Luke 4:16-31 Jesus: Son of Joseph or Son of God
January 25th 2004
This morning we are going to look at Jesus’ homecoming.
Jesus’ neighbors were confronted with a decision they did not wish to make, and a claim they did not want to hear.
Can Jesus still surprise us?
He stood up to read. They had in their synagogues seven readers every sabbath, the first a priest, the second a Levite, and the other five Israelites of that synagogue. We often find Christ preaching in other synagogues, but never reading, except in this synagogue at Nazareth, of which he had been many years a member. Now he offered his service as he had perhaps often done; he read one of the lessons out of the prophets. The book of the prophet Isaiah was delivered to him, either by the ruler of the synagogue or by the minister mentioned (v. 20), so that it is obvious that he was no intruder.
He stood up to read, and all stood with him. This was to teach reverence in reading and hearing the word of God
Would you all stand with Me
Luke 4:16-21
16Then Jesusm came to Nazareth, where he had been raised. As was his custom, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day. When he stood up to read, 17the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written,
18“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me to tell
the good news to the poor.
He has sent me to announce release to the prisoners
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to set oppressed people free,
19and to announce the year of the Lord’s favor.”
20Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21Then he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
When I was a freshman in College I arranged for our Junior High band to do a service for the Boise Rescue Mission. They were going to lead worship and I was suppose to present a gospel message. I had spoken one time previously to the youth group, and the youth pastor instructed me that I should keep this message short and simple. So I got up in front of about 40 homeless men and read John 3:16 and then shared one story, and prayed a prayer of invitation. The whole thing took less than 5 minutes, and it only took that long because it took a while to find the passage. I had preached the good news to the poor, and it was a great learning experience, but this is not the picture of how Jesus Preached the good news.
Jesus does not check these actions found in Isaiah off a list of Messiah to do’s, he lives the good news with the poor,
I would like to quickly point two what it meant for Jesus to preach the gospel
Jesus preaching ministry included
[1.] Preaching the gospel to the poor; These are the people Jewish doctors would not treat, so those who could not get health care; who the priests spoke of with contempt; They are those who would not fit in the worship service. Why? Do they get Jesus attention. Because they are meek and humble, and sorrowful for sin. Mt. 11:5 speaks of those who will receive Jesus’ gospel and it is the poor who welcome his message.
Now about the message!
[2.]. Proclaiming deliverance to the captives. The gospel is a proclamation of liberty, like that to Israel after 400 years of bondage in Egypt and 70 years of captivity in Babylon. Like the liberty that was won by the equal rights movement. By the work of Christ sinners are delivered from the life long bonds of sin and guilt, and by his Spirit and grace from the bondage of corruption.
In the movie Peter Pan (with it recent new release) we see the common picture of Wendy the captive of Captain Hook, and like we have grow to expect Peter flies to the rescue, cuts the bonds, wins her liberty and brings her to safety. This is our picture of a Savior, and that is what we want from Christ. It is one thing to be free but another to be changed. This is how Jesus if different, he frees us from sin, but that is only half of it. He changes us.
[3.] Giving sight to the Blind. He came with words to bring light to them the minds that sat in the dark, but also with the power to give sight to them that were blind.
Giving sight to the blind is a part of preaching the gospel.
I just took a vacation to Idaho to ski the slopes of Brundage Mountian. The snow way deep and light. The sun was shining there was no wind. It was the most beautiful day I have ever skied on. You should have seen it, the view from the top of the chair lift was incredible.
That is how we often share the gospel with the Blind man, the poor man, the sick man. I tell people what it would be like to be healed and free. Jesus heals the man who is sick, comforts the man who is poor. Jesus gives sight to the blind, he doesn’t just describe the scenery to them. Words are only half the Gospel, action with the power of God behind it changes lives and circumstances.
Lastly Jesus preaching includes:
[4.] Announcing God’s favor. He came to let the world know that the God that they had offended was willing to be reconciled to them, and to accept them on new terms; that there was a way of making them acceptable to him; that there is now a time of good will toward men. It alludes to the year of jubilee, or that of release, which was an acceptable year to servants, who were then set at liberty; to debtors, against whom all actions then dropped; and to those who had mortgaged their lands, for then they returned to them again.
God’s favor is about new begins for those who accept the good news
Does my Savior both Rescue and Change People?
Everyone delights in being rescued, but are we surprised when Jesus wants to change us and our circumstances.
Would you join me in standing as we continue in Luke 4:22
22All the people began to speak well of him and to wonder at the gracious words that flowed from his mouth. They said, “This is Joseph’s son, isn’t it?” 23So he said to them, “You will probably quote this proverb to me, ‘Doctor, heal yourself! Do all the things here in your hometown that we hear you did in Capernaum.’ ” 24He added, “Truly I tell you, a prophet is not accepted in his hometown. 25In truth I tell you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the heaven was closed for three years and six months and there was a severe famine everywhere in the land. 26Yet Elijah wasn’t sent to a single one of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. 27There were also many lepers in Israel in the prophet Elisha’s time, yet not one of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”
28All the people in the synagogue became furious when they heard this. 29They got up, forced Jesus out of the city, and led him to the edge of the hill on which their city was built, intending to throw him off of it. 30But he walked right through the middle of them and went away.
A fame of him went through all that region (v. 14), and it was a good fame; for (v. 15) he was glorified of all. Every body admired him,
But there is a problem
Is not this Joseph’s Son They knew He had received no rabbinical education, how could these things be true
He replies to the one proverb “doctor heal yourself” by another “, a prophet is not accepted in his hometown, which we might express this way—“Too much familiarity breeds contempt.” Our Lord’s long residence in Nazareth merely as a townsman had made Him too common, incapacitating them for appreciating Him as others did who were less familiar with His everyday demeanor in private life.
Have you seen our experienced this in you own neighborhoods or in a group of friends, They cannot endure to see him their superior whom awhile ago they took to be every way their inferior.
Do I know Jesus so well that he cannot act outside of the box I have put him in. Jesus neighbors though yea when Jesus comes and fixes your roof he can tell a good story, but forgiving my sin that is crazy.
My Jesus can forgive sin, and he can heal, but why would he have people speak in tongues what is the point really.
I had a friend and he was on a mission trip to Mexico, and their interpreter got sick, and he thought that he would try to help, he had taken Spanish in High school. He began to talk and his tongue was loosened and he began to talk and think in Spanish, with proficiency he had never experience, even while in School.
So I could say he is lying, or Jesus still gives people the ability to speak other languages, I think the major barrier for me was dealing with why I hadn’t experienced Jesus working in this way
I want to open our eyes to this so we do not fall into the same sin as these people of Nazareth.
Dr. Wayne Cordeiro, Pastor of New Hope Church, gives a wonderful illustration of this, and rather then me reading it to you I would like to let him tell it.
Can my Savior speak through my neighbors and friends?
Who do we need to soften our hearts to: A family member, a small group leader, friends from other churches, let us rejoice in God’s work in other people.
Jesus, senses their opposition (4:23-24), and tells them of two instances in which God’s prophets ministered miraculous acts of grace to Gentiles while Israel was in unbelief—Elijah and the widow of Zarephath (vv. 25-26; cf. 1 Kings 17:8-16), and Elisha and Naaman the Syrian leper (Luke 4:27; cf. 2 Kings 5:1-19).
Why didn’t God send Elijah to a widow in Judea, instead he goes to
Zarephath” (1Ki 17:9), a village full of heathens between Tyre and Sidon
Why were none of the Lepers outside Jerusalem cured by Elisha
Many lepers were in Israel in the days of Elisha, four particularly, They were sitting outside the city of Samaria, and decided to go and spy on the Syrian camp. When they came upon the camp God had actually driven them out of it the night before by fear. So they find tent after tent full of food and wealth. In a selfless act they decide to go and tell the rest of the city that the siege is over and they can come and find food and wealth. Elisha was himself in the besieged city, and this was the accomplishment of his prophecy too; see 2 Ki. 7:1, 3, . And yet we do not find that Elisha cleansed them, no not for a reward of their service. Instead we know that he heals a Syrian Commander; what is causing God to act like this?
How easy is it to think that God is watching for your good works then he will answer your prayers. “God please do this and then I will be a missionary in Africa” What does that say, God wants me to work, and work hard, and then maybe he will answer my prayers. The only problem is this is not the God who reveals himself in the Bible. God makes covenant with People based on their faithfulness to Him in Relationship. God does not ask Abraham to Farm 1,000 Acers, and raise 3,000 sheep and then he will make him a nation, He asks for his faith and trust.
In I Samuel 16 The prophet Samuels goes to the house of Jesse to anoint the next King of Israel and Samuel looks upon Eliab Jesses first born and says surely this must be the one he is a great man, mighty, and tall, but the lord says no, and the same with the 6 other sons, for God had chosen David the shepherd and musician, obviously not because he had done anything, but because of his heart and his faith and trust in God.
Listen to David’s prayer:
When I am most afraid I put my trust in you, in God whose word I praise, in God I put my trust, fearing nothing, what can man do to me. (Ps 56:3-4)
God is looking for people who have faith
People who will dare to put their hope for a good life in Him
People who will dare to trust his plan for their lives
People who will dare to believe he will heal
Heal their hearts, their relationships, their doubt and guilt, and their bodies
God’s activity in the world is centered around increasing our faith, not our productivity.
Is my Savior interesting in my Works or my Faith?
Prior to his death, Roman Catholic Priest Henri Nouwen articulated, I believe, the struggle for many of us who are responsible to lead and serve in God’s Church. One voice says to succeed and achieve. It is the voice Nouwen says he spent most of his life heeding. He taught at Notre Dame, Harvard, and Yale. He averaged writing more than a book a year. His speaking scheduled and ministry threatened to suffocate his spiritual life. The other voice was God’s telling him he was unconditionally loved. He had nothing to prove. This voice told him the goal of ministry was to recognize the Lord’s voice, his face, and his touch in every person he met. Only in the last ten years of his life did he truly listen to that voice.
3 questions about our Savior
Does my Savior both rescue and heal people?
Can my Savior speak through my neighbors and friends?
Is my Savior interested in my works or my Faith?
