Sermon # 26 - Faith Coupled With Obedience Series

For our meditation we will look at Luke 4:16, “Then Jesus went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath he went as usual to the synagogue. He stood up to read the Scriptures ..” (GNB)

Jesus was returning to Nazareth, which was His home town where He had grown up, and it was a Sabbath day. As was His custom, Jesus went to the synagogue where the scriptures were read and taught. There was a huge crowd that gathered that day, probably out of curiosity from all that they heard about Jesus, as Jesus had grown up in their own town. When Jesus came into the synagogue, He was handed over the scripture scroll to read from. Jesus found the portion of scripture from Isaiah 61 and began to read the portion which said as recorded in Luke 4:18, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has chosen me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed” (GNB)

Those who had gathered there were stirred in their hearts as they heard Jesus read the scriptures. This was what they said to each other as recorded in Luke 4:22, All the people spoke well of him. They were amazed to hear the gracious words flowing from his lips. They said, "Isn't this Joseph's son?" (GW) The problem for these people was that they failed to recognize Jesus to be the Son of God, and were looking at Him entirely as the son of Joseph the carpenter, who was from their own town.

Jesus perceived their thoughts, and understood that they were proud of their heritage, their place of worship, their traditions and rituals, and that they failed to comprehend who He truly was. Jesus spoke these words of caution to them as recorded in the verses below.

We read in Luke 4:25-27, “Listen to me: it is true that there were many widows in Israel during the time of Elijah, when there was no rain for three and a half years and a severe famine spread throughout the whole land. Yet Elijah was not sent to anyone in Israel, but only to a widow living in Zarephath in the territory of Sidon. And there were many people suffering from a dreaded skin disease who lived in Israel during the time of the prophet Elisha; yet not one of them was healed, but only Naaman the Syrian."” (GNB)

The Lord Jesus was referring to a couple of incidents that occurred almost eight hundred years prior to His coming down to earth.

The widow at Zarephath

In those days when the famine was severe in the land, this particular widow, and her son too were in dire straits with almost nothing. God sent the prophet Elijah to visit this widow, and God did a mighty miracle to provide for Elijah, the widow and her son all through that season of famine.

Naaman the Syrian

The other person Jesus referred to was Naaman the commander of the Syrian Army, who was struck with leprosy, whom the Lord healed through the prophet Elisha.

Jesus referred to these two people because both of them were considered to be Gentiles by the Jewish community. Nonetheless, their faith and obedience in God resulted in them receiving provision, and healing from the Lord’s hands. Jesus had to emphasize to the people gathered there that though there were many other widows during the days of Elijah, and many who had leprosy in the times of Elisha among the Israelites, but that God chose to do miracles for these two, both of whom were considered heathens.

The people were angered

When those in the synagogue heard this, this was their reaction as recorded in Luke 4:28-29, When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were filled with anger. They rose up, dragged Jesus out of town, and took him to the top of the hill on which their town was built. They meant to throw him over the cliff, (GNB)

These are people in whose town Jesus had grown up, but when Jesus pointed out their lack of faith, they were infuriated. Their rage made them push Jesus out of the synagogue. The synagogue is a place where the word had to be preached, and this should be done with truth, as truth alone could set them free. The ones who had gathered there were unwilling to accept Jesus’ admonishing, and were instead looking for ways to have Him done away with. When Jesus spoke about His mission the crowds were silent, but when He pointed out to their lack of faith, they were totally annoyed, and enraged with Him.

Sadly, even today many have thrust Jesus out of their churches because they are not willing to receive His word of exhortation. The words of admonishing are crucial for us as children of God, and we need to be ready to accept it, when the Lord is rebuking us on something. Generally, if you reprimand children or young people about somethings that they are doing wrong, they will get irritated with you. However, as we grow older we understand that these warnings from God are for our own good. Depending on the way we deal with these exhortations, we can assess the state in which we are in. For example if we get upset about these reprimands, it is a sure sign that we are lacking in maturity.