In the sermon 'The Marks of the Messiah' by Jason Dohm, the focus is on identifying the Messiah through the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies, particularly as shown in Luke 4:38-44. Jesus, having begun his public ministry in Galilee, demonstrates his authority by healing Simon Peter's mother-in-law, casting out demons, and performing numerous other miracles. The sermon emphasizes Jesus' unparalleled ability to perform miracles at an unprecedented scale, asserting his divine authority over all creation, including diseases, demons, and natural elements. Jesus' actions are seen as a fulfillment of the prophecies and a sign of him being the promised Savior. Additionally, the sermon highlights Jesus' dedication to private prayer, even amidst his busy schedule, and his compulsion to preach the kingdom of God widely. The sermon concludes by encouraging believers to prioritize private prayer, learn from Jesus' example, and honor the preaching of the gospel.

The title of the message today is The Marks of the Messiah. The Old Testament prophets, when they were speaking the words of God, making promises on behalf of God to send a Savior for humanity, often gave marks by which you would know, unmistakable marks by which you would know that the one who was promised had come. And of course we're in chapter four, the beginning of chapter four, our memory text for the quarter is Jesus quoting Isaiah 61, one of these promises that God would send a savior to preach the good news to the poor and to proclaim liberty for the captive and, and, and these are marks of the Messiah so that you don't miss him, so that you know this is the one God was promising to send. So it's no coincidence that these things are happening sequentially in this chapter. Jesus laid claim to being the fulfillment of Isaiah 61, and we could fill that out with a lot of other chapters.

I'm not going to today, but at some point, I'm sure we'll stop and just take a look at a sequence of Old Testament chapters that give the promises of what the Messiah will do and the marks of that Messiah, the works that he'll do so that you know that it's him. In the text from the last two weeks, Jesus has begun his public ministry. He was unknown in Israel until this time period. He's about 30 years old. We learned that from chapter three.

And now he is preaching in the synagogues of Galilee, his home region. He's preaching in these synagogues, which are local locations for worship and for instruction in the Scriptures. This text is a continuation of that. Jesus is preaching again and a lot and Jesus is doing the things that the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah said that the Messiah would do, also a lot. So as we come to this text, let's ask God to bless the time.

God, Please come put your blessing on this time. Please set your spirit at liberty to work in our hearts. I know we don't want to come and go unmoved. Pray that unbelievers wouldn't come and go unmoved and that your sons and daughters wouldn't come and go unmoved, but there would be something good needed for all of us out of this text and we would come away refreshed from having heard from you. Pray in Jesus name, amen.

Okay, splitting into subsections let's start with verses 38 and 39. Hopefully your Bibles are still open. To Luke chapter 4, I'll be rereading verses 38 and 39. I'll follow along as I read it. Luke chapter 4, 38.

Now he, Jesus, 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. So he stood over her and rebuked the fever and it left her. And immediately she arose and served them. In these two verses, Jesus heals Simon Peter's mother-in-law.

If you're taking notes on the handout by filling in blanks, heals, fills in that blank. Jesus heals Simon Peter's mother-in-law. From last week's text, Jesus was teaching in Capernaum on the Sabbath day and at that time he cast out the spirit of an unclean demon from a man. The people were astonished both at Jesus' teaching, he didn't teach like the scribes who were rabbis quoting rabbis, He taught as one having authority, and they were astonished at his exercise of authority, even over the demons. So he's teaching with authority, and he's exercising authority even over demons.

Now it's the same day, the Sabbath day, and Jesus leaves the synagogue and comes into Simon's house. Who is Simon? Well, Luke hasn't introduced him yet. He doesn't really introduce him now other than to say Jesus came out of the synagogue on this day and he goes to Simon's house. We're more familiar with him as Simon Peter or just Peter.

Normally we just call him Peter. We know him as Peter. Luke doesn't explain how or where Jesus first met Simon. If you're interested, go to John chapter one. Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, encounters Jesus first and he's struck by what he finds in Jesus and he goes to tell his brother who will be named Peter, we found the Messiah.

So that's how they first met. Jesus actually changes his name in this first encounter. So if you want more, go to John chapter one. I will be quoting all throughout the sermon from Mark chapter 1 because there's a parallel text for you kids. A parallel text is just the account of the same events in another gospel.

So you're getting the same events but you're getting it from another gospel writer. Mark chapter one verses 29 through 39 uses many of the same words and phrases that Luke uses, who knows who drew on who, or if they even drew on each other but it's very very similar Mark 1, 29 through 39. So that's why I would be quoting from Mark 1 all throughout the sermon. In Mark 1, 29, Mark relates that This house is Simon and Andrew's house, and that James and John are present also. So those four, two brothers, Andrew and Peter, I'm gonna just start calling him Simon Peter now.

He probably isn't called Peter at this moment, but we know him as Simon Peter, so I'm not just gonna call him Simon so that we keep the connection to who we know this man as. So These two brothers, Andrew and Simon Peter, and these two other brothers, James and John, have a fishing business together. And so this is the home of Simon Peter and Andrew, and James and John, their fishing business partners, are there present also. We learned that from Mark 129. Again, Capernaum is a blue collar Seaside town.

It's on the Sea of Galilee. And it's a fishing village. I said this last week. But it's been excavated by scholars and they say you don't find the things that you find where you excavate an area that has affluence or had a lot of resources and money. You don't find anything fancy, you don't find glass, marble, any of that stuff.

This was a blue-collar town filled with fishermen and that so these four these two sets of two brothers have a fishing business there in blue-collar Capernaum. Simon Peters wife's mother so his mother-in-law is sick with a high fever. A very literal translation of the Greek word being that she was in the grasp of the high fever. The high fever has her. She's in its grasp.

So those present request Jesus's attention on her behalf. She's not asking for herself, but those who are present request Jesus's attention for her. Jesus goes to the bedside and he rebukes the fever. What does that sound like? I don't know.

But he rebukes this fever and the fever leaves her. Like that second. Immediately the fever leaves her. In last week's text, Jesus rebuked the demon. So it's the exact same Greek word here.

Last week he was rebuking the demon. This week he is rebuking a high fever and when we get to Luke chapter 8, Jesus will be rebuking the wind and the waves. Okay, so demonic powers get rebuked by Jesus and disease gets rebuked by Jesus and natural phenomena like wind and waves gets rebuked by Jesus. Here's what we get from this. All of creation, every created thing is under the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And we made the world a mess. We brought all kinds of hardships and destructions into the world and when Jesus was here, he was not pleased with all the corruption brought into this world and he often corrected it on the spot he would rebuke distress hardship and destruction and send it packing on the spot and everything he rebukes obeys, has to obey. Demonic spiritual powers have to obey. Diseases have to obey. The wind and the waves have to obey the Lord Jesus.

All of creation is under his authority and he's exercising it throughout the gospels. Immediately Simon Peter's mother-in-law gets up. So 10 seconds ago she was in the grasp of a high fever. Now she's feeling fine and she gets up and begins to serve those who were there. Now if you've ever had a high fever, you know that it saps all your strength.

You are good for nothing with a high fever. You only have the strength to lay there and feel bad. Just enough strength to lay there and feel bad. But now Jesus has rebuked the fever and it's left her and you know that she's been healed immediately and completely because someone who was good for nothing 10 seconds ago is able to Get up and serve those who are present now. It is immediate healing and complete healing.

One last note on Simon Peter and his wife, and I love this. In 1 Corinthians 9 verse five, 1 Corinthians 9 verse five, Paul points to others who take along a believing wife to help them on their travels for the Gospels. So there are ministry teams who are traveling for the gospel to spread the gospel. And Paul points at those teams and that they take along a believing wife to help them in their travels for the gospels. And he says, like Peter takes along his believing wife.

All we get from Luke, and it's not Luke's purpose to do this, but all we get from Luke here is that he is married, Peter's married, and he has a mother-in-law that's there in the home. What we get from Paul in 1 Corinthians 9 verse 5 is that she either was then or becomes a believing wife who works with Peter in his traveling labors to spread the gospel. So this actually becomes a power couple in the Lord. Wonderful. So that is Jesus healing Simon Peter's mother-in-law.

Next two verses. Now to verses 40 and 41. Follow along as I reread it. When the sun was setting, All those who had any that were sick of various diseases brought them to him. And he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them.

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. In these two verses, Jesus heals everyone and casts out, I cast demons out of many. So if you're filling in blanks, everyone fills in the first two blanks there and many fills in the next. Jesus heals everyone and casts out, casts demons out of many.

We're still the same day. What a day. And it's the Sabbath day and the sun is setting. Mark, Mark chapter 1, this parallel text, mentions that too. Listen to Mark 1, 32.

At evening when the sun had set, they brought to Jesus all who were sick and those who were demon possessed. Why the mention of sunset? You just don't get these mentions of little details like that across parallel texts, across gospel accounts very often. So why is it mentioned here? Because they observed the Sabbath day, not from midnight to midnight.

The day turns over for us at midnight in how we observe days, but they observed the Sabbath day from sunset to sunset to a Jew during this time. The day starts at sunset and ends the next sunset. So that's how they're measuring days. And there would have been travel and burden bearing restrictions in effect until the sun had set. If I remember right, you could Lawfully, you'll not find this anywhere in scripture, and Jesus has to confront a lot of wrong thinking about this, but you could lawfully travel, I think it's three quarters of a mile on the Sabbath day without being censured for your Sabbath breaking.

You couldn't carry burdens. You remember one time he healed a man and sent him home on the Sabbath just carrying his mat. And they're like, why are you carrying that mat? The sun goes down and then the people of Capernaum would be free from travel and burden bearing restrictions. Again, that is not Jesus' commentary on what's appropriate or not on the Sabbath.

In the gospels, there will even be controversy about whether you ought to be healed on the Sabbath and Jesus makes it very clear Works of necessity and works of mercy are just fine. They're they're the perfect things for the Lord's Day So the word is already out about Jesus, and now people are bringing the sick and demon-possessed to him. Not one or two, but a lot. We heard last week that in Capernaum, It was probably a population of 600 on the low end, 1500 on the high end. So you think a town that size, how many people are sick there at any one time?

And there are demon possessed people there. We're probably talking about dozens and dozens of people. So not a trickle but a flood of people who are sick or who are demon possessed and they're bringing them to Jesus. The text says this, All those who had any that were sick of various diseases. So all kinds of people with all kinds of diseases and the demon possessed.

Ah, good times. Mark says in Mark 1.33, and the whole city was gathered at the door. That's probably hyperbole, did every single resident of Capernaum show up at the door? Probably not every single one, but there's the sick and the demon possessed are brought and everyone comes to the door. They want all fit in the house to see what Jesus will do.

The people have heard the reports, the word is out, and now the people are coming and they're at the door of this house. Undoubtedly the house is jammed to capacity and the people are at the door. The whole city was gathered at the door. Mark 1-33. Who did Jesus choose to heal?

Every single one of them. If you were sick, no matter the sickness or disease, the flu or late stage cancer, if you got yourself there or someone brought you there, Jesus healed you without exception. Now I'm willing to bet you're not thinking right about this. And so, you know I love thought experiments. I want to do a thought experiment.

James said this in Men's Bible Study two weeks ago. There might be more miracles in verse 40 than in all of the Old Testament. When you hear that, here's the thought experiment, when you hear that, does that sound like crazy talk? Sorry, James. We are here to determine whether you are crazy or not by this thought experiment.

There might be more miracles in verse 40 than in the whole of the Old Testament, okay, the fat part of the Bible. Now having thought about it, that may or may not be a slight overstatement. The time of Exodus, for example, was a time of many and earth-shaking miracles in a short span of time. But look at verse 40. Everyone's bringing people with all kinds of diseases, and Jesus heals every single one of them, probably dozens and dozens of people.

You're healed, and you're healed, and you're healed, and you're healed, and it's a miracle, it's a miracle, it's a miracle, it's a miracle, it's a miracle, it's a miracle. And he's casting the devils out of this one and that one and that one and that one and that one. So that's not crazy talk to think that there might be more miracles in verse 40. This little verse, just a few words than there are in the whole of the Old Testament. In other words, in this one little verse, Jesus is doing miracles at an unprecedented rate and at an unprecedented scale.

Never this many this fast. This is one evening, okay, this is an evening in the life of the Lord Jesus. And His public ministry has just barely started. Jesus is just warming up, so to speak. My point is that we get very familiar with the Gospels.

Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. Maybe you read them every year. I love it. Should we be familiar with the Gospels? I think so.

Who are we going to study if we're not studying Jesus? But you can, in your familiarity with the gospels, you can lose sight of the undeniable fact that there is no one in human history remotely like Jesus. All of human history, all the people who have ever lived, there's no one remotely like Jesus. He might have done more miracles on that one evening of his life than there were in human history up to that point. That's not crazy talk.

And this is how we were to recognize the promised savior. How do we know it's Jesus? This is how we know it's Jesus. God said he would be doing these things at an unprecedented rate, in an unprecedented scale. You've got the flu, you're healed.

You've got late stage cancer, you're healed. You're blind, you have sight. You're deaf, here's your hearing. And demons also came out of many. And like last week's text, the demons accurately identified Jesus.

They hit the nail on the head. Last week the demon said, I know who you are, the Holy One of God. In this week's text, you are the Christ, The promised Savior, the Messiah, the Son of God. Like last week's text, Jesus rebukes them and does not allow them to speak. Permission to speak, Jesus.

Permission denied. Jesus, may I? Jesus, may I say something? No, you may not. Two thoughts.

First, when the devil tempted Jesus in the wilderness, first of chapter 4, Two of those three temptations began with these words, If you are the Son of God, make this stone bread or throw yourself off the pinnacle of the temple. Now demons instantly acknowledge that they know. The devil knew. He's just tempting Jesus to feel an obligation to prove it. The demons acknowledge that they know instantaneously in the presence of Jesus.

Second, why didn't Jesus allow himself to be accurately identified by the demons as the Holy One of God, as the Christ, as the Son of God. Isn't it good to identify Jesus as the Holy One of God? Isn't it good to identify Jesus as the Christ, as the Son of God? I think Matthew Henry nails it. Leave it to Matthew Henry to nail it.

Matthew Henry says this, Christ rebuked them And did not suffer them to say that they knew him to be the Christ that it might appear beyond all contradiction That he had obtained a conquest over them and not made a compact with them amen That's why I don't have a side deal with you to say good things about me. I came to make a conquest of you. I have not made a compact with you. So Jesus heals everyone and cast demons out of many. Verses 42 through 44.

Follow along as I reread, 42 through 44. Now when it was a day, he departed and went into a deserted place. The crowd sought him and came to him and tried to keep him from leaving them. 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." And he was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee. In these three verses, Jesus carves out time for private prayer and preaches far and wide.

So if you're filling in blanks, prayer and preaches fills in the blanks. Jesus carves out time for private prayer and preaches far and wide. Luke says it was day. Mark says this, now in the morning having risen a long while before daylight Jesus went out and departed to a solitary place. And there he prayed.

That's Mark 1.35, that parallel text. So Mark fills in a couple of blanks for us. Jesus was up and out long before first light, no first light yet, it's still dark, it is morning, but there's no glimmer of light yet, it has not dawned. And the purpose of him going to a solitary place or to a deserted place was private prayer. He was up and out before the sun rose in order to pray by himself.

The healing party of the night before didn't start until sundown. And who knows how long it lasted, but the whole town was at the door. I bet it was not an early evening. But Jesus prioritized meeting with his Father alone in prayer. So he found time for it.

Okay, now the Gospel of Luke, the Gospels at this point, are accelerating. And you're going to get this sense of a man that everybody is clamoring for a piece of. Everybody wants a piece of Jesus. Everybody wants to hear his teaching. Everyone wants to be there to experience the miracle working power.

But Jesus prioritized meeting with his Father alone in prayer, so he found time for it. He carved out time in a massively busy schedule for it. Listen to Luke chapter 5. Oh, Luke chapter 5, we're coming. We're trying to get to you.

Luke chapter 5 verse 16. So, he himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed. So our text isn't a one-off. It is just the description of Jesus' pattern of life. He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed to go out to be by Himself with his father and commune with his father and speak with his father in prayer.

He often did that. People come looking for him. We're up. Jesus is already gone, they look for Jesus. They want Jesus to stay put, to be the property of Capernaum.

Our teacher and miracle worker, blue collar Capernaum, has something like no one has ever seen before. They want him to stay. They don't want him leaving. In some ways, that's a refreshing welcome change. In his hometown, they were ready to push him off the cliff that the town was built on.

So they got their fill of Jesus really fast in his hometown. Capernaum doesn't want to let him go. Property, will you be property of Capernaum? Jesus says this, it is very important, it's very profound. Look at the red words in 43 if you have a red letter Bible.

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. Jesus did miracles, true, but he came to preach the truths of the kingdom. He did miracles, but he came to preach truths of the kingdom. And his own identity, who he is, and his saving work, what he came to do is at the heart of that preaching. So the truths of the kingdom certainly go beyond those fundamental things, but those are the fundamental things.

Who Jesus is and what he came to do is at the heart of kingdom of God preaching. When you think of the kingdom of God, Don't think of acres and square miles. Think of the reign of the king. Think of the kingship of the king. So We think a kingdom, okay, we have to have a wall and make Mexico pay for it.

No, no, no, not that kind of kingdom. We're not talking acres and square miles here. We're talking about where Jesus reigns. And that's not one specific geography. Actually, the geography is going to encompass planet Earth.

Here, here, here, here, here, here. You'd have to have a lot of walls. Mexico would have to pay for a lot of walls. Listen to what Jesus himself says in Luke 17 verses 20 and 21. Luke chapter 17 verses 20 and 21.

Now, he was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come. So in our text he says, I must preach the kingdom of God in the other cities also. Here Luke 17, Jesus gets asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come. He answered and said to them, the kingdom of God does not come with observation, nor will they say, see here or see there. For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.

It's where Jesus reigns, where Jesus is king in the human heart, the individual human heart. The kingdom of God is everywhere, where there is a heart of flesh, where there used to be a heart of stone. You find a person that used to have a heart of stone, but now they have a heart of flesh. That's where the kingdom of God is. Where Christ is King and there are new affections.

Jesus came to preach about these things. Jesus went from city to city preaching these things. That's why He was sent. Jesus had this internal compulsion to preach the kingdom of God. He was not about to be the property of Capernaum because he had this internal compulsion to preach the truths of the kingdom centered around who he is and what he came to do and all the other things about his kingship in this city but then this city but then this city but then this city.

Those are our last three verses. Jesus carved out time for private prayer and preached far and wide. Applications I give you four. Number one, we are watching Jesus roll back the effects of the curse. It's glorious.

We're watching, what are we watching? We're watching Jesus roll back the curse. You look around this world you say, Who unleashed all this devastation on the human race? And the answer is, we did. We unleashed all the devastation by rebelling against God.

Our first parents first, Adam and Eve first, but we have all too happily followed in their footsteps in rebellion and disobedience to God. We should have loved him with all our hearts, soul, mind, and strength. He deserves that and we never did that a day of our lives. And it brought All the devastation that we find in the curse in Genesis chapter 3. All sickness, all interpersonal conflict, all hardship in childbirth, hardship in work life.

Hardship, hardship, hardship, suffering, suffering, suffering. We're watching in the gospels, Jesus, roll that back. He sees the effects of the curse and he rebukes it and makes it go Isaiah 53 verse 5 says this By his stripes We are healed We brought all these sicknesses into the world by our sin and he took it upon himself to heal us. Here's what the health and wealth people get wrong. Not that they aim too high, but they aim too low.

As if the best we could get is something in this life. When Jesus has the pleasures of God in store for us for eternity. And he's rolling all that back. And there's not going to be any tears. And there's not going to be any sickness.

And there's not going to be any tears and there's not going to be any sickness and there's not going to be any suffering there's only going to be joy in his presence forever. He took the whipping so that we could be healed. Number two. Back to number one. The curse is on borrowed time.

Curse is on borrowed time. On the authority of the Gospel of Luke, Chapter four, the curse is on Barodin for the people of God. Number two, there has never been a more willing healer than Jesus. All these sick people come to Jesus. Which ones did he choose to heal?

All of them. Anyone who came to him was healed that day. Jesus is more willing to heal than we are to be healed. As in that now we're going beyond physical illness and healing in the analogy. Because he wants more for us than just our bodies to be healed.

And he's more willing to do that healing than we are to be healed. But just know this, he's never the problem. He's more willing to heal even than we are to be healed. There's never been a more willing healer than Jesus And God wants us to know that by giving us these accounts in scripture. I would ask you to consider Jesus' miracles.

Just line them up, okay, and think about them. A few of them are simply raw demonstrations of power to show you that he is the almighty God like walking on water. Other than helping the faith, strengthening the faith of the disciples in the boat, that helps no one. It's just a raw demonstration of power to show he is the Almighty God dwelling in flesh for a period of time. But most of them, overwhelmingly, his miracles are demonstrations of mercy.

Are God taking pity on people who are desperate and in need. Think of the people who came to Simon Peter's house that evening who were desperate and went home whole. You know why they went home whole? Because Jesus wanted them whole. God is revealing who He is.

Who is God? Jesus, what do you like to do? It brings me pleasure to heal. I like to heal. I take pleasure in healing the desperate.

So these miracles are wonderful by themselves but think, God is revealing himself. This is God showing himself to us what he's like, who he is. He's a God who takes pleasure in healing the desperate. Number three, believer. If you're a believer in Jesus Christ, this one's for you.

If Jesus prioritized private prayer, how much more necessary is it for you and I to prioritize private prayer? I understand that Jesus going out to be alone and commune with his father is a Trinitarian mystery. I got it. But I'm just pointing out, Jesus found it necessary To do this. How much more should we prioritize this?

J.C. Ryle, I'm sure, says it better. Listen to what J.C. Ryle says. There is an example here which all who desire to grow in grace and walk closely with God would do well to follow." So I'll just stop there and ask you a question.

Would you like to grow in grace? Would you like to walk closely with God? Then J.C. Ryle says, look at this! Follow Jesus's example.

Ryle continues, we must make time for private meditation and for being alone with God. The more work we have to do, the more we ought to imitate our master. If he in the midst of his abundant labors found time to retire from the world occasionally, how much more may we? If the master found the practice necessary, it must surely be a thousand times more necessary for his disciples. Amen.

So I'll ask you, believer, to what extent is private time with God, being alone with God, getting short shrift, getting cheated. Ooh, lots of fingers pointing back at me. Lots of fingers pointing back at me. That's not good. We need it, and it's sweet.

We need to be alone with God. We draw strength from being alone with God, and it's sweet. So what is holding us back? Identify and pluck it out, whatever it is. Because you need it and because it's sweet.

Number four. Somewhat self-serving but here it goes. Give a place of honor to preaching by being a great student of preaching. There are a ton of people who get a ton from preaching, and there are a ton of people who get virtually nothing from preaching. They don't give it a place of honor.

They barely listen. So, you can, if I said, take 10 minutes and write down five ways you could be a great student of preaching you would not struggle. You would fill it up, you'd be done before the 10 minutes was over. Okay, so make a list of five things that would make you a great student of preaching. Preaching is honored by scripture.

Preaching is honored by the Son of God saying, I was sent to preach. God wants his sons and daughters and the subjects of his kingdom to know the truths of the kingdom. This is a key delivery mechanism for the truths of the kingdom coming to you. Be a great student of preaching. You know what?

It actually costs you almost no time. The difference in time allowance from lousy students are preaching to great students are preaching is virtually nothing. It's just proactive actions taken while you're listening, after you're listening. Give a place of honor to preaching by being a great student of preaching. Let's pray.

God, thank you for these texts. Thank you most of all for the Lord Jesus revealing you, God, Father, Son, and Spirit to be a God who was so willing to enter into the troubles that we brought upon our own race and to roll them back for all who would trust in who Jesus is and what he's done. Thank you for showing us that you're like that. You're not a reluctant healer. You're not a reluctant giver at all.

Help us to come to you to receive. Thank you that we find you willing, not just able, but also delighted. You take pleasure in giving good gifts to your children. Thank you in Jesus' name, amen.