You are Loosed

Today we will look at Luke 13:10-17.

In this passage we have a remarkable healing performed by Jesus and yet, we also have a remarkable objection that is made at the same time.  Over the last 2,000 years precious little has changed.  The Gospel of Christ is still making an impact upon this old world and yet, many make illogical and hypocritical attacks against the work of Christ.  As a Christian, we need to be confident in our connection to that man who walked this planet 2 millennia ago.  We need to recognize that our faith exists today because of the work and message of Jesus.  We are part of the work of God.  That said, we also need to remain humble in the realization that we can allow a wayward heart to disconnect us from the work of God and the True Jesus Christ.  This very dynamic will be on display in today’s passage.

A Woman Is Set Free

We see that Jesus was teaching in a synagogue.  We are told the location.  As Jesus taught he saw a woman who had an obvious physical condition.  We will talk about that more in a minute.  However, I must state that Jesus knows both the obvious conditions and the conditions that are not obvious; those ones that remain oblivious to others.  You need to see that Jesus knows your true condition, he has compassion for you, and he has the answer.

Now the condition of the woman is one in which she was bent over in half and could not straighten her back.  It sounds somewhat different than scoliosis, but some debilitating disease had racked her body into a painful shape for the past 18 years.  Just pause for a moment and imagine this happening to you and lasting for 18 years. 

We are also told that the underlying cause to this condition is a “spirit of infirmity.”  Now this is an interesting statement.  First, it clearly points out spiritual activity as the source or cause of the problem.  It is easy in our modern age to scoff and declare that we know it wasn’t a spirit, but rather a virus of some sort.  However, the Bible does not treat sickness as some evil magic by the spirits.  It is only in some cases that we are told either demonic possession or spiritual activity was at work.  Many other cases do not mention or imply any spiritual activity.  If the God of heaven, who is Spirit, could cause matter to come into being at his command, is it not possible that spirits can affect the physical in one way or another?  This is the revelation of the Bible; some physical things have an underlying spiritual cause.  It is also interesting that it does not say the woman is possessed.  There is no interaction with the “spirit” and neither is there an exorcism.  She is not told after the healing, “Go and sin no more…or something worse may come upon you.”  Is she suffering the same way that Job had suffered?  Yes, demonic possession can manifest itself through physical disease.  But, Job was not possessed.  In his case we are told that Satan caused all the problems, even the physical boils.  So some spiritual activity is not so much about possession as it is about oppression.  I think that is the case with this woman.  For whatever reason, God has allowed a spirit to oppress her for the last 18 years.  Now not all sickness is caused by spirits.  However, regardless of the cause, believers are instructed to do the same thing.  We are to gather together and pray in faith for healing; even to the point of calling together the elders of the church and praying over one another.

Here we see that Jesus calls this woman out of the crowd in order to set her free from this affliction.  I have to think that the woman hoped Jesus could heal her that day and yet we see no evidence that she asked.  Rather, Jesus initiates this moment.  It is a joyous thing to know that we serve a God who is an initiator.  In fact, many fail to recognize that He is waiting for a response from them to what He has done in the person of Jesus Christ and the wave of disciples that have come from him.  No matter your need Jesus sees your situation and he has taken the initiative to provide for your healing.  He can set you free physically, emotionally, relationally, and most important spiritually.  Like this woman, we can become bound up by things that we need to be free from; both seen and unseen.  God desires freedom for you.  He did not create you to be bound up by such things.  2 Corinthians 3:17 states, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom.”

Jesus touches the woman and says, “You are loosed.”  Her immediate ability to straighten up requires a bit of meditation.  This is huge.  Eighteen years of pain and suffering came to an end in an instant at the Word and Touch of Jesus.  This leads the woman to glorify God.  He is the proper object of our rejoicing.  Too much glorifying of man is going on among the body of Christ.  If God uses someone to help you in one way or another, give Him the glory.  Yes, we can give thanks to a person.  However, we can fall into idolatry when we give to a person what we really should give to God alone.  No man can heal in and of themselves.  They can only trust God and become a channel of His power and grace.  Our tendency to glorify the person is not good and leads to all manner of evil.

An Objection Is Made

In verse 14 we see that the ruler of the synagogue does not like what he is seeing.  It is ironic here that the straightening of a woman who was literally bent, leads to the ruler becoming bent out of shape metaphorically.  He becomes indignant over this situation.  You can tell a lot about a person by what they get angry over.  However, it would behoove us to pay attention to what makes us get mad.  Often we get mad about things we shouldn’t and sit complacently by near things we should be mad at.  When you get mad over little things, or over things that are actually good, it is a red flag that you need to recognize.  Otherwise, our anger will go unchecked and lead us into sin.

The objection he makes is that she is being healed on a Sabbath day in which there was not supposed to be any work done.  His argument is that healing is work.  Now this is a rather flimsy argument.  People could still breathe, speak, and touch one another on the Sabbath.  However, because a woman is able to stand straight at the word and touch of Jesus, it suddenly becomes “work.”  This is clearly a very strained interpretation of what the Old Testament required for the Sabbath observance.  In fact, if we were to call healing work, we might ask ourselves, “Who is really doing the work?”  Healing is the work of God by His Spirit.  Since He created the Sabbath, He is the one who defines “work” and what it is not.  Even then, God is not a slave to the Sabbath.  He is able to do what He wants on a day of rest that he made for humans.  Notice his argument.  There are 6 other days on which you can come and be healed.  So don’t come on the Sabbath.  It seems incredulous that this is his argument in light of the shocking healing that occurred—as if healing were actually happening on those other 6 days.  It is sad that instead of being amazed at the wonder of God’s miracle, he is stretching himself out to make an objection.  When our heart is not right we often “stretch” to make ludicrous objections to God and whomever He is working through.

We might also notice the passive-aggressive style the man employs.  Instead of rebuking Jesus, he stands up and rebukes the crowd.  This underhanded way of slamming Jesus without facing Him is not of God.  The passive-aggressive person has developed a bad habit of trying to make others feel like they are the problem.  They will throw a fit over things that are innocent or irrelevant simply because it isn’t how they wanted it to be.  But Jesus knew exactly how to deal with such a man; he takes him head on and unmasks his sin.

The Answer of Jesus To The Objection

How many years had such leaders ruled over the people of God without a rebuke from Him?  Throughout the Old Testament we are told that God had been faithful to send prophets to rebuke leaders and false prophets.  This would relieve the oppression that godly people would feel underneath of ungodly leaders.  Yet, until John the Baptist, Israel had gone 400 years without a prophet from God to publically check such leaders.  As difficult as it may be in such times, we need to learn to trust God and His seasons.  He works with groups and even individuals in seasons.  Today was a day of freedom for this synagogue.  Whether for spiritual things or for the material things of this world, God can be trust to deal with all things in His time.  Though I may suffer, I can suffer in a way that brings glory and honor to him.  Then I will be ready to participate in the day when he turns my sorrow into joy.  Another thing to remember is that it is important for us to be praying for His intervention.  This is part of growing to understand our need for God’s pure and yet merciful judgment. 

Jesus gives the decision of God against the leadership of this man.  He had probably made similar bully statements over the years.  And yet, this day, God rebukes him.  Jesus tells the man that he is a hypocrite.  He and those leaders throughout Israel who thought like him were steeped in hypocrisy.  Please remember that objections to what Jesus has done are generally masking hypocrisy in the heart of the objector.  Their rejection of Jesus, both his Words and his Deeds, come from a life of pretense.  We will either repent of our tendency towards pretense, or we will press on and reject Christ.  This man was a part of the people who had said they would follow the God of Moses and do everything that He commanded.  This man would say so, and yet here he rejects the very God who he pledged to follow.  How does this happen?  Is it possible today to reject what Jesus is doing all in the name of standing for Jesus?  How many leaders today are teaching people to ignore God’s Word and elevating a modern system of theology over the top of the Truth of God?  How many “Christians” will be led to make objections to True Christianity because they have been following a pretend Christ (or pretending to follow the true Christ)?  God will not let us remain so forever.  He will eventually bring the polarizing truth of His judgment.  In that day we will make our last choice of whose side we will be on; his or our own.

Jesus goes on to flesh out the man’s hypocrisy.  He points to the reality that animals needed to be and were watered on the Sabbath.  If it is permissible to break the Sabbath in order to minister to the physical needs of an animal, how much more is it permissible to minister to the needs of this woman who has been in need for 18 years?  More than that Jesus refers to her as a “daughter of Abraham.”  She is a believer and has a place in the promise of Abraham, but her brother objects to her being set free?  Now it is interesting today that many people have the same heart.  They have more compassion for an animal being killed than for a human baby being ripped out of the womb.  How insensitive have we become to the gross degree to which our ethical decisions display our hypocrisy?  May we wake up before it is too late and repent of such ways of thinking and return to the ways of God.

Now Jesus makes another point.  The way that he words the phrase in the original language emphasizes that the Sabbath is exactly the day on which she should be set free, and not on the others.  It is the most proper time.  This woman, who has had no rest from her suffering, while others around her were able to enjoy the Rest of God, needs rest.  Who will give it to her?  This life has a certain weariness to it.  It is a place of work and toil in the midst of difficulty and suffering.  Yet, in the midst of it, God wants to give us rest.  In some ways our life is a metaphor for these things.  Each day our bodies rest at night in order to be refreshed for the next day.  And yet, eventually we all come to the day of death in which our bodies rest forever.  Yet, this speaks to an eternal refreshing that God has for us.  Similarly, God refreshes us throughout this life in our spiritual walk.  Though we be weary we can find rest and refreshment in Him.  However, it is in the Resurrection and the Age to come that we will find our ultimate rest and refreshment. 

Let us hold fast to these things in faith.  Let us not grow weary in doing the good work that God has given us to do.  Let us not be bullied by the objections and commands of those who are hypocritical.  Rather, let us follow Jesus.  It is He who is making all things new.  The crowd that day was divided into those who were indignant at Jesus and those who rejoiced.  God is doing a good work today.  Many in this world are indignant at it.  But we can rejoice with Him in all that He is doing.  Those who are indignant will be put to shame, but those who rejoice will enter into His rest and be completely restored and healed.  The Truth of God will be made evident in That Day and the logic of those who stand against God will be clearly exposed and judged.  How respond to Christ and His work reveals much about our heart.

Loosed audio

Demons Obey the Command of Jesus

In today’s society it is easy to reject stories of demon possession as ignorant and unscientific descriptions of mental illness.  However, such a dismissive view leaves too many questions unanswered, both in our experience today and in Scripture.  In Luke 8:26-39 we have an encounter that Jesus had with an individual who is described as being possessed with a great number of demons.

So what are these demons?  The basic, biblical answer is that they are evil, spiritual entities that are in league with Satan.  Though they are invisible to the human eye, the effect of their activities can be seen.  Without detail, the Bible describes the reality that demons are able to take varying possession of the faculties and actions of certain vulnerable people.  In the Bible demonic possession involves more than simply “acting crazy.”  There is usually interaction with an intelligence that seems beyond the person, and is repulsed and removed by the power of Jesus.  For a man to go from years of “mental illness” and speaking as if he had demons within him to total transformation within a matter of minutes begs any natural explanation. Such is the case in our story today.  Christians should be careful of seeing all things strange as the result of demons.  However, neither should we fall into the materialistic tendencies of the modern age that sees such things as patently impossible.

Now the title of this sermon is about how demons obey the command of Christ.  How do I mean that?  God’s commands can be prescriptive in the sense of how we ought to live.  Thus His command: love one another as I have loved you.  Yet, God’s commands can also be directive or judicial in the sense of what will happen whether we cooperate or not.  God won’t force us to love one another.  But when he commands demons to leave a man, it is a judicial command that cannot be “disobeyed” any more than a man sentenced to prison can disobey and walk out of court.  They have no choice.

Demons Are Enemies of God and Man

Having crossed the Sea of Galilee, Jesus and his disciples come to the shore of the opposite side in the area of Gadara.  Here they are met by a raving man who has been abused by demons for a long time.  We are given the account of an interaction that Jesus had with these demons and in it we recognize two clear facts: Demons do not care for humans and they are not working with God.

Another thing we find is that demons are numerous.  Regardless the number, a great number of demons were working together to keep this man under their control and to work through him.  Any attempt to quantify the population of demons that are preying on mankind would be pure speculation.  Another point of note comes from Luke 11:24-26.  There we see that some demons are more wicked than others and the condition of a man is worse when more than one demon is involved.  Also, that demons have no “rest” until they have taken possession of an individual.  It stands to reason that wicked individuals become more susceptible to demonic possession as they morally degrade.  We would also expect societies that are heavily involved in working with spirits to see higher numbers of these possessions because they would have a higher number of vulnerable individuals.  Thus some places in the world may see very little of this and in other places it may be a common thing.

Another thing we see here is a classic sign of demonic possession.  Demons always abuse those they inhabit.  The abuse begins in the mind.  A demon that possesses a person will force its personality and will upon an individual from time to time.  Though it may be sporadic at first, it can become worse over time.  In this story the intellect of the man who is possessed does not appear until after the demons are cast out.  However, the abuse is obviously more than mental.  Note that the passage describes the man’s life.  Somewhere along the line these demons began to manifest to the point that the city in which he lived tried to restrain him.  However, nothing they tried was able to restrain the man.  He eventually is driven out into the tombs and lives among the dead and wearing no clothes.  He has become an outcast driven into the wilderness.  Thus demons abuse the host and yet also abuse others through the host.

At this point you might be scared of these beings.  Yet, notice that they are very afraid of Jesus.  As spirit beings they are perceptive of spiritual matters.  Thus they direct the man out of the tombs to meet Jesus at the shore with the question, “What have I to do with you?”  This area lies outside of Israel at the time.  Thus Jesus is stepping onto the spiritual turf of these demons.  He is a threat and they want to know why Jesus is there and what he is doing.  Lastly they are afraid that Jesus might be there to torture them by commanding them into the Abyss.  What is the Abyss?  Sometimes translated as “bottomless pit” it is only explained in Revelation chapter 9.  Here we see it is a kind of spiritual prison for wicked spirits.  Why some are in this prison and not all is not explained.  These demons are clearly afraid Jesus has come to put them in it.  Thus demons would rather be free to roam the earth and possess the vulnerable than be locked up in the Abyss awaiting the end of this Age.

Lastly, we see in this passage the manipulative nature of demons.  As evil beings they cannot be trusted.  Even “truthful” things they may say cannot be trusted.  I am not saying that Jesus is duped here.  However, the demons are attempting to control the situation to their benefit.  As long as they do not end up in the Abyss they are "happy."  They are not happy about Jesus being in this area.  Thus, I believe, the petition to be allowed to enter the pigs is more about creating a scene than attempting to stay in the pigs.  When Jesus allows this, the demons drive the pigs into the sea thus killing them.  This would then deprive the demons of their hosts causing them to escape into the area looking for more prey.  Why would they do this?  There seems to be an element of rage in this scene.  The full, destructive rage of demons is generally checked by their desire to retain possession of a host.  However, in this case, they do not care about the pigs and in a fit of rage throw a kind of tantrum as a means of venting against Jesus.  Yet, they also create turmoil in the area that would make the inhabitants fearful of Jesus and angry at their loss of income.  So there may be a kind of defensive maneuver here to protect their territory. 

Jesus Healed the Demon Possessed Man

Now in looking at the demons we do not want to lose sight of what is happening for the man.  Jesus has healed him of his affliction.  Even more serious than a physical sickness is a spiritual sickness in which one’s inner being is invaded by something worse than cancer.  We see here that no number of demons is a match for Jesus.  There is no battle, nor week long exorcism.  Jesus has absolute command over these demons.  Though they try to manipulate it, they had to leave the man they had controlled for so long.  Now for Jesus it is no problem.  However, for us, some spirits are more difficult than others.  Believers who come into contact with a demon possessed person need to be humble and careful.  Through prayer and fasting we can purge our life of anything that might be between us and our Lord.  Jesus is the power that demons fear.  If they fear believers at all, it will only be because of our close relationship with Jesus and dependence upon his power alone.

The owners of the pigs had witnessed this event and ran to town in order to tell everyone what happened.  Thus a large group gathers at the beach and finds the previously possessed man “in his right mind.”  He is no longer a raving lunatic that is destroying himself and anyone who gets in the way.  He is his “old self.”  Even here we see the recognition that a switch in personality and activity has happened, and without years of counseling and psychotropic drugs.  Unless you write off the account as a myth, it is hard to explain this other than the biblical explanation.  Let me take a moment to contrast the way that God’s Holy Spirit works in the lives of believers to the way demons operate in their hosts.  God does not want to take away control of our own mind.  He wants us to follow Him out of loving obedience.  However, evil spirits lust to subject the personality of an individual beneath theirs in domination.  They operate in an abusive mode, whereas the Holy Spirit operates in a gentle mode.  They operate in deception and manipulative promises, whereas the Holy Spirit operates out of truth and purity of intent.

Even though the man is in his right mind, the locals want Jesus to leave.  He is a "trouble maker" who threatens the order of things in their district.  Their fear of Jesus and what he is capable of doing causes them to push him away.  Jesus is going to leave.  However, I believe this encounter was exactly what he had come to do.  He had come to confront these demons and set a man free.  In light of this we may now have deeper understanding into why the storm threatened to swamp their boat and kill them all.  Spiritual battles often play out in the material world unknown to man.  Christ was causing enough problems in Israel.  Satan did not want him entering other strongholds.

The man’s response is understandably different.  The man is so thankful that he wants to follow Jesus and become a disciple.  He may also be afraid to leave the side of Jesus in that the demons could come back.  How wonderful it would be to follow such a man of power and compassion.   Imagine the safety and joy that would be his in the presence of Jesus.  Yet it was not to be so.  Following Jesus is not always about going somewhere.  Sometimes it is about staying.  It is not that this man lacks the qualifications to be a disciple that followed Jesus around, but rather, it is that Christ had a different purpose for him.  He would become a witness who would spread the truth throughout the area that Jesus delivered him from a legion of demons.  Later when the apostles spread out from Jerusalem due to persecution, Christians would enter this area and find people who were prepared to receive the gospel because of the faithfulness of this man who had been possessed by demons.

Let me close by warning believers.  We may run into this more and more in the United States of America in the future.  We are clearly casting off the Word of God and at the same time embracing all manner of spiritism.  Beware of playing with things that seek to contact spirits or satan even if it seems benign.  Beware of using spirits to try and foresee the future, whether through seemingly innocent Ouija boards or occult rituals.  These spirits are manipulative and deceptive.  By the time you think to back out, it will be too late.  Also, be careful that you are not hiding secret sin in your life because this will inhibit your ability to be a source of freedom for others.  Guard your heart from the seduction of spirits that promise the heavens but instead deliver hell.

Demons Obey Jesus mp3

The True Jesus: Authority To Heal

We ended Luke chapter 6 with the issue of whether or not Jesus really is our master.  If he is our master then we will live our life as His teachings direct.  Chapter 7 then starts with may at first appear to just be another healing story.  Don’t get me wrong.  Jesus does heal someone.  But, there is more being taught here than that Jesus could heal.

Jesus was not just a so-called “healer” who was somehow operating slightly above the level of a snake-oil salesman.  Neither was he a complete fake who was feeding off of the gullibility of a backward people.  People have always been gullible.  But it is in accounts such as these, that we see aspects that demonstrate that Jesus wasn’t a charlatan.  Here we see that Jesus demonstrating that he is Lord of creation and has the authority to command healing at will.  This may bring up the question of why He doesn’t then do more commanding of miracles.  Let’s look at the passage and establish His authority first.

The Request Of Intercession

In verses 1-7 we see that this is initiated by others coming up to Jesus in a city of northern Israel called Capernaum.  Rome had troops stationed throughout all of Israel and Capernaum was no exception.  A centurion would be an officer in charge of up to 100 men.  So there is no reason to expect some kind of collusion between him and Jesus.  This centurion has demonstrated a love for the Jewish people but we are not told his religious “status” with the rabbis of Israel.  Is he a convert, a proselyte, or just generous?  Whatever his status he paid enough attention to what was going on in Israel that he had heard of Jesus.  When a servant that was very dear to him was about to die, the centurion does what he can to find Jesus and ask him to heal the servant.  Now in this story the centurion asks some Jewish people to talk to Jesus first.  This is a great story illustrating intercession.

Intercession is to ask something for the sake of another out of love.  The word basically involves 3 parties: the one in need, the one who can help, and the one who goes to get the helper.  Intercession at its heart is a person serving as a mediator on behalf of another.  It is the servant who is in need.  However we have several layers of mediators.  The Jews mediate for a gentile centurion.  There are friends who also mediate for the centurion.  Lastly, although it is not clear in this telling, it seems from Matthew’s account of this story that the centurion himself speaks with Jesus in the end.  Each of these layers demonstrate an affinity or love of the other person.  The centurion cares about the servant.  The friends and the Jews probably don’t know the servant, but they do care about the centurion.  Now I point this aspect out because the Bible warns us that in the last days people will be lovers of themselves.  Thus we can use intercession as a type of barometer.  Do I pray?  And, when I do, how much of it is praying for others because I care about them?  If most of my praying is only for myself, then most likely I am being molded by the spirit of this age to love myself.  It is not wrong to pray for yourself, but we need to pay attention to this aspect.  Do I have a love for others that drives me to my knees in order to pray to God for them?

The first layer of mediators is the Jews.  They approach Jesus with some reasoning for why He should heal the man’s servant.  He is a worthy man.  They press it home by pointing out his love for the Jewish people and how he had even given money to build a synagogue.  Now before I diminish the reasoning of these Jews, let’s note that it is not the centurion who thinks he is worthy.  This is an important part of intercession.  Often, people don’t think they are worthy of God’s notice.  Or, they think that God doesn’t care about them.  Intercession is powerful because it uses the worth that they have to us, to propel us into prayer on their behalf.  However, we must be careful and not confuse their value to us with their value to God.  Yes, the centurion has shown love to God’s people and has benefitted them.  It only seems right that they should benefit him back in some way.  Yet, the centurion knows himself.  In verse 6 and 7 he states that he is not worthy.  This beautiful picture would really have been ruined if he had an attitude that he was worthy and Jesus owed Him a miracle.  Intercession can never be about demanding something and making our best case as to why God must do something.  Rather, it is a reenacting of the beauty of God’s heart that gets His attention.

Jesus does not address the worthiness issue.  He could have.  Instead he lets it drop.  However, the teaching of Christ and the apostles is that Jesus is the only one who is worthy to receive anything from God.  No one, but Jesus, is worthy of anything from God, in and of themselves.  Paul talks about his ability to be used powerfully as an apostle in 2 Corinthians 3:5, “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God.”  Thus, the Jews did not convince Jesus to come heal the servant by their reasoning.  Rather, they helped convince him by demonstrating that they had a heart like his.  Jesus is the ultimate intercessor and mediator.  God’s heart was so broken over the lostness of mankind that His Son comes to earth in order to intercede and mediate with the Father for man.  This wave after wave of intercessors compels Jesus to give the request, a healing. 

If we are blessed by God it is not because we are worthy, but only because we are believing on the only One who is The Worthy One.  All the money that helped build a synagogue for the Jews would be later destroyed.  It is doing them no good today.  All the love and well-wishing he had for them would do no good to stop the tragedies that lay ahead.  In a material and temporal sense, the centurion’s gifts were wasted and of little value.  But in a spiritual sense they were of great value.  Through them a heart was revealed that believed there was something more to the religion of this people called the Jews.  Through them a heart was revealed that wanted to bless what God was doing.  Through them a heart that believed was revealed, which is of eternal value to God.  God’s heart is about taking those who are far removed from Him and bringing them close.  This centurion was right in thinking that he was a nobody when it came to asking the Messiah of Israel for a healing.  But, good news!  That is exactly who Jesus is looking for.  He is looking for some nobodies.

The Power Of Christ To Heal

If Jesus is famous for anything it is the miracles of healing.  But this passage reveals something deeper about the ability Jesus had to heal.  First, of all it is not by coincidence that the centurion tells Jesus to just “say the words.”  In the Bible the Word of God is everything.  In fact in John 1 it is revealed that Jesus is the ultimate Word of God.  Thus it really is the Word of God that heals.  We must never forget this.  You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.  The Word of God is Truth.  The centurion doesn’t know that Jesus is the eternal Word of God.  But he does understand the power of authority.  When a general gives a command the centurions obey.  When the centurion gives a command the legionnaires obey.  Thus the Father spoke the Son into the world and that Word is not done.  He came first to heal the wound of sin.  But He will come again in order to remove the scourge of sin through judgment.  Yet, even that judgment is a completion of the healing of the creation.  He must remove that sin and those sinners who refuse to be healed.  The primary purpose in all that God says and does is to give life of which healing is a subcategory.  Even when God’s Word speaks judgment it is so that we will see our need of healing.  This truth is everywhere in Scripture.  God’s Word doesn’t just heal physical problems.  It is the answer to every situation and problem, if we have eyes to see and ears to hear.  Does this idea get abused by some religious people?  Sure.  But what does that have to do with the Truth?  You hear the Truth and embrace it.

Next, we see that Jesus has the authority to heal.  Authority is sometimes translated as power because of the close relationship.  The word here specifically means that Jesus not only has the ability to heal, but that he is free to do so.  He has the right to heal.  Thus Jesus is unique in this area.  He alone has the authority to heal on command.  Even those who have the spiritual gift of healing technically do not have such authority as Jesus did.  Rather, we have the authority to point people to Jesus who does have power to save and heal.  When we point people to Jesus the Holy Spirit will quite frequently come and reveal this saving and healing power.  Thus pastors and teachers do not have the Truth in and of themselves.  The best they can do is point you to the One who does and that is Jesus.  When pastors faithfully point people to the True Jesus the Holy Spirit will be there working to open their eyes and encourage belief.  However, We have the right and authority to share the Truth of who Jesus is with everyone.  The world will challenge us on that.  Even some Christians are beginning to dream up reasons why certain people shouldn’t be evangelized.  However, no matter what man says, our authority is from God Himself.  You be the judge should we obey man or God?

Notice here that faith is centered on Jesus, the One who can heal.  Today, in our desire to get Jesus to do something, we can be a lot like the Jews in this story.  We can do all manner of things in order to be worthy enough to get a healing.  But this is not what gets God’s attention.  Such motivations is what has led people to focus more on believing that the healing will happen rather than Jesus can heal on command.  Thus the miracle becomes the object of our faith instead of Jesus.  Another step away from Jesus is when we actually focus our faith on our faith itself.  This happens when we teach people that they didn’t have enough faith to be healed.  It is possible to not have faith.  But we should be talking about faith in Jesus.  People end up trying to work up some mystical powerful faith that will get them healed on demand.  We need to get back to the simplicity of this story.  A man in need, with friends helping him, intercedes with Jesus for healing.  The rest is up to Jesus.  If He says, “my grace is sufficient for you,” then we need to trust Him and leave it at that.  Thus there are two tensions in our day.  Some refuse to believe that miracles can happen today.  Notice even that statement is not focused on Jesus.  Can Jesus still heal today?  Can the Creator of the universe still create?  Of course He can.  Then healing and miracles can still occur.  We need to be using the rights that Christ has given us to point people to Jesus as their answer for sin, and sickness.  Yet, others have abused this area and turned it into a ludicrous show.  Through sleight of hand, crowd manipulation, bad interpretation of Scripture, and other means, some have abused this area of healing.  Put your faith on Jesus not the healing.  Put your faith on Jesus not your own faith.  Walk forward in trust and Jesus will give you all that you need.  Believe that.

Authority to Heal Audio

Lord of the Sabbath II

Last week we saw how Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath, which means He is the authority on what it’s purpose was about.  Jesus rejected the “splitting hairs” tradition of the rabbis because they were dead wrong on what Sabbath was all about.  Today we are going to see a second issue that led to complaints to how Jesus kept the Sabbath.  This begins in Luke 6:6.

Often the differing schools of interpretation within Judaism liked it when Jesus contradicted or disproved their opponents.  However, Jesus had an ability to do this to all of them.  That is why they scrutinized him so much.  They needed something they could use to discredit this “dangerous man.”  Let’s see how Jesus responded to this scrutiny.

Jesus is Scrutinized

In verses 6 and 7 we are given a scene at a synagogue, much like a church is today.  In this scene the Scribes and Pharisees are watching Jesus like a hawk.  What would he do?  There is a difference from watching out for a brother and watching someone like a bird of prey.  This scene is similar to the political maneuverings we see in our own day.  In fact, the “smart” politicians take out their opponents before they can get any following.  Yet, this is not the Spirit of the Lord. 

There happens to be a man there who has a paralyzed hand.  It is called “withered” because the paralysis had shriveled and curled the hand up leaving it useless.  Most likely this man heard Jesus would be there and had come hoping to be healed.  It is possible he is there because the religious leaders are creating this trap.  Either way, they are hoping Jesus will heal the man because then they can accuse Him of breaking the Sabbath Law.  It is almost surreal that they could on one hand know that He could heal and yet on the other hand still accuse Him.

Now this leads up to the issue.  There is nothing wrong with testing teachers, prophets, and healers.  The Bible tells believers to “Test all things.”  God’s children are not called to be gullible sheep who are easily duped.  Not everything that purports to be a miracle from God really is.  However, we must learn to test properly.  These religious leaders have created a improper test.  They do not test Jesus against the Scriptures themselves.  But rather, they test Him against their own traditions based off of the Scriptures.  This is a dishonest test.  It is not just that they had a different interpretation.  But at the heart of it, they had added things you couldn’t do on the Sabbath because of their own wisdom.  All things must be “properly” tested against “Scripture alone.”  We shouldn’t test it against one verse pulled out of context.  Nor should we test it against a twisted and tortured understanding of a text.  Often, we might find ourselves coming to the conclusion that we don’t have enough information.  It is not clear.  In those cases it would be better to leave it between that person and God, rather than making a public judgment.

Jesus Responds with Teaching and Healing

Verses 8-11give the response of Jesus.  It is important to notice that, in the Bible, Jesus is not a rebel who was always trying to “stick it to the man.”  Rather, He was interested in Truth and rescuing Israel from the path that their religious leaders were taking them down.

Now we are told that Jesus knew their thoughts.  Whether words had been said, He knew what they were hoping for.  Remember that the same is true today.  Christ knows what is in your mind and heart.  He knows whether you are looking for excuses to walk away from Him or if you are hoping for a miracle.  You most likely aren’t struggling over whether Jesus should heal on the Sabbath or not.  However, you might have things against Jesus and His Word that are unspoken in your mind and heart.  Jesus could have not healed the guy, or did it later when they weren’t around.  Instead he boldly met their challenge.

First Jesus challenged their biblical understanding.  Just like Isaiah 1 has God calling out to Israel, “Come let us reason…” so Jesus takes time to reason with the “wise men” of any age.  He does so to draw us away from lies and towards a love of the Truth.  He asks two questions.  “Is it lawful to do good or evil on the Sabbath?”  Now doing evil on the Sabbath is clearly wrong because it is wrong on any day.  The Sabbath law was given, in part, as a check against the “evil” of working 7 days a week trying to increase yourself without acknowledging a need for God’s help.  This law helped to check the evil heart and point man to his greater need and greater supply.  We may not be under the Sabbath law today as Christians, but we still need to listen to the wisdom of God behind this law He gave Israel.  However, on another level this question begs another question.  If it is in your power to help someone in need and you do nothing, isn’t that evil?  Jesus could heal.  How could he walk by a man who wanted healed and do nothing because it is the Sabbath day?  Clearly he should do something.

Now there are many who use this line of reasoning against God Himself.  “How can God sit in heaven and not fix the bad stuff in this world?  If He exists then He must be evil.”  Of course this line of reasoning would be true if God had done nothing.  But the testimony of the Scriptures and of many throughout history is that God has helped us, just not in the way we demand he do it.  A common problem in helping people is that sometimes people don’t want to be “helped.”  God has helped mankind, but most won’t receive it.  What a tragedy.  He asks the same question again but used the word heal.  Which is lawful to heal or destroy?  The word translated as save in some versions would mean to heal in this context.  Jesus did not come to destroy men, but to bring healing and salvation to their lives.  This is the heart of God, especially in the Sabbath law that He gave Israel.

Jesus has the man come and stand by Him.  Apparently no one wants to debate with Jesus.  So Jesus then tells the man to stretch out his hand and it is healed.  They don’t care about the reasoning of Jesus.  They are convinced that they are right and only watch the outward actions of Jesus so that they can condemn Him.  Jesus is not only the justifier of His disciples, but He is also the healer of them too. He courageously steps forth and heals a man even though He will be maligned for it.  In fact this is a hallmark of Jesus and God.  God has the courage to stand by the weak and poor of this world who will embrace Him.  Even though the strong, rich, and wise mock such a band of people.  Whose side are you on?

The last verse of this section says that the Pharisees and Scribes were filled with madness.  Literally they lost their mind and tried to figure out what to do with Him.  When we contrast this with the passage in Acts 2, it begs another question, “What are you filled with?”  Am I filled with a madness or with the pure, Holy Spirit of God?  When God is doing a beautiful and wonderful work of salvation or healing, what am I filled with?  At the Red Sea the children of Israel were filled with joy and praise as a way was made through the waters.  However, Pharaoh’s heart was filled with rage and rushed into the trap bent on destroying Israel.  Today, God is drawing together a people from every tribe, tongue, and nation.  He is filling them with His Spirit and faith.  However, others are becoming more and more maddened by such archaic beliefs.  We live in a mad world, but in the midst of that madness we are called to be a bold and courageous healer and savior with Jesus.  Let’s stand with the Lord of the Sabbath and rest in His peace!

Lord Sabbath II audio