DISABLING JESUS-III—Luke 4:22-30
Attention:
‘Back in the day’ when I was an arrogant atheistic teenager I would occasionaly pick up a copy of the magazine National Lampoon.
It was a spin-off of The Harvard Lampoon, a magazine giving birth to much of the trashy-immoral ‘comedy’ which is so prevalent today.
National Lampoon presented a comedic pseudo-intellectual look at life & current issues.
One of their regular features was a comic-book-like series called “Son O God.’ A caricature which was an entire perversion of an anemic Christ.
The series brazenly Disabled Jesus’ true identity for all who read the magazine.
Need:
The congregation at Nazareth(hometown synagogue) would not believe Jesus’ ability to fulfill Scripture’s mandate for the Messiah.
Religiosity thinks it implausible/absurd to believe that Jesus can save that He is Messiah.
What is produced upon holding/viewing Jesus as absurd?
8 fruits/assessments of disabling Jesus.
We previously found that:
Disabling Jesus produces...
1. ADMIRATION(4:22a)
2. FAMILIARIZED BLINDNESS(:22b)
3. BLIND DISDAIN(:23a)
4. INCONCLUSIVE PROOF(:23b)
5. REJECTION Of REALITY(:24)
6— Disabling Jesus produces...
FORFEITURE Of FAVOR(:25-27)
Explanation: (:25-27)Move beyond/Bypass you
“25—““But I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years & six months, & there was a great famine throughout all the land;”
:26—““but to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath, in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.”
Again Jesus says that what follows He speaks “in truth”(somberly/solemnly).
Jesus relates 2 instances of God’s grace being extended/offered to those outside the “commonweath of Israel”(:25-26, 27) The offers are given solely because those who should have accepted Him disregarded Him or were unresponsive to Him or were undeserving of Him.
Though “many widows” were present in Israel in Elijah’s day, God chose to send His prophet to a widow in Sidon’s Zarephath. A heathen & Gentile place & people.(1Kgs. 17:8-16; 17-24). None were worthy of God’s grace in the Northern kingdom of Israel. They would not have been drawn to Elijah’s ministry. They were too self-satisfied & self-noble without the true God.
Any such long-lasting drought would have produced many “widows.” But Elijah’s was a time when Ahab & Jezebel ruled. Ahab is described in 1Kgs. 16:30-33 as provoking the LORD to anger more than all the previous kings of Israel. He married a Sidonian princess named Jezebel. They served Baal & encouraged Israel to as well.
“....the only way she[the widow] would ever know that the God of Israel would give her all she would ever need was if she took what she had in her poverty & trusted him with it. She did.”—John MacArthur
The widow had never heard of Elijah or maybe had never met him or maybe she had heard of him...but isn’t that the point?! She had probably never heard of him or perhaps she had, but this widow—unlike the congregation at worship—thru faith turned over her entire life, & the life of her son, to Elijah the man of God!
Sidonian Widow of Zarephath:
1Kgs. 17:8-16; 17-24—“Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, & dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” So he arose & went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, indeed a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her & said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup, that I may drink.” And as she was going to get it, he called to her & said, “Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” So she said, “As the LORD your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, & a little oil in a jar; & see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in & prepare it for myself & my son, that we may eat it, & die.” And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go & do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, & bring it to me; & afterward make some for yourself & your son. For thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the LORD sends rain on the earth.’” So she went away & did according to the word of Elijah; & she & he & her household ate for many days. The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke by Elijah.”” “Now it happened after these things that the son of the woman who owned the house became sick. And his sickness was so serious that there was no breath left in him. So she said to Elijah, “What have I to do with you, O man of God? Have you come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, & to kill my son?” And he said to her, “Give me your son.” So he took him out of her arms & carried him to the upper room where he was staying, & laid him on his own bed. Then he cried out to the LORD & said, “O LORD my God, have You also brought tragedy on the widow with whom I lodge, by killing her son?” And he stretched himself out on the child three times, & cried out to the LORD & said, “O LORD my God, I pray, let this child’s soul come back to him.” Then the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; & the soul of the child came back to him, & he revived. And Elijah took the child & brought him down from the upper room into the house, & gave him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives!” Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now by this I know that you are a man of God, & that the word of the LORD in your mouth is the truth.””
“Widows”2X—chra—Thayer—1) A widow; 2) metaph. A city stripped of its inhabitants & riches is represented under the figure of a widow. Strong—feminine of a presumed derivative apparently from the base of casma through the idea of deficiency; A widow(as lacking a husband), literally or figuratively.
“Shut up”—kleiw—Thayer—1) To shut, shut up; 2) metaph.—2a) To cause the heavens to withhold rain, 2b) To shut up compassion so that it is like a thing inaccessible to one, to be devoid of pity towards one, 2c) To obstruct the entrance into the kingdom of heaven. Strong—a primary verb; To close (literally or figuratively).
“Famine”—limov—Thayer—1) Scarcity of harvest, famine. Strong—probably from leipw[to leave, i.e. (intransitively or passively) to fail or be absent](through the idea of destitution); A scarcity of food.
:27—““And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, & none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”””
In the same vein, Though there lived many lepers in Israel, Elisha provided cleansing to only one leper & he[Naaman] was a Syrian(specifically the captain of the Aramian army, who opposed Israel).
2Kgs. 5:1-19—“Now Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great & honorable man in the eyes of his master, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria. He was also a mighty man of valor, but a leper. And the Syrians had gone out on raids, & had brought back captive a young girl from the land of Israel. She waited on Naaman’s wife. Then she said to her mistress, “If only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! For he would heal him of his leprosy.” And Naaman went in & told his master, saying, “Thus & thus said the girl who is from the land of Israel.” Then the king of Syria said, “Go now, & I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So he departed & took with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, & ten changes of clothing. Then he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which said, Now be advised, when this letter comes to you, that I have sent Naaman my servant to you, that you may heal him of his leprosy. And it happened, when the king of Israel read the letter, that he tore his clothes & said, “Am I God, to kill & make alive, that this man sends a man to me to heal him of his leprosy? Therefore please consider, & see how he seeks a quarrel with me.” So it was, when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Please let him come to me, & he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.” Then Naaman went with his horses & chariot, & he stood at the door of Elisha’s house. And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go & wash in the Jordan seven times, & your flesh shall be restored to you, & you shall be clean.” But Naaman became furious, & went away & said, “Indeed, I said to myself, ‘He will surely come out to me, & stand & call on the name of the LORD his God, & wave his hand over the place, & heal the leprosy.’ “Are not the Abanah & the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them & be clean?” So he turned & went away in a rage. And his servants came near & spoke to him, & said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, & be clean’?” So he went down & dipped seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; & his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, & he was clean. And he returned to the man of God, he & all his aides, & came & stood before him; & he said, “Indeed, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel; now therefore, please take a gift from your servant.” But he said, “As the LORD lives, before whom I stand, I will receive nothing.” And he urged him to take it, but he refused. So Naaman said, “Then, if not, please let your servant be given two mule-loads of earth; for your servant will no longer offer either burnt offering or sacrifice to other gods, but to the LORD. Yet in this thing may the LORD pardon your servant: when my master goes into the temple of Rimmon to worship there, & he leans on my hand, & I bow down in the temple of Rimmon--when I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the LORD please pardon your servant in this thing.” Then he said to him, “Go in peace.” So he departed from him a short distance.”
*Jesus was telling the entire congregation of this particular synagogue in Nazareth(His home town) that thru this hometown boy God would be able to save pagan Gentiles before He would be able to save them who were 1st-hand partakers of the commonwealth & covenants & God of Israel(Eph. 2:12).
“....the only way she[the widow] would ever know that the God of Israel would give her all she would ever need was if she took what she had in her poverty & trusted him with it. She did.”—John MacArthur
Argumentation:
Exemplified in The Passover:
Ex. 12:1-13—“Now the LORD spoke to Moses & Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, “This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you. “Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: ‘On the tenth day of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him & his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man’s need you shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. And they shall take some of the blood & put it on the two doorposts & on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread & with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire--its head with its legs & its entrails. You shall let none of it remain until morning, & what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire. And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, & your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD’S Passover. ‘For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, & will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man & beast; & against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; & the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.”
No doubt some chose not to paint their doorposts & lintel.
Exemplified in The Bronze Serpent:
Num. 21:4-9—“Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; & the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way. And the people spoke against God & against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food & no water, & our soul loathes this worthless bread.” So the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, & they bit the people; & many of the people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses, & said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD & against you; pray to the LORD that He take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, & set it on a pole; & it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent, & put it on a pole; & so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.”
Jn. 3:14-15—““And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Isa. 59:1-2—“Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.”
Mat. 21:33-45—““Hear another parable: There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard & set a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it & built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers & went into a far country. “Now when vintage-time drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers, that they might receive its fruit. And the vinedressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, & stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first, & they did likewise to them. Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ “But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him & seize his inheritance.’ “So they took him & cast him out of the vineyard & killed him. Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?” They said to Him, “He will destroy those wicked men miserably, & lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons.” Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the LORD’S doing, And it is marvelous in our eyes’? “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you & given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.” Now when the chief priests & Pharisees heard His parables, they perceived that He was speaking of them.”
Jn. 1:10-13—“He was in the world, & the world was made through Him, & the world did not know Him. He came to His own, & His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
Illustration:
We took Isaac(5) & Wesley(3) to ‘Discovery Place Kids’ in Huntersville, NC/Anytime they were drifting toward getting rowdy they were threatened with time out/FORFEITURE Of FAVOR
Application:
?You Disabled Jesus as absurd thru a FORFEITURE Of FAVOR(bypass)?
?You see Christ Jesus as implausible/absurd?
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
National Lampoon’s ’Son-O-God’ comic series—Brazenly disabled Jesus
Action:
Disabling Jesus produces...
6. FORFEITURE Of FAVOR(:25-27)
1. ADMIRATION(4:22a)
2. FAMILIARIZED BLINDNESS(:22b)
3. BLIND CONTEMPT(:23a)
4. INCONCLUSIVE PROOF(:23b)
5. REJECTION Of REALITY(:24)
Presented 02/10/2013am to:
Needmore Baptist Church
1620 Mt. Vernon Rd.
Woodleaf, NC 27054
