Jesus and the Supremacy of the Word
There are some things in the life of Jesus that we would do dwell to ponder afresh on. His life, while redemptive and unrepeatable, is nonetheless a fruitful avenue to see what the Son of God thought, acted, and did throughout his life on earth. One of those series of events comes to us in Luke chapter 4. What makes matters more interesting is the way in which Luke forgoes chronological order in order to highlight something greater. Luke wants to make sure that we cannot miss this central element to Jesus’s ministry.
Setting the stage, Luke 4:1-13 begins with the temptation of Jesus. This well-known battle between the adversary, Satan, and the incarnate Lord is something many of us are familiar with. But in context, this episode takes on even greater significance. Jesus, the Lord of Glory, the eternal Word, stands before this created being, Satan. Satan who temps Jesus! And how does Jesus respond in each temptation? He does not respond citing his own authority — Satan, leave me (like he does often with the demons). No, rather he responds to Satan in three separate occasions with the Word of God. Jesus demonstrates the authority of the Word of God.
In addition to that, we see in the temptation a way in which we face temptation. What do we do? We use the word of God. We hide it in our hearts that we might not sin against God (Ps. 119:11). How do we combat the forces of evil? Why, with the Sword of the Spirit and the whole armour of God (Eph. 6:10-20). In a sense, we fight temptation, like Jesus did, with the Word of God.
With that in mind then we come next to Jesus’s rejection at Nazareth in Luke 4:14-30. This is the episode that clues us in to the way in which Luke wants us to see Jesus in his Gospel account. The rejection as Nazareth takes place at a later time, chronologically. We can see that when comparing Luke to Matthew and Mark (chapter 13 and 6 respectively). So, the first question is, why does Luke place this episode front and centre?
One of the primary reasons is that it has Jesus’s first public proclamation. But look at the first words he says:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”
The first thing Jesus says in his public ministry is to cite the Scriptures. He preaches the kingdom of God, good news to the people. And the content is completely from Scripture. Again we see that this is something that we can (and should) replicate. We can proclaim the kingdom of God. We who hide the Word of God in our hearts to fight temptation also proclaim the Word of God to those in captivity. Those, who were like us, hear the great call of Jesus. As Jesus commissions his apostles to go into the world ‘teaching and preaching’ everything he has told them.
The final episode is in Luke 4:31-44. In this episode we see Jesus performing mighty miracles to confirm for us the truth of what happened in 4:14-30. The prophecy of Isaiah is indeed fulfilled (4:21). Jesus makes whole, starting with the demon possess man in the synagogue followed by Peter’s mother-in-law, then a summary of all the healings he has done (4:40-41).
Then what happens? Well the people of Capernaum want to keep Jesus for themselves. Who can blame them? By his word people are healed! This wonderworker is amazing! Yet, what does Jesus say?
43 but he said to them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.” 44 And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.
I was sent to preach. The healing ministry is secondary to the preaching ministry. The proclamation of the word of God by the Word of God is the central point of Jesus’s work. Yes, he will live a life free from sin to fulfil the law’s requirements. Yes he will die in order to fulfill the curses of the law. Yes he will rise to new life, vindicated by the Father before the world.
But note again that the importance of Jesus’s work is only important if it is preached! Otherwise his death and resurrection, while fantastic, is just a curious oddity of history. It is just an event no greater than anything else. Yes it’s strange because generally people who die do not come back to life, but well, it happened once. We should expect that in a universe of blind chance, right?
Jesus’s death and resurrection needs to be preached in order that men and women, young and old, would see that the Kingdom of God is at hand, liberty is proclaimed to the captives. We need to be awakened to the spiritual bondage we are in and the way of freedom found only in Christ Jesus (Gal. 5:1). In order to do that we need people proclaiming this good news!
Secondarily Luke highlights for us the doctrine of Sola Scriptura, or Scripture Alone. We, who follow Jesus, do so because of the Word of God. We face temptation and overcome it, not by self-flagellation or pilgrimages, but by the Word of God preached to us. We find forgiveness not through absolution by a priest but through the precious promises of God (1 John 1:9).
A trite as WWJD is, we have to remember that if we would want to know what Jesus would do in a given situation, we should turn to his Word first and foremost. We should be students of the Word. We should be, like Jesus that when given a large scroll of Isaiah, with no verse numbers, was able to find the specific passage that he needed that day because he knew it so well! May we then be diligent in our study. Thankful that the Scriptures are true and that they testify to our faithful Saviour, Jesus Christ.
