Luke 5:11-14: Powerful and Willing

Having witnessed the incredible power and infinite knowledge of Christ, Peter and his friends made the only proper response: they forsook all and followed Him.  We know this was not their first encounter with Him, but it seems He had not yet called them to His permanent service.  Probably they were already true believers, but the text seems to indicate that this is the point at which they became regular followers of the Lord, whithersoever He went.

Next in Luke’s account comes the story of the healing of the leper, who fell down at Jesus’ feet crying out, “Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean.”  There is more wisdom in this little prayer of the leprous man than in a hundred great theological tomes.  The leper recognizes and confesses Christ’s power, without manifesting even the shadow of a doubt.  The question was not whether Christ was able, but whether He was willing.  He had full confidence that the sovereign Lord could do according to His will in even the hardest of cases.  This always ought to be the approach of sinners unto Christ.  Not like the poor distressed father who said, “If Thou canst do anything,” but like the leper, who said, “If Thou wilt.” 

To all such humble and sincere seekers the answer of Christ ever remains, “I will: be thou clean.”  Our blessed Lord, in the infinity of His grace, never turns away a needy and desperate case who comes appealing to Him for mercy.  Jesus put forth His hand to touch the leper, and expressed His willingness: “I will: be thou clean.”  It has often been remarked that Christ here broke the provisions of the Mosaic law, which forbade any person from touching a leper.  However, what we should recognize is that the power of Christ to heal and to cleanse was greater than the power of leprosy to contaminate.  “Grace that is greater than all our sin” is the picture that is being drawn for us by the gospel artist.  Rather than the leprosy polluting our Lord, so that He needed to go through the process of levitical cleaning, His divine power instantly healed the leper, making his skin fresh and clean like a child. 

That the law was not meant to be dispensed with and thrown away is shown by Christ’s command that he delay not, but without telling anyone he should go to the priest and offer the gift that Moses had commanded, for a testimony to them.  Once again, the picture of the power of the gospel is crystal clear in this instance of healing.  When Christ has saved us, freeing us from the deadly pollution of sin, we should hasten to obey our God in all of His commandments, as a testimony of His grace to our fellow men.

Sermon From Jeremiah 11:1-5

This sermon was preached June 7, 2023, and is the first in my exposition of Jeremiah 11. This text, and hopefully the sermon, helps to explain the reason for the terrible judgment that befell Judah. It is not just that they were wicked and God destroyed them; much more, we should see that they were God’s covenant people, and because they had broken their side of the covenant, God was obliged to execute the sanctions upon them.

This was Jeremiah’s message to the people of Judah. He reminded them of the curse pronounced upon every man that violated the covenant, and the blessings they would receive if they violated it. Because of their disobedience, Jeremiah must faithfully warn them of impending doom. How thankful we ought to be for that new covenant which is revealed twenty chapters later, a covenant founded upon better promises!

Luke 5:1-10: Peter Encounters Christ’s Glory

Luke moves us ahead in time, but still in the time frame of our Lord’s Galilean ministry.  The power of God was upon Him, and the throngs were now gathering, not just to have their sick healed, but to hear the word of God.  What a blessed day it is when men in great numbers desire to hear the wonderful words of life!  We pray such a day may be seen in our own time.

So closely did the people press in upon Him, that He found it convenient to enter into one of the ships which was there by the shore.  The fishermen were washing their nets, and so Jesus entered into the one belonging to Simon and had him push the boat out a little distance from the shore.  From thence, He sat down and taught the people.

Eventually, the sermon was over, and Christ turned again to Simon Peter.  This time, He ordered Him to sail out into the deep, and let down his nets for a catch of fish.  Peter’s response is an admirable one.  He tells the Lord that they had labored all night without catching a thing; but he did not say so in an argumentative way, merely as a point of information.  He had no hopes of any kind of catch.  And yet, because of Who gave the order, He would do so.  Here is a great lesson and example for the Christian.  There are times when we do not understand the commands of God’s word, or perhaps why He has set us upon some particular task in His providence.  Our attitude should not be to shrink away from the path of obedience, but rather to do as the Lord requires, whether we understand or not.  It is Christ’s authority which is supreme, and it is not necessary that we understand.

 To walk in obedience will always bring a blessing.  Though he expected nothing, Peter let down the net at Christ’s word, and immediately hauled up a large catch of fish, so large in fact that their net began to break.  The haul was so overwhelming that they had to signal to their partners in the other boat to come and help them.  So many fish were brought in that the boats themselves began to sink under the weight.

Peter, very understandably, was overwhelmed by this signal instance of Christ’s power.  He had of course seen Him healing the sick and casting out devils, but now He demonstrated His power over nature, which men must struggle with at such great expense to bring into subjection.  Christ could command the swarms of fish that swam in the depths of the lake as readily as He could dismiss a fever or cast out a demon.  He responded in the only proper way, falling down in an attitude of worship and crying out, “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”  Peter recognized that He was seeing a glimpse of the glory of the Word made flesh, and that he, a sinful man, had no right in and of himself to the presence of the Son of God.  This is much akin to Isaiah’s response to the vision of the Lord’s glory, when he cried out, “Woe is me!  For I am a man of unclean lips, and dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.”  Even though Christ’s presence there on the lake was not as visibly majestic as that which Isaiah saw, the impression was much the same. 

Luke 4:42-44: The Focus of Christ’s Ministry

It appears that this ceaseless activity of healing and exorcism went on late until the night, for we read in verse 42 that it was not until it was day that He departed to go to another place.  Naturally, the people were not anxious to lose the presence of One Whose power and grace had been so wonderfully manifested in their midst, and they besought Him to stay with them.  This desire for the presence of Christ was certainly highly commendable.  But, our Lord had been sent on a mission by His heavenly Father, and He could not linger.  “I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also,” He told them.  “For therefore am I sent.”

These words are significant, for it tells us upon what aspect of His ministry our Lord placed the most emphasis.  Carnal minds are satisfied to see miracles and incredible power displays, but evidence is more than sufficient that the witnessing of miracles does nothing to change the heart.  Using His power to help those in need was no small part of Christ’s earthly ministry, but it was not the main thing.  He was sent, not as a mere miracle-worker to alleviate all the woes of men, but to preach the kingdom of God.  We do men a temporal service when we can alleviate their hungry or heal their sicknesses.  But the preaching of the kingdom of God may do them eternal good. 

And so He went on His way, preaching in the synagogues of Galilee.

Luke 4:38-42: Peter’s Mother-in-Law and Other Healings

Leaving the synagogue, Jesus entered into the house of Simon Peter, whose abode was there in Capernaum.  This seems to have been a place where He frequently visited, and probably stayed while He was ministering there in that region around the lake of Galilee.

To have Christ in the house should have been the summit of happiness, but there was grief and worry in the fisherman’s home at that time, for Peter’s mother-in-law was sick of a fever.  (I will not here but mention that the fact Peter, Rome’s alleged first pope, was married, says much about the validity of the claims of the celibate priesthood and papacy.) But sickness cannot abide in the presence of Christ.  He stood over her and rebuked the fever.  Sickness at once recognized the voice of its Master, and fled.  This woman, whose name we do not know, immediately arose and ministered unto them.  This brief verse is a small picture of genuine conversion, in which the sinner lies helpless under the oppression of his lost condition, until Christ’s healing power is exerted.  When once we are saved and healed by Him, immediately we begin to serve Him, as an instinct of the new nature.

Nor did the healing power of our Lord desist there.  As the sun was setting, word of His fame spread about that region, and those who had some afflicted friend or relative brought them unto Him.  Christ’s kindness and generosity knew no bounds, for He patiently waited upon every case of illness and affliction, laying His hands upon the afflicted and healing them of whatever disease they had.

His power was not restrained to curing symptoms of physical illness, either.  Those who were possessed by devils were also brought under Jesus’ gracious eye, and the devils too recognized that they were confronted with the invincible power of the Son of God.  They cried out in submission, until He rebuked them and permitted them to speak no more, for He would not accept testimony to His true identity from satanic sources. 

Sermon From John 16:12-15

The Spirit’s Work for the Believer

Christ had told His disciples that, far from being a cause for sorrow, His departure would actually be for their benefit. Unless He departed from them, the Comforter (the Holy Spirit) could not come. He went on to describe the Spirit’s work in the world, in convincing the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment.

But the blessed Spirit has a work to do for believers, as well. He would come and show the things of Christ to us, teaching us even in matters that the Lord Himself did not teach, because His followers were not able to bear them. Who can doubt but that these things are communicate to us by the inspired apostles in the New Testament scriptures? We should focus upon and love the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is revealed to us by the Spirit, but let us never forget the blessed third Person of the Trinity, for without His work we would be utterly lost and destitute of every good thing.

Luke 4:31-37: Christ’s Powerful Word

Having been driven from Nazareth, our Lord returned to Capernaum, from which some of His disciples came, and which seems to have become something of a base of operations for His Galilean ministry.  The people there, as He had noted in the synagogue of Nazareth, were more receptive to the word, and He taught there on the sabbath days.  The people there were astonished at His teaching, “for His word was with power.”  The authority of God Himself, the power of the Son of God, lay behind the doctrine He taught.  These were no dry academic discourses, no “yea and nay” ministry, but the authoritative teaching of One Who spoke with heavenly power.  Today also, when the gospel is preached in the power of that same Spirit Who dwelt in Christ without measure, His word is still with power!

His power was wielded even over the demonic realm.  In the synagogue of Capernaum was a man with an unclean spirit, who cried out one day imploring Jesus to leave them alone.  He knew and acknowledged the power that lay in Christ, that He was the Holy One of God, and that by His divine power He might thrust them down to hell at once.  Jesus, refusing to be acclaimed by the mouth of demons, rebuked the foul spirit, commanding him to observe silence and to come out of the man.  The devil threw the man down in the midst of the people, but then left the man, doing him no harm.  Once again, the people were amazed, and publicly acknowledged the glory they beheld in the Word become flesh.  They heralded the power of His word, by which He could command unclean spirits, and have them obey His orders as helpless serfs.  There must indeed be something very special about One Who could exercise such power over the demonic realm.  Without question, the power of God was present with Him. And so, His fame spread far and wide throughout that country.

Sermon From John 16:8-11

The Spirit’s Reproving Work

The text for this sermon is quite a famous one, and is frequently quoted as speaking of the Holy Spirit’s inner work in the hearts of those He is going to turn to Christ. However, a careful examination of the text will show that, while we cannot entirely exclude this from the meaning, that it was not Christ’s primary intention when describing the Spirit’s work.

This message digs into the text, by showing to whom the Sprit’s work will be directed: “the world.” Also, it does not stop where most do, at saying that the Spirit will convince the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. I also deal with how Christ describes sin, righteousness, and judgment; and that is the part of the context that is almost always left out in our citations. By no means do we diminish the internal work of the Holy Spirit, but it is always important to properly interpret and preach the word of God, otherwise we end up with little besides our own unfounded opinions.

Luke 4:28-30: Jesus Escapes a Mob

Jesus could scarcely have chosen two examples from the Old Testament more calculated to infuriate His interlocutors.  That God could sovereignly discriminate and choose they could accept, so long as one was talking about God choosing Israel out from among the nations of the earth.  But when He began to remind them that there were times when God in judgment had neglected His own nation to show favor to Gentiles, this was too much.  It said too much about Israel’s current spiritual condition, and about Christ’s own deliberate choice to begin His ministry outside the borders of Nazareth.  It was an accusation of their unworthiness and unbelief.

Rather than be subdued by these strong words, the Nazarenes were enraged, and in their fury prepared to commit murder.  They drove Jesus out of the city, leading Him to the brow of the hill on which it was built, preparing to cast Him down to His death.  But, in some way that scripture does not explain, but probably by taking advantage of the confusion or else supernaturally ordering the confusion, Jesus passed through the midst of them and went His way.  Such was the welcoming of the Lord of glory in His own home city!

Luke 4:24-27: Christ Offends the People of Nazareth

But our Lord Jesus never lightly performed a miracle, and certainly never for the entertainment of curious minds.  Miracles in the Bible are never mere power plays to distract the attention of the viewers, but signal demonstrations of God’s power, a sign of the inauguration of a new era, something out of the ordinary done when there was no ordinary way in which the dilemma could be solved.  And so, rather than bring down a lightning bolt or make a bird out of clay to appease their complaints, Christ instead rebukes them, declaring that no prophet is accepted in his own country.  Indeed, history proved that those closest to the prophet normally hated him the most—witness the reaction of Jerusalem to Jeremiah, when he prophesied of coming judgment.  Usually, it was those more remote from the prophet who honored him.  Again, we may cite the case of Jeremiah, who was treated respectfully by the Babylonians, after enduring severe persecution from his own people.  So it was with Jesus.  The very places which ought to have most eagerly received Him, beginning with His own home town of Nazareth, were most inveterate in their opposition to Him.

As evidence of His complaint against them, Jesus refers them to a famous instance from their own history of mighty prophets being rejected by those who ought to have been the most willing to receive them.  Here, He also points out God’s sovereign election, in that He sent those prophets for the benefit of others besides those who would have imagined they had the greatest claim.  The Nazarenes thought they deserved Jesus’ attention more than those of Capernaum, because they were His own townspeople; but it was the will of God to send Him to Capernaum and other regions, and they had no right to complain.

In the time of Elijah, during the three and a half years of terrible famine, the prophet was sent to a widow, but not to a widow of Israel.  Instead, God sent him to a poor widow woman of Sarepta in Sidon, where he lodged until the time came for the confrontation on Mount Carmel.  In like manner, Elijah’s successor Elisha was granted power to heal one leper during his long years of ministry.  Yet, although there were many lepers in Israel during that time (some of them lay outside Samaria’s gate during the Syrian siege), Elisha healed none of them.  The only leper he healed was the general of the Syrian army, an enemy of Israel, one in fact who held at least one Israelite maiden captive.