Pretend for a moment that you are a spy. To be successful the most important thing you
need to maintain is the secrecy of who you really are. When you go undercover, especially in a
hostile environment of any kind, you need to blend in and not stick out for
being who you really are. Tread into a
hostile environment and have your true identity blown, and you risk violent
death, from a very angry crowd of folks, none too happy you were ever allowed
in their midst. Now am I describing some
new movie coming soon – that’s possible so many are about spies these
days. But no, not trying to promote a
new movie or TV show. Instead in a
relatively large twist of fate, I am describing Jesus Christ. Now right off the bat, you are all going to
tell me that Jesus was no spy, that He did not come here for that. But think about it for a moment, our God is
Love. Jesus is Love made flesh to dwell
among us. We are nothing short of a very
hostile environment. We tend to reflect
hate and understand violence more than we love.
2 shootings in one weekend should prove that. And no, not everyone is as cuckoo-lulu as
those 2 extremists. But entire crowds of
people find it easy to subscribe to the hate they personified. Racism, whether white, black, Latino, Asian,
pick your grievance of one group against another cannot long survive without a
good current of hate to keep it going.
Our world then, constitutes nothing short of a very hostile
environment, against a pure Love that does not ever wish the knowledge of
violence existed. When confronted with
this kind of powerful love, those who would submit to it, were washed over,
inside and out, by it. But those who
rejected it, did not stay neutral or apathetic to it, they got angry. And the anger and jealousy grew, until they
plotted to kill it. And this violence
was directed against a man. The under-cover
identity of our Lord. To His enemies
Jesus was nothing more than man. Even
the suggestion that Jesus was something more, made His enemies even more
furious. To push the idea that Jesus was
God into the face of hostile agents, was the straw that would decidedly break
the camel’s back. So the mission of Love
was to spread itself and preach that love doctrine to as wide an audience as
was possible. To do this, the secret of
who Jesus really was, needed to be kept a secret. Jesus had to remain undercover as long as
possible. Remaining a spy of love was
the best way to see that love could be spoken as long as possible. The benefits of this was for us. Jesus was destined to die for us, He would
die, no matter what. But “we” needed the
time with Jesus to learn what love really looks like for as long as we could. So keeping the press off the God part of who
Jesus was would be job one.
Seems really weird to think about Jesus Christ as a spy for
heaven’s love for us. But when you think
about how hostile we truly are, it makes a lot more sense than you think. And prolonging that secret identity for as
long as possible was top of mind. Luke
tells us just how hard it really was.
Because Satan figured all of this out well ahead of time. Satan is the enemy of Love. Satan is the proponent of hate. If those racist thoughts enter your mind, and
cause you to feel less about others, you walk the same path as the father of
all hate. To trace racism back to Satan
does not give us a comfort factor, but it is true. The folks who took that racism far enough to
pull triggers are as close to Satan as you can get. They create hostile environments where none
should be. To send Jesus into that, into
our world, into an age where Roman violence hardly took second place to what we
choose to do today, was to create the need for Him to keep His secret as long
as He could. So once Satan knew this, he
determined to reveal that secret to everyone, to bust that secret identity as
loud and as often as he could.
Luke begins revealing the impacts of enemy in the fourth
chapter of his gospel letter to his Greek friend. Picking up in verse 31 he says … “And came
down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days. [verse
32] And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power.” Jesus had just left Nazareth where He was in
the synagogues teaching and preaching on Sabbath days as well. This was His custom. He invented Sabbath, so it is interesting to
see how He chooses to spend His time on it.
But this was not just a custom for home, but a custom wherever He
happened to be. And people were
astonished at His doctrine. Does that
sound like He towed the company line of His day? Not to me.
Sounds more like when Love teaches the Word, the Word is taught very
differently than when we mangle it. Looking
through the eyes of Love, the Bible becomes a Love letter. It was always supposed to be more Love
letter, than instruction manual. If you
get the Love, you will understand the instructions. But if you miss the Love, there is not enough
instructions in the world to cover that loss.
This was the mistake of our Pharisee forefathers, and the continued
mistake we make from the pulpits of today as well as in our hearts.
The Word can be taught with power, when the power that
teaches it is steeped in Love. But Satan
was not happy at all this success, and he formed a plan to ruin it quickly. Luke continues in verse 33 saying … “And in
the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and
cried out with a loud voice, [verse 34] Saying, Let us alone; what have we to
do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee
who thou art; the Holy One of God.”
These texts should scare the living poopoo out of you. Think about it. This man was able to gain access to the
synagogue on a Sabbath day. To do that,
he could not have been frothing at the mouth, or carrying around busted chains like
some of the other demoniacs. He had to
look normal. He had to behave normal. He had to look just like one of our
neighbors, calling no special attention to himself. But despite all appearances of normality,
this guy carried a full-blown demon inside of him. What should terrify you and I, is the nagging
question, do you think he knew it was there?
Or was he surprised at this unfortunate unveiling right in the middle of
church? Was this the first time, he lost
control of himself, and found himself silent while a demon spoke through
him? If this was a surprise to him, how
do you know, you are not carrying around one of your own?
Then examine what the demon says – “Let us alone”. “Us” is a equally terrifying choice of word
there. Just how many were in there? And from the demon’s point of view, they are
not bothering Jesus so why should Jesus bother them. Then the question we understand so
little. “Art thou come to destroy us?” Now this is going to sound counterintuitive
for a moment but stick with me. The
disease of hate ends in only one way – in death. The longer you are consumed by hate, the more
death starts to look like the only reasonable way of escape from it. Ask yourself why so many shooters choose to
die in the mayhem they create. It is
because they have discovered the truth of death being the only way to end their
pain. So they do not fear it. They long for it. Demons are supernatural. They existed before us, and have been
consumed by hate for longer than us. And
they too look for the relief of death to end the pain of hate. So in a sense acknowledging that Jesus will
one day end their pain, by destroying them, is a final act of mercy on God’s
part, and a welcome relief to those beings consumed by hate who refuse to give
hate up.
Lastly, the demon out’s the Spy. “I know who thou art; the Holy one of God.” Knowing Jesus exists is not the same as
embracing Jesus as your savior. This
passage proves that. Keep in mind they
were just asking about being destroyed early.
Knowledge is not submission.
Knowledge is not salvation. It is
only knowledge. And Jesus is more than
Love as we know it. He is the Holy One
of God. This was proclaimed in the
middle of church on a bright Sabbath morning.
An entire audience of believers gripped by the fear of having let in a
demoniac undercover, are now hearing the demon identify Jesus as the Holy One
of God. Luke continues in verse 35
saying .. “And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him.
And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and hurt
him not.” Jesus in a word commands the
demon to keep silent and he is powerless to refuse. It is what happens when Creator commands His
creation. We may not like that idea, but
it is true. In addition, the demon is
able to do this poor host no more harm, merely to case him down in the center
of the place and depart.
The audience is overwhelmed.
Luke continues in verse 36 saying … “And they were all amazed, and spake
among themselves, saying, What a word is this! for with authority and power he
commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out. [verse 37] And the fame of
him went out into every place of the country round about.” The word of this event travels far and wide. His enemies shrug it off. But His followers recognize a power in Him
that cannot be denied. With this church
is over. Luke continues in verse 38
saying … “And he arose out of the synagogue, and entered into Simon's house.
And Simon's wife's mother was taken with a great fever; and they besought him
for her. [verse 39] And he stood over her, and rebuked the fever; and it left
her: and immediately she arose and ministered unto them.” Jesus loved Peter’s mother-in-law. He heals her not for her service (which she
gladly volunteers), but because He loves her.
None of us were “meant” to suffer.
It is our suffering He has come to relieve. Luke drives that point home in the closing
texts of this snippet picking up in verse 40 saying … “Now when the sun was
setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him;
and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them. [verse 41] And
devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son
of God. And he rebuking them suffered them not to speak: for they knew that he
was Christ.”
Notice that all the healing described so far was taking
place on Sabbath. Jesus did not restrict
His love to us on His holy day. His love
was amplified on that day, not stuck in some self-proscribed isolation. As the sun begins to set the entire region
with sick loved ones begins to show up at Peters house. And every single one of them is healed by
Jesus, every single one. Why do we pray
with such doubt and such trepidation for the healing of our loved ones
today. Jesus is the same God of love
now. And He longs to heal us now. Why do we ask so little, and believe even
less? His mission was not to be
restricted to the areas that already knew and loved Him. It was to reach the world. Luke continues in verse 42 saying … “And when
it was day, he departed and went into a desert place: and the people sought
him, and came unto him, and stayed him, that he should not depart from them.
[verse 43] And he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other
cities also: for therefore am I sent. [verse 44] And he preached in the
synagogues of Galilee.” He did not stay
home. He ventured out. He worked for us, even when Satan had busted
His identity on multiple occasions. Nothing
would stop His love. Not then, but also
not now.
Which Jesus do you serve?
Do you find yourself His hostile environment, or are you ready to let
that Love wash over you, inside and out?
It is time …
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