilee.
And we're doing that
because it's good,
you know,
in our life
as a church
to come back
continually
to the center
of what it's all about.
Because
what Christianity
is all about
is not ultimately,
what the church
is all about
is not ultimately
a set of ideas
or a code of ethics
though it certainly
implies those things.
Ultimately,
Christianity
is about a person.
It's about
the historical
person
of Jesus Christ.
So if you're
not a Christian,
we hope this series
in some ways
gives you a front row seat
to the main event.
Here we go.
Here is what it's all about.
What do you make
of Jesus Christ?
And if you're here
and you are a Christian,
honestly,
we hope that this series
sparks a season
of renewal
for you.
Because you see,
spiritually in the Christian life,
spirituality in the Christian life
really boils down
to beholding Christ.
To adoring him,
to worshiping him,
to having our hearts
drawn to intimacy
with him together.
And through that work
of the Holy Spirit,
we're changed
more and more
to be like him.
So that's why
we're in Luke
in this season.
And our text this morning
we see right away
is about Jesus'
authority.
Verse 32,
they were astonished
at his teaching
because his word
possessed what?
Authority.
And then in verse 36,
what is this word
for with authority
and power
he commands
the unclean spirits
and they come out?
We see the same theme
repeated when Luke
repeats that word
rebuke
in this passage.
Did you catch that?
In verse 35,
Jesus does what?
He rebukes
the unclean spirit.
And then in verse 39,
he rebukes
the high fever
of Simon's mother-in-law.
Then in verse 41,
he rebukes
even more
oppressive evil forces.
the rebuke here
is Jesus'
authoritative
commanding word.
So in our passage,
Luke wants us
to come face-to-face
with Jesus'
authority.
Which maybe starts
to challenge
what we think
we know about Jesus.
And honestly,
what we're comfortable with.
I think most of us
are probably comfortable
with the idea of
Jesus,
the great moral example.
He lived a good life
and so should you.
Or we're comfortable
with Jesus,
the encourager,
the motivator,
the one who gets behind me
and helps me along the way,
whatever I happen to choose
my life path to be.
Those ideas about Jesus,
we're okay with them
and there's some truth
in each of them.
But you know,
according to the earliest
witnesses to the life
of Jesus that we have
and the gospel of Luke
is one of those,
that's not primarily
the picture that we get
of Jesus.
It's not Jesus
the moral example.
It's not Jesus
the great motivator.
But Jesus,
the utterly authoritative one.
And I think we see
at least three things
about Jesus' authority
in our text this morning
that we're going to walk through.
The first thing is
we see the threat
of Jesus' authority.
Jesus' authority
threatens us.
I think if we're honest,
we don't really like
the idea of authority.
I've used the word authority
about a hundred times
already in this sermon
and we're all sort of feeling
a little uncomfortable,
aren't we?
Come on,
we're all children
of the enlightenment,
children of the modern era,
and for us,
authority is nearly
always viewed suspiciously.
And you know,
perhaps there's some
or maybe a lot
of justification for that.
When people in positions
of power abuse
their authority,
it's only natural
to start to think
that authority
is a bad thing
or at least
a dangerous thing,
a thing that needs
to be sort of
carefully contained
like a hazardous substance.
At best,
we only want someone
to have authority
in our lives
if we grant it to them
and if it has
very defined boundaries.
I join a sports team
or I join a theater group
or I take a new job
and I implicitly
sort of grant
that coach
or that director
or that boss
some degree of authority
in my life.
They get to call the plays,
they get to make
the artistic decisions,
they get to lead the company,
but it's all very defined,
all very compartmentalized.
At the end of the day,
I still keep my autonomy
and I still have authority
over my life.
And so when Jesus arrives
before us in this text
as one with authority,
with utter authority,
with complete authority,
such that what he says goes,
I mean, come on,
if we're honest,
we don't really like it.
Deep down, I think,
we might even hate it.
We can handle a moral example
and we can handle a motivator,
but not an authority.
Have you thought about
why that is?
Why is the prospect
of Jesus' complete authority
such a threat to us?
Why does it repel us so often?
Well, deep down,
I think it's because
we think it will destroy us.
What have you to do with us,
Jesus of Nazareth?
Have you come to destroy us?
How many of us,
maybe not in the same language,
have thought the same thing?
If I were to let Jesus' authority
shape my entire life,
if I were to let him
have complete sway over me,
if I made him my Lord,
then the only possible outcome
that I can envision
in that scenario
is that it would destroy me.
My happiness,
my joy,
my freedom.
And you know,
this threat of his authority
goes deeper
than just having some
new inconvenient things
that I'd have to start doing
or some sort of old
things I like,
I'd have to stop doing those.
You know,
it's not like,
well,
now I'd have to start
going to church
and I'd have to stop
posting snarky comments
on Facebook.
It goes deeper than that,
doesn't it?
It gets down to our identity.
You sense,
you and I sense
that there's something
you have to let go of
at a deep
sort of subterranean level
if Jesus is going to have
this sort of authority
in your life.
And that's scary
because up till now,
there's a particular way
that you've defined yourself.
This is who I really am
or this
or this,
whatever it is.
But now,
you have to belong to him.
He has to be
the Lord of your life.
He's the defining thing now.
I wonder how many
of our intellectual objections
to Christianity
really at bottom
are about this.
Now,
there's nothing wrong
with questions
and there's nothing wrong
with honest doubts.
If Christianity,
after all,
claims to be true,
then we have to
at some level
ask questions
and raise our doubts
and wrestle with them.
And here at Trinity,
we want to be the kind of place
where we ask those questions
and wrestle with those doubts together.
We want to welcome
that sort of exploration.
But at some point,
there comes a moment
when the questions before us
as we consider Christianity
stop being intellectual
and they start being personal.
Am I willing to stop
being the Lord of my own life
and let Jesus be Lord?
And we have to ask ourselves,
am I willing
to be brutally honest
with my own doubts
to the point
where I can admit
that some of my intellectual questions
might be a smokescreen,
a way of avoiding
the real question
of whether or not
I can embrace
Jesus' authority over me?
In other words,
friends,
can you be honest enough
with yourself
to acknowledge
when deep down
what's keeping you
from Christianity
is that you're afraid,
afraid that submitting
to his authority
will simply destroy you.
But you know,
this isn't just an issue
for those of us
who are considering Christianity.
It's an issue
for those of us
who are already Christians too.
Because there will always
be remaining sin
in our lives.
We will constantly
encounter times
when we don't want
to live our lives
under Jesus' authority.
We'll come up against
some clear word
in Scripture
and it will run
counter to our desires
or our plans
or it will run
against the grain
of our culture
and strike us
as awkward
or impossible even
and we'll be tempted
in that moment
to sort of explain
those passages
of Scripture away
or we'll come up
with a whole list
of reasons
why my circumstances
just make it too hard
or too demanding
or too costly
to follow what he says
and obey him.
And the pattern
is the same.
Don't you see?
Even in our hearts.
Even in the hearts
of believers
there's still the voice
that says
have you come
to destroy us?
Which is why
we all need to see
the rest
of what Luke
shows us here.
The second point
we see
and what Luke
wants us ultimately
to see about
Jesus' authority here
is that it doesn't
just threaten us.
Ultimately
it liberates us.
Jesus' authority
sets us free.
You see this evil spirit
in verse 34
he sort of throws down
a challenge to Jesus
doesn't he?
He says
have you come
to destroy us?
Now
perhaps the word
us there
is referring to
just sort of
evil spirits
in general.
But the us
could also be referring
to the evil spirit
and the man
who is afflicted
both of them together.
In other words
this evil spirit
is saying to Jesus
you take me down
he goes with me
what are you going
to do to us
Jesus?
Have you come
to destroy us?
But what happens?
At the word
of Jesus'
authoritative
rebuke
the evil spirit
comes out
of the man
and as Luke
says at the end
of verse 35
having done him
no harm.
you see
the exercise
of this
total authority
that Jesus has
doesn't spell
this man's
destruction
it ushers in
this man's
liberation
it's his release.
The same is true
of Simon's
mother-in-law
but this time
the destructive
force isn't
spiritual
it's physical
and with a word
Jesus frees
this woman
from a life
threatening illness
she's unbound
and immediately
Luke says
she can rise
and minister.
Do you see
the picture
that's emerging
here?
As humans
we're threatened
on every side
by forces
greater than us
by forces
that threaten
to undo us
do we not
feel that?
Their interior
and their exterior
their spiritual
and their physical
but here
now
at last
a greater
authority
has arrived
and this
authority
Jesus himself
sets us free.
Now you have
to see
that the
liberation
this passage
depicts
challenges
both the
skeptical
mindset
and the
traditional
mindset.
What do I
mean?
Well it's
easy to see
how this
passage is a
bit of a
challenge to
the skeptic
isn't it?
I mean there's
a whole lot
of talk about
demons here.
Demons
really?
Maybe some
of you are
thinking
isn't this
the 21st
century?
Can we
really believe
in evil
spirits
anymore?
Wasn't that
just sort of
a pre-modern
way of
talking about
mental
illness?
I get it.
To many
of us
in the
west
belief
in evil
spirits
seems
completely
irrational
and maybe
even a
little
primitive.
But actually
you know
I would
submit to
you that
it
needn't
be
either.
And it
actually
isn't
either.
On the
one hand
it's not
necessarily
irrational
if there's
such a
thing as
a God
after all.
If God
exists
some
personal
spiritual
good
then it's
not
irrational
to think
that there
just might
be
personal
spiritual
evil
in the
world.
And on
the other
hand it's
not necessarily
a primitive
belief
either.
Take a look
very closely
at this
passage.
Luke
in this
text is
distinguishing
quite
carefully
and quite
deliberately
between
physical
illness
and
demonic
affliction.
He's
not
conflating
the two.
And the
New Testament
never does.
In fact
the Bible
as a whole
would lead
us to
have
not a
primitive
but
actually
quite
robust
and
sophisticated
view
of the
world
and
ourselves.
Because it
acknowledges
that we're
physical
and emotional
and social
and psychological
and also
spiritual
beings.
That all
of these
things form
a very
complex
view
a very
robust
view
of what
reality
is
and the
Bible
doesn't
allow us
to sort
of limit
or narrow
or oversimplify
the reality
in which
we live.
So yes
this passage
challenges
our
skeptical
mindset
but you
know
it also
challenges
our
traditional
our
conservative
mindset.
How so?
Well
it's showing
us here
that the
redemption
that Christ
brings
isn't
just
spiritual
but it's
physical
as well.
Christ
hasn't
just come
to save
our souls
and whisk
us away.
He's
come to
heal
the
material
world
as well.
So if
we're
followers
of Jesus
we can't
retreat
from caring
about
physical
needs.
Whether
it's
illness
and disease
or
poverty
or racial
injustice
or the
well-being
of the
environment
Christ
has come
to set
all
creation
free
one day
from
its
bondage
to
decay
and disease
and death
and those
who
follow
him
will
care
about
seeking
peace
and justice
and healing
here and
now.
Challenges
both
sides.
You see
what's going
on in this
passage is
that in
these mighty
works of
Jesus'
authority
we see
signs
of what
he will
do
over all
the
earth
one day.
In the
Old Testament
God promised
to put an
end to
evil and
death
and sickness
and suffering.
And here
in Jesus'
ministry
in the
first
century
that
promise
came
forward
breaking
into
history.
It's as if
God's future
for a moment
came flashing
forward like
a streak
of lightning
ripping
open the
old world
so that we
could see
what it
would be
like when
God
one day
finally
liberates
the whole
creation
from
everything
that threatens
to undo
us.
Here's a
glimpse of
it.
In other
words,
in Jesus,
the kingdom
of God,
God's
coming reign
of peace
and justice
was showing
up ahead
of time.
It was
showing up
ahead of
time because
Jesus,
the authoritative
one,
the king
of the
kingdom,
had landed
in enemy
territory
to demonstrate
his authority
and to begin
an insurgency
of freedom.
It was
showing up
ahead of
time
so that
we could
know the
one who
would one
day make
everything
right.
And end
every evil
power and
drive every
disease and
decay from
his good
creation.
So you
see,
friends,
coming under
Jesus'
authority won't
destroy you.
It heals
us.
It frees
us.
It gives
us back
our true
selves.
It's like
we're fish
sometimes,
I think.
It's like
we're fish
sometimes just
sort of flopping
on the sand,
wondering why
it's so hard
to breathe.
even though
we're free
and in
control of
our lives
and here
by our
own
decisions,
even though
all the
cultural forces
around me
are telling
me that
this is how
I should
find joy
and freedom,
and yet
there we
are,
and it's
so hard
to breathe.
And then
Christ comes,
and his
authority
rises
before us
like a
wave,
and it's
terrifying
in its
height
and in
its
speed,
and as
it starts
to turn
and come
down,
we think
it's going
to crush
us.
But when
it does
come down,
it carries
us,
not down
into destruction,
but it
takes us
back into
the rich
ocean depths
for which
we were
made.
So friends,
where's the
sticking point
for you?
Christian,
is there
some area
of obedience
that you
just can't
trust is
for your
good?
Look at
Jesus'
authority
here,
and know
that it
has come
to liberate
you and
set you
free.
Following
whatever
internal
desires or
feelings you
might have,
no matter
how loudly
they speak,
can't
guarantee
you the
freedom you
want,
the freedom
for which
you were
created,
but his
voice does.
The same
voice that
thunders over
the waters
and shatters
the cedars,
as Psalm 29
says,
is the same
voice that
silences the
evil powers
here,
heals the
multitudes,
and that same
voice speaks
his word to
us for our
instruction,
for our
liberty,
and for our
freedom.
And as you
follow his
word in
obedience,
you're
following the
word of
your
liberator.
But we
also need to
be reminded,
and this is
especially true
if you've been
following Jesus
for some
time,
that the
ultimate
freedom is
yet to
come.
As we
said,
these miracles
in the
gospels are
previews of
God's plan for
his redeemed
world.
And following
Jesus long
enough,
if you follow
him long
enough,
you will
encounter
hardships and
disappointments and
setbacks and
frustrations,
there is no
doubt.
And they
will be
painful
reminders that
the kingdom,
although already
present and at
work in our
midst,
is not yet
complete.
And yet
passages like
this are here
to remind you,
to remind us,
to keep
trusting in his
liberating authority.
glory.
If his first
coming was in
humility,
and with a
simple word he
made disease and
evil flee,
friends,
what will be
true of his
second coming
in glory?
What liberty and
healing and
wholeness will we
experience then?
Psalm 96 puts it
this way,
let the heavens be
glad and let the
earth rejoice.
Let the sea roar and
all that fills it.
Let the field exult and
everything in it.
Let all the trees of
the forest shall sing
for joy before the
Lord, for he comes,
for he comes to
judge the earth.
You see what the
psalmist is saying
there?
When the Lord's
authority is unveiled
on that day, the
whole created order
will erupt in praise.
It will be set free
in a way that we
can only imagine.
And as we look back
to these events in
the gospel, we can
look forward with
confidence to an even
greater future that
awaits.
And that will keep
you from despair when
things are hard.
And that will keep
you from complacency
when things are easy.
But there's one last
thing about Jesus'
authority that we need
to see in this passage.
And it's actually just
a small hint here,
but it will grow as
Luke's gospel unfolds.
And this third point is
what I'll call the
secret of Jesus'
authority.
You know, it's one
thing to be shown that
Jesus' authority is a
liberating authority, and
it's one thing to sort of
know that with our heads.
It's another thing to
actually get that in our
hearts.
What could make it real in
such a way that it
actually moves us to
really trust his authority
and to know that it
sets us free?
We have to see that there's
a bit of an unfolding
secret of Jesus'
authority in the
gospels.
At the end of our
passage, Jesus tells the
crowds who want him to
stay that he's got to
keep moving.
He's got to keep preaching
the good news of the
kingdom.
He's got to keep going.
He's been sent with a
mission, and that mission
isn't just to stay in
Capernaum and build a
following of people who
are amazed that his
mighty works.
But why not?
Why not stay?
Why not build a bigger
following?
What's the urgency?
And on top of that, why
is Jesus so adamant in
this passage that the
evil spirits remain
silent?
They know who he is.
They get his identity
right.
Yet he doesn't allow them
to speak.
Why?
Well, of course, on the
one hand, demons aren't
exactly the best PR for a
new ministry, are they?
Imagine that conversation
in first century Galilee.
Hey, I heard that Jesus
of Nazareth might be the
Messiah we've waited for.
Oh, yeah?
Who told you that?
A demon.
It's not really the sort
of press you want.
But, you know, there's a
deeper reason why he
commands their silence.
You know, everyone in
that day had their own
idea of what the Messiah
was supposed to come and
do, how he was supposed
to exercise his authority,
and most of those ideas
involved military authority
and political authority.
But that wasn't Jesus'
mission.
That wasn't what he'd
come to do.
His authority wasn't going
to be exercised that way.
And so for now, he told the
demons to be quiet because
he was going to show people
in his own time what he'd
come to do, what was
driving his mission, what
purpose sent him to other
towns with such urgency to
proclaim the kingdom of God.
You see, most of Jesus'
Jewish contemporaries thought
that they were the good
guys, and the pagans, the
Gentiles, the Romans, they
were the bad guys.
So in that scenario, ending
evil was very easy.
The Messiah should take his
authority and crush the evil
people out there.
But here's the problem.
What if evil isn't just out
there?
What if it's in here as well?
What if we need to be free
not from merely external
enemies, but from internal
enemies of our own making?
How then would the Messiah
use his authority to destroy
evil without destroying us?
How could he cleanse us of
evil and yet somehow make it
so that we too, like the man
in verse 35, can come away
without any harm?
As Luke's gospel unfolds and
then races to its climax, we
see exactly how Jesus does
that.
The secret of Jesus'
authority is that its
ultimate act comes not in a
display of power but of
weakness.
On the cross, Jesus would use
all of his authority to hang
naked and weak to pay the
penalty for our sins.
So that three days later, having
risen from the grave, he could
have all the authority to speak
the liberating word, the most
liberating word of all, the word
of forgiveness and the word of
peace and the word that makes us
right with God, the word of our
justification.
You see, Jesus took up this
ultimate authority and laid it
aside for you.
He was destroyed so that you never
have to be.
And if that's what he's done for
you, if that's how he's already
exercised his authority for
you, then friend, how could you
not trust him?
How could you not trust one who
does that for you?
How could his authority not
ultimately be your true freedom?
In the last battle, the final book
of C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of
Narnia, the whole story revolves
around this little shed, this
little sort of tiny stable.
And from the outside, it looks
pretty beat up and raggedy and
small and confining and sort of
barely big enough for a person to
fit inside.
But once the characters sort of
step in and enter through, they
realize that inside it contains
worlds.
That the inside is bigger than
the outside.
The authority of Jesus is like
that.
From the outside, it looks like
every other authority that we
know.
Constricting, confining, an enemy
to our happiness.
But when you step inside, you find
just the opposite.
That it's an authority unlike any
other.
It's freedom.
And it contains worlds within
worlds.
Some of you have tasted that
freedom.
And his authority really has set
you free.
So keep going, friends.
Further up and further in, as
they say at the end of that
book.
And some of you have been
looking at it from the outside,
maybe for months, maybe for
years.
If so, then this is your moment
right now to step inside.
To accept Jesus' liberating
authority over your life, to
rest in what he's done for you,
and to live in his freedom.
And as the characters at the
end of that story say in wonder,
at the end of Lewis' story, they
say, you know, the further up and
further in you go, the bigger
everything is.
Let's pray.
Father, we confess that we need your
help to trust the authority of
Jesus, the rightful king.
Help us to see it and to see how
much you love us and how much Christ
has done for us so that we might
take a step through that door and
come to know the ultimate freedom
that you bring.
And Father, what ought our
response to these things be?
But to rejoice.
To be glad and joyful that, Jesus,
you have come and you've taken up
your rightful reign.
And you've set us free from all
that oppresses us and all that
destroys us and all that holds us
bound.
Jesus, how could we not rejoice this
morning that you have come and
through laying down your authority,
you have freed us from guilt and
sin and death.
And Jesus, having taken up your
authority again in the resurrection,
you now reign forevermore.
Give us glad hearts this week, Lord
Jesus, that rejoice in you and find
your authority to be a sweet thing, we
pray.
Amen.