Scripture: St. Luke 4:14-44 (NKJV)
14 Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him
went out through all the surrounding region. 15 And He taught in their
synagogues, being glorified by all.
16 So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was,
He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. 17 And He
was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He
found the place where it was written: 18 “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me,
because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to
heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of
sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19 to proclaim
the acceptable year of the LORD.” 20 Then He closed the book, and gave it back
to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue
were fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is
fulfilled in your hearing.”
22 So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which
proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?” 23 He
said to them, “You will surely say this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal
yourself! Whatever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in Your
country.’” 24 Then He said, “Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in
his own country. 25 But I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the
days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and
there was a great famine throughout all the land; 26 but to none of them was
Elijah sent except to Zarephath, in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a
widow. 27 And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and
none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.” 28 So all those in the
synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, 29 and rose up
and thrust Him out of the city; and they led Him to the brow of the hill on
which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff. 30
Then passing through the midst of them, He went His way.
31 Then He went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and was teaching them on
the Sabbaths. 32 And they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was
with authority. 33 Now in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an
unclean demon. And he cried out with a loud voice, 34 saying, “Let us alone!
What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I
know who You are—the Holy One of God!” 35 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be
quiet, and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him in their midst,
it came out of him and did not hurt him. 36 Then they were all amazed and spoke
among themselves, saying, “What a word this is! For with authority and power He
commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.” 37 And the report about Him
went out into every place in the surrounding region.
38 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. 40 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.
42 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.
Devotion
“And they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was with authority.”
God’s Word is not an idle philosophy. It is not just one of many viable
perspectives in a sea of subjective truths. His Word is the truth, objective
and universal. And when it is preached and used according to the Spirit of God
it has great power and authority!
We confess in the Nicene Creed that we believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, by
Whom all things were made. Christ is the Word of God made flesh, so even as all
creation was spoken into existence by the Word of God, all things have their
beginning according to the power and authority that is found in our Lord Jesus.
The Word of the Law has power to teach us righteousness, but it also has the
authority to condemn those who ignore it or make it into a lie. And by the work
of the Holy Spirit it teaches us about our trespasses and gives us the
understanding to faithfully repent of our sins.
Most of all, the Word has power and authority to save us from death and hell.
The Word of our forgiveness through the blood of Jesus Christ crucified is the
most precious power and authority that God has revealed to us. By His death and
resurrection Christ conquered the grave and has authority over the living and
the dead. Other “words” or philosophies cannot do this. Eternal life is found
in the Word of Jesus Christ alone!
We pray: Lord God, let Your Word always abide with us, according to the power
of Your Spirit. Keep us steadfast in Your Word, which alone gives us life in
Christ Jesus. Amen.
The Lutheran Herald is a publication of the Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of
North America. These daily devotions are authored by the bishop, pastors, and
deacons of the diocese. Daily posts are provided by The Reverend Jeffrey A.
Ahonen.
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