At Nazareth Jesus was
rejected, because of the self-sufficiency and pride of the people. At Capernaum
the attitude of the people was different. While the people at Nazareth took
offence at His teaching, the people in Capernaum were amazed by His authority.
The amiable environment allowed Jesus to do amazing things with the authority
He had, so He began by delivering a demon-possessed man in the Synagogue on
Sabbath. It is such an irony that the people in Nazareth only saw Him as the
son of Joseph, whereas the demons could see that He is the Holy One of God.
Here Jesus could demonstrate His kingdom power and authority, moving from those
closest to Him, then the folks from that town, and eventually to the rest of
the nations and the world.
Jesus’ popularity had
spread with the deliverance of the demon-possessed man. It must be about noon
time when He left the Synagogue that Sabbath. He probably was invited by His
soon-to-be-disciple, Simon Peter’s home for a meal. When they came home, Simon
Peter’s mother-in-law was found to be suffering from a high fever, so they
requested Jesus to help her. Jesus then
stood over her and rebuked the fever. As He had rebuked the demons who
possessed that man in the Synagogue, He now rebuked the fever. Immediately the
fever left her. The healing was not only instant but also complete. And she was
able to get up and cook and serve them. This leaves us with this precious
thought – she got up and serve. Like her, Peter’s mother-in-law, we are touched
by the Lord to serve Him and others. The measure of a Christian is not in the
number of people serving him or her, but the number of people one serves. That
meal that day was indeed memorable. As the sun began to set, signaling the end
of Sabbath, there was a great healing campaign.
The miraculous news of
what happened at the Synagogue must have gotten around. The town folks brought
their sick family members to the door step of Simon Peter’s house. Jesus laid
hand on each one of them and healed them all. The laying on of hands was not a
popular practice then. Luke tells us this to indicate to us how tender and
compassionate Jesus really is. Everyone was touched that night.
That day not only were
people healed physically, even those troubled by demons were delivered. This
tells us that the root cause of some diseases can be traced to the work of
demons. So we read that “Demons also were coming out of many, shouting, “You are the
Son of God!” The shouting of the demons was not confession but disruption, so
the Lord commanded them not to speak. Here we are reminded that our warfare is
not with flesh and blood but with demonic powers and wicked forces in the
unseen realm. But we need not fear for He has the authority over the demonic
power, and in Him we can overcome the influence and dominion of the wicked
power.
Many in that town were healed and it was truly a
long and tiring night for Jesus. It should come as no surprise that He should
go out into a solitary place for some solitude. We are told that the crowd
sought Him out and tried to retain Him with them. But Jesus’ had a far wider
area in mind. Luke tells us that His mission is not confined to one place. He must reach out to other cities and that was
the very purpose of His coming. He came to make known the Kingdom of God far
and wide. So from town to town, He kept on His mission, preaching in the
Synagogues of Judea.
In short, this
passage tells us that where Christ is, that’s where the Kingdom is. When people
like you and I come to Jesus in faith, and invite Him into our heart, the Kingdom
of God begins in our life. Every one of us who has made Christ our Lord is part
of the Kingdom of God. How should we respond to these massive spiritual
realities? We live for Him, showing that He is reigning over every circumstance
in our lives. We willingly submit to His authority in all areas of life and to
walk in obedience to His word. The
issue we are confronted with is: Have we handed all that we are and all that we
have over to the rule of Christ? Have we given Him all our heart, our independence
our longings, our careers, our ambitions, our spouse, our children, our future
and etc. Let’s hand all to Him each day unquestioningly.
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