Text: Luke 4:31-44
Beloved
in Christ, when God’s Word is preached, it changes things. We see this quite
clearly in today’s Gospel. When our Lord preached, it opened the way for demons
to be expelled from people and for the sick to be healed. Even today, wherever
Jesus Christ is proclaimed as our divine Savior, the devil is put on the run
and healing comes to people burdened with disease and illness. That is because
Christ comes to restore both soul and body to wholeness.
Now
I and my fellow pastors do not have exactly the same authority that Christ
does. Christ is the Son of God. In His very nature He has power over the entire
universe. Just as the Father and the Holy Spirit have absolute divine power, so
does He. Just as they exude life and bring life wherever there is death, so
does He. Christ doesn’t have to go up the chain of command to see if possibly
it would be okay to vanquish Satan or bring the fullness of life into a
particular situation. He can act on His own initiative. But that is not true of
me, my fellow pastors, and Christians in general. To be sure, Christ entrusted
pastors with the task of teaching His Word. He gave them authority “to forgive
the sins of those who repent and to withhold forgiveness from those who refuse
to repent.” In fact, he calls all Christians to proclaim the good news of
salvation to all who do not know it and to encourage those who do. But our
authority comes from Him, not from ourselves. It is not my holiness or my
sacrifice or my power that will rout the devil or heal the sick. Whatever my
prayers or your prayers can accomplish comes from Christ, not us. That is why
ever since Christ ascended into heaven, Christians have prayed, read the
Scriptures, and explained them to people who were troubled by the devil and his
temptations or who were battling some kind of disease. We do so, confident that
God hears us, but also knowing that healing is not always quick or automatic.
 |
| Jesus Heals a Deaf Man Possessed by a Demon, Originally placed in the City Hall of Ulm |
But
let us consider the two forms of healing—in soul and in body—that our Lord came
to bring. Let us begin with the healing that takes place in the soul. The man
with an unclean demon called out, “Ha! What have you to do with us, Jesus
of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?” That is how Satan and every
demonic being talks to the Son of God. They recognize Him for who He is: “the
Holy One of God.” But they also want to have nothing to do with Him.
They want Him to stay out of their little world, for they know that He will
turn it inside out, if given a chance.
But
it is not just demons that talk this way. Everybody is born with an attitude
that would like to cry out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of
Nazareth?” Even believers in Christ struggle with a part of themselves
that would still try to keep Christ out of the picture. We may welcome Christ’s
presence in some corners of our life, but there are other areas where we say
that He has nothing to do with us. We may welcome Him on Sunday mornings when
dressed in our best and surrounded by upstanding people whose approval we want.
But on Monday through Saturday we may say, “What have you to do with us,
Jesus of Nazareth?” When He wants to speak to us about the sort of
ethics we should have at our workplace, we want to say, “What have you to
do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?” When He says that there is a right way
and a wrong way to treat other people in your life, we want to say, “What
have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?” When He wants to talk about
such matters as our egos, our selfishness, our lust, our pride, our anger, and
the like, we want to say, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of
Nazareth?”
But,
beloved in Christ, do not talk that way. Submit yourself humbly to the LORD God.
When you resist His so-called meddling, you are resisting the Physician who
alone can heal you. You are delighting the devil and his wicked angels, who
seek only to enslave and destroy you. You are not helping yourself or bringing
yourself any greater happiness. You will in the end bring yourself only misery
and despair.
But
what would happen if we brought Christ, the Holy One of God, to our Mondays
through Saturdays as well as to our Sundays? We would see that God’s love,
forgiveness, and grace extend to those days as well. Christ cleaned the temple
on a Monday, taught on a Tuesday, was plotted against on a Wednesday, washed
feet on a Thursday, was crucified on a Friday, and lay in the tomb on a
Saturday. He did all those things so that He could redeem you from your sins,
no matter what day they occur on. He died on the cross, all but naked. Do you
think that He will forgive you only on Sundays when you are dressed in your
finery? No, He loves you on weekdays when you are dressed in a grease-spotted
shirt and muddy jeans.
God
is the one who created work. Don’t you think that He has some wisdom to offer
about what is right and wrong in how we work? Don’t you think that His love
could bring healing to what troubles you most on the job? God created other
people and loves them as much as He loves you. Don’t you think that He wants
them to be loved by you, even as He wants you to be loved them? Don’t you think
that He wants both you and them to experience His love through the way you
treat each other? And when He talks about your ego, selfishness, lust, pride,
anger, and the like, He does so precisely because these are ways in which you
continue to hurt yourself. It hurts to touch those areas, much like it is
painful for a doctor to touch an open sore. But it has to be done. The
infection has to be dealt with. The more we avoid it, the more the sore festers
and the more damage is done. It is painful to have that sore opened, but it is
only so that the salve can be poured in. Christ confronts us with our sins in
these areas, so that He can proclaim forgiveness for them. When we take that
forgiveness to heart, these matters that had long been plaguing us begin to
heal. We understand at a deeper level that we are a new creation in Christ. Now
the infection of sin will linger and we won’t get rid of it altogether. But we
will see that Christ is making a difference as He brings healing to our souls.
He
also brings healing to our bodies, as today’s Gospel reminds us. Now how can I
say this, when I know that every founding member of this congregation,
including the saintliest, are all dead? How can I say this, when each and every
one of us will succumb to disease or injury or old age and die? How can I say
this when I know that many in our church suffer from chronic medical conditions
or are homebound?
The
key to understanding this is that Christ’s holy life, death, and resurrection
has secured perfect healing in body and soul for all who believe, but we are
only given a taste of that now. We have been given complete forgiveness and
victory over sin, and we will experience that fully in the resurrection. But
now we still struggle with sin, and it is only the forgiveness of sins that
enables us to keep moving forward. In the same way, Christ has won for us
perfect healing in our body, and we will experience that fully in the
resurrection. But for now we still struggle with disease and injury. It is only
God’s love and grace and forgiveness that enable us to keep moving forward,
despite our physical struggles.
But
consider how He continues to heal. We have all had dozens of colds, scrapes and
bruises, lumps and bumps. Any one of those things could have killed us, if God
had not given us a healthy body able to mend itself. The common cold or some
other simple disease could kill us if we did not have a healthy immune system.
Likewise, the smallest of wounds could become infected and lead to loss of limb
or life. We may take all these things for granted, but we shouldn’t. The fact
that we recover from illness, that medicines and vaccines work, that doctors can
diagnose things—all of these things are blessings from God.
But
also consider how God comes to us in the midst of our illness and supports us
and comforts us. The medical condition may remain, but we know that we have not
been abandoned. We recognize that God loves us and is listening to us as we
pray. We know that other Christians are praying for us, and their prayers
encourage us, too. The burden becomes easier to bear.
And
so, beloved in Christ, may you experience the healing Christ comes to bring through
His Word. Let Him be the Good Physician for both your soul and body, and look
forward to His return when you will be completely whole in body and soul. In
Jesus’ name. Amen.
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