The Presence of Ultimate Authority
Series: Encountering Jesus (through the Gospel of Luke)
Brad Bailey – February 3, 2019
Text: Luke 4:31-41
Intro
I want to begin with a word… a topic. And give us each a second see what comes to mind.
“Authority” When you think of authority… what comes to mind?
My guess is that if we reflect long enough…we can have some pretty mixed feelings associated with authority.
Many of us may have some negative feelings…perhaps at different levels. For some…those associated with authority may have been abusive. For others… there may just be a more general distrust…enough figures have failed us.
And generally speaking, there is a part of most of us…that just doesn’t like to be told what to do.
But there can be another element that knows that order is essential to life. We might talk about chaos lightly…but we know that we really don’t want complete chaos. We want to believe that someone should be able to step in.
It may be helpful to keep that in mind ….as we continue in our series this morning. Encountering Jesus through the Gospel of Luke.
The Gospel of Luke… one of the accounts of the life and teaching of Jesus. These have been divided later into chapters and verses to be able to reference any one in particular. We are on a journey together… last week… in chapter 4.
Luke began his account of what led up to the birth of Jesus… and last week…we reached the moment in which Jesus was anointed and declared his ministry.
What Jesus had just declared in the previous synagogue…was now at hand: The prophecy was being fulfilled:
Luke 4:18-19, 21
The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."… "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."
Those in the local synagogue who heard these words were in awe…until Jesus began to challenge their sense of religious self-assurance. He reminded them how God had done miracles for Gentiles in the past. His point to those who heard then…and to us now…is that what he is bringing to bear is for everyone.
If you think you can decide who is worthy… you don’t understand what and who you are dealing with.
Jesus didn’t see people as religious or unreligious.
He saw people as self-righteous and declaring their independence to the very end…or those who knew they and the whole world needed change…and were able to receive him and the restoration of life with God which was at hand.
And now Jesus begins his mission…
Luke 4:31-32 (NIV)?Then he went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath began to teach the people. 32 They were amazed at his teaching, because his message had authority.
What was gong on here? Something very different than the usual way in which religious teachers taught.
The long history of Israel was clearly rooted in divine revelation…and then by the time of Jesus… the role of the religious teachers was one of opinions about that revelation.
God had spoken through the prophets. Religious leaders were those who now provide their various understanding of such truth…and how to follow it. SO they would cite various opinions to make their point.
Jesus operated out of another dimension.
He is speaking of what is the ultimate truth.
There are natural elements that we associate with authority. The best way I can describe it…is that Jesus spoke as one connected to the other side of the finite.
It is a different authority at hand.
We generally ascribe authority based on credentials that we associate with knowledge …or what endorsements that authors or speakers are given… or with the intensity of the claims that they make that what they say is true… or even with simply with style of presentation.
> But the ultimate truth lies in the source of the authority… that it is connected to that which is beyond mere finite perspective. [1a]
The first thing we discover about Jesus today… is that Christ bears…
Authority to declare ultimate truth (how things really are)
The people were amazed… something was different….Jesus spoke as one connected to the infinite side of reality.
Someone has come who was foretold would bear connection….who claimed connection…and what they have declared still bears connection… “living Word.”
That is another scale of authority.
When rabbis offered their best wisdom about how to find one’s way…how to discern truth… about how to find life…. Jesus was quite clear about his bearing something very different. At one point,
John 14:6, 9b, 10-11 (NIV) ?Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me….Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father….The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.
“I am the way…the truth.. the life.”
I know that today… these words may have a hard time penetrating the dominating idea that there is no one ultimate truth… that all ideas of truth should be respected as equal.
But Jesus isn’t presuming that that the most important need is for equal respect between human opinions…he is bringing the power of ultimate truth …the ways things really are… into a world that is darkened and living in the consequences of not having the means to fully known the way…or the truth…or life as it was meant to be…everlasting.
In the same way… a whole new world can open up to us if we can realize the difference between finite opinions…and a connection to ultimate truth.
The people were amazed at the authority of Jesus. It was not like the authority of opinions…however accurate they may be.
Luke continues to share… verse 33…
Luke 4:33-37 (NIV)
33 In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an evil spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice, 34 "Ha! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are--the Holy One of God!" 35 "Be quiet!" Jesus said sternly. "Come out of him!" Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him. 36 All the people were amazed and said to each other, "What is this teaching? With authority and power he gives orders to evil spirits and they come out!" 37 And the news about him spread throughout the surrounding area.
Here they realized they were in the presence of one who had….
Authority over spiritual powers
First, they realized they were in the presence of one who had a different relationship with truth. Now they realize that he had a different relationship with the spiritual realm. He had an authority over spiritual powers.
We will look more deeply into the powers of evil that can be so easily doubted or dismissed in our modern culture in the weeks ahead.
As I have noted previously, we live in a time in which it is hard to talk about evil. Our modern culture wants to think we are in control of everything… and therefore anything considered evil is really just a problem that we can fix through reason or technology. We need to keep everything material… within our control.
So one tendency it to dismiss spiritual power.
Another is to fear it.
And another way is to try and make light of such evil power… to speak of the devil as … a friendly enemy…not a real enemy.
Jesus understood that we are not the center of all reality… there is one eternal source of all good and all life…and spiritual forces which want to defy that good and that glory…and gaining control of human lives is part of that.
[Potential here to show movie clip from J.R. Tolkien’s Two Towers that depicts such control…as well as freedom. The scene depicts Gandalf freeing the possessed king.]
And so… Christ made clear… he bears…
Authority over spiritual powers
Luke continues…
Luke 4:38-39 (NIV)
38 Jesus left the synagogue and went to the home of Simon. Now Simon's mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Jesus to help her. 39 So he bent over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up at once and began to wait on them.
There is a transition here worth noting.
Jesus left the synagogue and went to the home of Simon.
He moves from the very public setting…to the personal setting.
He goes the home of one of his new disciples.
And there in the home the fishermen’s mother-in-law is suffering. [1b]
You may recall that Luke, who formed this Gospel account… was a doctor…who began his Gospel stating he had taken extensive work to get the facts…the details…and here he includes what only his account includes…a more specific description of the fever. What we read in English as a “HIGH fever”…was a distinct word…the type a doctor would use.
We do not know the cause of this fever…it may have been from mosquito-born malaria, bred in the plains where the Jordan River meanders into the Sea of Galilee, which was a problem for the lakeside towns of Galilee. But the facts that it was high and the fact that the woman was too sick to get up suggest an extremely serious and perhaps life threatening illness. The demands of every life in that time did not allow most people the luxury of going to bed whenever they felt badly..
Jesus rebukes the illness…as if to imply that it had no ultimate place.
He lifted her up and the fever was immediately gone. And Luke as a doctor knows how significant it is that the fever was immediately gone…and that she was immediately infused with a complete restoration of her strength, she arose and “served them.” The effect was immediate; the fever not only left her, but she was able to “serve them.”
They were in the presence of the ultimate…
Authority over disease
Disease can be defined as…
Disease: a disorder of the intended condition of a life or system…often due to inherited trait or an infection.
We associate disease primarily with health of the human body. But Jesus shows that he came to bring God’s will to all that was disordered… both physically as well as socially. Jesus shows authority to confront the consequences of social injustice…constantly defying the unjust rules and oppressive norms of this world.
But healing the sick was a constant as well. He confronted the consequences of disease and ultimately death… upon the life God had created.
In fact this was just the start of healing many lives who came to him.
This is why he sent his followers to declare the same in his name…to seek the signs and wonders of heaven’s will.
A couple nights ago… I made a very late stop at the gas station just up the street. As I went inside…the lone woman working the graveyard shift let out a moan.
This led to her sharing how she had an intense flu…and didn’t know how she would be able to work all night. Seeing her nametag…I said Jaqueline…I know this may not be normal…but could I pray for you right now.
She immediately dropped her head down on the counter… “yes !”
I realized that what was at hand was not simply that it is nice to pray…or that I should pray… but that it was about letting her know that she is not alone…that there is one who can be with her… an authority who is ultimately over her disease.
Due to arriving customers I wasn’t able to follow up with what she experienced. The outcome of a war is over… there are still battles that wage… and no presumption that the conflict is not still being played out.
But… defeat has been settled…and that authority is beginning to operate.
There is a regime change…and we are in the middle of a transition… and it is not a friendly transition.
Luke finally concludes this section…
Luke 4:40-41 (NIV)
40 When the sun was setting, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them. 41 Moreover, demons came out of many people, shouting, "You are the Son of God!" But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Christ.
Here we see the authority of Jesus breaking out.
When the sun was setting…the Sabbath day….in which all were to rest came to an end…and the people began carrying those who were suffering to Jesus. [2]
Imagine what his disciples at the end of this day.
• In a world that knew only finite opinions… now one was present speaking with the authority connected to infinite and ultimate truth.
• In a world in which evil seems to rule the day…now one was present who had authority to confront and control the spiritual forces.
• In a world of suffering… now one was present who had authority over disease.
Closing
It is before the presence of this authority that we come before this morning.
And we do well do realize this is unlike any authority on earth. [3]
To those who have been hurt by human authority. God is good.
To those who distrust that authority will not merely serve it’s won good… God so loved that he gave… suffered.
To those who just don’t think anyone should control…and make you do something.
> You are right.
Your are free. [4]
In the end we will surrender to his authority or our own.
CS Lewis –
“There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, in the end, "Thy will be done." ? C.S. Lewis
[Closing prayer…to align with this authority.]
Closing Worship options:
Chris Tomlin - Jesus (Lyrics And Chords)
Rules and Reigns
Resources: Some thoughts may have been drawn from John Hamby: Jesus Heals A Demon Possessed Man (Apr 15, 2004)
Notes:
1a. In the same way… I would encourage anyone who may be considering the many claims for not believing… to recognize this distinction as well. If someone gives authority to Richard Dawkins or any other source… consider the same distinction. Is there a basis for connecting them to what lies beyond our limited finite perspective? Are they a worthy opinion…or are they possibly connected?
1b. As John Hamby notes, one observation that speaks to the Catholic belief in celibate priest hood, is the recognition that Peter had a wife. “If as the Roman Catholic Church claims, Peter was the first Pope, then his marital status flies in the face of the enforced celibacy of all priests, including the Pope. In fact the requirement of celibate ministry denies what God has permitted. The apostle Paul rather pointedly says in 1 Corinthians 9:5, “Do we have no right to take along a believing wife, as do also the other apostles, the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas (Peter)?”
2. John Hamby notes: “From our Gentile perspective the reason why the people waited until sunset is not obvious at first. Verse thirty-one tells us that it was the Sabbath day. It was unlawful for the Jewish people to carry anything including the sick on the Sabbath. The Jewish “day” ends at sundown, so as soon as the sun had set the people of this region of Galilee bundled up their sick and brought them to Christ.”
John Hamby also notes: “Jesus has just demonstrated that he could heal with just a word (v. 39), yet in the next verse Luke is careful to tell us (v. 40) that Jesus “laid His hands on every one of them and healed them.” Hands-on-healing was most unusual we see no mention of it in rabbinical literature or in the Old Testament. The method that Jesus used was radically new and was both symbolic of the outflow of divine power and a demonstration of the tenderness of Jesus. Every single person that evening felt the loving touch of the Master’s hand.”
3. The scripture is explicit as to the authority of Jesus:
He has the authority to teach (Mt. 7:29; Mk 1:22, 27; Lk. 4:32).
He has the authority to exorcise (Mt 8:28-34; 9:1-8, Mk 1:23-27; Lk 4:35-36)
He has the authority to heal (Mt 8:1-17; 12:15-16; Mk 1:29-34; Lk 4:38-41)
He has the authority to forgive (Mt 9:2-8, Mk 2:3-12; Lk 5:18-26)
He has the authority to judge (Jn 5:27; 17:2)
He has the authority to give life (Jn 10:28; 17:2)
He has the authority to empower (Mt 28:18-20).
[R. Kent Hughes. p. 152]
4. Dallas Willard says that the kingdom of God is the effective range of God's will. In other words, everything in the heavens and on the earth are subject to his will, either directly or indirectly. The other reality for us humans, is that we too have a kingdom, we too have an effective range of our will. The goal is to effectively submit our kingdom to God's, so that He might be able to trust us with his.
5. The demons were continually crying out, “You are the Son of God.”
It is possible that their shouts were not confessions but futile attempts to exercise mastery over Jesus by showing that they knew his name. But what ever the reasons for their shouts Jesus would not allow these representatives of the evil one to announce Him as the Messiah.
Why silence the demon’s declaration?
Actually it is a pattern which is reflected in various ways in the early ministry of Jesus.
• Jesus wouldn't let demons say who he was
• Jesus healed people but told them not to tell anyone
• Jesus told his disciples he was the Messiah, but told them to keep it secret
There may be several reasons that are all involved…
But I think the most clear reason is the one which Jesus himself alludes to…his time had not come. He knew that there was a level of confrontation with the powers of this world that no one understood. This would culminate not in his being raised up as king…but raised up on a cross to die.
Jesus wasn’t going to allow the people to just carry their political hopes forward…rushing him to Jerusalem… and never understanding what was at hand.
His time had not yet come. There are a number of references in the New Testament that Jesus’ mission was time-sensitive (Galatians 4:4, Romans 5:6, as well as those passages in Mark and the other gospels where Jesus refers to his time as not yet come (or ‘now my hour has come’.) Consider also:
Matthew 8:29
And they cried out, saying, "What business do we have with each other, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?"
John 2:4
And Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come."
John 7:6
So Jesus said to them, "My time is not yet here, but your time is always opportune.
John 7:30
So they were seeking to seize Him; and no man laid his hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.
John 12:23 (NIV) ?Jesus replied, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
In Mark 1: 40 – 45, such instructions are not honored…and Jesus has to avoid the area.
Galatians 4:4 (NIV) ?But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, ?Romans 5:6 (NIV) ?You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
