13: Truth on Tour (Luke 4:14-30)

Have you ever been in trouble because your words were insincere? You said what the other person wanted to hear, but you didn’t mean it…and he/she found out.

What about the reverse - have you ever been in trouble because your words WERE sincere? You told the TRUTH, the other person DIDN’T want to hear it…and it cost you.

Today we continue to learn about Jesus, the powerful young Rabbi who called Himself the Way, the TRUTH, & the Life - as He travels throughout Galilee. He WAS the Truth…on Tour…and what He said wasn’t always what people wanted to hear. But to those who DO listen and respond to His message - they will find REAL LIFE.

After conquering the devil for 40 days, Luke speaks of a time when Jesus left the deserted place & came back to real life. Jesus makes the trip north and returns to Galilee, the region He spent the first 30 years of life. And look at how the people respond…

Luke 4:14–15 (NIV)

14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. [What caused this news to spread? Luke explains that…] 15 He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.

(Question) Remember how the 12 year-old Jesus amazed people by his questions & responses in the temple? Now we see how people are responding to the 30 year-old Jesus as He visits and teaches in several towns & synagogues throughout His home region of Galilee [map]. People were amazed by the TRUTH on Tour, and everyone praised Him.

Jesus taught in their synagogues.

Synagogues did NOT exist in Israel until AFTER the dispersed Israelites returned to the Land. Because of their disobedience to God, the Jerusalem temple was destroyed around 586 B.C. Thousands of Israelites were killed or taken captive by other nations like Babylon (remember the story of Daniel? Those guys were taken from their home & transported to Babylon).

Realizing they had greatly displeased God, the Israelites began to seek God again. But they had a problem. Their temple was destroyed & they were taken from their land. How could they be right with God again? They needed to know WHAT God required so they could OBEY His requirements. So scribes who knew the Scriptures - the men responsible for copying Scripture - were called upon to teach the people God’s Laws once again. These teachers of the Law were the forerunners of the Pharisees and they played a vital role in helping the dispersed Israelites learn to live in personal obedience to God’s Law. They could no longer visit the temple annually as it had been destroyed, but they COULD obey God daily…if they knew what He expected.

Those who ruled over the Israelites allowed the people to worship Yahweh, even allowing them to build structures to house their Scriptures & practice their religion. These structures, called synagogues, and these practices came to Israel when the people were allowed to return. Some larger cities even had multiple synagogues. (kind of like multiple church buildings across our county). It was in synagogues that Jews gathered to pray together, hear the Scripture read, & listen to a sermon.

This is where Jesus went to teach, in synagogues. We don’t know how many 240 cities and villages Jesus visited in the region of Galilee, but He was making a huge impact. And then he turned to the town of his childhood.

Luke 4:16a (NIV)

16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom…

Now, after touring throughout Galilee, Jesus returns to His hometown as a celebrity. As we will see shortly, people had heard about miracles He had done in another town (4:23), and the whole countryside was buzzing about Jesus by the time showed up.

His family & childhood friends were no doubt excited to hear their own charismatic young preacher and when the Sabbath day arrived, Jesus went into the synagogue, as was his custom. Since a little boy, Jesus had consistently attended synagogue. He attended Sabbath gatherings where, like many other children, He was trained to SPEAK to God in prayer & HEAR from God through the Scriptures.

I wonder if the synagogue rulers ever had a clue who was present during their prayers - who was intently listening as they read, & interpreted the Scriptures…And on this day Jesus entered the synagogue He had grown up in. TRUTH of Tour had come home.

A couple of Sundays from now you will hear what God is doing in our friends Clint & Crysti Handfield - as they prepare to serve in Ethiopia. I’ll look forward to hearing the podcast as I’ll be out that Sunday. You see, that Sunday I get the privilege teaching at Bee Ridge Baptist in Sarasota - MY home church - That church that challenged me to know & trust God’s Word and the place where I first got the opportunity to teach the Scripture.

I’m sure I will see some sweet faces, with many more wrinkles than I last remember. They will see the little boy they taught & disciplined…now grown and graying. They will likely be attuned and interested in what I have to say. And if I do well, they might be thinking, “That’s OUR boy!”

And as long as I’m kind, courteous, & thankful, I’m sure they’ll be very gracious…But what if I say something they don’t LIKE? What if God uses my words to highlight their hypocrisy? While my goal will be to encourage them, what if teaching the TRUTH offends them? Will I leave with the same warm reception I received when I first came home? We’ll find out.

In the same way, Jesus is welcomed to His home synagogue and all in attendance were tuned into His words. After prayer & the reading of the Pentateuch (Gen-Deut) it was time to read from the Prophets. Jesus was given this honor so…

Luke 4:16b-17a(NIV)

16…He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him.

To give you an idea of what this might have been like, in 1947 a scroll of Isaiah now called the Great Isaiah Scroll was found in the Qumran caves near the Dead Sea - dating between 150-100 B.C. - that’s from more than 100 years before than the time of Jesus. The scroll is written on 17 sheets of parchment: 24 feet long & 11 inches high, with 54 columns of text.

At that time there were no chapter and verse divisions (that didn’t occur until hundreds of years later). Can you imagine searching for your text in that? “Okay…unroll the scroll 22 ft. to the 51st column and about half way down.” But Jesus quickly scrolled (in a little different way than we do) to what WE call Isaiah 61 and begins reading.

Luke 4:17b–19 (NIV)

17 …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 favor.”

Luke has already noted several times that the Spirit was with Jesus (3:22, 4:1,14). Now Jesus reads a 700 year old prophecy about ONE whom the Spirit would rest on. This great prophet was to:

proclaim good news to the poor: Those poor would hear good news - that they were immeasurably valuable and cared for by their Creator!

This great prophet would proclaim freedom for the prisoners: Those who have been captive for so long would be set free!

He would bring recovery of sight for the blind: How thrilling would that be! That would have put optometrists out of business! People would once again open their eyes and see the beauty of creation. The next time you feel sorry for yourself - thank God for your eyesight and consider what a GIFT it is!

He would set the oppressed free: Some oppressed & even possessed by the devil. Others had debilitating diseases - but this great prophet would bring a power to make them free!

Finally, this Great Prophet would proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor: He would bring a message of God’s love to broken people.

But who WAS this and WHEN would He come?

Luke 4:20-21 (NIV)

20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. [can you imagine the intensity in the room?]

21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

WHAT? TODAY? In His home synagogue, in this small town, Yeshua…the kid that grew up just down the street - He said WHAT? Today this scripture is fulfilled in YOUR HEARING!

Remember what Jesus had just read and consider the significance of the words…

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on ME, because he has anointed ME to proclaim good news to the poor.

HE is claiming to be the ONE spoken of by Isaiah. Jesus DID CARE about the needs of the poor, and He offered them good news! Jesus showed that they were valuable to their Creator! He cared about those others pushed off to the side & He taught His followers to care for them as well. But His good news was not just for those with empty pockets. This good news was for those those with empty SOULS - those who recognized they are poor, those who are empty on the inside - those who recognize they are spiritually bankrupt

In Luke 18:13 Jesus tells the story of the tax collector. Now tax collectors weren’t POOR - at least financially. But most were spiritually bankrupt. As Jesus tells the story - this man approaches God and recognizes he has nothing to offer. He bows his head in shame - wouldn’t look up to heaven, he beat his chest and cried out, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Jesus says THIS MAN went home clean before God.

Have you come to the humble place to recognize that YOU are POOR - spiritually bankrupt? Will you humbly approach the One who came to proclaim good news to the poor…and ask HIM to forgive you?

He offers you good news! Regardless of your past…

BIG TRUTH You haven’t gone TOO FAR for God’s Grace!BIG TRUTH You haven’t gone TOO FAR for God’s Grace!BIG TRUTH You haven’t gone TOO FAR for God’s Grace!BIG TRUTH You haven’t gone TOO FAR for God’s Grace!

BIG TRUTH

You haven’t gone TOO FAR for God’s Grace!

BIG TRUTH

You haven’t gone TOO FAR for God’s Grace!

18…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 favor.”

Jesus came to proclaim freedom for the prisoners: To my knowledge, Jesus never opened a prison door, but He DID offer freedom to those who were slaves to sin - the sexually immoral, cheaters, liars, slanderers, & all sorts of other prideful people. Jesus also came to set the oppressed free: those tormented by demons, those with physical diseases, and those haunted by something in their past. Jesus did many great miracles but the greatest of all…FREEDOM from sin.

Jesus came to give recovery of sight for the blind: But more than just opening eyes, Jesus opened souls. Those who were once ‘blind’ to their sin & their need for a Savior could now could ‘see’ the truth.

In John 9:39 Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”

Jesus - TRUTH on Tour - came to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor: To those who would respond to His message of repentance…

To those who recognize they are spiritually bankrupt,

those imprisoned by their sin and wanting a way out,

those blind to the truth but desperately wanting to see,

and to those oppressed by heavy burdens

GOOD NEWS! Jesus announces that it is time! God’s favor was about to be poured on all who trust Him! It STILL is. And what He offered 2000 years ago, He offers today.

BIG TRUTH You haven’t gone TOO FAR for God’s Grace!BIG TRUTH You haven’t gone TOO FAR for God’s Grace!BIG TRUTH You haven’t gone TOO FAR for God’s Grace!BIG TRUTH You haven’t gone TOO FAR for God’s Grace!

BIG TRUTH

You haven’t gone TOO FAR for God’s Grace!

BIG TRUTH

You haven’t gone TOO FAR for God’s Grace!

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.

Jesus spoke gracious words. His words gracious words amazed His audience. Jesus had them eating out of the palm of His hand, didn’t He? What a perfect set up to announce who He is and be honored as their long awaited Messiah! But that’s not exactly what happens next…

Luke 4:23–24 (NIV)

23 Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’ ” 24 “Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown.

I wonder what looks were being shot across the synagogue at that moment. “We’ve been kind to Him…we’re listening and smiling! Why is He treating us this way and How did He know we were about to ask Him to do some miracles…like the ones we heard He did in Capernaum?”

The gospels mention other times when Jesus knows what people are thinking before they voice it. There are other times that He won’t trust what comes from human lips, because he knows what’s in human hearts. So Jesus presses further, saying something that really infuriates the people of Nazareth.

Luke 4:25-27 (NIV)

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 in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.”

What’s THAT all about? Jesus is noting that God didn’t send the great prophets Elijah & Elisha to heal other Jews. Instead, He sent them to heal other nations. We will talk more about that briefly.

Luke 4:28-30 (NIV)

28 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.

His hometown wanted Him DEAD? One minute they were drooling over the hope He offered and the next minute they were about to push Him off a cliff? From HERO to zero because of ONE SERMON?

What made them SO MAD?

N.T. Wright says it well:

“Elijah was sent to help a widow—but not a Jewish one. Elisha healed one solitary leper—and the leper was the commander of the enemy army. That’s what did it. That’s what drove them to fury. Israel’s God was rescuing the wrong people.”

Their national & racial pride caused them to become enemies to the purposes of God. God intended the Israelites to be a LIGHT to the nations. Instead, many had become a roadblock to the nations. But as we have already seen in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus had come to offer hope to ALL from the Family Tree of Adam.

In other words, Jesus calls all races, all backgrounds, all people - with all their baggage and He says:

“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 favor.”

He extends His hand to YOU and me…and He expects US to extend our hands to others - all races, all backgrounds, all people. We offer God’s forgiveness to the poor, the prisoners, the blind, & the oppressed. We point to the cross of Jesus and with tears in our eyes we say…

BIG TRUTH You haven’t gone TOO FAR for God’s Grace!BIG TRUTH You haven’t gone TOO FAR for God’s Grace!BIG TRUTH You haven’t gone TOO FAR for God’s Grace!BIG TRUTH You haven’t gone TOO FAR for God’s Grace!

BIG TRUTH

You haven’t gone TOO FAR for God’s Grace!

BIG TRUTH

You haven’t gone TOO FAR for God’s Grace!

Would YOU turn from your sin and trust Jesus with your life! Would you join US in extending God’s grace to others! May we take TRUTH on Tour this week.