1. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The message from God’s Word on this 4th Sunday after Epiphany is taken from Luke 4:31-44 and is entitled, “Glimpses of God’s Goodness,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2. Jesus will return in glory to bring the fulfillment of God’s grace to all who believe in Him as their Lord and Savior. But, until that time, we are given one day in the life of Jesus and comforted by the elaborate nature of God’s grace. When it comes to gifts, are you a ripper or an unwrapper? I have a friend who carefully unwraps her gifts. Unlike her children who rip the paper apart and get as quickly as they can from the wrapping to the gift inside, my friend slowly unwraps her presents. First, she takes off the bow and sets it aside. Then, she removes the ribbon and rolls it up. She tackles the tape, piece by piece, and unfolds the paper to reveal what is inside.
3. Sometimes, God’s gifts are torn open suddenly and sometimes they are slowly revealed. To shepherds in the fields watching their flocks, God tore open the skies and revealed a host of angels singing “Glory to God in the highest.” (Luke 2:14) To the apostle Paul, God took him to the third heaven and revealed things Paul could not put into words. (2 Corinthians 12:1-10)
4. But, in our text for today, we watch as the gift of God in Jesus Christ is slowly revealed. Luke records the events of just one day in Capernaum, but the time he takes to describe that day gives us an occasion to think about the many facets of God’s grace. The text begins with Jesus preaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. Unfortunately, for some of us, we have heard enough preaching in our lives to be underwhelmed by a sermon. Just ask my wife and kids. They have heard many sermons from me over the years and they often wonder if I am preaching to myself as well when I preach to the congregation. They often warn me to check with them first if I use them for sermon illustrations. My father-in-law once began a sermon saying that, “He was a macho man,” (referring to his being very athletic when he was growing up) and my wife’s family almost couldn’t hear the rest of the sermon after that. After that they would often sing to him in the words of the music group, Village People, “Macho, macho dad, I want to be a macho dad.” Faced with so many different people telling us so many different things, the sermon can become just one more talking head. It blends into a world filled with people sharing their ideas.
5. But, when Jesus preaches in Capernaum, Luke reveals something more. This One who is handling the Scriptures is the same One who handles the power of demons. He is more than another teacher. This is the cosmic Christ who rules over all creation. Demons know Him and fear His destruction. Jesus finds those assaulted by demons and delivers them from Satan, so they suffer no harm. By recording this event, Luke gives us just a glimpse of the power of Jesus which comes to us in His Word. The very One who spoke creation into existence, who has the power to rebuke evil spirits and they obey, this One comes to us in the words of the sermon and brings us security in His powerful grace.
6. Then, after preaching in the synagogue, Jesus goes to eat at the home of Peter, His disciple. Here, we see another side of God’s gracious reign in our midst. Jesus, who has just cast out a demon, heals Peter’s mother-in-law of a fever. The one who controls the gates of Hell cares about the common cold. Here, we see the amazing extent of the compassion of Jesus. He is a God who cares about the smallest thing. He cares enough to enter your house and bring you recovery from a cold. With this small event of healing, God throws open His throne of grace for you. Regardless of how small your concern, you can bring it before Jesus. He sees and cares about the smallest moments of suffering in your life.
7. Later that evening, people from the city gather at the door. They bring their sick, their suffering, their demon possessed loved ones, and Jesus lays His hand on each one of them. His love is specific, personal. He doesn’t merely speak a word and bring about healing for all. Instead, Jesus interacts with each person individually. When Jesus is your Savior, you don’t get lost in the crowd. He knows your sorrows and He comes to bring healing, forgiveness, and life for you.
8. In reference to later that evening, Luke 4:40 records, “When the sun was setting …” This is the time at which people bring their sick to Jesus. This is significant because the day drawing to a close is a Sabbath, so no work can be done. But now the day has ended. And at sunset’s stroke, the people storm Jesus. But then Jesus leaves. And so the people seek Him and come to Him. But Jesus has further work to do. “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to other towns as well,” Jesus says (Luke 4:43). The Greek word for “preach the good news” is euangelizo, a verbal form of the noun “Gospel.”
9. In the morning, Jesus then announces He must leave to continue His mission. There are other towns which need to hear His good news, and He is traveling to them. This love of God that is so powerful, so compassionate, so personal, is also missional. God’s grace in Jesus Christ extends to the farthest country, bringing salvation to the entire world. A visit to Capernaum that began in the synagogue with preaching, ends on the edge of the city with the expanse of the entire world in view. Jesus will journey to the cross and from the cross to the tomb and from the tomb to the heavenly realms, from which He will return in glory to bring the fulfillment of God’s grace to all who believe in Him as their Lord and Savior. But, until that time, we are given one day in the life of Jesus and comforted by the multi-faceted nature of God’s grace.
10. Jesus must literally Gospel-ize other towns, for He has come to do the Gospel through His work on the cross. But the people at Capernaum are concerned that Jesus’ travel to others will somehow result in them missing out. This is a strange fear, especially since Luke says that Jesus does His Gospel for “every one of them” (Luke 4:40). It’s not as if Jesus withholds His Gospel from anyone. In a famed line from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Tiny Tim exclaims at Christmas dinner, “God bless us, everyone!” This is the promise of the Gospel—that God blesses us, every one, with what His Son has done on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. This is why Jesus must continue His journeys so that He can Gospel-ize everyone in other towns even as He has Gospel-ized everyone in the town of Capernaum.
11. Martin Luther once noted that the Gospel is only the Gospel when it is “for you.” For the Gospel to do you any good, you must believe not only that Jesus died, but that Jesus died for you. And He has. Jesus has died for everyone. And the “everyone” includes you.
12. Some night this week, I would encourage you to slowly unwrap the gift of your day. Come before God and pause for a moment of prayer. Basically, review what happened during the day and keep your eyes open for the glimpses of God’s goodness. You packed the kids’ lunches, dropped the youngest one off at school, met clients, got gas, texted with your daughter, had a phone conversation with your mom, made dinner, put the kids to bed, and watched TV. Slowly unwrap the gift of that day and see how the Lord of all creation was there, caring for you and caring through you. One day in Capernaum, we discovered God’s love is powerful, compassionate, personal, and missional. What does one day in your life reveal? Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, until life everlasting. Amen.
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