AT HIS FATHER’S FEET
Opening Prayer
Lord, still my heart that I may focus on Your word.
Read Luke 4:38–44
Jesus Heals Many
38 Jesus left the synagogue and went to the home of Simon. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Jesus to help her. 39 So he bent over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up at once and began to wait on them.
40 At sunset, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them. 41 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.
42 At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them. 43 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.” 44 And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Turn aside from other demands, turn off all distractions, turn to God.Having “rebuked” both disease and demons, Jesus had proved himself a hugely successful healer (38–40) and exorcist (41). Things were going well. His ministry was taking off. What new challenges would he conquer tomorrow? What dreams did Jesus cherish late into the night?
C. S. Lewis observed, “It comes the very moment you wake up each morning. All your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists simply in shoving them all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in” (Mere Christianity).
That’s precisely what Jesus does. Although Luke doesn’t specify, the parallel passage in Mark 1:35 records that the reason Jesus “went out to a solitary place” was to pray. At sunset, Jesus had the crowds at his feet. By sunrise, he is at his Father’s feet (42a). By the time the clamoring crowds appear, reluctant to lose their local “wonder worker” (42b), Jesus has listened to God’s voice and embraced God’s point of view. With no compulsive need to “succeed” or be a “star,” Jesus quietly affirms what he “must” do and how this fits with his life’s purpose (43).
Apply
What is your life driven by: personal comfort? Possessions? Peer pressure? Popularity and fame? Power and positions? God’s purposes?
Closing prayer
Lord, speak into my life and guide my choices.
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