Text: Luke 4:31-44
In the name of + Jesus. Amen.
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Our Lord’s ministry began by surviving an assassination attempt in His hometown of Nazareth, after He had announced that He is the fulfillment of Isaiah. But Jesus doesn’t just talk, He preaches and teaches in a way that His hearers were “astonished,” for “His word possessed authority.”
Our Lord’s authority is backed up by what He does with it. He demonstrates His authority over even “an unclean spirit.” This demon announces Jesus in a way that is even more shocking than our Lord’s preaching that nearly got Him killed. The demon confesses: “I know who You are – the Holy One of God.” But this confession will not redeem the rebellious angel. For he serves the devil. And it is not the demon’s place to speak, and certainly not to the Son of God. Our Lord “rebuked him, saying, ‘Be silent and come out of him.’” And Jesus cast out the demon effortlessly, and the people “were amazed.” They asked, “What is this word? For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.”
Our Lord’s reputation spreads quickly.
But Jesus not only takes charge over evil spirits, freeing the victims of these demons. Jesus also has compassion on the sick. He cured Peter’s mother in law, and soon after, “all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to Him.” Jesus healed them by laying His powerful and authoritative hands on them. He cast out more demons, and the demons continued to admit in their rage, “You are the Son of God!”
Our Lord’s ministry, however, was not primarily that of a healer and exorcist, but as a preacher. “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God,” says Jesus. And He takes His leave for “other towns” as He “was sent for this purpose.” Jesus has come to undo the damage that sin has ravaged upon mankind: sickness, strife, chaos, lack of communion with God, guilt, demonic influence, up to and including death itself. Our Lord’s miraculous ministry will roll back all of these effects of the fall, and His preaching – and the preaching of those whom He will send – will proclaim the coming of the kingdom and the coming of our King!
And that proclamation of the kingdom and the power and the glory of the Father continues to this very day, dear friends. And it will continue until Jesus returns again in glory, and this age ends with the beginning of a new heaven and a new earth. For Jesus is the King who wields both authority as given to Him by the Father, and power in His own right as God in the flesh. And we remain “astonished at His teaching,” for “His Word possess[es] authority.”
Amen.
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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