Naylor Community
Christian Church
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Luke 4:14-30
Luke
4:14-30
New
International Version
Jesus
Rejected at Nazareth
Luke
4:14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him
spread through the whole countryside. 15 He was teaching in their synagogues,
and everyone praised him.
16
He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he
went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the
scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the
place where it is written:
18
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He
has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to
set the oppressed free,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
20
Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The
eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 He began by saying
to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
22
All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his
lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked.
23
Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal
yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard
that you did in Capernaum.’”
24
“Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown. 25 I
assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky
was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout
the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in
Zarephath in the region of Sidon. 27 And there were many in Israel with leprosy
in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman
the Syrian.”
28
All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. 29 They got
up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which
the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. 30 But he walked right
through the crowd and went on his way.
-- in 1932, the World Series
showcased two baseball teams that absolutely hated each other with a passion --
the Chicago Cubs and the New York Yankees, led by Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig
-- the World Series that year was
marked with vitriol -- there were attacks in the press -- the crowds were
hostile towards the other fans -- and the players were brutal towards one
another -- screaming obscenities and hatred towards them
-- things did not get better when
the New York Yankees opened up the series by winning the first two games at
home, defeating the Cubs soundly -- as the gates opened at Wrigley Field for
the third game, the Chicago fans were primed -- they were ready to give
everything that they had against their hated rivals, the Yankees -- some Cubs
fans even positioned themselves so they could curse and spit on Babe Ruth and
his wife as they made their way into the stadium
-- the game progressed as
anticipated -- the teams were evenly matched -- Babe Ruth had already hit one
home run, but diving and failing to catch the Cubs’ ball, Ruth had allowed the
Cubs to come back and tie the game at 4-4 going into the fifth inning
-- coming to bat in the fifth
inning, Babe Ruth squared up against the Cubs’ star pitcher, Charlie Root --
the first ball went right across the plate before Ruth could react -- Strike
one -- the crowd swelled in anticipation -- they could sense the tide of the
game turning
-- but then Ruth did something that
has gone down in baseball history -- with one strike against him, he looked up
at Root and looked up at the scoreboard and pointed to centerfield -- he was
calling his shot -- he was proclaiming to the Cubs and to the crowd what he was
going to do
-- he settled back into position --
Root took the sign and let loose the next pitch -- another strike -- the count
was now 0-2 -- Ruth stepped back -- looked at the crowd -- looked at Root --
and again, pointed to centerfield -- he settled back into the batter’s box and
took his position
-- Root took the sign and let loose
the pitch -- and Ruth connected with a resounding crack as the ball sailed
directly over the pitcher’s head -- over the Cubs in the outfield -- and into
the temporary stands beyond centerfield
-- it was a home run, placed exactly
where he had been pointing
-- as he rounded the base, you could
see defeat ripple through the Cubs bench -- that hit -- that home run -- and
the audacity of Ruth calling the shot to centerfield beforehand, took all the
wind out of their sails
-- the Yankees rallied -- Gehrig
went on to hit a home run of his own -- and the Yankees defeated the Cubs 7-5
-- with the Yankees eventually winning the Series in a four-game sweep
-- this morning, we are going to
look at the time in Jesus’ life when He called His shot -- as you know, we’ve
been going over a series on the life of Jesus -- looking at His life and
ministry from a larger perspective than normal -- trying to see how the events
of His life all pointed towards the overall purpose for which He had come to
earth -- to represent mankind and to show us the way back to the Father
-- this passage this morning follows
on the heels of two major events in Jesus’ life -- the first was His baptism by
John in the Jordan River, as He symbolically stood in our place as our
propitiation before the Father -- emerging filled with the Holy Spirit and the
acclamation of the Father
-- this was followed by the event of
Jesus being tempted by Satan in the desert -- having defeated Satan by standing
against him as a man in perfect relationship with the Father and empowered by
the Holy Spirit, Jesus now begins His public ministry by throwing down the
gauntlet -- by calling His shot -- by challenging Satan’s authority and power
over earth and pointing to Himself as the Son of Man -- as the One who will
defeat Satan, sin, and death once and for all
-- so, let’s look now at this
passage from Luke 4 and see what we can learn about this moment in Jesus’ life
as He begins His public ministry
II. Scripture Lesson (Luke 4:14-30)
-- look back at verse 14-15
Luke
4:14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him
spread through the whole countryside. 15 He was teaching in their synagogues,
and everyone praised him.
-- this moment begins what is known
as Jesus’ Galilean Ministry -- for eighteen months, Jesus concentrated His
efforts and His ministry in Gallilee -- the region north of Jerusalem where
Jesus grew up -- it was here that He began to share the good news, preaching
and teaching in the synagogues and towns throughout the region and continuing
to confirm His authority and anointing as the Messiah to the Jewish people
-- as Barclay notes in his
commentary, the Galilean people would have been the most open to the initial
preaching of Jesus -- they were the highlanders of Israel -- a tough and
determined people -- always ready to receive new teachings and innovations -- it was the most forward looking and least
conservative part of Palestine -- the residents of this region were described
by the historian Josephus as people never “destitute of courage”
-- this is Jesus’ home -- this is
where He grew up -- this is where He lived for the first 30 years of His life
-- and these are the people that He knew
-- it’s important to note one other
thing about Gallilee -- its name loosely means “circle” and was given to this
region because it was entirely encircled by non-Jewish nations -- they were
encircled by Gentiles -- and that led to an increased hostility and prejudice
against those who were not Jewish -- in other words, the people of Gallilee --
more so than any other region in Palestine -- were not friendly with their
surrounding Gentile neighbors -- and this underlying hostility and hatred will help
explain what occurs later on in this passage
-- Luke begins his narrative of this
moment in Jesus’ life by emphasizing once again the presence and power of the
Holy Spirit in Jesus -- and we need to take notice of this -- remember that we
have discussed in this series that Jesus is here on earth as our representative
-- He is present on earth as the Son of Man -- fully Man -- as He has chosen to
set aside the attributes and glory of His deity to live as one of us so that He
might show us how we could live in relationship to God as He did
-- and that is the reason God inspired
Luke to describe Jesus here as being filled with the power and presence of the
Holy Spirit -- for if we are to be who He has called us to be -- if we are to
live out this Christian life successfully -- we can only do so like Jesus -- we
have to be full of the Holy Spirit and His power -- as we said last week, “This
is the Way”
-- verse 16a
Luke
4:16a He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day
he went into the synagogue, as was his custom.
-- so, Jesus begins His ministry by
teaching in the synagogues -- and, just as a reminder, you can think of the
synagogue as the daily place of worship for the Jewish communities -- the
sacrifices were only offered in the temple in Jerusalem, but the people were
taught the word of God and were instructed in God’s ways in the synagogues --
attending every Sabbath to hear the Scriptures read and taught
-- on the Sabbath, the service in
the synagogue consisted of three parts -- first, there was worship -- a time of
prayer and singing -- second, there was the reading of the Scriptures -- seven
men were chosen from the congregation to proclaim God’s word to the people
without interpretation -- just simply reading God’s word out loud to the people
-- and, finally, there was the teaching part -- synagogues did not have a
preacher or regular teacher -- instead, the synagogue leader would invite someone
from the congregation or a distinguished visitor to come before them and
expound on a particular passage of Scripture -- this was the opportunity that
Jesus took to begin to share the good news with the people of Gallilee as He
traveled from town to town
-- I think we have to note what Luke
says here about Jesus going to the synagogue, “as was His custom” -- there are
two things that the Bible tells us that Jesus did on a regular basis -- two
things that were His custom, no matter where He found Himself
-- first, He prayed -- we see this
pattern throughout His life -- Jesus was always praying -- in public, in small
groups, and in private
-- and, secondly, He always went to
synagogue -- and you know that there were a lot of things going on in the
synagogues -- a lot of practices and rules and even teaching of Scriptures that
Jesus objected to -- none of the synagogues were perfect -- none of them had it
all together -- but that didn’t stop Jesus from going
-- there’s a lot of people in our
day that have quit going to church for one reason or another -- a lot of them
are looking for the perfect church -- but they’re not going to find it -- there
are no Goldilocks churches out there that are just the right size and right
shape and with just the right teachings -- all churches are flawed in some way
or the other because all churches consist of flawed human beings -- but if
Jesus, knowing better than us the failures and flaws of the synagogues of His
day continued to attend faithfully -- “as was His custom” -- then we should do
the same and encourage those around us to do so, also
-- so, here in verse 16, Luke tells
us the worship in the synagogue that day had reached the third phase -- it was
time for the daily teaching and edification from God’s word -- and Jesus stood
up to receive the scroll as the teacher for that Sabbath
-- look back at the second part of verse
16
Luke
4:16b He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed
to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
18
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He
has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to
set the oppressed free,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
20
Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The
eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 He began by saying
to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
-- Jesus was handed the scroll of
Isaiah the prophet -- we do not know if He requested that scroll or if that was
the Spirit moving the keeper of the scrolls -- but, regardless, that particular
scroll was handed to Him
-- now, Isaiah is a very long book
-- it has 66 chapters -- more than any of the other major prophets -- and although
in Jesus’ day, the scroll was not divided into chapters and verses like in our
Bibles today, it was still known as a very long book and would have been
difficult to manage -- to locate a specific passage without any references such
as chapters and verses
-- but Jesus obviously knew the word
of God very well -- He was familiar with the book of Isaiah -- and, without
hesitation, received the scroll and found the passage that we know as Isaiah 61:1-2
-- standing up in honor of God’s
word, Jesus read these words:
18
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He
has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to
set the oppressed free,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
-- He then sat down -- not because
He was done, but because teaching and the exposition of Scripture was done from
a sitting position -- and began by telling the congregation, “Today this
scripture is fulfilled in your hearing”
-- and, with those words, Jesus
called His shot -- He put the rulers, the authorities, the powers of this dark
world and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms on notice -- He
was throwing down the gauntlet -- He was taking His stand as the Second Adam --
as the Son of Man -- against Satan and sin and death
-- this was the reason He came --
this was the purpose He was to fulfill -- this Scripture was what would eventually
lead Him to suffering and death on the cross of Calvary as the atonement for
our sins
-- the Spirit of the Lord had come
on Jesus at His baptism to anoint Him as the Son of Man and the Son of God --
to preach the good news to the poor -- not the financial poor -- but the poor
in spirit -- to those lost and trapped by the man-made rules of religion and
personal sin -- to those who were poor and destitute in their sins with no hope
of salvation -- to these He brought the good news of a new covenant through His
body and blood that would atone for their sins and would offer them a way back
to the Father
-- He was anointed to preach the
good news to the prisoners -- to proclaim freedom for those who were held in
bondage and in chains by sin and death -- to proclaim everlasting life through
Him to those who were bound up in Satan’s cruel grasp
-- He was called to bring sight to
the blind -- to open the eyes of the people to the truth of God’s word -- to
lead them from the darkness of man-made religion into the light of God’s truth
-- He came to bring justice and
release to the oppressed -- to make things right again, as God intended from
the very beginning -- to destroy injustice and to restore God’s will on earth
by serving as our propitiation -- taking upon Himself God’s wrath so that we
might stand in righteousness before the Father
-- and, finally, He came to proclaim
the year of the Lord’s favor -- meaning, to proclaim the kingdom of God in
reality -- to proclaim restoration and forgiveness and an inheritance into the
kingdom of Heaven for all eternity
-- these are all the signs of the
Messiah -- the attributes -- the purposes for which God was sending the Messiah
to Israel and this world
-- all of this, Jesus said, is
fulfilled -- in other words, I have come and this is why -- and pointing a finger
towards heaven, Jesus proclaimed to Satan his very doom because the Messiah --
the Savior of the world -- had come
-- verse 22
Luke
4:22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from
his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked.
-- we don’t have the rest of Jesus’
sermon recorded for us here -- none of the gospel writers have shared it in its
entirety because the main emphasis was there at the end of verse 21 as Jesus
claimed these scriptures from Isaiah as His purpose and mission on earth and
threw down the gauntlet against the forces of evil in the heavenly realms
-- when Jesus finished His
exposition of the Scriptures, everyone was amazed and offered up their praise
of His message -- here was the home-town boy made good -- here was their very
own resident, sharing God’s word in such a powerful way -- they were proud of
Him -- up to a point
-- verse 23-30
Luke
4:23 Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician,
heal yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have
heard that you did in Capernaum.’”
24
“Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown. 25 I
assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky
was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout
the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in
Zarephath in the region of Sidon. 27 And there were many in Israel with leprosy
in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman
the Syrian.”
28
All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. 29 They got
up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which
the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. 30 But he walked right
through the crowd and went on his way.
-- when the message was about Jesus
saving the Jews, everyone liked it -- when the message was about us versus them
-- about good versus evil -- everyone praised Him -- when Jesus stood up and
said, “This is what I have come to do and I’m going to take on evil and the
evildoers and you’re going to see this passage fulfilled in your presence” --
everyone stood up and applauded
-- but then something happened -- Jesus
went from preaching to meddling -- He went from pointing the finger at those
around them and throwing down the gauntlet against the evil forces arrayed
against the people there in Nazareth and He started pointing at them
-- when He told them the promise
from Isaiah was for all people of faith, and that some in Israel would be
excluded because of their lack of faith and belief in Him while faithful
Gentiles would be included, the mood in the synagogue changed
-- they praised Him when He offered
blessings to all of Israel, but when He turned around and said that these
blessings and salvation is for the Gentiles, too, they took offense
-- as Jesus shared His purpose and
mission with the people that day, they heard with their ears and they saw in their
mind someone who had come to stand against the evil Gentiles -- someone who
would run the Romans out of Palestine and who would restore the glory to Israel
-- they heard His message as a call to arms against all those non-Jewish
nations that surrounded them and against the hated Romans who ruled their holy
city
-- but Jesus began pointing out that
this promise from Isaiah -- this mission and calling from God -- was not just
for the Jewish people, but for all who would respond -- Jews and Gentiles alike
-- He called to mind the miracles
Elijah had done for the Gentile widow in Zarephath, while Jewish widows
continued to suffer during the famine -- and how Elisha had healed the Gentile
Naaman of leprosy, while Jewish lepers continued to live with their disease
-- His point was that God’s word was
for all creation -- for Jews and Gentiles alike -- that their enemies were not
the people surrounding them, as they thought, but the spiritual forces of evil that
led them to harbor pride and idolatry and other sins in their lives in the name
of God -- and that what the Jewish people were going to reject, the Gentiles
were going to accept
-- and all of a sudden, the atmosphere
in the synagogue changed -- where before the people had been gracious and
favorable to Jesus, now Luke tells us that “all” of them -- “all of them” rose
up in anger against Him
-- they drove Him out of the
synagogue and out of town and took Him to the brow of the hill that the city
was built on, intent on throwing Him down and killing Him
-- How quickly they turned! -- Jesus
really pushed their buttons, didn’t He? -- this was first century cancel
culture at its finest -- because Jesus started pointing a finger at them and calling
out their sins and their prejudices -- because He offered grace to those they
considered their enemy -- they became so furious they wanted Him to die
-- makes you understand the crowd before Pilate
screaming, “Crucify Him,” a little more, doesn’t it?
-- as one commentator put it, “we see the
clear teaching that what fills a person controls that person, in Jesus' case it
was the Holy Spirit and in the case of the Jews it was their unholy, fleshly,
sinful spirit!”
-- the people were not angry at Jesus’
clear message that He was the Anointed One -- the Messiah -- prophesied in
Isaiah’s scriptures -- no, they were furious because He dared to insinuate that
God’s blessings could come to the Gentiles instead of the Jews -- they were mad
because He dared to say that God’s mercy and grace would come to those who
responded in faith, regardless of whether they were Jewish or not
-- the whole point that Jesus was making
here was that salvation and forgiveness had been sent for all of Creation --
not just for the Jews, but for all who believed and put their faith in Him,
regardless of their heritage or race
-- but the people in His own hometown --
the people that He knew and grew up with -- refused to accept it -- their pride
and arrogance and hatred of the Gentiles caused them to drive the very Son of
God from their midst and not receive the blessings and salvation that He
offered
III. Closing
-- we need to make sure that we aren’t
going through life with a similar bent as the Galileans -- that we’re not
turning every issue into an “Us versus Them” issue -- that we’re not assuming
that God is on our side because we are the right ones and that everyone who
disagrees with us is an enemy of God
-- all too often, you can be on the
right side in the wrong way -- and that was the case with the people of
Nazareth on that Sabbath day -- they were Jews -- they were God’s chosen people
-- more than any others, they should have known the expansive love and mercy and
grace of the Father -- they should have realized that His love knows no bounds
and was not just contained in the circle of Galilee
-- but despite that, they assumed
that they were the only ones chosen of God -- the only ones chosen for
salvation -- and that everyone else was their enemy and the enemy of God
-- but they were wrong -- they
forgot that God loves all of us -- including those we call our enemies -- and
that He wants all of us to come to a saving knowledge of His Son Christ Jesus
-- the lesson here is to be careful
of declaring someone your enemy without first examining yourself -- as the
cartoon character Pogo so famously said, “We have met the enemy -- and he is us”
-- it’s like the stormtroopers in
Star Wars -- if you call your ship, “The Death Star,” you’re probably not the
good guys, even if that’s what you’ve been taught your whole life
-- the Jews assumed that they were
the good guys -- the ones on the right side of history -- that the faith of
their fathers assured them of salvation, even though they were personally
filled with sin, unbelief, and hatred towards those they called their enemies
-- Jesus pointed out their error --
He told them that the promise was only for those who believed -- that only the
faithful could come because only the faithful would accept Him -- and it didn’t
matter whether they were Jew or Gentile -- the promise was for them
-- with those words, Jesus began to
outline His mission and purpose and calling as the Son of Man -- and He began to
teach us what the Great Commandment truly means when it says, “Love the Lord
your God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength, and love your
neighbor as yourself” -- in the synagogue that day in Nazareth, Jesus began to
teach the great truth that everyone is our neighbor -- even those people
surrounding us that we call our enemies -- and that personal faith and belief
in Him was paramount to salvation and a right relationship with God
-- when Jesus threw down the
gauntlet and called His shot in this passage, it wasn’t only for the Jews -- it
was for all of Creation -- Jews and Gentiles alike
-- the good news of salvation and
forgiveness of sins through Jesus is for us and for those we call our enemies
-- it’s for all of us -- for all who are poor in spirit -- imprisoned by sin
and death -- blind to God’s word and light and love -- and oppressed by the
powers of evil in this world and the heavenly realms
-- Jesus is making the point here
that He is the Savior of the world and that His grace and mercy are for all who
will receive Him -- regardless of who they are or where they are at --
regardless of whether they’re on what we think is the wrong side of the
political spectrum or the wrong side of culture or society -- His promise of
salvation and the forgiveness of sins is for all who will believe -- even those
we consider our enemies
-- so, as we close this morning, let
me encourage you to take a hard look at yourself
-- first, are you where you need to
be personally with Christ? -- are you in a true relationship with Him? -- have
you asked Him to be your Lord and your Savior -- to forgive you of your sins --
to fill your heart with His Holy Spirit? -- as Kenny Chesney sings, “Were you
washed in blood or only in the water?”
-- secondly, are you loving God and
your neighbor as God commands? -- or are you erecting walls against enemies in
your lives? -- are you living with an “Us versus them” mindset, and excluding
others from the grace of God because of who they vote for or how they live? --
does your gospel only extend to those you consider on the right side -- the ones
you think are the good guys?
-- if so, you need to take a hard look at the
Great Commandment and the story of the Good Samaritan and see what Jesus was
sharing here in this passage -- don’t let hatred of those different from you --
politically, socially, economically, culturally -- exclude you from the
promises of the Kingdom
-- Jesus’ point here in this passage is
that He had come to call His shot -- to throw down the gauntlet -- to take down
the powers and authority of Satan and his dark minions -- to reclaim the world
and all creation for the Father
-- and this promise of salvation and
forgiveness of sins -- the good news that He began to preach that Sabbath in
Nazareth -- knows no bounds -- it is offered freely to everyone who will
respond in faith and belief and who put their trust in Him for their salvation
-- regardless of their nation, their current religion, their culture, their
social standing, or their political preferences
-- God’s grace knows no bounds -- and our
love and our mission to the world should know no bounds, either
-- so, let us continue to share the
good news with all and let us be a beacon of life and hope to the world around
us
-- let us pray
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