“The Just Shall Live By Faith”

New King James Version                          Written by: David Hicks

 

Romans 1:17 “ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."

Galatians 3:11 “But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for "the just shall live by faith."

Hebrews 10:38 “Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him."

“Articles of Faith”

 

An Orderly Account Of The Greatest Story Ever Told

(A Study in Luke)

Chapter 4:38-44:

Jesus began His ministry in Nazareth and after the people of His home rejected Him, He then went to Capernaum . Capernaum would be His base of operations while He was in Galilee ( Matthew 4:12 -17 ).

As He begins to relate to the children of Israel the coming of the kingdom and the deliverance from the captivity of sin that His message illustrates; He accompanied His words with power over the seen and unseen (speaking with power and displaying power). These signs accompanied the Messiah in His work as testimony that He was the Son of God.

Acts 2:22 "Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know”

This lesson will focus on additional testimony of His deity, based on the signs and wonders that remain in this chapter.

Text #1:

Luke 4:38-39 “Now He arose from the synagogue and entered Simon's house. But Simon's wife's mother was sick with a high fever, and they made request of Him concerning her. 39 So He stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. And immediately she arose and served them.”

Simon: This is Simon, the son of Jonas, the brother of Andrew. He was a fisherman who would become, along with his brother and fellow fishermen James and John; disciples of the Lord ( Matthew 4:18 -- and eventually Apostles of Christ). You know him better by his surname “Peter”, which means “small stone”. He was also referred to as “Cephas”, which is Aramaic for “rock”.

Peter was a native of Bethsaida ( John 1:44 ), and based on the pronunciation of the Sanhedrin court ( Acts 4:13 ), was untrained in the rabbinical training of the time. Here in our text, we see that Peter is a married man (which is mentioned again by the Apostle Paul in I Corinthians 9:5 ), and at the time of Jesus' Galilean ministry, he lived in Capernaum . There is much more to add to the biography of Simon Peter; however, this will suffice for this particular lesson.

Mother-in-law: There is nothing in Luke's account or in Matthew's account to indicate the reason for the visit to Peter's home ( Matthew 8:14 -15 ). Nonetheless, at His arrival He becomes aware that Peter's mother-in-law is ill with a fever. Matthew's account states that the Lord touched her hand and the fever departed, while Luke's account states that He rebuked the fever and it departed. While many look to determine which instance is accurate, the fact of the matter is that both are accurate.

As a boy, it was explained to me this way:

“The synoptic Gospels are like three men who witness an automobile accident from three different angles. Each reports what they had seen from their particular vantage point. When combined, there is a total and complete view of the incident”

This is the case in our text. When combined with Matthew's account, Mark's account - where Jesus actually takes her by the hand and lifts her up ( Mark 1:29-31 ), and Luke's account; we receive the entire picture of all the events that have led to the miraculous healing of Peter's mother-in-law (touching her hand – taking it and lifting her up – and rebuking the fever).

Text #2:

Luke 4:40-41 “When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them. 41 And demons also came out of many, crying out and saying, "You are the Christ, the Son of God!" And He, rebuking them, did not allow them to speak, for they knew that He was the Christ.”

Word Was Out: By evening, the fame of the Lord had reached so far that many afflicted persons had gathered to Him.

Demons Rebuked: To the casual reader it might seem strange that Jesus would condemn the demons confessing Him; they are accurate aren't they ? The Lord did not rebuke them based on inaccuracy, but because the confession came from a nefarious source. It would be like advertising the plan of salvation on a beer bottle label. It would still be the truth, but the source of the information may do more harm than good (this was the same situation while the Apostle Paul was in Philippi , see: Acts 16:16-19 ).

Text #3:

Luke 4:42-44 “Now when it was day, He departed and went into a deserted place. And the crowd sought Him and came to Him, and tried to keep Him from leaving them; 43 but He said to them, "I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent." 44 And He was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee .”

Crowds Sought Him: At this point in His ministry, wherever Jesus went the crowds followed. Many sought to detain Him through earnest requests; however, many more sought Him only to be beneficiaries of the signs and wonders He performed ( John 6:26 ).

I Must Preach: Here the Lord will establish that it was not the signs and wonders that He was sent to perform. They simply reinforced the true purpose that God had sent Him to complete in this ministry; “Preach The Kingdom of God ” .

So much emphasis is placed on the miracles of Jesus as a mission statement for the church (and it is true that each Christian is to love his neighbor as himself! – Romans 12:9-21 ; Galatians 6:10 ; I John 3:18 ). However; just like the Lord, the greatest gift we can offer men through the church is the gift of the Gospel of Jesus Christ because it is the power of God to salvation ( Romans 1:16 ).

Everyone likes to refer to the statement made in John 3:16 concerning God's love for the world. How did this love of God manifest itself to you and me in Christ Jesus? The Lord commissioned His chosen to go into the world and preach the Gospel !

Here Jesus is giving these people something greater than the healing of their physical infirmities, He is giving them hope in the kingdom and the healing of their spiritual infirmities and that this message needed to be distributed to more than these.

Next: “ The First of His Chosen ”