Luke 04.38-44
What we will study today in The Authenticity
of Jesus is displayed: 01. In
the Physical Realm (Luke 04.38-40); 02. In the Spiritual Realm (Luke 04.41); and 03. In Preaching the Kingdom of God (Luke 04.42-44).
01. In the
Physical Realm (Luke 04.38-40)
If Jesus really is who He says He is, the Son of God, the
Messiah, the One who will “bring good news to the afflicted” (Isaiah 61.01)
and “save
His people from their sins” (Matthew 01.21), than He must have the power to
reverse the physical effects of sin. After preaching in the synagogue and casting
the demon out of the man (Luke 04.31-38), Jesus got up and left the
synagogue and went into Simon Peter’s house (Luke 04.38). Typically the Sabbath
service would end around noon and after people would go home for the
Sabbath-meal, the main meal of the day. At this time, Simon Peter was not formally
called by Jesus to be a disciple. Matthew, Mark and Luke record for us the
initial call by Jesus (Matthew 04.18-22; Mark 01.16-20; Luke 05.01-10), while Luke gives us
the call of Simon Peter to be an apostle in Luke 06.13-16. Simon Peter first
met Jesus by his brother Andrew (John 01.35-42), which is when Jesus changed his
name from Simon to “Peter” in the Greek or “Cephas” in the Aramaic. Mark tells
us that Simon Peter shared the house with his brother Andrew (Mark
01.29).
Andrew and Peter were originally from Bethsaida (John 01.44), which was not far
from Capernaum, and now they had a fishing business in Capernaum (Matthew 04.18).
Dr. Luke, being a doctor, tells us that Peter’s mother in
law had a (G3173) megav, a great or “high fever” (Luke 04.38). Whereas Matthew and
Mark just simply tell us that she had “a fever” (Matthew 08.14-15; Mark 01.29-31). Mark also tells us in Mark 01.29-31 that Andrew, James
and John were all there as well, and he tells us that they told Jesus about the
fever of Peter’s mother in law.
Here is a verse that can give Roman Catholics problems
because they believe that Peter was the first Pope, and in order for Peter to
have a mother-in-law, he has to be married! Paul addressed the issue of having
the right to marry in 1Corinthians 09.05, even including Peter
(Cephas) as an example of an apostle who was married.
So because the Roman Catholic Church claims that the office of the pope is
in direct succession to Peter and they forbid those who serve in the Roman
Catholic Church as priests and nuns from marrying, there is an issue here. The way that the Roman Catholic tries to explain
this away is interesting. In the (Reverend Father George Leo) Haydock’s Catholic Bible
Commentary, 1859 edition explains: It
is evident that St. Peter was married; but after his call to the apostleship,
he left his wife, as St. Jerome writes, in ep. xliii. Chap. ii. ad Julianum,
and lib. Aduersus Jovinianum I, 7. 26 (Patrologia Latina 23,
230C; 256C). See Matthew 19:29.
According to the Desert Fathers, Origen and St. Jerome
celibacy is a moral virtue, consisting of not living in the flesh but outside
the flesh and Jerome stated (Against Jovinianus) that Peter and the other
apostles who were married before they were called then gave up their marital
relations to follow Jesus. Jerome said, “Marriage replenishes the earth, virginity
fills Paradise” (Jerome, “Against Jovinianus,” 1.16, in St. Jerome: Letters
and Select Works, A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the
Christian Church, Second Series, trans. by W. H. Freemantle, edited by Philip
Schaff and Henry Wace, vol. 6 (Grand Rapids: Eerd- mans, 1554), 359-360.) St. Augustine taught that sexual desire was the
cause for Original Sin in the human race thus condemning all of mankind. St. Augustine wrote, “Nothing is so
powerful in drawing the spirit of a man downwards as the caresses of a woman.”
Peter’s mother in law had a burning fever so “they asked Him
to help her.” (Luke 04.38) The Talmud (Shabbat 37a) mentions
this type of burning fever that Peter’s mother in law, and it prescribes a
magical remedy to cure this burning fever. The prescription “is to tie a knife wholly of iron
by a braid of hair to a thornbush, and to repeat on successive days Exodus
3.2-3, then ver. 4, and finally ver. 5, after which the bush is to be cut down,
while a certain magical formula is pronounced.’” (The
Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, Alfred Edersheim Book 3 Chapter 14
p336 [1.486]) We would say that this is absurd, but sadly many CHRISTians today
send their “seed money” to these charlatan faith healers so that they can be
healed and made wealthy.
Jesus didn’t resort to some mystical experience or teachings
to conjure the healing of Peter’s mother in law. He is the Son of God, the
Messiah, who bore our grief’s and sorrows (Isaiah 53.04), “To bring good news to the afflicted…to
bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to
prisoners; To proclaim the favorable year of YHWH” (Isaiah 61.01-02).
James instructs us to take our sick to the Great Physician
in James
05.14-15. The Greek word that is used for “sick” in James 05.14 is (G770) asyenew literally means “to be weak, to be without strength.”
asyenew is used at times throughout the Gospels for physical
sicknesses, but most of the time, especially in the Book of Acts and the
Epistles, the word is used to describe one who is “weak in the faith” or someone who is “weak morally or theologically” (Acts 20.35; Romans 06.19; Romans 14.01; 1Corinthians 08.09-12).
The Greek word that is used for “sick”
in James
05.15 is (G2577) kamnw
and it literally means, “to be weary”.
The only other time that this word is used in the New Testament is in Hebrews 12.03 and is used in the same context, of one being tired,
weary, worn out. Paul writes that the elders
of the church are to help the weak (1Thessalonians 05.14).
When James said that the elders are to anoint them with oil,
the Greek word for “anoint” (James 05.14) is (G218)
aleifw which means to “literally
rub with oil”, and not ceremonially anoint. James is not suggesting a
ceremonial anointing as a way of healing from God, but instead he is referring
to the common practice of the day of using oil as refreshment and for grooming
purposes (Matthew 06.17; Luke 07.38; Luke 07.46). James
was telling those who were weak spiritually or physically because of the
suffering in their life to go to the elders to be encourage and uplifted by
rubbing oil on their heads.
Luke 04.39 And standing over her, He rebuked the fever, and
it left her”
Dr. Luke again points out something that Matthew (Matthew
08.14-15) and Mark (Mark 01.29-31) do not record, something that a
doctor would recognize, and that is His bedside manner. Dr.
Luke tells us that Jesus stood over her (Luke 04.39), describing the Great Physician at
work. Just
as He rebuked the demon (same Greek word used for “rebuked” here in Luke 04.39
as in Luke 04.35
([G2008] epitimaw which means to censure or admonish; to forbid)
in the Synagogue so did He rebuke the high fever in Peter’s mother in law
because all disease is the result of sin (Romans 05.12; Romans 06.23). The Textus Receptus implies that the fever left her
immediately in Mark
01.29-31.
Luke 04.39 “and she immediately got up and waited on them.”
Usually when a person recovers from a high fever, it leaves
them weak and lethargic. When Jesus heals it is instantaneous, with no
requirement to send a seed offering, or put a green cloth on your knees, or to
be blown upon. Peter’s mother in law got up right away and began to serve (G1247) diakonew to wait upon, which is the same word that is used for a deacon in
the church in 1Timothy 03.10.
Luke 04.40 “While the sun was setting,”
This means that the Sabbath was over, for the Jews mark
their days from sundown to sundown. The Jews taught that a new day hadn’t
officially started until there were three stars in the sky to remove all doubt.
Luke 04.40 “all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to Him;”
All the townspeople would have heard how Jesus spoke with
authority, and with authority cast out a demon (Luke 04.31-37), and hearing that
Peters mother in law was healed (Luke 04.38-39) would cause them all to want to
see the One who brought hope and healing in His wings (Malachi 04.02). Mark tells us
that all the townspeople came to the door of the house that Jesus was staying
in bringing their sick to be healed (Mark 01.32-34).
Luke 04.40 “and laying His hands on each one of them, He was
healing them.”
He never used medicine, and when He touched them they were
healed instantly. There are many today who promote themselves as faith healers who
limit their “miracles” to those chosen beforehand. Jesus healed all who came to
Him, not just to a select few.
It is interesting to note as well that the gift of healing
stopped at the time that the Epistles were written. Paul (Galatians 04.13-15),
Epaphroditus (Philippians
02.25-27), Timothy (1Timothy 05.23), and Trophimus (2Timothy 04.20)
were all mentioned to have some sort of ailment, yet not one of them were
healed.
02. In the Spiritual Realm (Luke 04.41)
If Jesus really is who He says He is, the Son of God, the
Messiah, the One who will “bring good news to the afflicted” (Isaiah 61.01)
and “save
His people from their sins” (Matthew 01.21), than He must have the power to
set free those bound by Satan and his demons.
Jesus had the authority and the
power to cast demons out and to make them be quiet. We saw this the last time
when we studied about Jesus in the synagogue in Capernaum casting out
the demon (Luke
04.34-35). To have the demons
authenticating His identity as the Son of God only creates confusion among the
masses.
In Acts 16.16-18 we see an example
of a demon acknowledging that Paul, Timothy and Dr. Luke were “bond-servants
of the Most High God”. Paul was greatly
annoyed because although the statements made by the demon in the slave-girl
were true, it would cause all the people who heard what the demon said through
the slave-girl to think that Paul and the disciples were united with a
demon-possessed girl. For if you have a demon-possessed person united
with those who proclaim that Jesus came “to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19.10),
it will cause people to doubt the power of Jesus and show them that Jesus does
not have power over the demons.
Biblically, we are not to partner with false teachers who
preach a false doctrine (Psalm 50.16). Paul tells us in 2Corinthians
06.14-16 that light and darkness cannot mix.
03. In Preaching
the Kingdom of God (Luke 04.42-44)
If Jesus really is who He says
He is, the Son of God, the Messiah, the One who will “bring good news to the afflicted”
(Isaiah
61.01) and “save His people from their sins” (Matthew 01.21),
than He must declare the good news that salvation is available for all who
trust that He came to give them eternal life.
The Emergent Church would say that He was on mission.
Luke 04.42 “When day came, Jesus left and went to a secluded
place;”
The Sabbath was over, so on Sunday morning Jesus leaves
Peter’s house “to
a secluded place” (Luke 04.42). Mark gives us more background in this
account in Mark
01.35. The words “early morning” in the original Greek, (G4404) prwi implies that it was
between three and six o’clock in the morning, while it was still dark. Mark
also tells us that Jesus left so early to be able to spend time in prayer alone.
Luke 04.42 “and the crowds were searching for Him”
by first going to Simon’s house, and not finding Jesus there, the crowds looked
for Him all over (“searching” is the Greek word [G2212] zhtew and means to seek in order to find).
Luke 04.42 “and came to Him and tried to keep Him from going
away from them.”
So once they found Him, they tried
to do all that could to keep Him from leaving them.
Luke 04.43 The
people saw the miraculous healings and the casting out of demons, but notice
that Jesus didn’t rebuke this group of people for their desire to see more
signs performed. These signs were to be visible proofs that He truly was the
Son of God. He came to demonstrate that He was truly the Son of God, the Messiah
by showing He had authority in the natural and spiritual realm, but most
importantly He came to “preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I
was sent for this purpose.” (Luke 04.43)
If all Jesus did was heal people
and cast of demons, that would not have been enough to prove, to authenticate
that He was the true Son of God, the Messiah. But because He came to “to proclaim liberty to captives” (Isaiah 61.01-02)
in sin and to “PREACH
THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR” (Luke 04.18) proved that He was the true Son of
God, the Messiah, declaring the good news that salvation is available for all
who trust that He came to give them eternal life.
The main thrust of His ministry was to preach about the
Kingdom of God and not healing. Healing was a sign of His Divinity, but His
preaching about the Kingdom of God brought spiritual healing to all who heard
and accepted (Isaiah
61.01-02; Luke 04.18-19; Romans 10.08-13) The Kingdom of
God is for all those who trust in Him as their LORD and Saviour (Romans 10.08-13).
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