8/2/26 주일설교
The Authority of Jesus
Luke 4:38–41
“After leaving the synagogue, Jesus went into Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Jesus to help her. So He bent over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up at once and began to wait on them. At sunset, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying His hands on each one, He healed them. 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 Christ.” (Luke 4:38–41)
Authority is not merely power or ability. It is the rightful power and the legitimate right to rule over someone or something.
For example, a police officer does not have authority simply because he carries a firearm. His authority comes from the government that has entrusted him with that responsibility.
Jesus’ authority, however, is different. It is not delegated by anyone else. As the Son of God and the Creator Himself, Jesus possesses authority by His very nature.
Today’s passage reveals the kind of authority that belongs to Jesus, the Son of God.
1. Jesus Has Authority Over Creation and Life
After casting out a demon in the synagogue at Capernaum (Luke 4:31–37), Jesus entered Simon Peter’s house. There He found Peter’s mother-in-law suffering from a high fever.
Luke, being a physician, carefully notes that it was a “high fever,” indicating that this was not an ordinary illness but a life-threatening condition. The people pleaded with Jesus, and He healed her with His word.
1) Jesus’ authority is revealed in His word of healing.
Luke writes:
“He stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her.”
When Jesus rebuked a demon (Luke 4:35), it made sense because demons are personal, spiritual beings. But a fever is not a personal being. Therefore, it is remarkable that Jesus rebuked the fever itself, and it immediately obeyed Him.
Why does Jesus possess such authority? Why would even a disease obey His command?
The answer is found in Genesis 1.
In the creation account, everything came into existence by the Word of God.
“Let there be light,” and there was light.
“Let the earth produce vegetation,” and it was so.
John 1:1–3 identifies Jesus as that eternal Word:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.”
Jesus is the eternal Word through whom the universe was created.
The same Creator who spoke the world into existence now commands not only demons but even disease. Although a fever is not personal, it belongs to the created order. Therefore, it submits to the authority of its Creator.
This miracle demonstrates that Jesus has authority not only over the spiritual realm by casting out demons, but also over the fallen creation itself by removing the effects of sin, including sickness.
2) Jesus’ authority is also seen in the response of the healed woman.
Normally, even after a fever subsides, a person needs time to regain strength.
But Jesus’ healing was complete.
Peter’s mother-in-law immediately got up and began serving them.
Jesus’ authority does more than remove illness. It completely restores people and enables them to live according to God’s purpose.
This also applies to us.
Whenever God restores us—from sickness, discouragement, hardship, or failure—our proper response is to use our restored lives in service to God and to others.
Serving God is the appropriate response to His grace and an expression of submission to His authority.
3) Jesus’ authority is filled with compassion.
Luke 4:40 says:
“At sunset, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying His hands on each one, He healed them.”
Jesus possesses absolute authority over demons, disease, and all creation.
Yet His authority is not distant or intimidating.
It is approachable, compassionate, and full of mercy.
In Jewish society, children were often considered insignificant, and the sick were frequently viewed as being under God’s judgment. Those born blind, for example, were often assumed to be suffering because of their own sin or their parents’ sin.
But Jesus welcomed children, the sick, and the disabled.
He touched them personally and healed them.
As the Messiah, the Son of God, and the King of kings, Jesus certainly could have healed everyone with a single command.
Yet He chose to lay His hands on each person individually.
He did not do this because He lacked authority, but because His authority is inseparable from His love.
The authority of Jesus is not cold power.
It is compassionate power.
Even today, Jesus continues to show mercy to all who come to Him in faith.
2. Our Response to the Authority of Jesus
The demons knew exactly who Jesus was.
In Luke 4:34 they cried out,
“I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”
And in Luke 4:41 they declared,
“You are the Son of God!”
What is remarkable, however, is that the people who were healed and even Jesus’ own disciples did not fully understand who He was.
This tension continues throughout the Gospel of Luke. It is not until Peter’s confession that Jesus begins to reveal His identity more openly to His disciples. Even then, they did not fully understand or wholeheartedly obey Him until after the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. Only then did they clearly recognize Jesus as the Son of God and the Holy One of God, and they boldly followed Him.
The same is true today.
People can gain knowledge about Jesus by listening to sermons on YouTube or by using tools such as ChatGPT or Gemini. These resources can provide valuable biblical information. However, knowledge alone does not save anyone.
If a person knows about Jesus but does not believe in Him as Lord and Savior, his knowledge is no different from that of the demons.
James 2:19 says,
“You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.”
Therefore, as believers, we must not stop with intellectual knowledge. We must believe in Christ and obey Him.
Only those who trust and obey Jesus truly come to know His authority and experience the comfort, peace, and assurance that flow from living under His lordship.
3. Jesus Exercised His Authority by Silencing the Demons
Luke tells us that as the demons came out, they shouted,
“You are the Son of God.”
But Jesus rebuked them and would not allow them to speak.
Why did Jesus forbid the demons from proclaiming who He was?
1) Because Jesus’ identity must be revealed through God’s gospel, not through the testimony of demons.
God has entrusted the proclamation of the gospel to His redeemed people.
For that reason, Jesus did not permit demons to testify about Him.
Remarkably, God has not even entrusted the saving message of the gospel to angels.
Instead, Jesus commanded His disciples,
“Go and make disciples of all nations.”
This commission is a unique privilege given to the followers of Christ. God has not given this responsibility to any other created being but to His redeemed people.
Angels may announce God’s messages and assist His work, but they are not the witnesses who have personally experienced the saving grace of the gospel.
Acts 10 clearly illustrates this truth.
An angel appeared to Cornelius, yet the angel did not preach the gospel. Instead, Cornelius was instructed to send for Peter. Through Peter’s preaching, Cornelius and his entire household heard the gospel, believed in Christ, received the Holy Spirit, and were saved.
Likewise, God sent Philip to explain the Scriptures to the Ethiopian eunuch. As Philip proclaimed that Jesus was the promised Messiah, the eunuch believed in Christ and expressed his faith through baptism.
God has chosen redeemed sinners—not angels or demons—to proclaim the good news of salvation.
2) Because Jesus’ ministry must always accomplish God’s purposes in God’s way.
There is a Korean proverb that says,
“Whether the cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice.”
In other words, some people believe that if the goal is good, any method is acceptable.
But Scripture teaches otherwise.
The Bible never says that a good purpose justifies any means.
Although the demons spoke the truth, they remained evil spirits with evil intentions.
Their purpose was not to honor Christ but to disrupt His ministry and confuse the people about the coming of God’s kingdom.
Therefore, Jesus firmly silenced them.
We find a similar example in Acts 16.
While Paul was preaching in Philippi, a demon-possessed slave girl followed him and repeatedly cried out,
“These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.”
Her words were true.
Paul really was God’s servant, proclaiming the way of salvation.
Yet Paul became greatly troubled because the source of that testimony was an evil spirit.
Eventually, he commanded the demon to come out of her.
Even when evil spirits speak the truth, their purpose is never to advance the gospel but to oppose God’s work.
God’s mission must always be carried out according to God’s holy purposes and God’s holy methods.
3) Because God’s appointed time had not yet come.
Jesus openly proclaimed that the kingdom of God had arrived.
However, the full revelation that He is the Holy One of God and the Son of God would come through His death and resurrection.
Only after Pentecost did the disciples fully understand who Jesus truly was. Filled with the Holy Spirit, they boldly proclaimed Christ and willingly gave their lives for Him.
During Jesus’ earthly ministry, God’s redemptive plan was still unfolding according to His perfect timetable.
4. Conclusion
Jesus is far more than a miracle worker who simply solves people’s problems or heals their diseases.
He is the eternal Son of God, the Creator who possesses sovereign authority over demons, sickness, life, and all creation.
Today, He remains our Lord with the very same authority.
His authority still saves sinners, heals the brokenhearted, lifts up the discouraged, and transforms those He restores into faithful servants of His kingdom.
Therefore, may each one of us entrust every part of our lives to Jesus Christ, who possesses all authority in heaven and on earth.
May we joyfully submit ourselves to His gracious rule and faithfully follow Him all the days of our lives.
Amen.
Let us pray.