Sermon Tone Analysis
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*Intro* – Read Luke 4:38-44.
Notice the title of the sermon – Extreme Healing.
It’s there for a purpose that will become apparent toward the end, so please stay tuned.
If you need to nap, do it early!
Years ago I had a friend who was gradually deteriorating with MS.
By his early 40’s he was often confined to a wheelchair.
He decided to try a healing service.
Before the service was ended, he was out of his chair, convinced that he was healed.
When his normal symptoms were back the next day, he was devastated.
It took months to get him grounded in biblical truth – convinced that his lack of faith wasn’t the issue, back depending on Bible truth rather than personal experience.
Countless others have had faith similarly destroyed.
So our goal is to see healing from God’s perspective as much as possible in our few minutes.
So far Luke has shown us Jesus’ preparation for ministry.
Now His supreme authority begins to play out in all areas.
Last week we saw His power over demons.
Today His authority over illness and disease in the case of Peter’s mother-in-law.
Three critical questions are answered here.
*I.
Can Jesus Heal Physical Infirmities?*
This is a busy Sabbath.
Imagine going to church and seeing a demon-possessed man try to take over only to be stopped instantaneously at Jesus’ command.
Then, Jesus is invited to Peter’s for lunch – about 100 feet down the road from the synagogue toward the Sea of Galilee.
Peter hasn’t left fishing permanently.
He’s been called by Jesus twice, but each time has gone back to his day job.
But he was there that morning, and invites Jesus for lunch where “they” appeal to Jesus for Peter’s sick mother-in-law.
We are not told who “they” is.
Probably Peter and his wife.
Peter is clearly married which Paul confirms in I Cor 9:5, “Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas (Aramaic for Peter)?”
Tradition says Peter’s wife was involved in ministry to women and that they had children.
Tradition also says that Peter’s wife was martyred with him under the reign of Nero in 64 AD.
Here they fear for her mother.
And Jesus responds.
Can Jesus heal infirmities?
Without a doubt, but note how this healing is a stark contrast to so-called “faith healers.”
*A.
Certain* -- V. 39, “And he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her, and immediately she rose and began to serve them.”
Note the immediacy and the certainty of this healing.
“Immediately she rose.”
There was no extended prayer – no strain in the process.
It was the immediate result of Jesus rebuking the fever.
It was unambiguous.
“Rebuke” is normally used for people or demons – living beings.
You and I might rebuke each other, but mad as I might be at my computer it’s useless to rebuke it.
I know – I’ve tried – and I’ll be you have too.
But Jesus is not ordinary.
Twice He rebukes inanimate objects – a fever here; a storm in Luke 8:24.
In both cases, the response is immediate and effective.
Things conscious and unconscious are subject to His power.
His authority is absolute and certain and limitless.
*B.
Casual* – V. 39 again, “And he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her.”
Note how commonplace this is.
No theatrics – no preliminaries; no extended dramatic prayers; nobody being slain in the Spirit; no accompanying music; no building to some kind of climax.
Just a casual rebuke of the fever and it is over.
There is no playing to the crowd here; no attempt to impress, no drama.
It is as unpretentious as it can be.
If you got it, you don’t have to flaunt it!
It reminds me what Vince Lombardi used to tell his players when they made a touchdown.
He hated end-zone celebrations.
Lombardi outlawed it for his guys.
He told them, “Act like you’ve been there before.”
I love that Jesus acts like He’s been there.
*C.
Complete* – Note the last phrase: “and immediately she rose and began to serve them.”
There was no maybe she is, maybe she’s not – better pray some more with Jesus.
Nothing of the kind.
There is no return of symptoms before you leave the building -- no return of symptoms tomorrow.
When Jesus healed there was no doubt.
The healing was complete.
Dr. Luke uses medical terms in v. 38.
“Was ill with” is literally “was in the grip of” – a medical description of someone who was disabled with illness.
He notes she had a high fever.
Fevers were graded small and great.
Often a great fever was accompanied by other symptoms such as dysentery.
And any fever, certainly a high one, was cause for concern in those primitive days.
This woman is seriously ill.
Yet, the moment Jesus heals her, note the end of v. 39, “and immediately she rose and began to serve them.”
When Jesus heals there are no after affects, no recovery or rehab time, no time required to regain strength.
With a word it is done and it is complete.
And I love her response.
She didn’t go on any “I got healed” campaign.
She just got on with her work.
No drama.
*D.
Comprehensive*
V. 40, “Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them.”
Imagine the scene.
Word has spread that Jesus healed a demon-possessed man and a bed-ridden, fevered woman.
Soon every diseased person in Capernaum is headed to Peter’s.
Note this is happening “when the sun was setting.”
Why then?
Because the Sabbath ended at 6:00.
Before that they were forbidden to work or travel on the Sabbath which was engrained in them.
So they come with “various diseases” -- “manifold” or “all kinds”.
Demon-possessed, paralyzed, fevered, blind, deaf – whatever.
The word is all-inclusive.
And Jesus healed them all.
Ever notice how selective faith healers are?
In my young and curious days I used to go to services in SoCal.
They specialized in weird things.
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