A Day in the Life of Jesus

4th Sunday after Epiphany, 1/30/22 Luke 4:38-44 A Day in the Life of Jesus I. A day of individual compassion II. A day of awesome power III. A day of focused gospel ministry Like the names “Watergate” and “Katrina,” ordinary words in our English language can become freighted with negative baggage. And one of those words is the focus of our worship service this morning which reads, “Agenda uncovered—what must be said, not what asks to be heard.” In our modern world, the word “agenda” has taken on a negative connotation. We hear daily about what important people in our world are doing and we wonder what their agenda is. What are their motives? What are they trying to accomplish? Which direction are they taking us? But an “agenda” isn’t necessarily bad. What’s your agenda? What do you set out to do each day? It might be as godly as trying to be the salt and light of the earth. It might be as godly as trying to be as faithful as you can in whatever calling in life the Lord has placed you. If that’s your agenda, then you share something precious with your Savior, Jesus Christ. He came to this world with a very specific mission, an agenda if you will. And he carried it our faithfully every day of his life here on earth. We see that occurring on this day in his life as Luke details it for us. If you want to know what Jesus was all about and what he wasn’t all about, take a look at this day in the life of Jesus. As we do so, may our Lord fill us with confidence in his work for us so that we are empowered to live for him. I. What’s the difference between a job that’s done and a job that’s done well? Almost always, it depends on the details. Shoddy work might be in a finished state, but the details are lacking completeness. The “Is” aren’t dotted and the “Ts” aren’t crossed. The gospel writer Luke was a physician by profession. Physicians pay attention to details, or they don’t stay in their practice very long. Under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Luke’s account of this day in the life of Jesus contains some important details. In the verses prior to our text, Luke informs us that this was the Sabbath day. Jesus was in the city of Capernaum and he went first to the synagogue. That’s where our text picks up. He then went to the home of Simon Peter, whose mother-in-law was living with Peter and his wife. It’s important that Luke informs us who this woman was, rather than simply calling her a woman. What Jesus would do for her on this day would have a dramatic impact on Peter and his wife. Being a physician, Luke informs us that she suffered from a high fever. Likely she was afflicted with an infection. Obtaining a prescription for an antibiotic and taking some Tylenol to lower the fever weren’t options. A fever like this could cause life-long complications, if she survived. Our text states, “They asked Jesus to help her. So he bent over her.” He got close to her, fever notwithstanding. He wanted to give her his personal attention instead of dealing with her from a distance. Then he “rebuked the fever.” Just as Jesus would rebuke the wind and the waves of a storm and the storm immediately subsided, so with this fever. The fever was completely subject to his will. The fever “left her. She got up at once and began to wait on them.” Immediately she was restored to health so completely that she was able to serve Jesus and the other people in Peter’s home. No time for recovery was needed. Jesus made her completely well immediately. Imagine the impression that this day in her life had on her. The Messiah had arrived, had come to her at home, and had driven away what might have been a life-threatening illness. I doubt she ever forgot this day, and it filled her with hope in her Lord. II. The day was now drawing to a close. Luke informs us that the sun was setting. That marked the end of the Sabbath day. But this day was far from over for Jesus. In fact, it became unbelievably busy. When you know that your day is becoming too busy for you, what do you do about it? We tend to set up boundaries. We screen phone calls. We close doors. We make ourselves unavailable. But not Jesus. The sun was setting. Perhaps Jesus intended to spend a quite few hours with Peter and his family, but that didn’t occur. Instead, “the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness.” What do you think that looked like? I imagine Peter’s house was situated on a narrow street in Capernaum. He likely lived on a small plot of city land, not some large estate with vast expanses of green space. I envision people lined up in the street in front of Peter’s house as far as you could see—sick people or healthy people carrying those too sick to walk. And notice what Jesus does. He doesn’t decide to save himself time and energy by simply shouting out as loudly as he can, “Be healed, all of you!” No, Luke tells us he laid his hands on each one and healed them. He gave each sick person his personal touch. In doing so, he established a personal relationship with each one. What powerful care! In fact, Satan himself was no match for Jesus on this day in the life of Jesus. We’re told, “Moreover, demons came out of many people, shouting, ‘You are the Son of God!’ But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Messiah.” He performed exorcisms, not just for a few people but for many. And as the demons made their exits, they correctly identified Jesus as the Son of God. They were no match for Jesus even though they outnumbered him. Luke doesn’t state it specifically, but he leaves us with the impression that these healings went on and on, well into the night, perhaps even all night long so that Jesus got no sleep that night. But what a day in the life of Jesus—a day of awesome power! III. Next, Luke shares this detail with us, “At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them. But he said, ‘I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.’ And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.” Do you recall what had happened in the synagogue Nazareth, just days earlier? We heard about it in last Sunday’s gospel. In Nazareth, the people tried to get rid Jesus by throwing him off a cliff, but Jesus walked through their midst. Here in Capernaum, the people try to hang on to Jesus, but he walks through their midst. Why? Why not stay and give the people what they want, which is more of Jesus? Because Jesus had an agenda, and being a miracle-worker wasn’t part of it. Jesus had not come simply to make people’s lives on earth better by healing them and driving out demons. He came to be the world’s Savior from sin. That was his focus, and, for now, that work involved preaching the gospel, the good news that he was that Savior from sin. He had proclaimed that gospel to the people of Capernaum. He would do so again. In fact, Capernaum became the base of his operations. But other people needed to hear the gospel, and the time was short. So he left Capernaum to preach his gospel in other cities. This was a typical day in the life of Jesus—a day of focused gospel ministry. That was his agenda. I don’t think I’m telling you anything new when I tell you that Jesus has called you to follow him. As one of his followers, what’s your agenda? We all have an agenda. The problem is that we have more than one, sometimes many agendas, and they compete with each other. What are yours? To be happy? To be successful? To be healthy? To reach retirement healthy enough to enjoy it? To have a model family? To be appreciated? To be respected? To be recognized as being right? To be in charge? None of these are sinful agendas in and of themselves. But, when they compete with your life as a follower of Jesus Christ, they aren’t pleasing to your Lord; they’re sinful. So, as you ponder this day in the life of Jesus and it strengthens your confidence in him as the one who lived perfectly for you so that he could die innocently for you and then rise again, consider the agenda of Jesus and note what it did for these people in Capernaum. As you take to heart his life on this day, then form your own daily agenda. First, live each day of your life in faith. Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law completely. Unfortunately, she likely got sick again perhaps more than once, and eventually she died. She likely entered heaven and now she awaits the resurrection on the Last Day, when Jesus will raise her body and yours and mine and glorify them. That’s the goal of our faith. Live in that faith! Second item on your agenda: live each day of your life in hope. Not so easy, is it, given the world we live in? We live in a world broken by sin and the only solution to sin is Jesus. That’s what his death and resurrection were all about. Jesus has overcome sin. Live in Christian hope! Third item on your agenda: love people. Jesus isn’t visibly here today caring for other people as he did on this day in his life. Today, we are his arms and hands, his eyes and ears. Love your neighbor as Jesus does. Do what you can to help them, try to understand them, comfort them. Final item on your agenda: preach the gospel. That was our Savior’s focus. Make it yours. Nothing else matters. Nothing you hear on the news really matters. Only the gospel does, because it alone is the power of God to save sinners. Proclaim the gospel! Make that your agenda. That was our Savior’s agenda on this day in his life. Make it your agenda every day of your life! Amen.