“Jesus Releases the Captives”
Luke 4:31-44
1/28/07
Last week I was suffering from yet another severe
cold, something I picked up from the passengers on the aircraft as I
flew out to Ft. Wayne. When I got home, it had not yet cleared
up. I had a bad sore throat, and my cough was still hanging
on. So I decided to go see the doctor. She told me that I
also had an ear infection, which I knew nothing about, and then
prescribed some antibiotics for me. After taking them, I felt
much better. My sore throat was gone, my cough had calmed down,
and even my sinuses started to clear up. I felt a great release -
you know, the way you feel when you finally start to come back from an
illness. You’re stronger, you have more energy, you feel
free, like a burden has been lifted from you.
Today’s gospel text comes from the pen of a
physician, St. Luke, whose practice would have consisted of releasing
people from their ailments with the aid of medicines. Some
diseases could be cured with medication, while others could not.
But there were no medicines which could release someone from demon
possession, and no one could release anyone from an illness without
using some kind of medicinal means. But here was Jesus, releasing
people from both their illnesses and their demon possession without any
kind of medication at all, but with His Word alone. This must
have fascinated Luke. In fact, it led him to confess that Jesus
is the Christ, the Son of God.
This is what the angel Gabriel had told Mary
concerning Jesus before He was born - that He would be called the Son
of God. Then it was at His Baptism that the Father spoke from
heaven, “You are my beloved Son. In you I am
well-pleased.” Then, when He read from the book of Isaiah
in the synagogue in Nazareth (which was our gospel text last Sunday),
we learned what His agenda as the Christ, the Son of God, was. It
was an agenda of release, release to the poor, the captives, the blind,
and the oppressed through the proclamation of His Word. And now
in today’s gospel text we see that releasing in action, as Jesus
teaches in the synagogue, as He casts out demons, and as He heals
people of their illnesses, all with just His words.
But Jesus’ words are not just words.
There’s a difference between words that give us information or
facts and words that actually do what the speaker sends them out to
do. There’s a difference between words that carry no
authority and those that do. For example, if I were to declare
someone guilty of a crime, my words would carry no weight. But if
a judge declares someone guilty of a crime, his words carry the
authority of his office; his words actually do what he says - they
declare the defendant guilty, and therefore he is guilty.
Jesus’ words carry authority, not an authority given to Him by
the world, but the authority given to Him by the Father. And so,
when Jesus speaks, His words don’t just give us information; they
do what He sends them out to do, and they trump the words of all other
authorities.
And so we see Jesus in today’s gospel text
using His words to release people from the authorities that hold them
captive. He releases a man possessed by a demon. It’s
interesting to note that the demons know who Jesus is and recognize His
authority, but most people do not. The demons know that by virtue
of who He is - the Holy One of God - Jesus has the authority to destroy
them. Jesus destroys the devil and his kingdom by releasing those
bound by them through the proclamation of the kingdom of God.
This proclamation is the good news that you are released from your
captivity to the devil through the work of Jesus on the cross for
you. The devil rightly held you captive at one time on account of
your sins. You came into this world possessed by the devil and
dead in your trespasses and sins. But God declares your sins
forgiven for Christ’s sake, whose blood shed on the cross has
atoned for them, and by way of your Baptism you have been transferred
from the devil’s kingdom into the kingdom of Christ. Now
the devil has no authority over you. When he declares you guilty
and condemns you on account of your sin, his words do not stand; they
carry no weight, because Jesus’ words of release trump his before
God. As the Apostle Paul writes, “Who will bring a charge
against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is
the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather
who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes
for us.” With His words of release and absolution, then,
Jesus has delivered you from your slavery under the tyranny of the
devil and brought you into His kingdom of grace. And though the
demons continue to oppress you, they cannot possess you. God has
put His Name upon you at your Baptism and made your body His holy
temple. You belong to Him, not the devil. And finally, when
the Lord returns to take you to your eternal inheritance, the devil and
his demons will be destroyed once and for all when they are cast into
the lake of fire, which was prepared for them.
Not only do we see Jesus’ authority over the
demons here, but also His authority over sickness (and by extension,
death). Sickness and death are the consequences of sin.
Simon Peter’s mother-in-law was suffering these consequences; she
was suffering from a high fever, which if not taken care of could have
led to death. Sicknesses are little reminders that death is on
its way; death is the wages of sin and will eventually come to all of
us, provided the Lord doesn’t return before our time. But
with Jesus, sickness and death do not have the last word; He
does. The authority of sickness and death over us has been
trumped by the authority of Jesus’ words of release and
forgiveness. Just as He rebuked the fever for Peter’s
mother-in-law so that she was restored to health, so Jesus has rebuked
your suffering, sickness, and death, so that they will not be able to
hold you on the Last Day. You may continue to suffer now.
In fact, Peter’s mother-in-law eventually got sick again and
died, as did Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead. But
Jesus’ healings were signs that He has authority over sickness
and death, and just as He says in the gospel according to St. John,
“I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me shall
live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall
never die.”
You have been released from your captivity to
sickness and death, because you have been released from the cause of
these things - your sin. This release was made possible by the
Lord’s cross. It was because Jesus allowed Himself to be
bound captive to those things that held you - sin, sickness/death, and
the devil - and then overcame them through His death and resurrrection
that you are now free. With His cross Jesus procured your
release; with His words He delivers that release to you. As the
Apostle Paul writes, “When He had disarmed the rulers and
authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over
them through the cross.” Now that triumph is given to you
in the proclamation of the forgiveness of your sins. This is the
freeing word of the gospel, that God no longer holds your sins against
you, but declares you righteous through faith in Jesus Christ, the
sacrifice for your sins. Your sins were laid upon Him at His
Baptism and nailed with Him to the cross. They have been removed
from you as far as the east is from the west. And since you stand
before God sinless, clothed with Christ, all those authorities that
once rightly held you captive can no longer legitimately hold
you. You are no longer subject to them and do not need to be
afraid of them. What can the devil and the demons do to
you? They’ve been defeated by Christ; you belong to Him,
not them; and His words trump theirs. What can sickness and death
do to you? They too have been defeated by Christ; they cannot
separate you from the love of God in Jesus and they will not be able to
keep you in the grave when the Lord comes for you. What can your
sins do to you? They have been forgiven; you have been released
from them and the guilt and condemnation that goes along with
them. Jesus is still proclaiming this release to you today,
rebuking what would take you captive and absolving you of your
sins. His words do what He sends them out to do. They are
the healing medication God has given for all your ailments. Hear
again these freeing words today: Jesus Christ releases you.
The burden has been lifted. The chains have been broken.
Sin, death, and the devil have been defeated. Go, you are
free. Amen.