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1. The Word Disturbs Sinners
The Jews in Jesus’ time had settled into a comfortable complacency. They were accustomed to going to their synagogues on Sabbath morning to hear a rabbi or scribe drone on and on about some obscure point in Old Testament law. It wasn’t uncommon to hear whole sermons on what constituted work on the Sabbath: important stuff like how many steps a man could walk before it became work. They even had a book called the Talmud, which picked up where God’s laws left off, expanding God’s holy Law to a legal code of 613 commandments. As you can imagine, the sermons degenerated into dusty, dry, dreary drivel. But the people were quite comfortable with them. They didn’t disturb them. That was about to change.
Their comfortable complacency was about to be disturbed: Jesus was coming on the scene! Now, wait a minute! Jesus the Divine Disturber? Wasn’t He highly touted as the Peace Maker? Didn’t angels herald His birth with a proclamation of peace: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests.” Wasn’t it Jesus Himself who said: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.” True enough! He came to bring peace. What about passages like: “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” That’s true, too. He came to bring war. Our text will clear up that seeming contradiction.
Jesus’ ministry was beginning to pick up steam. He had just checked out four living books upon which He’d indelibly imprint His message. Their titles were Peter, Andrew, James, and John. He called these four fishermen to become fishers of men. Now the time had come for their first lesson: “They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. The people were amazed at his teaching, because He taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.”
Capernaum was located on the north side of the Sea of Galilee, not too far from where Jesus issued the call to His first four fishermen. If these men had any questions about whether they had done the right thing in leaving behind friends, family, and fishing, those doubts were dispelled by what happened that Sabbath in the synagogue. A combination of power-packed preaching and mighty miracle-making cemented their new-found faith.
Note what our text says: “When the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue.” There was no debate or discussion about whether or not to attend church that morning. There was no question. Nothing took precedence. He didn’t let His four fishermen friends talk Him into a bit of sport fishing. No hunting. No football game on TV. No sporting events, period. Nothing took precedence over worship. It didn’t matter what He’d done the day before: if He had stayed up late or was exhausted from a long day’s work the day before, or if He wasn’t feeling 100%. He was a regular churchgoer, and He wasn’t even a sinner.
Jesus used those synagogue sessions as opportunities to teach. Worshipers on this day were totally unprepared. They had come expecting the usual snooze during a sominex sermon. Instead, they were jolted awake by powerful preaching. After a steady diet of bland milk messages from the scribes, they almost choked on the meat meal Jesus was dishing out to them: “The people were amazed at His teaching.” The Greek word for “amaze” literally means “struck by a blow.” They were dumbfounded: “The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.”
Those OT believers did not have the benefit of the 20/20 hindsight that we have. We can see promise and fulfillment on the pages of Holy Scripture. They could only see promise. They didn’t know how and when God would fulfill His promises. So, their teaching drifted off into abstract speculation instead of solid substance. It focused on the letter of the law instead of the spirit of the law.
Now Jesus steps into the pulpit. Watch what happens. Jesus speaks. The people were disturbed. They were rousted right out of their comfortable complacency. There were no heavy eyelids that morning. Instead of the usual forgettable fare of peripheral piffle and trivial drivel, Jesus spoke of matters of profound significance, matters of life and death and eternity. The spirit of Jesus’ teaching differed as well. The message of the scribes was impersonal because they were lovers of the law. Jesus’ message was intensely personal because He was a lover of people. Jesus’ words disturbed those people. They were moved to action: “The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching and with authority!” They were dumbfounded. They were disturbed.
OK, Saints. Think for a moment: have we fallen into a similar comfortable complacency? Does God’s Word still disturb us? Does that Bible at home serve as a magnet, continually drawing us to delve deeper to learn more and more about God’s wisdom, will, and ways? Or is it nothing more than a paperweight or showpiece? How about Bible study? Do we know all there is to know or just all we want to know or care to know? Does the Word disturb us? Is there a void in our lives when we miss a Sunday worship service? Do we feel a twinge of guilt when we skip out for less-than-stellar reasons? If we don’t, maybe we aren’t letting the Word disturb us as it should. Perhaps we’ve been lulled into that comfortable complacency. Have we convinced our consciences that wrong is right? Have we adjusted our lives to include pet sins? If we have, God’s Word isn’t disturbing us.
If God’s Word isn’t disturbing us, we’re in trouble. Then our religion, like the Jews’ religion at Jesus’ time, has degenerated into a religion of the head instead of a religion of the heart. Then we are just going through the motions. Pray that God’s Word disturbs you. Don’t leave this devotion the same as you were when you started reading it. Let God’s Word hit you right between the eyes. Leave marveling. Leave motivated. Leave disturbed. Let the Word work. Not only does the Word Disturb Sinners...
2. The Word Disturbs Satan
The devil knew why Jesus came to this planet. He knew that his rule as prince of this world was under attack. He had already lost round one with Jesus when Jesus used the Word to turn back the devil’s temptations in the wilderness. Because of the nature of Jesus’ mission, the devil confronted Jesus at every turn to try to stop Him from accomplishing His mission. While Jesus walked this earth, there was a tremendous increase in the number of cases of demon possession. The devil was sending out his shock troops and demon commandos to try to stop Jesus short of the cross: “Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out, ‘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.’” The devil and his demons were disturbed. Jesus was on their turf. His mission: take back that turf by destroying the devil and his domain.
Isn’t it interesting that the demons recognized Jesus, but the supposedly religious Jews wouldn’t recognize Him? The old saying held true: there is none so blind as he who will not see. The demon had it exactly right. He recognized Jesus’ might, mandate, and mission. He called Him the “Holy One of God.” Jesus came “to seek and to save what was lost,” but He also came to search and destroy the devil and his demons.
Here, Jesus wins another in a series of skirmishes that would lead to the Battle of the Ages when the King of Life would take on the Prince of Death in a winner-take-all showdown at the cross. Watch the Word work: “Be quiet! said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!” The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.” No spells. No incantations. No rituals. Just the Word. What a lesson those four fishermen learned that day! They were disturbed by the Word of Jesus. Something wonderful happened that day in Capernaum. Those people had heard the Word of God before, probably all their lives, but never like this. Here, they were confronted with the Word personified in Jesus. They were amazed and astonished at the authority of His words and His work. They were greatly disturbed. So much so that our text says: “News about Him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.”
Are you wearing a spiritual DO NOT DISTURB sign this morning? If you are, it is time to take it off. Let the Word disturb you. The Word will find you where you are. It will reach in and touch your life. It will tear to shreds parts that are hardened. It’ll comfort and soothe those parts that it has just torn apart. It’ll heal all hurts. It’ll supply strength to the weak. It’ll provide power to the powerless. It’ll confer comfort to the comfortless. It’ll furnish faith to the faithless.
The Word has extraordinary power. Saints, unleash that power on your heart and life by getting into the Word. You will be astonished at what you find there. You will be amazed at the difference it makes in your life. Just think what the Word has done so far. It created the world. It came into the flesh in the person of Jesus. It cold-cocked the devil. It converted every believer ever. It softens hardened hearts. It offers salvation. It feeds faith. It culminates in eternal life. It disturbs us all the way to heaven. Now that’s something worth getting disturbed about! Amen.
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