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Gospel Reading for September 4, 2024 – Luke 4: 38-44
HEAVEN ON EARTH
After Jesus left the synagogue, he entered the house of Simon. Simon’s mother-in-law was afflicted with a severe fever, and they interceded with him about her. He stood over her, rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up immediately and waited on them.
At sunset, all who had people sick with various diseases brought them to him. He laid his hands on each of them and cured them. And demons also came out from many, shouting “You are the Son of God.” But he rebuked them and did not allow them to speak because they knew that he was the Christ.
At daybreak, Jesus left and went to a deserted place. The crowds went looking for him, and when they came to him, they tried to prevent him from leaving them. But he said to them, “To the other towns also I must proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God, because for this purpose I have been sent.” And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.
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Jesus’ proclamation of the good news of the Kingdom of God went hand in hand with healing of the sick and driving out of demons. When sicknesses and possession of people by demons go unabated, the Kingdom of God cannot grow. This goes to show that all negative things such as these, most especially possession by demons, are the STUMBLING BLOCK to the cause of the Gospel. If all of us Christians emulate Christ in all aspects of our lives, the Kingdom of God would be that described by Jesus in Matthew 13: 31-32 – “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”
Someone said, “Live in such a way that those who know you, but don’t know God, will come to know God because they know you.” This is the mission of every Christian, and fulfilling this mission all throughout the world will truly be HEAVEN ON EARTH!
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6: 9-10)
