SERMON OUTLINE:
Jesus began in Galilee (vs 14-15)
Jesus began in the synagogue (vs 16)
Jesus began with Isiah (vs 16)
Jesus began to disclose himself (vs 16)
SERMON BODY
Ill:
• One day Albert Einstein had an idea:
• What would a light wave look like to someone keeping pace with it?
• In exploring this possibility, Einstein came up with his Special Theory of Relativity.
• Bill Bowerman (inventor of Nike training shoes) had an idea:
• What happens if I pour rubber into my waffle iron? The result was a sports shoe.
• Today Nike is the world's leading supplier of athletic shoes and apparel.
• Fred Smith (founder of Federal Express) had an idea:
• Why can’t there be reliable overnight mail service?
• Today FedEx Express is one of the world's largest express transportation companies,
• It provides fast and reliable delivery to every U.S. address;
• And to more than 220 countries and territories.
• Godfrey Hounsfield had an idea:
• Why can’t we see in three dimensions what is inside a human body without cutting it open?
• The result of his idea was CAT scanner.
• (An x-ray is a two-dimensional picture and a CAT-scan is three-dimensional.)
• Masaru Ibuka (honorary chairman, Sony) had an idea:
• Why don’t we remove the recording function and speakers;
• And put headphones in the recorder? (Result: the Sony Walkman.)
• Without out it, the 160 million or so owners of an Apple iPod MP3 players;
• Would not have one to use!
• Many of these questions are deemed ridiculous at first.
• Other shoe companies thought Bowerman’s waffle shoe was a "really stupid idea."
• Godfrey Hounsfield was told the CAT scan was "impractical."
• Fred Smith proposed the idea of Federal Express in a paper at Yale and got a C.
• Masaru Ibuka got comments like:
• "A recorder with no speaker and no recorder -- are you crazy?"
• TRANSITION: 2,000 years ago a preacher stood up to speak in a synagogue,
• What he said was considered ‘crazy, senseless, irrational’.
• By those who heard him.
• But in time his words would be vindicated;
• And many would come to see the genius who was in that synagogue that day!
This morning we are continuing our series of studies called ‘Travelling with Jesus to…’
• This morning our destination is Nazareth in Galilee.
• Today Nazareth is home to more than 60,000 Israeli Arabs,
• Nazareth is the largest Arab city in Israel.
• And Upper Nazareth is home to thousands more Jewish residents.
(1). Jesus Began in Galilee (vs 14)
“Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside”
Nazareth is famous for one thing, and one thing alone, it was the home town of Jesus:
• It was in Nazareth that Jesus spent his boyhood,
• Living with his mother and step-father and his half-brothers & sisters.
• It was in Nazareth that Jesus trained to be a carpenter;
• It was in Nazareth that Jesus spent his teenage years,
• It was in Nazareth that Jesus lived in obscurity until he was 30 years old.
Nazareth is famous for one thing, and one thing alone, it was the home town of Jesus.
• (a). In 1st century Palestine, the village of Nazareth;
• Was a nondescript dot on the map with not much to offer,
• (b).It was overshadowed by nearby Sepphoris (Seph-or-is) or Zippori
• The luxurious Greek-style capital of Herod Antipas.
Ill:
• Question: Does anyone here know where the exact centre of England is?
• Answer: Meridian.
• In the village is an ancient, listed monument dating back more than 500 years;
• That proudly stands on the green in this West Midland village.
• TRANSITION: Now Meridian is lost in the shadow of its neighbour;
• The more important city of Coventry (the city of three spires)
• And while tourists come from all over the world to visit the Old and New Cathedrals;
• No-one notices little Meridian and its claim to fame!
• At the time of Jesus Nazareth was overshadowed by nearby Sepphoris (Seph-or-is);
• The luxurious Greek-style capital of Herod Antipas.
• (c).At the time of Jesus:
• And its population was about 20,000 inhabitants.
• Scholar William Barclay,
• Says it was not a village but a ‘polis’ (meaning town or city),
• And its population was about 20,000 inhabitants.
• (d). Nazareth is in the north, Galilee,
• The name Galilee means a circle (Hebrew word, ‘Galil’)
• It was so called because it was circled by non-Jewish nations.
Ill:
• You do realise of course that Jesus was a northerner!
• That he spoke with a northern accent!
• As did the disciples, although there was one southerner among them;
• But it’s best not to dwell on him (Judas).
• (e).The people of Nazareth were physically robust, strong-minded, practical,
• Respectful of traditional and loyal to family.
• (f).They spoke Aramaic, a language with a strong poetic tradition.
• Being able to talk well was a valued skill.
• (g).Young Jewish men were expected to be literate.
• The Jewish queen Salome Alexandra had made reading and writing compulsory;
• For all Jewish boys – so they could study of the Torah.
Note: the return to Galilee.
“Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit,
and news about him spread through the whole countryside
• Now at the end of verse 13 and the start of verse 14 is a one year gap:
• We know this from reading the other gospels.
• For a year Jesus has been ‘down south’ in Judea & Samaria,
• i.e. In Judea at Canna (John chapter 2) he performed his fist miracle,
• i.e. In Jerusalem (John chapter 3) he met Nicodemus,
• i.e. And on the way home as he passed through Samaria he met the woman at the well.
• (John chapter 4)
• Our passage opens with the return of Jesus to Galilee.
• And Luke has a specific focus in what he records.
• This section of his gospel is referred to as the Galilean ministry of Jesus.
• This time period will last from chapter 4 verse 14 to chapter 9 verse 50.
Note:
• The expression in verse 14:
• “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit.”
• Everything Jesus ever did while He was on planet earth,
• Was in the power of the Holy Spirit.
• He never acted upon his own.
• He never acted independently of God.
• The miracles which he performed were done by the power of God.
• The teaching which he taught was given to him by God.
• And even the places that he went were a reflection that he was being led by the Holy Spirit.
• That is the way Jesus lived.
• And that is the way we are to live, too.
Ill:
In Ephesians chapter 5 verse 18 we are commanded:
“Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery.
Instead, be filled with the Spirit”
• The verb “fill” has nothing to do with contents or quantity,
• We are not empty vessels that like a car;
• We need a required amount of spiritual fuel to keep going.
• You may have heard the expression:
• “Why do I need to be filled with the Holy Spirit?
• Answer because I leak!”
• Well, it makes a humours point but actually it is bad theology;
• We don’t leak, because we cannot lose some of the Holy Spirit.
• He is a person not a force or a liquid or a gas.
In the Bible, filled with the Spirit” means “to controlled by the Spirit.”
• Every Christian has the Holy Spirit;
• (If you don’t then you are not a Christian – Romans chapter 8 verse 9)
• But although every Christian has the Holy Spirit;
• Not every Christian is controlled by the Holy Spirit.
Ill:
• To be “filled with the Spirit”
• Means to be constantly controlled by the Spirit in our mind, emotions, and will.
• Hence the contrast; “Do not get drunk on wine”
• When people are drunk they cannot control their bodies i.e. walk strait,
• They cannot speak clearly, i.e. they slur their words
• They cannot think correctly i.e. why you cannot drink & drive.
• In contrast the apostle says;
• Live close to God, be filled with his Spirit daily;
• So that God can control your bodies, your words and your minds!
• TRANSITION: we read in verse 14:
• “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit.”
• I like the term somebody used:
• “There are no accidents in the life of Jesus only appointments!”
• This moment in the synagogue at Nazareth;
• Is an appointment in the life of Jesus;
• Made by God the Father.
(2). Jesus Began in the Synagogue (vs 16)
“He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.”
• The New Testament records more than 10 occasions;
• On which the ministry of Jesus took place in the synagogue.
• The synagogue provided a ready platform for the teaching of Jesus;
• And later on for the early Church for the apostle Paul as well.
Ill:
• The word Synagogue comes from the Greek Language and means "assembly"
• It was used in place of the Hebrew word meaning "congregation"
• Jewish people today would use the word "shul," instead of synagogue,
• Synagogue is a Gentile word.
• “Shul” is a Yiddish word;
• (Yiddish was the international language of Jews from Central and Eastern Europe.)
• The word “Shul” is derived from a German word meaning "school,"
• And emphasizes the synagogue's role as a place of study.
Jesus began in the Synagogue:
• There was only one temple and that was down south in Jerusalem;
• The real centre for religious life everywhere else was the synagogue.
• Although there was only one temple;
• Every town and city had one or more synagogues.
Ill:
• To appreciate what is happening,
• It is useful to understand the synagogue service order.
• We have ancient Jewish sources like the Mishnah;
• Which tells us how synagogue services were run in ancient times.
• The congregation would recite Deuteronomy 6:4-9, which was called the Shema.
• The scripture begins,
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”
• After reciting the Shema, they would share in prayer and singing songs.
• After the prayer and songs there was a reading from the Law of Moses,
• And then a reading from the Prophets.
• Once the readings were completed,
• There would be an exposition of the text (what we would call a sermon today);
• That usually would tie the readings together.
• The service closed with a benediction,
• The pronouncing of a blessing on the people.
RE: The teaching part.
• There was no professional ministry.
• The president would invite any distinguished person present to speak.
• This is how Jesus got his opportunity to speak.
• The initial reception which Jesus received in Galilee appears to be very positive.
• All who heard Him teach were praising Him.
Ill:
• Now every preacher does not get that sort of response!
• i.e. One church member to the preacher at the end of his sermon:
• “You’ll never know what your sermon meant to me.
• It was like water to a drowning man!”
• i.e. A woman leaving church one Sunday told to her minister,
• "Pastor, it seems that every sermon you preach is better than the next one!"
• i.e. The preacher was shaking hands with the members of his congregation;
• When one man approached him and said, "That was a wonderful sermon today, pastor!"
• Filled with modesty, the preacher replied, "Oh, it wasn't me, it was God."
• To which the reply came, "It wasn't that good."
• TRANSITION: The sermons of Jesus were that good!
• The N.I.V. says; “everyone praised him”
• They were "amazed" (Greek ‘thaumazo’);
• Meaning 'wonder, marvel, be astonished'.
(3). Jesus began with Isaiah (vs 16-20)
“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…”
• As Jesus returns to his home town Nazareth, there is an air of expectancy.
• It’s a case of local boy finds fame,
• Already news of His miracles and His teaching has spread throughout all of Palestine.
• It is the gossip of the day.
• And, if He did all of those things in those other places,
• Then imagine what he might do when he comes to his own town?
• So the people of Nazareth were expectant,
• They wanted to see more miracles in their town;
• Than Jesus had performed anywhere else.
At the appropriate point in the synagogue service:
• Jesus stands up and moves to the front of the building.
• Where he comes to the Bema Seat,
• A raised wooden chair which stands before the congregation.
• (It is also called the Moses seat;
• Because Moses gave the law and whoever sits in the seat is taking the place of Moses).
The scroll which contains the book of Isaiah is handed to Him;
• And He moves behind the lectern to the side of the Bema.
• Carefully unrolling the scroll,
• He begins to read.
• The Old Testament passage from Isaiah (chapter 61)
• It contains a prophecy of the kingdom and the peace and the prosperity;
• Which shall reign when the Lord comes.
Quote: Verses 17-19:
“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 favour.’”
Notice the emphasis of Isaiah’s prophecy is on the proclamation.
• Three times Isaiah says that the Messiah is going to be proclaiming.
• He will proclaim good news to the poor,
• He will proclaim freedom to the captives,
• He will proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.
Ill:
• When John the Baptist was in prison,
• He sent his disciples to Jesus to see if he was the Messiah.
• Jesus answer is simple and direct,
• (Matthew chapter 11 verses 4-5)
“Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5 The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.’”
• Jesus fulfilled those verses literally.
• But also symbolically and spiritually.
• i.e. Poor – we a human beings are spiritually bankrupt.
• i.e. Blind – we a human beings are in the kingdom of darkness.
• i.e. Prisoners – we a human beings are slaves to sin.
• i.e. Oppressed – we a human beings are under the reign of the evil one.
• And those four images fulfil the last statement;
• “The year of the Lord’s favour”
• This phrase has an allusion to the year of Jubilee
• We read about it in Leviticus chapter 25 verses 8-55.
• “The year of jubilee”. Was to take place every fifteen years.
• All debts were to be cancelled,
• And all slaves were to be freed.
• Wow!
• What a metaphor for the gospel!
• When the salvation of God that would come where the debt of sin would be canceled;
• And the people would be set free from the slavery of sin.
Note: Luke chapter 4 verse 20:
“Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him.”
• Some of those in the congregation are thinking,
• “Hold on, you didn’t read the last part of the verse.”
• They are wondering why Jesus didn’t read the last part of Isaiah chapter 61 verse 2.
Question: Do you want to know why He didn’t read it?
Answer:
• Because the rest of verse 2 and on into verse 3 talks about His Second Coming.
• It talks about the day of vengeance.
• It talks about setting Israel back in her rightful place among the nations.
• It talks about giving them beauty for ashes.
• Jesus did not come to do all of this in His first coming.
• But He will fulfill the rest of the verse in His Second Coming.
(4). Jesus began to disclose himself (vs 20)
• Note the moment of expectancy:
• Verse 20 says; “The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed upon Him”
• We would sarcastically say today, “No pressure then!”
• But Jesus was in control and reveals his authority in the situation.
Ill:
• Once Jesus had read from Isaiah, he would hand the scroll back to the attendant;
• Who would reverently places it within its proper space within the Bema (Tebah),
• Jesus now sits in this Seat, (Jewish Rabbi’s sat down to preach);
• This signified that He is going to teach from the passage which He has just read.
• It is a dramatic moment.
• All are waiting to hear what He shall say.
• At first they are not disappointed;
• Because Jesus shocked them in his announcement!
• He declared (verse 21):
• "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing"
• Wow! Don’t miss that first word – “Today!”
• This is startling!
• Unlike any other Rabbi invited to speak on this passage;
• Jesus does not begin His sermon by talking about the golden days of Israel’s history,
• He does not look to the future to the glories that shall be revealed;
• When God overthrows the kingdoms of this world to set up His eternal kingdom.
• Instead He speaks of what is here and now – “Today!”
• He declares that they are all witnesses to this prophecy being fulfilled.
• It is happening before their very eyes.
Note: The reaction of the people is threefold.
FIRST: REACTION WAS AMAZEMENT (VS 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.”
• On first reading the peoples reaction appears to be favourable:
• They appear to speak well of Jesus,
• They are astounded at the words which He speaks;
• In comparison with His social and educational status.
• At first it was local boy done good!
SECOND: REACTION WAS ANGER (VS 28).
“All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this.”
• It was the content not the delivery of the message that caused this angry reaction;
• Never in their lifetime had a teacher taught and proclaimed;
• That a prophecy was being fulfilled right before their very eyes.
• But they found of his message difficult to accept.
• It was that Jesus Himself was the promised Messiah.
• They knew him as the carpenter,
• They knew him as Joseph’s son,
• But now he is publicly claiming to be the Messiah!
Note:
• They could accept the fact that the kingdom was about to be revealed before them.
• They could even accept that Jesus;
• Was the One who was announcing the arrival of that kingdom.
• But to believe that Jesus was the Messiah, the Anointed One of God,
• Was just too much.
• After all, they had watched this same Jesus grow up from the time He was a small boy.
• They had known His parents all these years.
• They were nothing special.
• His father had been the town carpenter.
• He hadn’t even been a ruler in the synagogue.
• Perhaps if the son of the village rabbi had been chosen to be the Messiah,
• They could have more readily believed. But this was just too much.
• They were ready to believe that He was a teacher.
• They were ready to accept Him as a good man.
• They could even believe that He was a miracle worker,
• As long as He did a few miracles in their presence.
• But it was just too much to ask them to believe that this one they grew up with;
• Was the Messiah, the Son of God.
Jesus is always one-step ahead of this crowd of people:
• So he responds to their anger by quoting a well-known proverb:
• (verses 23-27):
“Jesus said to them, ‘Surely you will quote this proverb to me: “Physician, heal yourself!” And you will tell me, “Do here in your home town what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.”’
24 ‘Truly I tell you,’ he continued, ‘no prophet is accepted in his home town. 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[g] in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed – only Naaman the Syrian.’”
• It is evident that Jesus knows exactly what they are thinking;
• He knows their objection to His claim.
• And his tone turns to one of rebuke.
• Note: He will not allow men to accept Him as only a teacher or a good man;
• Or a miracle worker.
• You must accept Him on His own terms, or else you cannot accept Him at all.
Jesus and miracles:
• Jesus never performed miracles for show;
• His miracles were not to self-promote or to entertain,
• They were performed to meet genuine needs of people.
• So he answers their demand to do a miracle;
• By using two Old Testament examples.; Elijah and Elisha.
• The problem with these illustrations is;
• They were miracles done for a few selected Gentiles and not Jews!
• The first example is the case of Elijah and the Phoenician widow
• (1 Kings chapter 17 verse 9-24).
• The second example is the case of Elisha and Naaman,
• Naaman was the Captain of the Syrian Army (2 Kings chapter 5 verses 1-16).
• The crowd immediately get the message;
• And they do not like what they are hearing.
Ill:
• These Jews had restricted God to their theological box.
• God must do this and must act that way.
• But God is God and cannot be restricted by our ideas.
• TRANSITION: That is the point Jesus is making here.
• Elijah & Elisha were not restricted to doing their miracles to Jews only,
• And neither is Jesus!
THIRD REACTION: ATTEMPTED MURDER (VS 28-30):
“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.”
• Amazingly the same people who were astonished by Jesus teaching earlier;
• Now want him dead!
• There is murder in their hearts.
• There has been no trial. No legal charges have been brought forth.
• And these Jews who pride themselves on being Sons of the Torah,,
• Are about to break the Law by murdering the Son of God.
Don’t you just love 30:
“But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way”
Question: How was Jesus able to escape from the clutches of this angry mob?
Answer:
• We are not told here in Luke chapter 4.
• Later on John in his gospel records the words of Jesus (chapter 10 verse 18)
“No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father."
• The timing of the death of Jesus would be down to hum,
• And not an angry mob!
• We would see similar instances in the life of Jesus,
• When the crowd wanted to kill him or crown him,
• And each time Jesus took control and walked away,
• And the mob crowd was unable to impact him.
• They found themselves completely powerless in the presence of the One;
• Who could calm a raging storm with a single word.
• Now as we come to communion;
• Let’s take those thoughts with us.
• The death of Jesus was never martyrdom, and no-one ever took his life from him,
• He choose to give it up and he gave I up for a reason,
• i.e. For your sins and for mine!
SERMON AUDIO:
https://surf.pxwave.com/wl/?id=ncFv2gXxrzo7Ln0nNTiwsSsSEzKVDMup
