(Jesus At The) First Church Of Nazareth

(Jesus at the) First Church of Nazareth

Introduction: One part of preaching that can be fun is coming up with titles for sermons. Titles can say little or nothing, or they can say a mouthful. Do you notice anything missing from this one tonight? The answer may not be that obvious at first…the “First Church of What”, “or Who?”

Likewise - Sometimes (if a preacher is not careful) a sermon title can leave God out. Worse yet, an entire church family can choose to leave God out of what they are doing. It has been done many times in many churches. Let me show you what I mean with…

Text: Luke 4:16 thru 30

Prayer:

The Apostle John said something very interesting in the last verse of the book of John. Chapter 21and verse 25,

And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.

At the time of our text –

I. Many things in the life and ministry of Jesus had already taken place.

A. Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist.

1. The Holy Ghost had descended on Jesus.

2. Jesus was of the age and qualifications and had become a Jewish Priest, but He was much more…

B. Satan had tried and failed at tempting Jesus to commit sin with -

1. hunger, test God, pride

2. full scale attack from the devil himself

C. The public ministry of Jesus was getting a lot of attention.

1. the crowds were getting bigger

2. the healings were amazing and convincing

D. Many were proclaiming Jesus as the Son of God.

1. Many if not all of the disciples were with Him.

E. Jesus cleansed the Temple with visible anger, wrath and vengeance.

1. the young man who was a carpenter had become very outspoken and powerful

F. His disciples were baptizing new converts everywhere they went.

1. Jesus’ disciples were becoming more and more like Jesus

G. Many amazing miracles that were documented and many that weren’t.

H. The townspeople of Nazareth had heard and maybe seen first hand of Jesus as the Christ.

1. News travels fast in the Jewish communities.

Transition: With all these recent events that had taken place, Jesus wanted His closest and dearest friends and relatives to know Who He really was.

II. A preview of Jesus’ ministry in verses 18 & 19.

A. “And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day,…”

1. In years past, Jesus had attended his hometown church regularly. He didn’t stay home -

a) To sleep in or lay around the house..

b) Because He was upset at the way things were going on down at the church

c) Because there was a “family reunion” going on

d) Because of the big game scheduled that day, etc…

B. Jesus first declared to them that He had the Holy Spirit (Himself) now resting on Him.

1. This was obvious to everyone and was true as a result of His baptism experience in the River Jordan.

2. Jesus was not pompous/arrogant about this. What had happened to Him was necessary for His daily ministries.

C. Jesus declared to everyone that He was going to be preaching now.

1. This would be the greatest portion of His ministry.

2. Jesus was no longer a carpenter by trade.

3. He would preach the Gospel of salvation to those who were poor, needy and downtrodden.

4. He would preach deliverance to those possessed of the devil

5. He would preach the “acceptable year of the Lord.” Things would now change for all of mankind in it’s relationship with the heavenly Father.

D. Jesus was going to restore sight to the blind.

1. Lenscrafters was not in business yet. A majority of people you and I personally know (today) would be helpless without their glasses.

2. Blindness comes in varying degrees that debilitate most people.

3. Poor vision has always been a great need for all of mankind.

E. Jesus was going to set the oppressed free from their bondage of depression.

1. Human suffering (of all kinds) causes many people to become withdrawn and isolated.

III. Jesus left part of Isaiah’s prophecy unsaid.

A. Isaiah 61:2(a),To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, And the day of vengeance of our God;

1. This was not a time for God’s wrath, rather His mercy and forgiveness.

2. “God did not send His son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3:17)

B. Jesus was the true Messiah in Whom the world would be saved from God’s wrath and judgment.

1. This was the primary reason why Jesus came to earth, and the folks closest to Him needed to know this first.