Wednesday
Evening Bible Study
August 16, 2000
Introduction
Jesus has begun His ministry. He
has been to Nazareth, His hometown, where He did not do many miracles because
of their unbelief.
:31-44 One day at Capernaum
:31 And came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the
sabbath days.
Capernaum – Kapernaoum –
“village of comfort"; a flourishing city of Galilee situated on the
western shore of the Sea of Galilee or Lake of Gennesaret, near the place where
the Jordan flows into the lake. In a
way, this became Jesus’ “home base”, where He spent more time than anywhere
else.
taught – didasko – to
teach; to hold discourse with others in order to instruct them, deliver
didactic discourses; to be a teacher
:32 And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power.
astonished – ekplesso (“out”
+ “strike”) – to strike out, expel by a blow, drive out or away; to be struck
with amazement, astonished, amazed; to be struck with terror, of a sudden and
startling alarm. It seems to me that
this isn’t just a surfer claiming to be “blown away” by some cool thing, but
something a bit more serious. The word
is used 13 times in the New Testament, all but one time being used to describe
how the people were “astonished” at Jesus’ teaching and miraculous power. The only exception is in Acts 13:13, when
the proconsul watched Paul curse and blind the magician Elymas and was
“astonished” at Paul’s ministry.
power – exousia – power of
choice, liberty of doing as one pleases; physical and mental power; the ability
or strength with which one is endued, which he either possesses or exercises;
the power of authority (influence) and of right (privilege)
The word seems to speak of power, including power over sickness and demons.
Mr 1:27 And they were all amazed, insomuch that they
questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this? what new doctrine [is]
this? for with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and
they do obey him.
(Mark 3:14-15 KJV) And he ordained twelve, that they should be
with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, {15} And to have power
to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils:
The word also carries the idea of “authority” –
Mt 8:9 For I am a man under authority, having
soldiers under me: and I say to this [man], Go, and he goeth; and to another,
Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth [it].
(Mark 11:27-28 KJV) And they come again to Jerusalem: and as he
was walking in the temple, there come to him the chief priests, and the
scribes, and the elders, {28} And say unto him, By what authority doest
thou these things? and who gave thee this authority to do these things?
Jesus’ power and authority was unlike anything the people had been used to
–
(Mat 7:28-29 KJV) And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended
these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: {29} For he taught
them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
Typically, when the other rabbi’s taught, they spent the entire time
quoting one rabbi or another, not really having anything to say for
themselves. Jesus spoke with authority
from heaven.
Lesson
Get them to Jesus.
If we’re not careful, we can be just like the “scribes”, those who have
lots of “words” but no “power”. The
power is in Jesus. He can change
people.
:33 And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean
devil, and cried out with a loud voice,
unclean – akathartos – not
cleansed, unclean; in a ceremonial sense: that which must be abstained from
according to the levitical law; in a moral sense: unclean in thought and life
devil – daimonion – a
spirit, a being inferior to God, superior to men; evil spirits or the
messengers and ministers of the devil
cried out – anakrazo – to
raise a cry from the depth of the throat, to cry out
It’s a little interesting that this demon-possessed man was in the
synagogue. Could it have been one
of the regular synagogue members? Was
it just a guy who had wandered in off the street?
:34 Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of
Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us?
what have we … - the demon is speaking in the first person
plural.
to destroy – apollumi – to
destroy; to put out of the way entirely, abolish, put an end to ruin; render
useless; to kill; metaph. to devote or give over to eternal misery in hell; to
perish, to be lost, ruined, destroyed
:34 I know thee who thou art; the
Holy One of God.
The demons know who Jesus is.
(James 2:19 NLT) Do you still think it's enough just to
believe that there is one God? Well, even the demons believe this, and they
tremble in terror!
:35 And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And
when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and hurt him
not.
rebuked – epitimao – to
show honour to, to honour; to raise the price of; to adjudge, award, in the
sense of merited penalty; to tax with fault, rate, chide, rebuke, reprove,
censure severely; to admonish or charge sharply
hold thy peace – phimoo –
to close the mouth with a muzzle, to muzzle; metaph. to stop the mouth, make
speechless, reduce to silence; to become speechless; to be kept in check
thrown – rhipto – to cast,
throw; throw down; to cast forward or before; to set down (with the suggestion
of haste and want of care); to throw to the ground, prostrate; with violent
meaning, to fling, throw, hurl off or
down.
hurt – blapto – to hurt,
harm, injure. Luke the doctor makes a
note that the man wasn’t hurt.
There were Jewish exorcists in that day.
They had all sorts of elaborate rituals for the casting out of
demons. Sometimes it worked, sometimes
it didn’t. Jesus only had to speak to
the demons and they left.
Lesson
His authority.
We too have been given authority over demons.
(John 14:12 KJV) Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that
believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than
these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
(Mark 16:17 KJV) And these signs shall follow them that
believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new
tongues;
(Acts 5:16 KJV) There came also a multitude out of the
cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were
vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one.
(Acts 8:7 KJV) For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice,
came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies,
and that were lame, were healed.
Let Jesus do the rebuking.
(Jude 1:9 KJV) Yet Michael the archangel, when contending
with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him
a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.
:36 And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What a
word is this! for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits,
and they come out.
amazed – thambos – to
render immovable; amazement
authority – exousia –
power of choice, liberty of doing as one pleases; authority … same as in verse
32.
power – dunamis –
strength, power, ability
commandeth – epitasso – to
enjoin upon, order, command, charge
:37 And the fame of him went out into every place of the country round
about.
fame – echos – a sound,
noise; spoken of the roar of the sea waves; rumour, report
:38 And he arose out of the synagogue, and entered into Simon's house. And
Simon's wife's mother was taken with a great fever; and they besought him for
her.
wife’s mother – penthera –
mother-in-law, a wife’s mother
Simon Peter was married. The first
“pope” was married, unlike Catholic priests.
Some would say that Peter’s wife died and he went on as a widower. But Paul said that Peter was still married –
1Co 9:5 Have we not power to lead about a sister, a
wife, as well as other apostles, and [as] the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?
taken with – sunecho – to
hold together; to hold together with constraint, to compress; to press on every
side; to hold completely; to hold fast
great – megas – great;
used of intensity and its degrees: with great effort, of the affections and
emotions of the mind, of natural events powerfully affecting the senses:
violent, mighty, strong
fever – puretos – fiery
heat; fever
Luke’s choice of words here is demonstrating that he is a doctor.
besought – erotao – to
question; to ask; to request, entreat, beg, beseech
Lesson
Pray
Ask the Lord concerning the needs of others.
:39 And he stood over her, and rebuked the fever; and it left her: and
immediately she arose and ministered unto them.
stood – ephistemi – to
place at, place upon, place over; to stand by, be present; to stand over one,
place one’s self above
over – epano – above
rebuked – epitimao – to
show honour to, to honour; to raise the price of; to adjudge, award, in the
sense of merited penalty; to tax with fault, rate, chide, rebuke, reprove,
censure severely; to admonish or charge sharply. Same word used in verse 35, where Jesus rebuked a demon.
Jesus rebukes an inanimate object, just as He will rebuke the wind and the
waves.
Lu 8:24 And they came to him, and awoke him, saying,
Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging
of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm.
fever – puretos – fiery
heat; fever
it left – aphiemi – to
send away; to bid going away or depart; to let go, let alone, let be; to let
go, give up a debt, forgive; to leave, go way from one
immediately – parachrema –
immediately, forthwith, instantly
ministered – diakoneo – to
be a servant, attendant, domestic, to serve, wait upon; to minister to one,
render ministering offices to; to be served, ministered unto; to wait at a
table and offer food and drink to the guests,; of women preparing food; in
Christian churches to serve as deacons; to minister
Often a person who has had a fever for a long time will be weak from their
illness. Peter’s mother-in-law was not only cured of her fever, but her
strength was restored as well.
:40 Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers
diseases brought them unto him;
sick – astheneo – to be
weak, feeble, to be without strength, powerless; to be weak in means, needy,
poor; to be feeble, sick
divers – poikilos – a
various colours, variegated; of various sorts
Not just one kind of disease, but all different kinds of diseases. Perhaps not just physical diseases either.
diseases – nosos –
disease, sickness
The crowd showed up as the sun set probably because this meant that the
Sabbath was over, and it was not considered “work” to carry a sick person.
:40 and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them.
laid – epitithemi – in the
active voice to put or lay upon; to add
to
every one – the picture is of Jesus stopping to gently touch and
heal each individual person.
healed – therapeuo – to
serve, do service; to heal, cure, restore to health
Lesson
Individual touch
Could Jesus have just saved some time and said “Be healed” and heal the
entire crowd all at once? Sure. But He didn’t. He took time for each person.
I like to figure out ways of saving time and doing things en masse. If I’m making sandwiches for the entire
family, I’ll lay out all the bread and spread all the mayonnaise on at
once. But we need to be careful that we
don’t treat people like that. Touch the
individual. Jesus does.
:41 And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art
Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking them suffered them not to speak: for
they knew that he was Christ.
came out – exerchomai – to
go or come forth of; of those who are expelled or cast out
crying out – krazo – to
croak; hence, to cry out, cry aloud, vociferate; to cry or pray for vengeance;
cry out aloud, speak with a loud voice
rebuking – epitimao – to
show honour to, to honour; to raise the price of; to adjudge, award, in the
sense of merited penalty; to tax with fault, rate, chide, rebuke, reprove,
censure severely; to admonish or charge sharply
suffered – eao – to allow,
permit, let; to allow one to do as he wishes, not to restrain, to let alone; to
give up, let go, leave
Why did Jesus turn down the free publicity?
He refused to receive “publicity” from demons.
:42 And when it was day, he departed and went into a desert place:
desert – eremos –
solitary, lonely, desolate, uninhabited
He went to find a place to be alone.
Lesson
Spend time with God.
Mark gives us a few more details.
Mr 1:35 And in the morning, rising up a great while
before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.
Jesus had spent a very busy day ministering to
people. What was the thing He needed to
do most? If it was me, I would have
thought about sleeping in, or reading the newspaper, or watching TV. But Jesus prayed.
:42 and the people sought him, and
came unto him, and stayed him, that he should not depart from them.
people – ochlos – a crowd;
a casual collection of people; a throng; a multitude
stayed him – katecho – to
hold back, detain, retain; from going away; to restrain, hinder (the course or
progress of)
These people were enjoying the personal ministry of Jesus Christ. Of course they didn’t want Him to leave.
:43 And he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities
also: for therefore am I sent.
preach – euaggelizo – to
bring good news, to announce glad tidings; in the NT used especially of the
glad tidings of the coming kingdom of God, and of the salvation to be obtained
in it through Christ, and of what relates to this salvation
am I sent – apostello – to
order (one) to go to a place appointed
(Luke 4:43 NASB) …for I was sent for this purpose."
Lesson
Stay the course, do God’s will.
There are lots of “good” things that can get in the way of the “best”. If Jesus had stayed at Capernaum, it would
have been a “good” thing. But He needed
to keep moving on in order to do the “best” that God had for Him.
Illustration
Moses had brought the people out of Egypt and had become
God’s spokesman to the people. Every
time they had a question or a dispute to be solved, they would come to
Moses. Pretty soon, the needs of 2
million people became overwhelming.
(Exo
18:17-18 NASB) And Moses' father-in-law
said to him, "The thing that you are doing is not good. {18} "You
will surely wear out, both yourself and these people who are with you, for the
task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone.
Was it a good thing that Moses was helping the
people? Yes. But it wasn’t the “best” thing.
:44 And he preached in the synagogues of Galilee.
preached – kerusso – to be
a herald, to officiate as a herald; always with the suggestion of formality,
gravity and an authority which must be listened to and obeyed; used of the
public proclamation of the gospel and matters pertaining to it, made by John
the Baptist, by Jesus, by the apostles and other Christian teachers