Reflective Bible Study

Continuing in Luke’s gospel, after Jesus is rejected in Nazareth, He travels back to Capernaum and on what may have been the following Sabbath, we see something significant happen. I wonder if Jesus ever actually had a normal Sabbath day at a synagogue in His entire three-year ministry. While the gospel writers include many exceptions, like the one we read in our last episode and the one we will read about in this episode, it is unlikely they would give much space to a normal trip to a synagogue.

This means we are left picturing Jesus’ trips to synagogues being very abnormal or hostile encounters, but it is possible that many were simply normal and uneventful. Calculating an approximate number of synagogue visits, 52 weeks in a year times 3.5 years equals 182. However, I would imagine that there were many Sabbaths Jesus did not visit a synagogue, so for the purposes of this calculating, let’s subtract our total number by 22 down to 160. I would venture a guess that many of these 160 probable synagogue Sabbaths were normal.

However, our passage for this episode describes a more abnormal visit to a synagogue, and this event is recorded as happening soon after Jesus was run out of Nazareth’s synagogue. This episode’s passage comes from Luke’s gospel, chapter 4, and we will read it from the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 31, Luke tells us:

³¹ Then he [Jesus] went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath he taught the people. ³² They were amazed at his teaching, because his words had authority.

³³ In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an impure spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice, ³⁴ “Go away! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”

³⁵ “Be quiet!” Jesus said sternly. “Come out of him!” Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him.

³⁶ All the people were amazed and said to each other, “What words these are! With authority and power he gives orders to impure spirits and they come out!” ³⁷ And the news about him spread throughout the surrounding area.

Let’s pause reading here because I want to draw our attention onto something significant. If casting a demon out of someone isn’t significant enough, I am amazed that Jesus commands the demon to be quiet after the demon begins to reveal who Jesus really is.

In my mind, Jesus does this for two big reasons.

First, demons can either lie or tell the truth. They usually lie, making any truth they say suspect. If Jesus let the demon truthfully say who He was, it would potentially taint His ministry and witness because it is never wise to trust a demon. Even a 100% truthful demon is untrustworthy because demons are not always 100% truthful. It is even unwise to listen to a demon to try to discern the truth from the error. Demons have had thousands of years of practice lying in convincing ways and they might lie in more ways that we can catch.

It is safest for us to follow Jesus’ example and simply not listen to any demon. If God wants us to learn or know something important or significant, there is an almost zero chance He would use a demon. While God could use a demon, it would not benefit the bigger picture in any positive-for-God way.

Second, there was too much cultural weight surrounding the role of the Messiah as a military leader who would come and overthrow the Romans. Jesus’ arrival to walk a path different from culture’s expectations would benefit from more ambiguity or uncertainty on whether He truly was the Messiah or simply someone else who was significant.

Jesus fulfilled all the Old Testament prophecies related to a Messiah coming and suffering, and He left the prophecies related to His coming as a King largely untouched and waiting for His second coming.

If the people early on in Jesus’ ministry latched on too quickly to Jesus being the Messiah they knew God promised, they would likely slip into believing Jesus came as King and would try to force Him into this role. In other cases, such as the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus sidesteps this very issue because the crowds wanted Him to become their King.

However, this Sabbath day is not over yet. Continuing in verse 38, Luke tells us:

³⁸ Jesus left the synagogue and went to the home of Simon. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Jesus to help her. ³⁹ So he bent over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up at once and began to wait on them.

⁴⁰ At sunset, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them. ⁴¹ Moreover, demons came out of many people, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Messiah.

It appears in this passage that Satan wanted to derail Jesus’ ministry by proclaiming who He was as much as possible. If the demon that Sabbath morning in the synagogue wasn’t enough, many more demon-possessed people were brought to Jesus and they try to make the same proclamation that evening.

When reading this event, it is difficult to escape one huge truth: The words Jesus spoke contained power. We can see this truth in the simple detail that Jesus’ command was powerful enough to cast a demon out of an individual.

However, Jesus’ word is even stronger than this. Jesus’ command isn’t just strong enough to cast demons out of people, but it is also strong enough to silence demons from speaking! That is amazingly significant in the big picture.

Jesus’ command is also powerful enough to reverse and eliminate sickness. Verse 39 describes how Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law, “So he bent over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her.” Rebuking something involves speaking, and this tells us Jesus’ word is powerful enough to heal.

On this Sabbath day, we discover a Jesus that is more powerful than we might first imagine. Jesus’ word is strong enough to cast out demons, it is strong enough to silence them and keep them from speaking, and it is strong enough to heal sickness and disease. When facing struggles, challenges, disease, or discouragement in our own life, we should look to the words of Jesus for the power to overcome!

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, continue to seek God first and place your hope, faith, trust, and belief in Jesus. When challenges come into our lives, choose to recognize them as opportunities to look to Jesus’ words for power to overcome. Jesus is more powerful than what we often give Him credit for, and I believe He is ready, waiting to help us the moment we decide to ask. While some challenges are given to strengthen our character, I believe other challenges are given to remind us it is best to turn to God for help!

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself. A strong personal relationship with God is best developed through personal prayer and Bible study. While praying and studying in small or large groups is beneficial on one level, never give up your own personal study time because through our personal study we are able to grow a personal relationship with God and we are able to strengthen our personal faith. Personal Bible study is the best foundation to grow our faith in Jesus on.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or be tricked or deceived out of where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

As we continue moving forward in our journey through Old Testament prophecies that were fulfilled, we come to a prophecy that I had a difficult time deciding where to place in our year together. On one hand, this prophecy that’s found in the book of Isaiah would fit nicely within the group of prophecies that focus on Jesus’ mission and death. However, there is another aspect of this prophecy that gets fulfilled near the beginning of Jesus’ time on earth.

For this second reason, I pulled this prophecy up to this week, and placed it here, at the point in our prophecies right after Jesus arrives on earth to help give us a frame and an understanding of why He came to this planet of sinners.

Let’s read the prophecy, then unpack some of the details shared within it. Our prophecy is found in the book of Isaiah, chapter 59, and we will read it using the New American Standard Bible. Starting in verse 12, which is part way into this prophecy, Isaiah writes:

¹² For our transgressions are multiplied before You,
And our sins testify against us;
For our transgressions are with us,
And we know our iniquities:
¹³ Transgressing and denying the Lord,
And turning away from our God,
Speaking oppression and revolt,
Conceiving in and uttering from the heart lying words.
¹⁴ Justice is turned back,
And righteousness stands far away;
For truth has stumbled in the street,
And uprightness cannot enter.
^15a Yes, truth is lacking;
And he who turns aside from evil makes himself a prey.

Pausing reading our prophecy, I cannot help but see in what we just read a description of our world today. However, I suspect that what is described here could be relevant to most points in time in history, and I suspect that the first century when Jesus walked the earth, and also the century several hundred years before this when Isaiah was alive could be described this way.

However, let’s continue with this prophecy to discover what God does with the world in this state. Picking back up in the second half of verse 15, we read:

^15b Now the Lord saw,
And it was displeasing in His sight that there was no justice.
¹⁶ And He saw that there was no man,
And was astonished that there was no one to intercede;
Then His own arm brought salvation to Him,
And His righteousness upheld Him.
¹⁷ He put on righteousness like a breastplate,
And a helmet of salvation on His head;
And He put on garments of vengeance for clothing
And wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle.
¹⁸ According to their deeds, so He will repay,
Wrath to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies;
To the coastlands He will make recompense.
¹⁹ So they will fear the name of the Lord from the west
And His glory from the rising of the sun,
For He will come like a rushing stream
Which the wind of the Lord drives.
²⁰ “A Redeemer will come to Zion,
And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” declares the Lord.

²¹ “As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My Spirit which is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your offspring, nor from the mouth of your offspring’s offspring,” says the Lord, “from now and forever.”

In this prophecy, after seeing that there was no way for humanity to redeem itself, God decides to take matters into His own hands and step into history as a Redeemer. Looking out at the inhabitants of this planet, from God’s perspective, there was no one available who could intercede on our behalf to fix the sin problem. Because of this, God decided that He would send Himself, specifically Jesus, one member of the Godhead, to intercede for us and be the Redeemer for humanity.

At the very beginning of Jesus’ time on this planet as a baby, Luke’s gospel describes a fascinating encounter Jesus and His earthly parents have when they go to dedicate Him in the temple a few days after His birth. In Luke, chapter 2, starting in verse 25, we read:

²⁵ And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. ²⁶ And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. ²⁷ And he came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law, ²⁸ then he took Him into his arms, and blessed God, and said,

²⁹ “Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace,
According to Your word;
³⁰ For my eyes have seen Your salvation,
³¹ Which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
³² A Light of revelation to the Gentiles,
And the glory of Your people Israel.”

³³ And His father and mother were amazed at the things which were being said about Him. ³⁴ And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed— ³⁵ and a sword will pierce even your own soul—to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

³⁶ And there was a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years and had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, ³⁷ and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers. ³⁸ At that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

When Joseph and Mary enter the temple, they are greeted by two people who have amazing things to say about Jesus. The first person Luke’s gospel describes as a man, Simeon. For most of my growing up life, I had pictured Simeon as the priest on duty that day, but nothing in Luke’s gospel suggests this.

Instead, Simeon happens to be a somewhat regular guy who had an extra-close relationship with God. Luke’s gospel describes Simeon having the Holy Spirit in his life, and Simeon speaks a prophetic word over Jesus’ life and ministry.

Anna, who is called a prophetess, was also there, and while we don’t know exactly what she said, she drew the attention of everyone present onto Jesus and who He was.

Here at the opening of Jesus’ time on earth, we find a partial fulfillment of the covenant promise found at the end of Isaiah’s prophecy. “As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My Spirit which is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your offspring, nor from the mouth of your offspring’s offspring,” says the Lord, “from now and forever.”

Looking at Jesus’ life and ministry, He came to be our Savior, our Intercessor, and our Redeemer. While there was nothing we could do to break free from the grip of sin, because of Jesus, and through the help of God’s Holy Spirit, we can leave sin in our past and live a redeemed life with God. When we place our faith, hope, trust, and belief in Jesus, and live with and for God in this life, drawing close to Him, we prepare ourselves for eternity when we will live with God in the new heaven and new earth forever.

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always open by challenging you, intentionally seek God first in your life. Intentionally place your faith, hope, trust, and belief in Jesus and lean on Him as your Redeemer and Intercessor. Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross pays the debt our sin caused, and when we let Jesus, He is happy to pay this debt when we choose to align our lives with God while also turning away from sin.

Also, as I regularly challenge you to do, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to grow personally closer to Jesus each and every day. Through regular prayer and Bible study, discover how God loves you personally and just how far He is willing to go to redeem you from the sin that has infected this world.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or deviate away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!