Written by: Dr Christine Gore - Church Army

Luke 4 v 36-37
The people were amazed and said to each other, “What does this mean? With authority and power he commands evil spirits, and they come out.” And so the news about Jesus spread to every place in the whole area.

Notes
I don’t know if you’ve read the previous weeks’ notes on Luke 4 but to understand what’s happening in this week’s readings we need to have a feel for the whole of this chapter in order to see what Luke is trying to show us about Jesus. As with the start of ER or Buffy, “Previously in Luke 4…”. Jesus ‘full of the Holy Spirit’ (4:1), and fresh from His baptism, is led by the Spirit into the desert where He successfully resists Satan’s temptations. ‘In the power of the Spirit’ (4:14) Jesus returns home. There He preaches a cracker of a sermon but is run out of town for supposedly being too big for His nazarene boots. 

So Jesus goes to Capernaum and there starts to fulfil what was prophesied about Him in His sermon text. The stories recorded by Luke in the remainder of this chapter show how Jesus is indeed the ‘Spirit anointed One’ of Isaiah 61:1&2 – the announcer and bringer of good news, freedom and salvation. But in Capernaum Jesus becomes the talk of the town rather than the scourge. Why? In both places people were amazed at His words and actions, but only in Capernaum were they prepared to accept His authority. The problem was the people of Nazareth had Jesus in a box labelled ‘Joseph’s son’ and therefore were not prepared to change their mind and accept Him as anything else. 

So, what sort of box do you have Jesus in and how is it labelled? ‘Good man’? ‘Religious nut’? ‘God’s Holy One’? Whatever, may be it’s time to lift the lid and take another look at Jesus. This week ask God to give you new insights into Jesus and where in your life His authority and power need to bring freedom and life.

Luke 4 v 38-39
Jesus left the synagogue and went to the home of Simon. Simon’s mother-in-law was sick with a high fever, and they asked Jesus to help her. He came to her side and commanded the fever to leave. It left her, and immediately she got up and began serving them.

Notes
‘My mother-in-law has come round to our house at Christmas for the last seven years. This year we are having a change - we’re going to let her in’! This joke is typical of the many mother-in-law jokes that are out there, and no doubt some first century wag was heard to say ‘but the real miracle was that Simon remained on friendly terms with Jesus even though he healed his mother-in-law’! 

I don’t know why mothers-in-law have such a bad press – but may be that’s because I’ve never had one! However, there’s not much humour in this story about Simon’s mother-in-law. She is obviously very sick and Jesus wastes no time in exercising His Spirit-anointed ministry to heal her. 

So what does this incident teach us about Jesus? Once more it shows Him bringing freedom to those who are ‘prisoners’. He just needs to say the word and it is done. Like God in Genesis 1 – Jesus speaks and things happen - He is the One with authority and power over the natural and supernatural world. 

But how does this story challenge us today? We are not Jesus so what can we do!? True, but we do have His Spirit within us so that we can be bold in asking Him for freedom for others – freedom from disease or spiritual, social and political oppression. Why not make a point of keeping up with the news to see what freedom issues are current. What would Jesus do? What could you do?

When Simon’s mother-in-law was healed her grateful response was to get up and serve – putting the needs of others before her own. If you know Christ’s healing/salvation what has been your grateful response? Serving Jesus and those He loves? Look out today for someone you could gratefully serve.

Luke 4 v 40-41
When the sun went down, the people brought those who were sick to Jesus. Putting his hands on each sick person, he healed every one of them. Demons came out of many people, shouting, “You are the Son of God.” But Jesus commanded the demons and would not allow them to speak, because they knew Jesus was the Christ.

Notes
Do you know anyone who has been sick for a long time or who has a serious illness? What would happen if there was no NHS? It’s no wonder that the people flocked to Jesus as soon as the Sabbath had ended at sundown – they were just desperate. Try to imagine the scene. Can you see the ever-increasing jostling crowd, the tears and shouts of joy, the stunned amazement? Don’t you wish you had been there, to watch or maybe to bring to Jesus sick friends and relatives, to ask Him to heal you? Take a moment to tell God how you feel about this and to pray for any you know who are sick. 

Demon possession is an extreme form of spiritual bondage and Jesus’ authority over this supernatural world is integral to the salvation freedom He brings (see 1John3:8). But why does he always silence the demons when they identify Him as God’s Son? Was it because He thought them mistaken? Was it because He couldn’t bear to hear such creatures speak His name? I think we need to pan back a bit and look at the context of these incidents in Luke. 

In the desert Satan tempts Jesus to become a puppet Messiah (Christ) who would serve Him and His evil plans. Israel, however, looked for a political Messiah who would serve their nationalistic plans and set them free from Roman oppressors. But Jesus had other ideas – He was to be the suffering servant Messiah. So He silences the demons to try and keep the lid on the situation – the right time for Him to “come out” as ‘the Christ’ was after the cross and resurrection, not now. 

What sort of Christ do you want Jesus to be? But is it the sort He wants to be? 

Luke 4 v 42-44
At daybreak, Jesus went to a lonely place, but the people looked for him. When they found him, they tried to keep him from leaving. But Jesus said to them, “I must preach about God’s kingdom to other towns, too. This is why I was sent.”
Then he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.

Notes
Have you ever had to make a hard decision? Choosing between two things that both seemed good? Making a choice knowing that you might be misunderstood or cause hurt to others? It’s a tough call isn’t it? I expect that Jesus found His decision to move on from Capernaum an equally tough call. 

After all the excitement of the previous night, Jesus takes time out to think and pray (see Mark 1:35). So He heads for the desert once more to wrestle with temptation. It was as if He had won ‘Pop Idol’ and His adoring fans were not far behind. Would He stay and continue to ‘play’ to huge audiences or would He move on and start all over again? 

Jesus doesn’t hesitate – He must move on. Yes, there were many in Capernaum He could still heal, but there were more important things at stake – the eternal life of many, many others. His calling was to preach the good news of freedom, release and salvation for all who believe. Jesus’ single mindedness is not surprising after all He has been through. He knows what has to be done and the short time He has to do it in - so He keeps focused. 

I wonder how the people of Capernaum felt? Understandably they wanted to hang on to Jesus for themselves. Are we tempted to hang on to Jesus for ourselves and not share Him with others? Keeping Him shut up in our home or church and not take Him out to those who also need Him? 

Take time now to pray about any hard decisions you are currently facing – ask Jesus to give you His wisdom and courage. Also, look out today for opportunities to speak about Jesus to others who have yet to hear about Him.

Luke 5 v 1-3
One day while Jesus was standing beside Lake Galilee, many people were pressing all around him to hear the word of God. Jesus saw two boats at the shore of the lake. The fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. Jesus got into one of the boats, the one that belonged to Simon, and asked him to push off a little from the land. Then Jesus sat down and continued to teach the people from the boat.

Notes
Jesus’ fan base was growing and we now find Him ‘playing the stadiums’ so that all those who wanted to hear Him could do so. In this particular instance the crowd was so enthusiastic He was in real danger of getting crushed or very wet! So He improvises and makes use of Simon’s boat as a platform from which to teach. Jesus sits down - the customary position for a teacher, (even if it was in a rather unusual location!) and continues where he left off… ‘Now where was I?’

But Luke doesn’t tell us what Jesus said to the crowds, it is incidental to the purpose he now has in mind. For it is time to set the scene for the next stage in Jesus’ ministry – team building – for it’s time to share the load and plan for the future. 

Little does Simon suspect what’s in store. Sure Jesus healed his mother-in-law, but other than that they didn’t have a lot to do with each other. He just hangs out with Jesus a bit when He’s in town. Simon was a fisherman with no thought of doing anything but fish for the rest of his life. 

Jesus has a habit of doing that – just when you think it’s safe to go out, He comes in and turns your world upside down – well that’s what he did to me! I was set on a career in genetics and now here I am training evangelists (and loving every minute!). 

Are you prepared for Jesus to turn your world upside down? And are you prepared to be one of His team, sharing the load, part of His future plans for His world? It’s a scary but exhilarating place to be. Chew on this thought today and see what happens!

Luke 5 v 4-7
When Jesus had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Take the boat into deep water, and put your nets in the water to catch some fish.”
Simon answered, “Master, we worked hard all night trying to catch fish, and we caught nothing. But you say to put the nets in the water, so I will.” When the fishermen did as Jesus told them, they caught so many fish that the nets began to break. They called to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. They came and filled both boats so full that they were almost sinking.

Notes
Do you consider yourself to be an expert in some field? May be you’re expert in your work or a sport? How do you feel when someone comes along and starts telling you what to do when you know they know very little about your area of expertise? I bet you feel a bit miffed!

The normal time to fish on Lake Galilee was at night. Simon and his crew had fished all-night and caught nothing to speak of – so there was no way they were going to catch anything in broad daylight. Simon was more than happy for this rabbi to use his boat as a pulpit but to use it to fish from, now that was a different matter all together. 

I would love to have seen the look on Simon’s face and read the ‘think bubble’ above his head. I bet it read something like this. ‘Why does He want to fish!?’ ‘And what does this carpenter know about fishing anyway!?’ But Jesus thinks it’s a good idea and credit where credits due – Simon says yes, for he respected Jesus enough to do as He asked. 

However, had Simon realised at this point that ‘this carpenter’ was also Lord of Creation and therefore had insider information, he may have been less reluctant. All becomes clear though when he hauls in the bulging net and nearly sinks his boat in the process.

Are there any areas in your life where you feel that Jesus is asking a ridiculous thing of you (and what does he know anyway?)? Prayerfully sound it out with God’s people and God’s Word. Then ‘just do it’ and let God surprise you! Certainly in obedience you will learn more about God and yourself in the process – and that has to be a blessing. 

Luke 5 v 8-11
When Simon Peter saw what had happened, he bowed down before Jesus and said, “Go away from me, Lord. I am a sinful man!” He and the other fishermen were amazed at the many fish they caught, as were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.
Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid. From now on you will fish for people.” When the men brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed Jesus.

Notes
I’ve been going to church all my life – although I didn’t actually meet Jesus personally until I was 21. Sure, He was around in the background, somewhere, but He didn’t become important in my life until I had started to bump into Him in the lives of close friends and in the Bible. Our faith journey stories are all different – and all of them extra-ordinary in their own way.

Up to this point in Simon’s faith journey he had held Jesus at arms length. His teaching had probably impressed him, and no doubt he had been amazed at the healing of his mother-in-law. But nothing impacted his life as much as seeing Jesus in the context of his daily work. Finding Him, in this oh so familiar setting, coupled with the miraculous catch of fish, enabled Simon to see Jesus in a completely new light. Suddenly he saw Jesus for who He really was and it left him on his knees in awe. Overwhelmed by his unworthiness in the presence of God incarnate.

Simon was one of those blokes who needed a close encounter of the miraculous kind to tip him over into the Kingdom of God. Did you notice how Luke suddenly refers to him as Simon Peter at this point? And it’s not long before Simon Peter goes on to become Peter (the rock) - who would be one of the foundational apostles of the church (Matthew 16:15-18). But Jesus doesn’t tell him this at this point (it probably would have freaked him out!) – He merely invites Peter to follow Him and to turn his hand to a different kind of fishing. And Simon says yes. Not reluctantly this time, but wholeheartedly. So what about you? Have you responded to the call to follow and fish for God?


word-on-the-web uses the Scripture text taken from the Youth Bible, New Century Version (Anglicised Edition) copyright 1993 by Word Publishing Milton Keynes