For this purpose I have been sent

 Now He arose from the synagogue and entered Simon's house.  But Simon's wife's mother was sick with a high fever, and they made 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.

When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with 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.

Now when it was day, He departed and went into a deserted place.  And 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.

- Luke 4:38-44

Yesterday we read that, after speaking in the synagogue at Nazareth and being rejected there by his townspeople, Jesus went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbaths.  And they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was with authority.  Now in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon.  And he cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Let us alone!  What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth?  Did You come to destroy us?  I know who You are -- the Holy One of God!"  But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!"  And when the demon had thrown him in their midst, it came out of him and did not hurt him.  Then they were all amazed and spoke among themselves, saying, "What a word this is!  For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out."  And the report about Him went out into every place in the surrounding region.

 Now He arose from the synagogue and entered Simon's house.  But Simon's wife's mother was sick with a high fever, and they made 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.  This passage tells us that Simon Peter is married, and that his family home in Capernaum becomes a kind of headquarters for Jesus' ministry in Galilee.  1 Corinthians 9:5 also indicates the activities and participation of Peter's family in ministry after Jesus' Ascension.  Regarding the fact that Jesus rebuked the fever of Peter's mother-in-law, my study bible quotes the commentary of Cyril of Alexandria:  "That which was rebuked was some living thing unable to withstand the influence of Him who rebuked it, for it is not reasonable to rebuke a thing without life and unconscious of the rebuke.  Nor is it astonishing for there to exist certain powers that inflict harm on the human body."  That Peter's mother-in-law immediately arose and served them tells us also of her participation in the ministry of Christ; her restoration is to her rightful place.

When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with 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.   Healing and exorcism come under the same umbrella.  Once again, as in yesterday's reading (see above), the demons recognize Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God!  And again, Jesus, rebuking them, did not allow them to speak.

Now when it was day, He departed and went into a deserted place.  And 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.  Jesus' primary mission is to preach the kingdom.  My study bible says that miracles and healings testify both to the truth of the message, and also to the identity of the Teacher (see 5:24).  The same pattern will also be true of the Church (Acts 4:29-30). 

 Once the mission and ministry of Jesus has begun, His acts speak for Himself.  They speak for the Kingdom He is bringing into the world, and when He is not ready to yet directly reveal His identity as the Christ, it is His acts that speak of this identity as well.  Well-noted in the Gospel, as we have read already, is His refusal to allow the demons to speak and identify Him.  Rather, it is His action of speaking, preaching, healing, exorcism, and ministry that speaks about Him, and speaks to the presence of God in the world.  He allows His actions and ministry to do the talking when it comes to identity.  In yesterday's reading, the people marveled that He gave a word with authority and power, and gave commands to the demons in the same way.  It is this acting, speaking, preaching, healing, and commanding with authority and power that also speaks to Jesus' true identity.  In all ways, Jesus will allow His ministry itself to speak for Him, before He reveals His identity to the disciples and to others.  It is not the expectations of the world that count; it is the mission, as given by the Father.  We should think about Jesus' way of being in the world and presenting Himself as a guide to our own lives.  How do our actions speak about who we are?  Do we live a prayerful life, as He did, following what we find in faith to do -- and the ways in which we need to act?  This is His center:  a life fully lived in conjunction with the will of the Father, where what He does speaks of Himself and also represents the Father in the world.  Our integrity also can depend on such a way of life, where what we do speaks for us, so long as we find guidance in the same ways that Christ does.  He doesn't act simply to follow an image, or a social code.  He doesn't speak about Himself in the ways we'd expect someone seeking fame or renown to do, as in a modern public relations campaign.  Instead, He lives.  He acts, breathes, thinks, preaches, and works in accordance with the ways He is direct to, in faith and relatedness to the Father.  Let us consider running our own lives in this same way, a kind of integrity from the inside out, rather than the outside in.  Let us truly live, and glorify God in so doing.