The Gospel of Luke - Week 12
Going to be hit in the middle half of the the chapter today Luke chapter 4 give you a second to to do that and we're going to get right into it. So last week if you were here last week remember that that Chris helped us to see how Jesus resisted the Temptation is it safe to put in front of him, right? We we talked about Jesus baptism a couple weeks ago and right after that he goes out into the Wilderness to the purpose, right? Why does he go to the weather's the purposes? He goes to the Wilderness to be tempted by Satan and Chris did a really good job of walking us through each of those Temptations and showing us how Jesus dealt with them and then calling us to a life that deeply relies on Jesus and his life in us, right? Not just that moral example, but a place for us to Anchor ourselves to put our trust in who Jesus is and rely on him to work in us when we Face Temptations also, And this week we're going to see how the people closest to Jesus reacted to him at the start of his ministry. He begins the the phase of his life the three years of his ministry by being baptized and being tempted and that kicks off at inaugurate his public work as the Messiah and the Mist account that we see here in John chapter 4. We're going to see him interact with people from his hometown it remember that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, right? We we can all remember that that's pretty pretty common knowledge. We understand the Christmas story that Jesus born in Bethlehem, but that's not where his parents were from. Remember Joseph and it was from Nazareth town a little ways away from Bethlehem. And so when they were in Bethlehem for the census, Jesus is born there, but after they're they're done with that. Go back to Nazareth and let so Jesus grows up in Nazareth. He spends time making friends there. He went to school there. He learned the carpentry trade of Joe's stuff there. And at this point he's coming back to his hometown after being near Jerusalem where John the Baptist was baptizing people and then going out into the Wilderness. He's coming back through and he's coming into Nazareth. He comes through Capernaum into Nazareth. So this is what we see look at verse 16. The first verse to begin with and he this is Jesus. He came to Nazareth where he had been brought up and as his and what as was his custom. He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day and he stood up to read So just goes back to his hometown and he even goes back to his home church is not just visiting the parents. He he goes to church because that's what he does. It's was his custom. Maybe you've experienced this kind of thing for those of us. Who are you? No older than 11 be a surreal experience, right? How many of you have ever come back to your elementary school or one of your elementary schools be Revisited a place that you spent a lot of time when you were younger. Everything is Tiny. If you look around this place was not this small what's wrong with me. Why does everything feel different the hallways are too small to drinking fountains are too low. Everything just is a little odd. Or maybe you've experienced this when you have visited like a grandparents house. This is a thing that that I tell my grandma cuz she's moved the number of times and anything that I tell her is that it doesn't matter where she lives because her house always smells like Grandma's house. The configuration is different than the way everything set out is different than always smells like Grandma's house. So even in those unfamiliar spaces, there is familiarity. The Jesus is back in Nazareth. These people had watched him grown up. But it's very likely that some of them at least knew the stories that surrounded his birth. They they would have heard about the angels that showed up. They would have heard about the Shepherds and they would have heard about the wise men who brought gifts. They would have known that Joseph and Mary took Jesus and went to Egypt for a couple of years before they came back. They would have watched him play with their kids. I want you to think about this right anytime you get a group of of families with young kids in sort of a localized area what happens the kids make friends kids play. There's like this herd of children running around the neighborhood. This was the case for me because in the neighborhood that I grew up in there was there was my family with my two brothers. So the three of us and then about a block away there was another family with young kids and they had I think I had nine kids there was a lot of kid, but there were about four of them that were of similar ages to us. And so we formed this like gang of kids in our neighborhood and that's what we did school got out you go. I am going over we're going to go grab friends were going to ride bikes and we rode bikes everywhere. It's a Saturday what we're going to go play at the school. Awesome. Everybody goes there's this herd of children. That's not any difference in 1st Century Palestine. Jesus is going to make friends with the kids in his town. Chinese towns that again remember they weren't big maybe a hundred people living there. So everybody knew each other and the kids are friends of these these people had watched him play with their kid. They've seen him. Learn Joseph's carpentry trade. Remember that that in this culture whatever your father was you were likely to be also is very odd that you might do something other than what your father. Joseph is a carpenter and naturally he would teach Jesus the carpentry trade so they'd watched it is very likely that some of them may have even had items in their house that Jesus had built.
These people knew him they knew who he was.
That's what Jesus gets up to read in his home Church. By the way that he has done in the past most likely that's that's what we see from the text Riley. It was his custom to go to the synagogue on the Sabbath and he stood up to read it's possible that he had done this in the past. He'd he'd been asked to read from the scroll. to the congregation That's what he gets up and he reads it and look at what look at what he reads versus 17 starting over 17 hear through 22. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written. 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 the sight to Blind to set up Liberty those who are oppressed to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendance at down and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him and it began to say to them today. This scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing and all spoke well of him and Marvel at the gracious words that are coming from his mouth and they said is this not Joseph's son.
They haven't heard words like this before they'd heard Isaiah before. Wouldn't have been uncommon for them to come around to this passage in Isaiah. Jesus quoting here from Isaiah chapter 61 or 64 one of the two 61 or 64 go look it up. Don't trust me to look up.
So they've heard these words before they would have been familiar with what the prophet had written, but there was something about the way he read it. Something about the way the words had meaning that they usually didn't. But when Jesus gets up and he speaks these words he reads what the prophet Isaiah is saying. He confirms something that Isaiah had said centuries before the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me what to Proclaim good news to the poor. He sent me to Proclaim Liberty to the captives the recovering of sight to the blind set at Liberty those who are oppressed to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor in the people know that when Jesus says this he means it. He says it with authority. He speaks with surety that these words are about him. What is it goes to sit down? They can't not look at it, but can't not watch him. Are you try to put yourself in that space you you've heard this passage many times and then this time there's something that's distinctly different about it. But this this guy that you knew it from a child. When he says it it sounds different.
And as he sits down. He said he tells them scripture has been fulfilled today. What was that thing that you feel in your in you in your heart and your mind with it that says something's different about this. This has been fulfilled. The reason it feels different is because it is different. Jesus really has come to Proclaim good news to the poor and to give Liberty to the oppressed and give sight to the blind. They loved this idea and who wouldn't write the if somebody stood up here and said look guys, here's the deal. I'm giving you all the million bucks today.
Why wouldn't you love that? Baby, love this who doesn't love to hear about good news about Liberty about recovering side about God's favor. Why would you not want to hear about that?
You see these people they had heard about the kinds of things that happened where Jesus went. They knew of him, right? It's like if you've got a celebrity from your hometown, does anybody have a celebrity from their Hometown? Like there's a few celebrities that have come out of Pocatello like the the guy on CSI the like when CSI started the head investigative guy. He's from hotel. There you go. I'm sure there are others I'll think of them later. You can if you can Google it. I'm sure there's a Wikipedia site. They knew who he was because he was from their Hometown date heard these stories and then he shows up and at the synagogue on his reading he says good news is coming. Liberty is coming God's favor is coming. They had heard about the kinds of things that happened where Jesus was and they wanted that to.
Again, why wouldn't you want that? Why wouldn't you want good news and freedom. and the favor of God Music but then Jesus does something unexpected as Jesus is often want to do in this is not the only time we're going to see this happen as we walk through the other the Gospel of Luke. We're going to see this off and we're Jesus will do something and everybody thinks they know what's going to happen. They think they know where he's going and then he takes sort of a left hand turn and catches everyone off guard and he does the same thing here. Look at verses 23 through 27. Remember that day they've just they just been in awe. They marveled at the gracious words that are coming from him. And then he says this verse 23 and he said to them doubtless. You will quote me this proverb physician heal yourself what we have heard what we have heard. You did a capernum do here in our hometown as well. And he said truly I say to you. No Prophet is acceptable in his hometown. 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 that Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath in the land of sidon to a woman who was the Widow and there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the Prophet Elijah and none of them was cleansed. But only Naaman the Syrian
It's a little odd doesn't it doesn't sound a little strange when you compare it against the prophet Isaiah that he just read. He just said look here comes here comes all of this good stuff. Here's the good news. Here is Liberty here is site for blind people. Here is God's favor. We want that. We want to be a part of that family systems. Hold on guys. No doubt, you're going to tell me yourself that he's saying he explains. He says you heard the things I did in Capernaum and you say why don't you do those here if you would do those things for those people over there. Why wouldn't you do them for your people here?
Have you ever thought that way about what God does you look at somebody who who seems to have all the favor and blessing of God that you could ever hope to have them? Why would you do that for me?
If you if you bless them this way, why won't you bless me this way? If you've given them those things and protected them, why wouldn't you protect me? That's what the people in Nazareth are doing. He's telling them this is what your heart is. He's revealing to them what they're thinking about what they're believing the way that they're responding to what he has just done in Reading from the scroll.
He says truly I say to you. No Prophet is acceptable in his own town.
And then he's got these two kind of strange examples where it will get to those in just a minute cuz cuz there's there's something there for us, but this isn't what they wanted to hear. Didn't want to hear Jesus saying. Yeah, you guys are guess it kind of not getting it. You're more concerned about what Kaepernick has received. You're more concerned about what I've done over here. Then what you've experienced. Here today, you're more concerned with what God has done in the lies of these people then what God is doing in your lives.
They didn't like that look at how they respond verses 28 through 30.
When they heard these things all in the synagogue were filled with wrath and they rose up and drove them out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built so they could throw him down the cliff. The passing through their midst he went away. You were so angry with Jesus that they tried to throw him off a cliff.
Have you ever been that angry with someone? Have you ever found yourself? So angry that if there was a cliff there you'd like Sparta.
Take him over the edge. Okay, maybe maybe you wouldn't really do that. Let's be honest if you thought about it. Thank you so hard about it. I've thought about it. We've all thought about it. You have to be honest. This is church cannot be honest here. We've been that angry with people. It happens part of our Brokenness that still being worked out.
Have you ever been that angry at God?
Have you ever found yourself in the space where God has done something or not done something in a way that you expected and it caused such deep. anger in you
that's a that's a different question because we don't like that question, but we don't like the ramifications of that question. We were okay with the idea that you know, I've been so angry at my spouse that yeah if there was a there was a clip. Yeah, you're gone. I'll get a new one. Right we've been so angry with our kids that we would do that. We've been so angry with ourselves. If there was a cliff she's like going to work.
Have you ever been that angry with God? As circumstances in your lives ever been to the point where you are just so frustrated and upset and angry with the way that God is working. That if he was there and there was a cliff you throw him over.
It's okay if you have been. It wouldn't surprise me how much I want you to do that. You can't surprise me with your answer to that question. Are you off the hook C?
This is where Jesus is examples come into play for us. Okay, but let me explain this. Jesus used these two examples to explain himself. The first one that used to Elijah and the Widow if you want to read this story and I highly encourage you to do so, you can find it in 1st Kings chapter 17. I'm it actually takes a couple of chapters. I think it's 17 18 and 19 for the whole thing to be played out. But let me give you the short version God has caused a drought in Israel because of the wickedness of Ahab. Who's the king of the time they have is the king he is so wicked and God has sent the Prophet Elijah to him on numerous occasions saying dude, you got to stop this. You got it. You got to quit sacrificing to these other gods. You got to cut down all of these Idols. You got to stop oppressing the people you got to stop looking for help from everywhere, but God and Elijah has done this over and over and Ahab is just not getting it until God says, okay. We're going to have a drought and he tells Elijah go to Ahab and tell him that you're going to pray and there's not going to be any rain until you pray for it again.
Elijah says okay had to go see me does it and he prays and the rain stops? And there's no rain and Israel. There is no lot of water in Israel for three and a half years. I want you to think about what that kind of thing is going to do to an agrarian society where your entire culture is based on the idea that you can grow plants out of the ground and then turn them into food. If there's no rain for three and a half years what's going to happen?
People are starving. people going hungry the whole nation is dealing with this because of the sin of the king and God talks to Elijah again and says, I want you to go to this town. I want you to go to Zarephath in sidon and there you will find a widow. Elijah Elijah and got a pretty good. So Elijah Tres Amigos. Now, here's the thing when he gets there. He he meets this way we need this would have been and he says I'm going to come look at your house and the whale says hold on. We've got one jar of flour and we've got one jar of oil and this was my plan because it's me and my son and my husband's dad and I'm going to take the oil and flour. I'm going to make some bread and then we're going to eat it and we're going to die that the plan type cuz this is all we got left. And Elijah tells her hold on. That's that's not the plan God's going to take care of you. I'm going to live in your house. And God will take care of you and for the three and a half years that Elijah lives in her house that jar of flour and that jug of oil don't run out. The greatest thing in the world that your flowers are never runs out of flour your oil jug never runs out of oil just keep pouring his great and they live because of the favor of God on them. That's the first example the Jesus gives the second one is Naaman the Syrian and you may or may not have heard this story before but this if you want to go read this and I again highly recommend you do 2nd Kings chapter 15. 2nd Kings chapter 15 in this deals with Elijah who was Elijah's Protege. You got a larger Heap big profit and then Elijah little profit underneath until Elijah goes to heaven and now Elijah's the Heat Big profit.
Israel is being oppressed by the syrians. Hey there, regularly attacked their regularly carted off. And Naaman is the dude right? He's the leader of the Syrian Army. He's a big wig. Is it important guy? He also has leprosy and if you don't know what leprosy is think of it like the worst chicken pox in the world. Write your skin sort of melts in parts of your fall off over time. It's not a pleasant thing it in the it's largely been eradicated in our current culture, but even is Recent as 100 years ago leprosy was something that was a really big problem a really big deal. If you got leprosy the odds of surviving we're not very high and so in the ancient world if you got leprosy you were pretty much cut off from the rest of society because not only is it going to kill you? It's kind of contagious. And you might kill a whole bunch of other people because of your bits and pieces dropping as you go.
Bananas and important guy so he gets to keep his post even though he's got leprosy. He has to stay in charge of the army and there's a moment in his life when he has an encounter with a young Israelite girl a slave that he captured in one of his raids into Israel and she looks at him and says, he's a you got you got leprosy there's a guy in Israel. He's a prophet he can take care of that. He can heal you.
You should go find it because he can do that. That's a name and packs up his stuff and he goes and he finds Elisha and Elijah tells him what he needs to do and and name it doesn't really want to do it. But then he does and he's healed. And God showed Mercy. To this Syrian is non-jew a gentile. Who trusted him? What's Jesus saying with this? There were a lot of hungry widows by the Widow at Zarephath was not the only Widow who was hungry in three and a half years of drought. There were a lot of hungry widows. There were a lot of people with Leprosy. It wasn't an uncommon thing. But Jesus was saying you need to look at these two people. You guys who watched me grow up?
He's calling them to trust him. To not be like their forefathers who had rejected God during the times of the prophets. If you heard about a woman who have a jar of flour and a jug of oil that never run out, you think I might cause some interest you might try to figure out what's up with that. It wasn't the case. If you had heard about a Syrian Army Captain General.
the guy in charge who is struck with this debilitating disease you be happy about that and then you hear that God healed him. I might change the way you think about it.
Jesus was telling me don't be like your forefathers. Who were so concerned? About what time is doing over there?
They could see what he wanted to do here. Don't be like them but trust. like the Widow
I put yourself in her spot. Prophet shows up cuz I'm going to leave here and while I'm here your oil and your flower are not going to run out.
It doesn't take a little bit of trust. Okay, doesn't take a lot of trust to take that scoop out. And entrusted hope for the next time you take the lid off and take a scoop out to still be Sunday to scoop doesn't trust its pull the Cork and pour. and Hope that's the next time you poured they'll still be some there think about name and put your spot to put your yourself in his spot. You've got a disease that's going to kill you. No, if ands or buts. You're going to die. Just question how long it's going to take a nap painful. It's going to be and this guy says you need to go and and and get him to the river and dunk yourself. Seven times on the 7th time you come up it's gone.
Does it take some trust to get up to that 6 time say it hasn't happened yet? Should I really do it one more time?
Is what Jesus telling me say you have to trust. You have to trust don't worry about what happened at Capernaum. Trust what I'm doing here.
This kind of trust is dangerous though. I just want to be honest with you. I want to be upfront the kind of trust the Jesus calling the people at Nazareth and that that Luke is recounting so that we can receive the same call is a dangerous. Trust a many many many times. We hear that trusting in. Jesus makes everything amazingly Grande in your life, right? If you ever heard that kind of a sermon like if you just give your life to Jesus everything will be awesome. Everything will be great. All your problems will be gone. All of your Strife will be removed. All of your conflict will be resolved. You'll have money in the bank and a nice car and a good job and all the leisure time you could want. I kind of saturated but not that much. There's a whole arm of false teachers out there that are preaching this if you will just trust Jesus he will give you all of the things that you want all of the wealth all of the happiness everything your little heart could desire and that sounds stupid when we think about it, but this is what the nazarites were doing. Right before Jesus called out there that their internal hearts. They were speaking well of him. Look, he's bringing Liberty and he's bringing sight to the Blind and he's bringing God's favor.
And there's a small piece of truth to this. That's what makes it so Insidious.
Jesus does make things better. Once you hear me really clear. Jesus makes things better. Jesus makes everything better. You just doesn't always do it the way we think you should or when we think you should because he knows better.
Look at look at the words from Isaiah again verses 18 and 19. 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 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.
We like the good news part. We like the Liberty part. We like the recovering of sight part. We like the gods favor parts.
But look, what else is there? Don't miss it. The news is only good if you recognize that you're poor. The proclamation of Liberty is only joyous.
If you know that you're a captive. This site is only a miracle if you know you're blind.
If you ever stop to think about that for just a second like I can see.
It's only a miracle if you blind but you take Judith, for example, it's a miracle that he can hear. Because without that technology he can't takes his ears off you can't hear anymore. What is yours all I can hear site is only a miracle if you're blind and you know it. Liberty is only a good thing if you see that you are pressed and that's what made the people so angry.
They didn't see their own captivity and oppression. They couldn't comprehend their blindness or their poorness and then Jesus calls them out and they get this little glimpse of their real condition and it makes him angry. fills them with Wrath how dare this son of the carpenter say these things about us. What does he know?
His parents weren't even married when he was born.
But we're not any difference.
What's it was be honest. We often recoil when we're confronted with these kinds of things.
like when you get a glimpse when you when you get a picture of how unjust your anger is. Does it make you feel disgusted kind of dirty?
Why would I even feeling that way?
What was that or how about worse than that is when somebody calls out your sin.
Like I have you ever experienced this when when somebody says you're being kind of a jerk. I guess I'm having this conversation probably using other words than jerk, but this is church. So, you know. He's got to stop it. How often how often does that conversation end with you know, what? You're right, Jerk. I should stop I shouldn't be like, oh, that's not what happened. How often does an Escalade if it turns into a shouting match. You don't know what you're talking about. You you you don't you don't know what's going on. You don't really know what I'm going through. We don't like it when people call us out. When when we are suddenly confronted with our Brokenness, we do not like it.
Until we are awakened to our actual condition the good news that Jesus brings sound foolish at best. And repugnant most of the time.
We listen to the words of Jesus got out of that guy. I know he was a good teacher I guess but really turn the other cheek.
Really you give up all my stuff and follow him really love. My neighbor is okay. Love your enemy. I don't know about that sounds kind of foolish.
Sometimes it just stinks. We don't like it. What do you mean? I can't do any good by myself. What do you mean? But unless I'm born again. I can't see the kingdom of God. What do you what do you mean? That's that's just that's wrong. That's wrong.
Here's the big idea. And here's what I want us to get in our heads today. The Gospel of Jesus causes us either to experience Gaul Or Glory. There's no Middle Road.
There's no Middle Road. You're either going to see the glory of a God who loves you and is calling you out of your death into life or you're going to see some jumped-up Son of a carpenter.
Who saying things you don't want to hear? That's it. There's no Middle Road. The Gospel of Jesus causes us either experience call or glory and here's the thing. It can do both of those things at the same time. It often does and if you can't make the mistake that to say that you know, I have submitted my life to Jesus. He saved me. I'm redeemed. I guess all I ever get to experience now is the glory There are still times when you were going to be confronted with your own Brokenness, and you won't like it.
How's this strike you how does this good news kind of hit you do you do you recoil at the idea that you're trapped in a prison of your own making Destin to death? You know, I'm not I don't know what you're talking about.
This is a feel-good. I don't I don't like that. You can just be quiet now. Does your heart leap at the words of Liberty and life even in the midst of seeing your own depravity? Do you look to Jesus and Trust? So yeah, I'm in the middle of a three and a half year drought. The Jug hasn't run out yet flowers and out yet. The oil isn't out yet.
You know, I've I've dumped myself this thing is going to kill me and I've dumped myself five times. I guess. I only have two more to go.
Where you at? What is this doing your heart when you hear the words of Jesus?
What is this cause you to feel too too to think about?
I want to close by taking us to Jesus's words to the church at laodicea in Revelation. It's kind of like skipping to the end of the book, but
I will put it up on the screen you can write this down and then look it up later but Revelation chapter 3 Jesus shows up and it appears to John in Exile and he tells you that you're going to see some stuff. I want to write it down if he's got some messages to some specific churches and I want you to hear what Jesus says to this church relation 3 starting in verse 15. I know your works. You are neither cold nor hot what that you were either cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold. I will spit you out of my mouth before you say I am rich I have prospered and I need nothing not realizing that you are wretched pitiable poor blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich and white garment so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness being may not be seen and South to anoint your eyes so that you may see to Those whom I love ever proven discipline be zealous and repent behold. I stand at the door and knock if anyone hears my voice and opens the door. I will come in to him and eat with him and he with me the one who conquers I will grant him to sit with me on my Throne as I also conquered and sat down with my father on his throne he who has an ear let him hear what the spirit says to the churches.
Some kind of similar, doesn't it?
You see every one of us has places in our lives where we think we are rich. Prosperous and we don't need anything. Will do.
the reality is we're wretched. pitiable poor blind and naked and the insidiousness of sin causes us not to see those things. We think we've got it all together.
when we don't
but the good news is and this is really really good news. The good news is that it is a wretched. Pitiable the poor the Blind and the naked that Jesus came to liberate. Had to bring to life in him.
Spirit of the Lord is upon him because he has anointed him.
I bring the good news to the poor. To Proclaim Liberty to the captives to restore sight to the blind. To bring Liberty to the oppressed to declare the favor of the Lord.
We have to see it. We have to see ourselves as in need of all of that.
Father we thank you that your word is active that you tell us.