“Are you with Christ or against Christ?”

Notes
Transcript
Good morning, if you have your Bibles turn with me to Luke chapter 4. This morning we are going to look into the rejection of Christ. The title of our message this morning is, “Are you with Christ, or against Christ?” As you are making your way to Luke chapter 4 what Luke does for us today is he puts together a summary of the Lord’s teaching and healing ministry. Luke helps us to see the powerful teaching of Christ in the synagogue where Jesus declares himself to be the fulfillment of the promised Messiah. Those that were in Nazareth that day to here Jesus speak were in for a marvelous treat. These same people looked good and even made the claim to be righteous but they merely looked good only on the outside. These same people even spoke well of Jesus and marveled at what he said, but in the end rejected Jesus as the Messiah, the true Son of God. There are many people today in our time who say they know Jesus and even go to church, but are found to reject the Lord by how they are living their lives. My warning for you today is don’t be found to be living against Jesus by how you act, talk, and live.
As Jesus now steps out into the spotlight we see for the first time what His public ministry is all about. Like last week, what I want to do is set up for you 4 specific scenes about the Lord’s ministry that must be spotlighted. So, let us dive in and take a look.
Luke 4:14–30 ESV
14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. 15 And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. 16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. 17 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” 23 And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘ “Physician, heal yourself.” What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’ ” 24 And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. 25 But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, 26 and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27 And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” 28 When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. 29 And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. 30 But passing through their midst, he went away.
Pray:
We now come to Scene Number 1.

1. The Lord’s Return.

Luke 4:14–15 ESV
14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. 15 And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.
From the appearance of things Luke seems to show us that right after the Lord’s baptism and temptation that He returned back home where he grew up, but that was not the case. There was a short time period of about a year as the gospel of John describes the Life of Christ in more detail. However, my point this morning is that Luke does make the statement that Christ did Return back to the area of Galilee and even more specifically Nazareth. Luke often likes to highlight how Jesus was responsive to His Father’s leading and returned in the power of the Spirit. As Jesus’ ministry now begins to spread like fire, these reports of him went by word of mouth throughout the region. Luke made it clear that many people were hearing about the Lord’s miracles, but what was catching many people’s interest was his teaching, so much so that people would praise him, or that He was being glorified by all. This word glorified in the Greek was (doxazo) and is normally reserved for praise to God.
Luke takes time here to bring to our attention that Jesus began His teaching in their synagogues. The point here is that the teaching of God’s word was His priority. And Jesus is constantly known as a teacher of God’s truth. These synagogues were all over this region and they provided a perfect place for Jesus to teach. On a typical Sabbath that would begin on sundown Friday and last until sundown on Saturday would begin on Saturday morning. There would have been a passage that would have been read from the Old Testament then the teacher would sit down and explain the meaning of it to the congregation. Luke’s account here helps us to see that Jesus’ visit to the synagogue in Nazareth began with Him reading from the scroll of Isaiah and then teaching the lesson and this lesson would be a powerful message that would shock his listeners.

2. The Lord’s Reading.

Luke 4:16–20 ESV
16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. 17 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.
Nazareth was the hometown of Jesus and this place remained associated with the Lord as He went about his earthly ministry. It is important to remember that as a child Jesus would have gone to the synagogue with His parents and now as He began His ministry wherever He went He attended the synagogue on the Sabbath. As Jesus comes to the synagogue He now reads from two distinct passages from the Old Testament. Isaiah chapter 61 and verses 1-2 as well as Isaiah chapter 58 and verse 6. The specific passage that Jesus read was a messianic prophecy. As Jesus stood to teach from Isaiah we notice that the Spirit of the Lord was upon Him. The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength were upon Jesus. This helps us to see that Jesus was set apart and empowered throughout His earthly ministry.
As we come to verse 18 there are 4 conditions that we must see. These 4 conditions show us the desperate condition of sinners whom God seeks to rescue. The poor, the captive, the blind, and the oppressed.
1. The poor. The good news of the gospel is to be proclaimed to the poor. The poor here are not those who have nothing in regards to physical means but rather these people are spiritually impoverished. The poor recognize that they have nothing, they are dead in their sins and all of their righteous deeds are nothing but filthy garments as Isaiah 64 and verse 6 remind us of. Only the Messiah in Jesus can bring salvation to those who acknowledge they are spiritually poor and that God can supply all their needs.
2. The Captive. Sinners are not free, because they are held captive by their sin. They keep coming back to it over and over again.
John 8:34 ESV
34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.
However there is good news today. The good news of the gospel is that God has sent His one and only Son in Jesus who has come to set free those who are in spiritual bondage. Notice that Luke uses the word liberty or release which means forgiveness. Through the sacrificial death of Jesus He has canceled out our debt so that we are no longer captive to sin. If you are a believer here today than you know what it means to be forgiven. If you are here today and do not understand this may you call out to God and turn from your sin and place your faith in Christ alone for salvation.
3. The Blind. Jesus now speaks to those who are spiritually blind and need recovering of sight. Spiritual blindness is our natural condition as sinners.
Psalm 82:5 ESV
5 They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
One of the things that we know to be true about Satan is that he blinds the minds and hearts of sinners so that they might not see the light of Jesus. But once again we know as Christians that there is good news. And the good news is that the Messiah would come to open up those who have been deceived and blinded by Satan.
Isaiah 42:7 ESV
7 to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.
Jesus is the true light of this world and when we call out to Jesus for sight he brings restoration and healing.
4. The Oppressed. The Messiah came to set at liberty those who are spiritually oppressed. These people were overwhelmed much like many people are today with trying to keep up with obeying God’s law perfectly. They are weighed down by the burden of sin. The good news is that we can’t obey God’s laws perfectly and Jesus came to give us rest from this.
Matthew 11:28–30 ESV
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
If you are here today and feel spiritually bankrupt, captive to sin, blind or even oppressed come to Jesus and find your rest. In fact notice how Luke ends verse 19. Jesus reads to the crowd that the Messiah (Jesus) has come to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. In other words “The day of salvation has come.” “The day of redemption has come.” This was a picture of the year of Jubilee, which meant that there was a total release for slaves and debt, and bondage. All of these legal obligations are removed through the grace of Jesus. And Jesus rolls up the scroll and gives it back to the attendant and sits down. And that is just the reading folks. Now we come to the good part or scene.

3. The Lord’s Revelation.

Luke 4:21–27 ESV
21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” 23 And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘ “Physician, heal yourself.” What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’ ” 24 And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. 25 But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, 26 and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27 And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”
Jesus now sits to reveal exactly what has been read and to speak of the future fulfilment of this Messianic prophecy. What these people have just witnessed is the fact that Salvation had come in the person of Jesus, the man from their very own town. What is so interesting about this news is that the people at first spoke well of Jesus, and yet very shortly they would reject Him and even try to put Him to death. So, what changed so quickly???
Jesus now sees through their games because they do not see Jesus as their Messiah only as Joseph’s son and they want Jesus to prove that He truly is the Messiah but doing some wonderful miracle and Jesus does not play into their games. These crowds demanded more signs and miracles as a condition for their trust in Jesus.
The Lord now gives the people 2 examples of unwelcome prophets. In verses 25-27 Jesus lays out the example of Elijah and Elisha. First of all, Jesus tells the crowd the story of Elijah who during his day ministered to many widows. In fact, Elijah prophesied during the reign of wicked King Ahab who did more to provoke God than any other king of Israel. As God’s judgement on Israel it did not rain for 3 years and six months and as a result of this a great famine came upon the land. It was during this time that Elijah was sent to minister to a widow in Zarephath, in the land of Sidon. In other words Jesus was making the point that God would come to the rescue and aid of a Gentile widow who admitted her poverty, blindness, and oppression, but not a Jew who would not.
If that was not enough now Jesus turns to another prophet in Elisha. There were many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha and yet Elisha ministered to only Naaman the Syrian who was cleansed of his leprosy. When Naaman humbled himself and obeyed the prophet’s word he was cured and then went on to acknowledge the God of Israel, the one true God.
So, what is the point behind all of this? God had brought salvation by the arrival of Jesus, but it was only for those who recognized that they were spiritually poor, prisoners to sin, blind and oppressed. Unless the Lord’s hearers would humble themselves like the widow and leper they could not be saved. And this is exactly why the people turned on Jesus. These people were so self-righteous and prideful in the fact that they were Jewish that they missed the one true Messiah who came to set them free. Which leads us to the last scene.

4. The Rejection of the Lord.

Luke 4:28–30 ESV
28 When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. 29 And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. 30 But passing through their midst, he went away.
When the people of Nazareth heard the things that Jesus told them his own people did not receive him as John chapter one tells us. He came to his town to help them see the true light but they were so blind that they rejected him. The world has done the same today. The world rejects Christ because when we as God’s people share the true about the Lord, many don’t like the message. What happens today is exactly what happened in the Lord’s time. Notice several things here.
1. The People were filled with wrath. This is anger. These same people who just a moment ago spoke well of Jesus were now filled with rage. They were an out of control angry group of folks who wanted to put Christ to death. It was abundantly clear that these people were against Jesus. These people could not understand that Jesus was the Messiah. They could not put their faith and trust in Him. They could not get past the the fact that Jesus is merely Joseph’s son. Notice their complaint from John chapter 1.
John 1:46 ESV
46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
2. They ultimately reject Jesus. So, they brought Jesus out of town to kill him by pushing him off the cliff. The proud people of Nazareth could not come to a place of real true repentance by humbling themselves. In fact, they refused to admit their spiritual bondage, blindness and oppression.
Are you with Christ, or are you against Christ? If you reject Jesus like these people did one day the God who made the heavens and the earth will reject you. There will come a day where every man and woman will stand before God. On that day Jesus will either be your judge or He will come along side of you and be your defense attorney. What happened in Nazareth does not have to happen in your life. Call out to Jesus and turn from your sin and trust in Him.
-Pray.
-Nate with Communion.
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