[Listen to an audio version here]
What is the message of Christianity all about? How would you summarize it in a few words? It’s a good thing to think about.
Here’s what Jesus says, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.” Jesus’ summary? The good news of the kingdom of God.
I don’t think that’s generally the first thing that comes to the mind of evangelical Christians when they think of Christianity. So, why doesn’t it come to our mind when it came so readily to Jesus’ lips? What does it mean? Why would Jesus summarize His message as the good news of the kingdom of God?
That’s what our passages teaches us. We will see this in three points. The teaching of the kingdom of God. The demonstration of the kingdom of God. The extension of the kingdom of God.
The Teaching of the Kingdom of God
Jesus said that He had a message to proclaim. It was good news. It was good news about the kingdom of God. While this message might not be clear to us, it was understandable to Jesus’ hearers. They weren’t necessarily looking for someone to die on a cross and rise again, and that was part of their problem. However, they were looking for a king who would bring in a new kingdom.
They understood that things were not as they should be. Instead of enjoying prosperity in their own kingdom, they were under the dominion and often oppression of the Roman government. In addition, many of the people had compromised the ancient faith with the newcomers. Many would have agreed that a call to repentance was needed. They wanted a leader who would come and liberate them and lead them back to God and His ways. So, when Jesus talked about a kingdom, this would have made sense. They would not be surprised that the Messiah would come talking about the coming of the kingdom. They would have understood the idea that people should repent because the kingdom of God was at hand. They needed to get ready. They were looking with expectation, as Luke notes in Luke 3.
And so, Jesus’ message was an answer to their expectation. The kingdom is here.
Jesus spent much of His time teaching about this kingdom and correcting their misconceptions about it. You can see in our passage how much time Jesus spent teaching and proclaiming. First, Jesus taught in the synagogues. Now, people often avoid church because it has hurt them. Jesus had just been rejected in His hometown and nearly killed. And what does He do? “Then he went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath he taught the people” (Luke 4:31). Jesus went into the synagogues, the places where people gathered for worship. He went where the people were, even though He had faced rejection.
Second, Jesus taught from town to town. The people in Capernaum saw all that Jesus was doing. So, they wanted Him to stay there. However, He told them that He could not do so. “But he said, ‘I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.’ And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea” (Luke 4:44–45). He wanted to tell as many as people as possible about the good news of the kingdom of God.
Third, Jesus taught wherever there were people. In Luke 5, Jesus was teaching by the shore of the Sea of Galilee. They pressed right up against Him. So, what did He do? “He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat” (Luke 5:2–3).
Jesus went where the people were. Why? Because He cared about them and had a wonderful message for them. He wanted to tell them good news. The kingdom was coming and that would make all the difference. Things were going to change. Things were going to turn around. Good things were coming.
Jesus did not merely teach about the kingdom of God. He taught with authority. He demonstrated the power the kingdom as well as talking about it. Let’s consider how Jesus did that.
The Demonstration of the Kingdom of God
One of the problems in the conception of the kingdom of God in Jesus’ day was that their view was too small. They saw the challenge to the kingdom of God in Rome, but the real challenge was in the devil. Jesus showed that the kingdom of God was going to overcome the greatest enemy of humanity, Satan himself.
So, Jesus demonstrated the kingdom in His power over demons. It happened in an interesting way that is very instructive to us. In the synagogue, there was a man who was controlled by a demon. Notice that he was there. He might have been just sitting there. People might not have known. Then, all of a sudden, he cried out in a loud voice, “Go away! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” (Luke 4:34). Jesus rebuked the demon. “Be quiet! Come out of him!” Then, the demon threw him down and came out. People knew that the power of the kingdom had come. “What words these are! With authority and power he gives orders to impure spirits and they come out!” (Luke 4:36).
This was not just a one time event. 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 Messiah” (Luke 4:41). Jesus demonstrated the kingdom in power over demons.
When we see problems in people and the world, we don’t tend to think about the factor of demons. However, it is real, and it is something that we have authority over through Jesus Christ. John Nevius was a missionary to China with a mindset similar to our own. He didn’t think of the spiritual battle very often. Slowly, it dawned on him, that he was dealing with the very thing Jesus was. He found the need to be aware of this issue. Through prayer and the reading of the Word, the demons would flee. He began to see the kingdom of God come just as it had in the days of Jesus. This demonstrates the coming of the kingdom of God.
Jesus also demonstrated the kingdom in healing a common disease. Sometimes, when we have a common disease, we might be tempted to think it’s not one of those big issues. So, Jesus might not care about it as much. However, we have this great story of Peter’s Mother-in-law that teaches the opposite. After all, we were not meant to experience disease. We were created to have energy and strength that we would use to serve God and others. She was at home sick in bed. The power of the King turned things around. “So he bent over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up at once and began to wait on them” (Luke 4:39). Jesus restored Peter’s Mother-in-law to the way things are supposed to be so she can live a life of service again in fulfillment of what she was made for. This is the power of the kingdom of God.
Finally, Jesus demonstrated the kingdom in healing the multitudes. Jesus did not only heal Peter’s Mother-in-law. He healed everyone who came to Him. “At sunset, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them” (Luke 4:40). Jesus brought healing to all sorts of people. Again, sickness is not the way things are supposed to be. The kingdom of God comes and turns things around. It brings healing to our physical and mental sicknesses. One beautiful aspect of this is that Jesus goes right up to the sick people. I am not saying that social distance is not necessary at times, but Jesus breaks right through it. He is the healer! That’s what the kingdom of God does. It comes right into our darkness and sickness and brings light and healing.
In these three ways, Jesus demonstrated the kingdom. He showed what it was like. However, as a human, He could only be in one place at one time. He wanted to speak to as many people as possible. So, when they wanted Him to stay, He said, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent” (Luke 4:43). However, this is not the only way in which Jesus was going to get the good news out. That’s what we will see in the next point.
The Extension of the Kingdom of God
One way Jesus confronted the people’s misconception about the kingdom of God was to tell them parables. One of those parables was that the kingdom of God was like a mustard seed. It is one of the smallest seeds. However, it can gradually grow into a large tree that provides shade and gives a place for birds to lay their nests. That’s what the kingdom of God is like. It wasn’t going to come all at once. So, how was it going to come?
In chapter 5, you will remember that Jesus was sitting in the boat teaching the people. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon or Peter, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch” (Luke 5:4).
You can imagine what these expert fisherman might have thought of Jesus giving them advice. They had been fishing all night, and that’s what Simon Peter said, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets” (Luke 5:5). But what happened? “When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break” (Luke 5:6). They had so much, they needed help. It was completely unexpected, but they brought more in following Jesus than they would have ever expected.
Peter was profoundly astonished and humbled by this. He fell down, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” I have never forgotten the comment that Lutheran theologian C.F.W. Walther made on this passage: “Peter said, ‘Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.’ Many a time in his later life he probably said to himself: ‘Peter, you were a great simpleton on that occasion. Instead of what you did say to Jesus, you should have said: ‘O Lord, abide with me, for I am a sinful man’” (C.F.W. Walther, The Proper Distinction Between Law and Gospel, 45).
Now, Jesus was making a point to them. He responded to Peter, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” Jesus would continue to build His kingdom, but He would not do it only through His own teaching. He would send out other people who would build up His kingdom. Eventually, He would leave the earth in His physical body, and He would send them out to all the world. That’s how the King would build His kingdom!
Now, let’s consider briefly how Jesus would make them fish for people.
1. He would send them to people who needed the kingdom. They would not catch people unless they were with people. So, Jesus would send them to people just like He went to people.
2. He would give them a message to proclaim about the kingdom. He would teach them about the kingdom so that they could teach others. During the last days of Jesus’ life on earth before His ascension, He would be talking about the kingdom of God. If we know about the kingdom of God, we can share it with others.
3. He would give them power to demonstrate the kingdom. They would do this through their love, their prayers, and their acts. They would become centers of making the kingdom of God come and His will being done on earth as it is in heaven.
That’s how the King builds His kingdom.
Conclusion
Where do you see things that are not the way they are supposed to be? We don’t have to rest with that. The King is here and can turn around everything and make them what they are supposed to be. That is the power of the King. He doesn’t do it all right away. The coming of the kingdom is gradual and will be completed at the end of time.
In the meantime, you are a center of His work on earth. You are here to be an agent of His kingdom and an evidence of His kingdom. The King is still here. But don’t be afraid. From now on, He will make you fish for people. He will make you a new center of the kingdom of God on earth. That’s how the King is building his Kingdom . . . through you! Cast in the nets, and see the large number that He will bring in. Amen.
Benediction: Remember as you go out this week that God is at work in you and those around you restoring all things to the way that they are supposed to be. Let this encourage you and motivate you to do what God has called you to do in every area of life.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
_______
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash