The Gospel of Christ According To St. Luke 4:38-44 (NKJV)
38 Now He arose from the synagogue and entered Simon’s house. But Simon’s wife’s mother was sick with a high fever, and they made a request of Him concerning her. 39 So He stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. And immediately she arose and served them. 40 When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them. 41 And demons also came out of many, crying out and saying, “You are the Christ, the Son of God!” And He, rebuking them, did not allow them to speak, for they knew that He was the Christ. 42 Now when it was day, He departed and went into a deserted place. And the crowd sought Him and came to Him, and tried to keep Him from leaving them; 43 but He said to them, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent.” 44 And He was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee.
In our Gospel today, we can see Jesus Christ attending to every needs of His people. After His preaching in synagogue that Sabbath (Luke 4:31), He attended to the needs of Simon’s mother in law. And not only that, He attended to the needs of those people who came to Him. John 6:37 says,” All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.” So instead of driving them away after giving their needs, He was the one who went away to a solitary place to focus on His main purpose: To preach the Kingdom of GOD to other places ‘ALSO’. ALSO means that Jesus had not only delivered them from demons and healed in that place, Capernaum, but preached them; the Kingdom of GOD as well.
Jesus Christ was concerned with the needs of those people in Israel and also, our every needs today. But Jesus Christ has a better offer. To give us ALL the things that we need abundantly. Not only our physical needs but our spiritual needs as well. Jesus knew that if we seek the Kingdom of GOD first, then all those things we need will be given to us as well. (Matthew 6:33). We can attain both; that better life on earth and the eternal life to come, that is; if we enter the Kingdom of GOD through listening to the Gospel.
Let’s refresh some of His Teaching about the Kingdom of GOD in Israel:
Matthew 6:25-33
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
If we go back the story before He went to synagogue in Capernaum to preach, we will find that He came from Nazareth and preached there as well. And in Nazareth, Jesus’ preaching was the same; about the Gospel or the Good News.
Here is His sermon that took place in His hometown Nazareth;
Luke 4:16-21
16 So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. 17 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
20 Then He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Luke 4:18-19 mentioned three times that He was sent to proclaim the Gospel. We must know now that the Gospel can heal the brokenhearted, freedom from the curse of suffering because of sins, to see the light of GOD which means making wise decisions, and so on and so on. If the Gospel will be proclaimed, truly everyone who hears it will have a new abundant life with the LORD in all aspects of life.
That is why every follower of Christ must be committed to proclaiming the Good News about the Kingdom of GOD. To show that proclamation of the Gospel is His priority, Jesus Christ’s last instruction before He was taken up to Heaven (Mark 16:19) was this:
Matthew 28:19-20
19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Mark16:15-16
15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”
Our priority now as a believer and follower of Christ Jesus should be the same. We should prioritize teaching everything Jesus had taught in the Gospel. It should also be fulfilled in us. We should desire to be partakers in the prophecy and the fulfillment of the Scriptures.
The Gospel will be proclaimed throughout the ends of the earth with or without us. But how blessed we are if GOD will make us part of this great mission. Matthew 24:14 says, “ And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”
Why not call your family and start teaching the Gospel? Be the fulfillment of the Prophecy of Christ. Yours are all the benefits for the Glory of GOD. AMEN
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