Luke 4:16-29
By: Joe Mack Cherry
!. Introduction
A. Background to the passage
1. Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist.
2. He had gone into the wilderness for 40 days.
a. Notice that scripture says the Spirit led Him away.
b. This indicates God intended for it happen.
c. God sees that we all have “wilderness” experiences to increase our faith and prove that God is faithful to see us through. Jas. 1:2-4
3. The 40-day fast had to have taken a toll on His human body.
a. Satan tempted Him at His lowest point, just as he does us today.
• How can a perfect Christ be tempted as we are (Heb. 4:14-15)?
• The temptations had to be directed at Jesus, the man, in order to agree with the passage just mentioned.
• Mk. 1:14 – Tells us that the angels came and ministered to Him.
b. Vs. 14 of the text tells us the God restored Jesus in the power of His Spirit in Galilee.
• Power in the Gr. is “dynamis” (doo-nam-is)
• Inherent power, power residing in a thing by virtue of its nature
• Power to perform miracles
• Moral power or excellence
B. Jesus returns to Galilee
1. His reputation preceded him throughout the region due to His teaching in synagogues everywhere he went.
2. Jesus tells them in vs 24 of the text that no prophet is honored in his own country.
a. Mat. 13:58 in another incident tells us that He could not do many miracles in Nazareth because of the people’s lack of belief except to heal a few sick.
b. Proof that He did not waste time on those who refused Him.
C. Lessons for us today is that God will help us fight temptation and even forgive us if we fail.
1. Satan doesn’t tempt us when we are at our best; he attacks us at our worst.
2. The devil left after Jesus stood up to him and waited for another opportune time. Jas, 4:7 tells us to resist him and he will flee from us, but not for good. Like he did with Christ, he will wait for another opportune time.
3. Jesus needed the return of His power and got it. God provides.
II. Lesson
A. Jesus in the synagogue.
1. He stands up and He chooses a passage.
2. I do not believe the passage He chose was by happenstance; it was intentional.
a. This will become obvious as we go through the remainder of the text.
b. I believe Jesus had a reason for every word He spoke.
c. He could read the room, so to speak and give them what they needed to hear whether they received it or not.
B. The Passage
1. Isaiah 61:1-2 - Read
2. This is an OT prophecy that tells us Christ will help those mentioned but he says nothing about the leaders of the day. Why?
a. In the next Chapter 5:41 – Jesus says those who are well need no physician.
b. Sadly, the people listening to Jesus that day had no idea how sick they were.
c. We really need to remember that as long as we sin, we are sick!
d. We need Jesus until we die and then at the Judgement.
3. History is made in this passage.
a. Vs 19 - To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. Times of the Messiah.
b. All eyes were on Jesus as He handed the scroll back to the attendant and sat down.
• Jesus had a way of commanding the attention of an audience. Even at the age of 12, the scholars were amazed at His knowledge.
• They denied that history had been made/a prophecy fulfilled.
c. Isn’t this Joseph’s son?
• He isn’t king material.
• He is a son of a carpenter.
• Jesus was in His hometown.
• On numerous occasions Jesus was called a blasphemer for forgiving sins, casting out demons, and proclaiming to be the Son of God.
d. No way the carpenters son can:
• Have the Spirit of the Lord
• Preach the gospel to the poor
• Heal the brokenhearted
• Bring liberty to the captives and oppressed
• Give sight to the blind
• The verses following the text tells us that those at the synagogue became angry and even tried to kill Him.
• They were in awe of Him until they figured out what He was really saying.
C. Reading the Room
1. Not only was Jesus deliberate in the passage He chose to read, but He was also deliberate in His interpretation.
2. Jesus was standing in a group of His hometown people who rejected him.
3. Jesus knew that He would not be well received and therefore did not do many mighty works for those who chose to receive Him for who He really was.
D. What does Jesus do?
1. He continues to teach them a lesson even though their hearts would not receive it.
2. It seems to me that the message went right over their heads because their minds were so made up about Him not being the king.
a. Jesus referred to his deniers as having ears but not hearing and having eyes but not seeing. Mk 18:8 that echoes Isa. 6:9-10. This is a perfect example of those words being true.
b. This describes the religious leader to a tee.
3. Jesus is about to let them know there are others who would receive Him that were not of them (ethnically speaking).
E. So, what’s in the passage that Jesus chose? Vs 25-28
1. Two Miracles
2. Two Non-Jewish People
3. Two OT prophets.
F. Widow of Zarephath (I Kings 17:7-16)
1. God punished King Ahab and the kingdom of Israel with a 3-1/2-year drought because of their idol worshipping.
2. God sent Elijah specifically to this Phoenician, non-Jewish lady.
a. Guess who else was of Phoenician descent? Queen Jezebel.
b. Baal was known as the controller of rain and fertility.
c. God showed them who was master over the rain.
3. Through faith this widow believed what Elijah told her that God would do.
4. I Kings 17:14 tells us that God promised her jar of flour would not be used up and her jar of oil would not go dry.
a. She kept Elijah, her son, and herself fed those 3-1/2 years.
b. I believe God did this so people could witness that He cared for everyone, not just the Jews.
c. A foreigner who had faith in God was rewarded where an unbelieving Jew was not.
d. She was further blessed when Elijah prayed over her dead son; he was revived.
G. Naaman the Leper (II Kings 5)
1. Naaman’s wife’s maiden was an Israelite captive who knew of the prophet Elisha.
2. Naaman went to his master, the master sent him with gifts for the King.
3. The king directs him to Elisha.
4. Elisha doesn’t come out to meet him; he sends a messenger who tells him to dip seven times in the river Jordan.
5. Naaman balks and the messenger tells him, “If my master (Elisha) had told you to do something great you would have done it. Now go and do as you were told and you will be healed. He did and his skin became as a young man’s skin.
6. Naaman tried to give Elisha gifts but Elisha vehemently refused.
a. The messenger, Gehazi (a Jew) felt that Elisha was too easy on Naaman so he catches up to the group and tells Naaman Elisha requested one talent and two sets of clothing for some Ephraimites.
b. Gehazi keeps them for himself and lies to Elisha.
c. Syrian warrior went away clean and the Jewish man was struck with leprosy.
III. Closing
A. Heb. 11:6 – those with true faith in God will be rewarded, regardless of race or nationality. John 3:16 – whosoever will is all inclusive.
B. It’s sad that the leaders were so hard that they could not see the true Messiah right in front of their eyes.
1. I used to think it might have been easier to truly believe in Christ if one had been born during the time that Jesus walked the earth.
2. The refusal of the religious leaders to accept Christ for who He was kills that theory as does Abraham’s response to the rich man. If they won’t receive what Moses and the prophets wrote then thy want believe one who comes back from the dead.
3. The rulers were like, “Don’t confuse me with the facts, my mind is made up.”
C. God’s blessings are on those who love him.
D. Never count anyone out when it comes to receiving God’s love. The very people some deem unworthy or even worse deny God’s grace, turn out to be extraordinary workers. Ex 39:9 – God tells Moses, “I will send mercy and grace to whom I chose.”
E. We should all test our beliefs against the scripture so that we stay humble and do not let ourselves grow arrogant in our belief. There are things we’ve all been taught that were not exactly right, but because some esteemed person says it, it must right.
