Words

Words have power. Remember the childhood chant: sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me. Maybe the 8 year olds believe that, but I don’t. Words have amazing power. How long do you glow from a genuine compliment? How long do you mope from a stinging insult? Words affect us.

Take a look at Luke 4 today with just one goal in mind: to notice how Jesus used his own words. Notice what he was able to do with his words.

Luke has strung together several reports from Jesus’ ministry, all having to do with authority. Luke presents a question: who has authority? Whose words are stronger?

Notice Jesus first has a debate with the devil, who tempts him with words. Jesus won this battle of words. He used Old Testament texts to respond with surgical precision to the devil's scams.

Jesus then speaks to his fellow Nazarenes in the synagogue. The crowd is fine with him reading from Isaiah, but not with him criticizing them. They take him out to stone him – the penalty for heresy and blasphemy, not the penalty for criticism. They hear him giving his own words the same authority as the Isaiah text and reject his right to speak with that authority. They hear him claim authority for his own words.

As you continue reading Luke 4, you’ll see that Jesus casts out demons and heals sick – speaking with authority in every case. He rebukes demons and commands them to keep quiet. He rebukes the fever in Simon’s mother-in-law.

Chapter 4 closes with a wonderful summary of Jesus’ ministry, as he speaks these words: But he said to them, "I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also; for I was sent for this purpose." (Luke 4:43)

Jesus’ words have authority and power. John 1:1 tells us he is the Word of God and we see here in Luke how his words carry the power of God. Who has authority? Who is stronger? In Luke 4, it is Jesus, hands down.