Do You Want To Learn?

Good morning!

Today we are moving into a new section in the book of Luke.

We have previously learned about Jesus’ miraculous conception, birth, and baptism, and finished up last week talking about Jesus defeating Satan in the wilderness.

In all of those previous parts of Jesus’ life, we see the movement of the Holy Spirit and Jesus moving as directed.

Luke begins this next part of his book putting the focus back on the Holy Spirit’s activity in Jesus' life.

That is a significant theme in this gospel.

Luke is going to show over and over that Jesus is moving and doing as directed by the Holy Spirit.

The next two verses in Luke 4: 14-15 are the introduction to the ministry of Jesus.

Luke 4:14–15 CSB

14 Then Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread throughout the entire vicinity. 15 He was teaching in their synagogues, being praised by everyone.

One of the things we need to understand about these two verses is that they frame this portion of Luke’s gospel.

From here until Luke 9:50 Luke is going to share about the northern ministry of Jesus.

We will see his disciples called, people healed, evil spirits driven out, someone raised from the dead, the sermon on the mount, feeding of thousands, and many lessons and parables.

Matthew references this geographical region and Jesus’ ministry there in his gospel as well.

Matthew 4:23

Matthew 4:23 CSB

23 Now Jesus began to go all over Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.

When you think about the location of Jesus’ ministry, what comes to mind?

How can knowing the location affect our understanding?

I think for most of us; when we think about Jesus’ ministry, when we think about a lot of the stories that we are about to start working through, we picture them happening in or around Jerusalem.

This all happens in the northern region around the Sea of Galilee.

I have a map here that is zoomed in to this area so we can see some of the major things that happened and where.

Just to give us a better sense of what that was like, this was the view from the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee.

As we are learning about what Jesus is doing, we can begin to picture what it was like.

This statement that Luke makes in these first few verses serves as a moment to show the reader that the focus is shifting.

Luke is going to spend the next several chapters talking about the work of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit that is working through him.

It is important to note that as we move into this next section, some of the stories aren’t written in chronological order.

For Luke, the fact that something happened was more important than when it happened.

I mention that now because it will help us sort out some of the details of the stories.

The next one in particular.

The primary focus of this portion of Jesus’s ministry was going to be teaching and preaching to his fellow Jews in the synagogues in this northwest region of Galilee.

Look at this map with me to get an idea of where some of these places are.

Jesus makes Galilee the center of his ministry during this first part of his life.

This is where our story picks up today.

It is going to be obvious as we read these next verses that this particular message isn’t the first appearance of Jesus.

Rather is is one that Luke is using to set the tone of Jesus’ ministry in this region.

Luke shows that Jesus began in this area, preaching in the synagogues, was rejected by his people, and then his ministry spread out to the Gentiles from there.

Interestingly, we see Paul follow the same example as he begins his ministry, as recorded in Acts.

Let’s look at this next section together.

Luke 4:16-30

Luke 4:16–30 CSB

16 He came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. As usual, he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read. 17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him, and 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 preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. 20 He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. And the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 He began by saying to them, “Today as you listen, this Scripture has been fulfilled.” 22 They were all speaking well of him and were amazed by the gracious words that came from his mouth; yet they said, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” 23 Then he said to them, “No doubt you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Doctor, heal yourself. What we’ve heard that took place in Capernaum, do here in your hometown also.’ ” 24 He also said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in his hometown. 25 But I say to you, there were certainly many widows in Israel in Elijah’s days, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months while a great famine came over all the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them except a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. 27 And in the prophet Elisha’s time, there were many in Israel who had leprosy, and yet not one of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.” 28 When they heard this, everyone in the synagogue was enraged. 29 They got up, drove him out of town, and brought him to the edge of the hill that their town was built on, intending to hurl him over the cliff. 30 But he passed right through the crowd and went on his way.

There is a lot happening here, but let’s start with understanding what this process looked like.

It was not uncommon for someone to be invited by the ruling priest to share in their meetings.

We can see through this passage that Jesus had been teaching and performing miracles prior to this event.

This is probably why he was invited back to his hometown to preach.

If you look at this illustration, which is a reconstruction of the synagogue in Capernaum, you will see an inner court with an upper balcony area.

This was a very typical synagogue style.

During a service, the men would gather in the lower area and sit all along the walls, the women would be on the balcony, and the speaker would be handed the scroll, read the selected passage, then expound on what was read.

Not all that different from what we do here.

On this particular morning, Jesus has been asked to preach.

He opens the scroll to the passage he wants to read, reads it, closes the scroll, and then sits in the teaching chair to begin expounding.

Keep in mind that these people would have known all that Jesus has been doing in this region.

They know that the Spirit of God is upon him.

It was announced by God at his baptism and it has been evident through all that Jesus has been doing.

As Jesus sits down, you could probably hear a pin drop as people wait with anticipation for what Jesus will say.

Luke 4:21–22 CSB

21 He began by saying to them, “Today as you listen, this Scripture has been fulfilled.” 22 They were all speaking well of him and were amazed by the gracious words that came from his mouth; yet they said, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”

This is the first thing that I want us to see happening today.

Knowledge about Jesus prevented them from experiencing Jesus.

That seems like such a backward thing, but consider how true it is.

I can tell you from experience that when I have tried to share my faith with some that I grew up with, at best I’m shrugged off.

Have you had a “prophet in your hometown” experience? What was it like?

Sometimes because we “know” people, we are unwilling to listen to what they have to say.

This is exactly what is happening in this passage.

The people that had gathered to hear Jesus preach couldn’t get past the idea of who he was to see what he was doing.

The reality is that for many of us, we have the same setback.

What we think we know about Jesus prevents us from experiencing Him.

Share a time when your belief was challenged and your understanding of God was made clear.

Is there a benefit in having our beliefs challenged? Discuss

God’s desire was not for Adam and Eve to know about Him.

He wanted to walk with them, to be a part of their life.

He wants the same for all people.

God sent Jesus to live among us and to show us what it looks like to live in that kind of relationship with God.

Unfortunately, we let what we think we know about God get in the way of really knowing him.

We limit God’s ability by our unwillingness to let our ideas be changed or expanded.

Think about it like this, what is there in your life that you are the best at?

It could be anything, but something that you are really confident in your ability to do.

Picture that thing in your mind.

Now, don’t answer this out loud, but ask yourself is you are THE expert on that thing.

Like, the best in the world at whatever this thing is for you.

Whatever your think is, I guarantee that there is someone that is better.

But if you think you have it all figured out, you can never learn more, you can never get better.

This is how many people approach their faith.

They think they already know all the answers.

Now most people would never admit that out loud, but they will certainly think it.

We all have this attitude that exists in us somewhere in us that makes us think we know better than anyone else.

This is what is happening in the minds of the people in Nazareth.

“Isn’t this Joseph's son?”

This isn’t a question about his genealogy; they knew Jesus was his son.

They were doubting and calling into question the reality of what Jesus was saying and doing.

They weren’t calling him out to his face, but they were thinking it and talking with others about it.

This brings us to point number two for today.

Jesus knows the truth of what is going on in our hearts.

Even though they didn’t ask Jesus this directly, he could read the room and knew what they were thinking.

Have you ever been in a room when people were whispering to one another and you could tell they were talking about you?

It doesn’t feel great does it?

This is what Jesus was experiencing.

So, He addresses the elephant in the room.

He reveals what they are thinking in their hearts.

Look again at how Jesus responds to them.

Luke 4:23–24 CSB

23 Then he said to them, “No doubt you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Doctor, heal yourself. What we’ve heard that took place in Capernaum, do here in your hometown also.’ ” 24 He also said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in his hometown.

Verse 23 is eerily similar to what Jesus is asked to do when on the cross.

Luke 23:39 CSB

39 Then one of the criminals hanging there began to yell insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

Jesus is being asked, without them actually saying anything to him, to prove himself.

Have you experienced this desire for God to prove himself? Is that always a bad thing?

It is also very similar to one of the temptations.

“If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here.”

What Jesus is experiencing is not something that will only happen here in his hometown.

This is pride and attitude is exactly what led Israel from God over and over again.

This lack of trust in the presence of proof is their trademark move.

This reaction to Jesus is the same reaction that God’s people have had to God.

They aren’t acting any differently toward Jesus than they have always acted toward God.

They want proof that He is who he says he is.

We have talked so much about how Israel saw God’s activity, His protection, and provision over them when they were being delivered from Egypt.

Yet in spite of all that evidence and of all God’s activity, they still didn’t believe.

Even though they wanted the identity of being God’s people, they were unwilling to actually trust God.

There is such a strong parallel to the church today.

We want to be known as followers of Jesus, but when it comes to actually following Jesus, we aren’t willing.

We want the identity but don’t want God to be in control of our lives.

We are the toddler that wants “do it themselves”, or the teenager who thinks they know better than everyone else.

There is an extreme amount of pride in a person, in us, to think that we know better than God what will be best for our lives.

Jesus calls out the rebellious and prideful attitudes that exist in us.

To address their attitudes, Jesus reminds them of their people's past failures and how God responded to them.

Luke 4:24–27 CSB

24 He also said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in his hometown. 25 But I say to you, there were certainly many widows in Israel in Elijah’s days, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months while a great famine came over all the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them except a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. 27 And in the prophet Elisha’s time, there were many in Israel who had leprosy, and yet not one of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”

In both of these examples that Jesus gives, God deals graciously with Gentiles over the Israelites.

In both accounts, it was not Israelites that God blessed, but foreigners, gentiles.

This was a sore spot because Israel was supposed to be God’s chosen people.

They were the ones that were supposed to be receiving God’s blessing.

“If you obey God’s commands, he will be your God, and you will be his people.”

“Israel, God’s chosen people, will be a blessing to other nations.”

Yet they continued to rebel against God and didn’t follow his commands.

Therefore, God poured out his blessings on their neighbors, and it infuriated them.

Jesus is addressing a deep-rooted and serious streak of rebellion.

We’ve talked about how God used neighboring nations to punish Israel’s rebellion against God, and they were removed from the promised land, their cities and homes were destroyed, and they were exiled to other parts of the world.

All of this is because they refused to fulfill their portion of the covenant they made with God.

They didn’t obey God; they rejected his authority in their lives.

What happens in a believer’s life when they reject God’s authority?

But don’t forget that they kept up appearances.

They were really good at pretending to be God’s people.

They went to the temple, made sacrifices, and said the right things, but there was love in their hearts.

God rejected their religious activity because it was empty.

What is the path back to God look like for a person who has previously rejected God?

They weren’t responding to God out of love but out of duty.

This is not the only time Jesus will call out this attitude either.

Matthew records a similar kind of word from Jesus in chapter eleven.

Matthew 11:23–24 CSB

23 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will go down to Hades. For if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until today. 24 But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”

That is a scathing accusation, but if anyone knew that, it would be Jesus.

Jesus’s presence, activity, and teaching was peeling back the facade that Israel had kept up for so long.

He was revealing the truth of their hearts.

They were in it for themselves, to identify with God just to get the blessings.

As we read this story and talk about what is happening in the hearts of the people present, we have to look at our own hearts.

How are we rebelling against God’s desire to know us?

There will always be more that God wants us to experience of Him.

But often, what we already “know” prevents us from hearing what God is saying.

We have to follow that up with another question.

Are we willing to let God challenge what we think we know so that He can teach us something new?

If the answer is no, we might as well just end this study right here.

This is where the people in the synagogue were.

They were unwilling to hear this message from a boy that grew up in their small town.

If we are unwilling to let God further develop our understanding of who he is, we are in the same boat as the people in this story.

I have stated, and you have agreed, that our goal is to know God.

One of our distinctives is to know him more and more progressively every day.

How can we help one another when our beliefs are being challenged?

In order for us to know God more progressively, we must be willing to let God challenge our beliefs and grow our faith.

We don’t know everything, and our understanding of who God is, what his word says, and how he wants to work in our lives is far from complete.

If we are willing to let God challenge us, we must also consider how we are going to respond to Him.

If we are willing to be challenged, are we going to choose to follow God’s lead when we face that challenge?

The people in our story today did respond.

Luke 4:28–30 CSB

28 When they heard this, everyone in the synagogue was enraged. 29 They got up, drove him out of town, and brought him to the edge of the hill that their town was built on, intending to hurl him over the cliff. 30 But he passed right through the crowd and went on his way.

This is a pretty harsh reaction.

But before we judge too quickly, let’s consider our own responses to God.

If we are unwilling to let God challenge us, or we choose to disobey, we are responding in kind.

It was our disobedience that led Jesus to the cross.

Our disobedience and rebellion made it necessary for Jesus to die on our behalf.

How is that any different than what this crowd is doing?

I believe that Luke leads off with this story to set the tone for his readers.

When you have been tempted to reject Jesus, is it subtle or overt? What does that tell you about the enemy's tactics?

How can realizing what tactic is being used help our response?

He wants us to understand what is at stake for those that are too stubborn and prideful to hear Jesus’ words.

Remember that Luke is a gentile writing to other gentiles.

As Luke traveled with Paul, heard his teaching, and talked about what it meant to be a follower of Jesus, he no doubt understood the relationship between Israel's rebellion and Jesus' mission.

Luke begins with this story to show the reader how God’s people were responding to Jesus and to make them ask themselves how they were going to respond.

I want to leave us here today with this same question.

How are you going to respond?

Are you willing to let Jesus change what you think you already know?

Much of Israel missed Jesus because of their pride.

It would be a tragedy for us to make the same mistake.

Luke has thrown down the gauntlet.

He has asked the most important question before diving into Jesus' teaching.

Are you, the reader, willing to learn?

That is a question that only you can answer.

Spend some time with God this week, asking him where you are prideful and unwilling to move, then release that to him. Let God show you who He is, let him grow your faith, and let him bring freedom to your life.

Let’s pray.

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