Truth vs. the World
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Today, we’ll look at some of the effects that the truth can have on people
also an exercise of putting gospels together to create a more detailed picture
suggest parallell gospel books
54 And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works?
Jesus was in His hometown, so surely He would take the opportunity to share the good news with them
people He grew up around, likely had connections with and knew
a great act of love, to share the truth with those you love and care about
We see them being amazed at Christ’s teachings, never a man spoke like this man
they saw His wisdom, they had heard about His miracles - but they wondered where He got it from
the truth was right in front of them, but they could not see
it should have been clear where it was coming from, especially since there were miracles - who else can do them?
55 Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?
carpentry now is a blue collar, labor oriented job - just like it was back then. - so Jesus had a sort of average, average joe type of upbringing regarding this
“hey, is this not that guy from that family? - how can He be this wise and performing miracles?”
we know this guy, there’s no way He’s the Messiah.
they may have even thought that Jesus was the product of immorality between mary and joseph. - we know joseph was worried about this
we also see a hint that some Jews thought this in John 8:41 and the context surrounding it
56 And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?
even though He was teaching wisdom and they knew He was performing miracles
57 And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house.
they were offended at Him - it went against their grain - they had all of these mental barriers in their head
it’s not only a mental barrier or issue, though, it’s EVEN MORESO an issue of the heart
they wouldn’t be offended if it weren’t an issue of the heart
One thing that Jesus is pointing out here is that with people, so many times the more familiar they are with God the more they reject Him, which extends to the ones delivering the truth
the more they’re aware of the truth, the more they reject it
someone who wasn’t really all that aware of it would be ambivalent toward it, right?
this shows that there is a dividing line, and that dividing line is in the heart with regards to Christ
but this isn’t all to the story, we will see more about it in Luke
58 And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.
shows that when people say “well if God would just show me a miracle right now i’d believe!” that this is just not how God works
there are places in the gospels where people saw these miracles and still didn’t believe
they didn’t have eyes to see, the ears to hear, they had a hardened heart
it may sound a bit dire at this point, you may be wondering, “how can we possibly help bring change to people then?”
our secret weapon is the Spirit, our secret weapon is prayer, it’s God working in people
with man, it’s impossible, but with God, all things are possible
we must rely on God for everything, witnessing included
remember the verse from last week from Paul where he said, “it’s not I who lives but Christ who lives through me”
we carry out the work of witnessing to the hard hearted, and while sometimes it can appear hopeless, God may very well be at work
we want to be vessels which God is working through to bring light to people
Now let’s go through the same passage in Luke and get a more complete picture of what went on:
16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.
17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
so we don’t have a whole lot of the details about Jesus’ life between His birth and beginning of His ministry, but this verse gives us a bit of a window into the fact that He was apparently pretty regular in going to the synagogue and also reading
it was customary in synagogue in those days to stand up when you read the Scriptures
18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
Jesus, in His hometown - “Hey guys, this is it, this is happening, I’m here, here to bring healing, to bring hope, to bring deliverance, this is it!”
He preached the good news to all of these people in His hometown, surely it was the greatest of news
prophesied hundreds of years before and looked forward to by all jews at the time
they were looking for the messiah, but when He actually came performing miracles and with great wisdom, look how they reacted
20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
imagine seeing this moment and hearing this moment from Christ, to us, it would be an incredible privelege, an amazing moment in time
but to those who don’t have the eyes to see, they don’t see anything, or even see negative
so many people leave the goodness of God, salvation, eternal life, on the table because of hardness of heart
22 And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph’s son?
23 And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country.
So the jews had a little saying, “physician, heal yourself!”
and Jesus anticipated the fact that they would be asking Him for a sign, instead of just believing the truth of God
but He already knew that those with hard hearts wouldn’t believe even if they saw a sign
and this leads into Him saying:
24 And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.
this is one of those stories where further details can be put together by reading them side by side - this is where one of the parallell gospels really comes in handy
we often hear about comparing Scripture with Scripture for doctrinal reasons, but its really great in regards to the gospels as well
we see even more:
25 But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land;
26 But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow.
This is regarding the story where the widow was sustained with food during the famine, she lived in Sidon, which was not in Isral, so she was a gentile
We see Jesus taking a moment to expound on His purpose and ministry, those even in His hometown wouldn’t accept Him, the ones you would think would accept Him, but by the power of God, others, even gentiles, would
Jesus even had a parallell to this story in Matthew 15, where it says He withdrew to Tyre and Sidon (twin cities) and encountered the woman who’s daughter was sick - crumbs from under the table
27 And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian.
Naaman was the syrian, gentile king who ultimately believed and was cleansed from his leprosy - same guy who took back a wheelbarrow of dirt with him
28 And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath,
we saw this in Matthew, but now with more context as to what happened.
Jesus was talking about their unbelief
29 And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.
So upon simply hearing the truth from the Messiah Himself, they could not handle it
they say the truth hurts, and we see just how much it offended them here
This is a classic example of hard heartedness, we see things like this in the world today as well and in people we may talk to
Ultimately, this same issue would be what led Him to calvary, an issue of the heart
30 But he passing through the midst of them went his way, 31 And came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days. 32 And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power.
So miraculously, He was able to escape and went nearby to Capernaum
He did similar things there, taught them in the synagogues, told them the truth, and they accepted and were eager for it
It even says His word was with power
We know the Word of God has power, it’s quick (alive), sharper than a two edged sword
it has the power to change lives, and has changed countless lives throughout history
it’s changed our lives
we weren’t always saved, once we were not accepting of the gospel, but then God moved in our hearts and this is the key ingredient
Again, we may talk to someone, and it appear hopeless, but God can be working in the background
Remember, it’s not us who lives, but Christ who lives through us, we are vessels to carry out His mission
Not all will get saved, and it’s hard, and may feel like we’re fighting against the grain of this world
but we have God on our side, and there is nothing more powerful than that
we have the Word on our side, we have the truth on our side, we have prayer on our side
these are our weapons against the evil in this world
Not everyone accepted Christ and His message, some vehemently rejected it, but some did and the angels rejoice when one sinner comes to repentence
and this is our mission, to help usher this in, and we have God on our side, which changes everything
with man it’s impossible, with God, all things are possible
there is never a good reason to completely lose hope in talking to people
and people out in the world need to hear this message now more than ever
So even though they tried to run Jesus off a cliff for spreading the gospel, there were others who accepted and their lives were changed forever more - and that is our Great Commission