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Luke 4:14-21

Pastor Jenny Lee, Ph.D.

“The Power of the Gospel”

What comes to mind when you hear the word “Gospel?” Perhaps, the Book of the Gospel in the New Testament comes to mind. We call the first four books of the New Testament the Book of Gospel, or the Gospels, they are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The reason we call the first four books of the New Testament the Gospels is that they are “the records of Jesus’ life and teaching.” If you look up the word “Gospel” in a dictionary or via a search on Google, it says, “the teaching or revelation of Jesus Christ,” and “the record of Jesus’ life and teaching in the first four books.” If we say it literally, the Gospel is “Jesus Christ’s life and teaching.” The Gospel of Mark 1:1 says, “The beginning of the Good News [ Gospel] about Jesus, the Son of God.” The New Revised Standard Version of the Bible translates it as “Good News,” but the New International Version of the Bible translates it as “gospel,” as it says, “The beginning of Gospel about Jesus, the Son of God.” So, we may know, that the word “good news” and “Gospel” have the same meaning.
The word “Gospel’ reminded me of when I was in the hospital. Whenever I hear or mention it, I remember listening to the good news for the first time. I shared my story several times, I will repeat it today. When I was in the hospital due to a broken spine, I was depressed and hopeless because my doctor told me that I wouldn’t be able to walk again. At that time, a pastor and his wife from the church my mother attended visited me. After they prayed for me, the pastor’s wife said to me, “Sister, please read the Bible. When you are done reading the whole Bible, God may heal you. You may walk again.” It must be the good news for me that I may walk again if I read the Bible. However, I didn’t trust them because I did not believe in God. I thought that the doctor told me he couldn’t heal me and how could it happen through reading the Bible. Two years later, God gave me a second chance. A pastor visited a girl who shared a room with me. I heard his prayers for the girl. At that moment, I felt strangely warm throughout my whole body. I asked him to pray for me. I thought that it worked by the Holy Spirit. Through his prayers, I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior and my Lord, and finally, I could believe in the good news that God could heal me. I started reading the Bible, hoping I could walk again. Meanwhile, I received surgery on my spine and received several physical therapies. Finally, I could walk again. I still often think about how my life would be now if I hadn’t accepted that second chance.

The core of the good news is that Jesus is the Lord. I hope that you can sense that God gives you a chance. God may notify us through several channels. The Book of Revelation 3:20 says, “Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come into you and eat with you, and you with me.” God’s grace is open to everyone, but only a few people notice it. We wonder how do we know if it is the good news from our Lord Jesus or our own interpretation. We may figure out from today’s scripture how the power of the Gospel works.

Verse 14 says, “Then Jesus, filled with the power of the spirit, returned to Galilee.” It was right after Jesus overcame the temptation of Satan in the wilderness (Luke 4:1-12). Jesus was filled with the power of the Spirit and he went to the synagogue on Sabbath day “as his custom.” We may know Jesus was filled with the power of Spirit and used to go to synagogue and read the scripture “as his custom.” Going to the synagogue on Sabbath day as his custom means that he used to go to the church every Sunday. To experience the power of the Gospel, we practice going to church every Sunday and reading the scripture in everyday life with the guidance of the Spirit. Romans 10:17 says, “faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.” If we didn’t go to church and read the scripture, how could we expect to grow in faith? In other words, if we didn’t hear the good news, if we didn’t believe in the good news even though we heard it, the good news didn’t work for us.

Through my experience, if I see people who don’t believe in “the good news,” I have compassion for them. I met a man working at a hospital as a chaplain. He’d just received his diagnosis of brain cancer. He was a good Christian dedicating his whole life from the time he was confirmed in the faith. He was as a Sunday school teacher, a choir member, and committee member. But, as soon as he heard his diagnosis, he rejected eating, speaking, seeing people, and even taking medication. So, his nurse asked me to help him. When I visited him the first time, he ignored me as he used to reject several chaplains’ visitations. However, I felt compassion for him as if I saw myself when I was stubborn. I got close to him, even though he didn’t look at me or answer my greeting and said, “I understand you are angry with God.” He boldly said, “No, I am one hundred percent a Christian.” I smiled at him because he started speaking and said, “Well, I don’t think you are a hundred percent a Christian. Maybe 50 percent or a little more.” He looked at me and asked me with an angry voice, “Are you from India?” I said, “No, I am from Korea. How about you? Where are you from?” He was a white American, but I just asked him to continue talking. However, he said, “I’m a German American.” And he kept talking about his family stories and his story. He grew up in a strict Christian family, and oppressed by the family tradition. That was the moment the Holy Spirit led us. After spending more than an hour crying and him sharing his stories, he confessed, “I am born again. Now I’m okay whether God heals me or not because I believe that Jesus is my Savior.” And he started eating and talking therapies.

The power of the Gospel is not from practicing the laws but is from believing in Jesus Christ. In other words, when we confess that we cannot practice God’s laws on our own, and ask for God’s help, finally the Spirit of God works for us, among us and within us, and then we can believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord. Romans 4:2-3 says, “For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.’”

In today’s scripture, Jesus read the core of the Gospel, “the Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed to go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” And he said, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” That scripture Jesus read is written by the Prophet Isiah before Jesus was born. However, as Jesus came to us, and as we heard him and believe in him, the good news may be fulfilled within us. That’s why Jesus said, “Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Let us be the poor in spirit and hear the good news today. May the power of the gospel work for you and your loved ones so that “release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free.” Be humble before God, and hear and read the scriptures, and the Holy Spirit guides you to believe in Jesus. May the power of the Gospel work for you by the Holy Spirit! Thanks be to God. Amen!

Posted in Sermons