Miracles of Jesus - Part 6

Luke 4:38-41

Following the deliverance of the man possessed by an unclean spirit Jesus left the synagogue, and went to the home of Peter, where his mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever and they asked Jesus to heal her. While the other accounts, Matthew 8:14-15; Mark 1:29-31, focus on the physical “touching” or “taking the hand” of this woman, Luke emphasizes the rebuking of the fever. Not only does this high fever leave the woman instantly she instantly recovers her strength. Just as the waves of the sea would take considerable, time to be calmed after the winds ceased, so the weakness resulting from the fever of this woman would have taken time to overcome. Yet her healing was instantaneous and complete.

The deliverance of the demon possessed man and Peter’s mother-in-law occurred on the Sabbath, and this was not considered normal activity on the Sabbath. As sunset approached, the Sabbath ended, which immediately brought many to the door of the house, hoping for healing. These were not people with minor ailments, various aches and pains, but people with serious maladies of various types, people who had to be brought by others. Until the Sabbath ended, the people could not labor by carrying the ill to Jesus. At sunset, the people arrived en masse. Every type of illness was healed, instantly and completely. Demons, too, were being cast out, like the exorcism that Luke reported in the synagogue earlier that day. Here, too, the demons identified Jesus as the “Son of God,” but were rebuked and silenced, and commanded to come out (Luke 4:41). Jesus did not desire or permit the praise of these unclean enemies.

It would seem that Jesus performed healings throughout the night. When daylight came Jesus “left and went to a secluded place” (Luke 4:42). Luke does not specifically mention prayer here, but Mark does (Mark 1:35).

It was not long before the crowds found Jesus. When they realized that He was leaving them, they, unlike the people of Nazareth, sought to keep Him in their midst. The reason was obvious, and not all that commendable. Who would want such a healer and teacher to leave, however Jesus responded to their appeals to stay by referring to His calling, to “preach the kingdom of God to the other cities” (Luke 4:43).

Jesus knew what He had been called to do. Just as Isaiah’s prophecy, read by Jesus in the synagogue at Nazareth, emphasized the importance of proclamation, so Jesus stresses the priority of proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom to practicing miraculous healings. There is a missionary mandate here as well. Not only does Jesus view preaching as having priority to miracle-working, He also views it as necessary for Him to preach throughout Israel, and not just in a few places. Thus, the final verse (Luke 4:44) informs us that Jesus kept on preaching in Judea, and not just in Galilee.

There are valuable lessons in miracles Jesus performed in the synagogue and in the home of Peter; first, they give us insight into the realm of the demonic. The man possessed by an unclean spirit was so controlled by the demon spirit that he utterly lost his personhood. Satan offers men freedom, but he delivers bondage, slavery. We do not even know the name of this demonized man. What a pathetic picture of a man filled with the spirit of Satan. How great the contrast with the Christian who is filled with the Spirit of God. That person is free from the dominion of sin and death, free to exercise all of their God-given talents and potential, to be the unique person God meant them to be, to fulfill their unique role in the church and in the world. The demonized man was just a body to be possessed, a mouth through whom Satan could speak. Only in Christ are men made free. Only filled by His Spirit can we experience freedom and individuality.

Second, the deliverance of the demonic and Peter’s mother-in-law provides us with insight into the priorities that guided Jesus. His priorities were prayer and the preaching of the Word. Miracles played a minor role in His ministry, but prayer and preaching were His priority. Thus, He knew He must leave Capernaum and preach elsewhere, even though the people begged Him to stay. Prayer and proclamation were also the priority of the apostles (Acts 6:1-7). What should be the priority of the church in these last days?

Finally, this passage points out the hardness of the heart of man. In one sense, the people of Capernaum seem to stand far above the people of Nazareth. The people of Nazareth drove Jesus out of the synagogue. They would have killed Jesus if they could. The people of Capernaum begged Jesus not to leave their presence. However, there was no difference between the people of Capernaum and the people of Nazareth.

If given the same situation the people of Capernaum would have acted the same as the people of Nazareth. Both the people of Nazareth and the people of Capernaum initially responded to Jesus’ teaching with awe and wonder. Both would have urged Him to stay in their midst, except for the fact that Jesus revealed some of the unpleasant realities of His messianic ministry to the people of Nazareth, namely the hardness of heart of the Jews and the divinely purposed blessing of the Gentiles through the unbelief of Israel. Had the events that occurred at Capernaum taken place in Nazareth, the people would have loved Jesus, and begged Him to stay. Had the events that happened at Nazareth occurred at Capernaum, the people of Capernaum would have thrown Jesus from their synagogue and sought to kill Him, just as the people of Jerusalem would later do. The only thing that was different in Nazareth from Capernaum was what Jesus did and said. The people were the same.

There is one thing that the demons, the people of Nazareth, and the people of Capernaum shared in common; curiosity, amazement, and unbelief.

The message that both John the Baptist and Jesus proclaimed was this; “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.” Yet while people initially responded with wonder and praise, they did not repent. When Jesus refused to fulfill their expectations of Messiah, they rejected Him and sought to put Him to death. The greater the number of miracles Jesus performed, the greater the evidence of His Messiahship, and the greater the responsibility for rejecting Him. Jesus was popular whenever He utilized His power to enhance and enrich the lives of the people and to remove their pain and suffering. Jesus was unpopular when the greater purposes of God for His life were unveiled.

The people of Capernaum and the people of Nazareth wanted a miracle-working Messiah who would do their bidding. Neither sensed their own sin and the need for repentance, and so it is today. There are many in churches today who know that Jesus is the Son of God, yet have not submitted to Him. There are many in churches today who believe in Jesus as a miracle worker or as a great teacher, but not as Savior and Lord. Such people are no better than those who immediately and openly reject Jesus for who He is. Indeed, the judgment of those who know more is greater, for their level of responsibility is greater. Knowledge brings responsibility. Jesus Christ is God’s Messiah, and our response to Him is to be repentance and belief. What we need more desperately than physical healing and mighty miracles is the forgiveness of our sins, this is the primary task for which Christ came to the earth, and it is God’s primary gift to men, which we are to receive. To receive the other gifts of God and reject His gift of salvation, is a damnable offense. Let us not be like the Nazarethites, the Capernaumites, or the demonized. Let us repent and believe in Jesus as our Savior.