That is why I was sent.

Luke 4:31-5:11 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

And He came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and He was teaching them on the Sabbath; ³² and they were amazed at His teaching, for His message was with authority. ³³ In the synagogue there was a man possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, ³⁴ “Let us alone! What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have 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 down in the midst of the people, he came out of him without doing him any harm. ³⁶ And amazement came upon them all, and they began talking with one another saying, “What is this message? For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits and they come out.” ³⁷ And the report about Him was spreading into every locality in the surrounding district.

³⁸ Then He got up and left the synagogue, and entered Simon’s home. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Him to help her. ³⁹ And standing over her, He rebuked the fever, and it left her; and she immediately got up and waited on them.

⁴⁰ While the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and laying His hands on each one of them, He was healing them. ⁴¹ Demons also were coming out of many, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But rebuking them, He would not allow them to speak, because they knew Him to be the Christ.

⁴² When day came, Jesus left and went to a secluded place; and the crowds were searching for Him, and came to Him and tried to keep Him from going away from them. ⁴³ But He said to them, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose.”

⁴⁴ So He kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.

5 Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret; ² and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. ³ And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And He sat down and began teaching the people from the boat. ⁴ When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” ⁵ Simon answered and said, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets.” ⁶ When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break; ⁷ so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink. ⁸ But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!” ⁹ For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken; ¹⁰ and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.” ¹¹ When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.

Today’s text begins saying:  And He came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and He was teaching them on the Sabbath; and they were amazed at His teaching, for His message was with authority.   In John 12:49 Jesus says:  I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak.  Jesus message was with authority because it was the message of God Himself. If we want to speak with authority, we need to make sure that we too only speak what the Father commands. The text continues:  In the synagogue there was a man possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice,  “Let us alone! What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”  But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in the midst of the people, he came out of him without doing him any harm.  And amazement came upon them all, and they began talking with one another saying, “What is this message? For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits and they come out.” Jesus not only spoke with authority, He also acted with authority. In John 5:19-20 Jesus says:  “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will marvel.”   If we want to walk in the authority Jesus walked in, we need to do whatever the Father is doing.

The text continues saying: Then He got up and left the synagogue, and entered Simon’s home. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Him to help her. And standing over her, He rebuked the fever, and it left her; and she immediately got up and waited on them.  While the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and laying His hands on each one of them, He was healing them. Demons also were coming out of many, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But rebuking them, He would not allow them to speak, because they knew Him to be the Christ.  When day came, Jesus left and went to a secluded place; and the crowds were searching for Him, and came to Him and tried to keep Him from going away from them. But He said to them, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose.”  So He kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.   Many people today try to promote a false notion and narrative that Jesus preferred the company of outcasts and sinners rather than the religious when He was here. They say if Jesus was here today He would avoid the church and minister in the streets and the bars etc. The text tells us that the miracle account was done in the synagogue. Simons mother in law was healed in a home and others in a secluded place. The text says tells us that Jesus kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea; that He said: “I was sent for this purpose.”   The gospel accounts certainly do not support the idea that Jesus would avoid the church.  Matthew 4:23 says:  Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people. Matthew 9:35 says: Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness. Mark 1:21 says: Jesus and His companions went to Capernaum, and as soon as the Sabbath began, Jesus entered the synagogue and began to teach.  Mark 1:39 says:  He went throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.  Luke 4:15 says:  He taught in their synagogues and was glorified by everyone.  Luke 4:43-44 says:  But Jesus told them, "I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well, because that is why I was sent."  And He continued to preach in the synagogues of Judea.  Luke 6:6 says:   On another Sabbath, Jesus entered the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered.  Luke 13:10 says: One Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues.   John 6:59 says:  Jesus said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.  John 18:20 says:  “I have spoken openly to the world," Jesus answered. "I always taught in the synagogues and at the temple, where all theJews come together. I said nothing in secret.”    

Jesus clearly did not avoid the church then and I am sure He would not avoid the church today. Jesus ministered and taught in the synagogues, in homes; in secluded places. He ministered and taught wherever people were. Many today focus more on the where and the who of their ministry. Many identify and target a particular demographic; just a small sector of society as their ministry focus.  If we want to minister as Jesus did and as He commanded us to minister, with the same authority He had, we should not focus on where or who, but rather, like Jesus on saying what the Father is saying and doing what the Father is doing.  In Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus says:  “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”  In Mark 16:15 He says: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”   In Acts 1:8 He says: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”   We should not focus so much on where we minister or who we minister to, but rather that we go in the authority of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit, doing and saying what the Father says and does.

Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit; that You have called and empowered me to go wherever I go in authority and power, doing what You are doing. Like Jesus, may I know, that is what I came for.  Amen.