Why Drive Jesus Out?
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Introduction
Introduction
[CIT] In his hometown of Nazareth, Jesus revealed himself as the Christ, but the people rejected him and tried to kill him.
A Prophet in His Hometown
[CIT] In his hometown of Nazareth, Jesus revealed himself as the Christ, but the people rejected him and tried to kill him.
Driven Out of Town
[PROP] The Scriptures reveal who Jesus is, but we all must decide whether we will follow Jesus or drive him out.
[INTER] Why would we drive Jesus out?
Because Jesus is who he is and will not be who we want him to be.
Because Jesus does what he does and will not do what we want him to do.
Jesus is unconformable and uncontrollable, and some only want a savior they can conform and control.
They want to conform the identity of their savior to their own and control how their savior thinks, speaks, and acts.
Usually such people are only imagining themselves as their own savior; usually only thinking of Jesus thinking, speaking, and acting as they do.
This is not a savior who will save.
But we should answer a question we often assume everyone in church knows: Why do we need a savior in the first place? What is it that we need to be saved from?
This question receives many different answers in our day.
Some say that we need to be saved from illness, poverty, or purposelessness, but all of this is a lesser salvation compared to the greater salvation offered to us in the Bible. Through faith in his Son, Jesus, God offers to save us from his eternal wrath on account of our sins.
Hell has never been popular with us sinners.
We sinners love our sin and don’t want to hear that the price for our sin is eternal death in Hell.
This has led some people to conclude that Hell must not exist, must not be that bad, or must not last that long.
The word of God, however, says that Hell does exist. It was a place prepared for the devil and his angels and a place all who follow the devil in sin against God will go.
Hell is a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth; a place filled with the smoke of torment.
And it is an eternal place where the weeping and gnashing of teeth never ceases; where the smoke of torment rises up forever and ever.
Don’t be fooled! You need a savior, but not one to save you from illness or poverty or purposelessness. You need a savior to save you from God’s wrath in eternity!
One day you will die and then stand before God in judgment.
If you have repented of your sins and trusted in Jesus as God’s Son sent to save you from his wrath then you will be saved.
Rather than God’s eternal wrath, you will experience God’s eternal love.
Rather than Hell, there will be Heaven.
Rather than weeping and gnashing of teeth, there will be eternal joy and eternal delight in the presence of God forevermore.
If you have not repented of sin and have not trusted in Jesus, then you won’t be saved.
And Hell awaits you with all its horror.
I begin in that way this morning because I want you to understand what’s at stake not only in your life but also in the lives of those to whom Jesus came at Nazareth.
To reject him as Savior as they did was to choose eternal wrath.
We must not make the same mistake.
We must not drive Jesus out.
We must take him in.
[TS] These truths will be reinforced as we look at this passage in three PARTS...
Major Ideas
Major Ideas
Part #1: The Savior Reveals Himself (vv. 16-21).
Part #1: The Savior Reveals Himself (vv. 16-21).
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. 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 sight to the blind, to set at 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 attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
[Exp] By the time Jesus came to his hometown of Nazareth, he had done incredible things in the region of Galilee.
He had taught with authority the likes of which no one had ever seen before.
He had healed with a touch and even with just a word.
And he had forgiven sins.
So there was an amazing sense of expectation as Jesus came to teach in the synagogue in Nazareth.
What would he say?
What would he do here in his hometown?
The scroll with God’s word through Isaiah the prophet was handed to Jesus.
He unrolled it and read mainly from but with a little mixed in.
The general them of his message was that the time of the Lord’s favor was at hand; that today was the day of salvation for God’s people and it had arrived in him!
There could be no mistaking Jesus’ message as read from Isaiah, rolled up the scroll, sat down with eye fixed on him, and began to teach with the words, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing,” (v. 21).
Oh how the people in that synagogue must’ve loved to hear this message
You see, the people in Jesus’ day were wondering who the “me” would be in .
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me...”
“He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives...”
Who is the “me” who would be anointed by God like this?
Who is the “me” who would proclaim God’s favor like this?
Who is the “me” would could actually bring about the time of God’s favor?
You see, this “me” would not only proclaim these things but also bring them to be.
He will not just talk about it, but do it.
He will actually set at liberty those who are oppressed as says.
Jesus was saying that the “me” of and and all the other passages in the OT that pointed to the Christ; he was saying that all those passages were fulfilled that day in him!
[Illus] Preachers like me try to get cute at times. We try to surprise people with some part of our sermon, catch them off guard, maybe even shock them.
In my preaching practicum class in seminary we preached sermons and listened to each other preach.
One guy named Rob tried to surprise us in one of his sermons by starting with this story about someone who did something incredible or was in mortal danger, I don’t remember the details, but what I do remember is that it was immediately apparent from the beginning of the story that the story was really about him.
That’s why when he finally revealed that the story was about him, most people just nodded their heads as if to say, “We knew all along were that story was going.”
I don’t think the people in the synagogue in Nazareth on this particular Sabbath day knew where Jesus was going when he began to read from don’t think they expected Jesus to say that what he read was about him.
The sheer audacity of making such a claim would have likely driven that thought from their minds.
The sheer audacity of making such a claim
How could anyone have the guts to say, “This passage about the Christ, about God’s anointed one; this passage is about me,”?
But the sheer audacity of making such a claim
For anyone else, this would have been blasphemous, but for Jesus it was the truth.
[App] Luke showed us in that Jesus was the anointed one, the one on whom God’s Spirit rested...
Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
This means that in Jesus - and only in Jesus - there is good news for the poor!
In Jesus and only in him there is liberty for the captives and recovery of sight for the blind!
Only in him is there liberty for the oppressed!
Only in him do we find favor with God!
Now,
[App]
But these things have less to do with the material world and more to do with the spiritual world.
The good news that Jesus proclaims is good news to the poor in spirit; those humble enough to recognize their need for God’s grace.
The liberty he has won for us through his death and resurrection is not liberty from Babylon or Rome, but liberty from slavery to sin!
Although Jesus healed the blind, the blindness he heals us all of is not primarily physical but spiritual. He gives us eyes to see the truth about God in him!
The oppression that Jesus’ lifts off us is the oppression of death which hangs over us until we come to trust him!
The year of the Lord’s favor is for all eternity for those who repent of sin and believe Jesus when he says, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing?”
[TS] Do you believe it?
Part #2: The People’s Doubt and the Savior’s Response (vv. 22-27).
Part #2: The People’s Doubt and the Savior’s Response (vv. 22-27).
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?” 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.’ ” 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, and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 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.”
[Exp] The people seemed to respond favorably to Jesus’ words, but they were more impressed with his delivery and tone than with his content.
He spoke well and the message was about the year of the Lord’s favor, but what they took issue with was that he said the Christ prophesied in was him.
That’s why they asked, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” (v. 22).
As far as most anyone knew in Nazareth, Jesus was Joseph’s son, so then how could he claim to be the Christ?
Of course, Jesus wasn’t Joseph’s son. He was born of the virgin Mary as the Holy Spirit came upon her and overshadowed her. Jesus was the Son of God, not the son of Joseph.
Jesus was the Son of God, not the son of Joseph.
But there question was not a question in search of reason to believe but a question in search of reason to disbelieve.
Jesus knew this and knew that they would ask for miracles to validate his claim, but he also knew that they wouldn’t believe his claim to be the Christ even if he performed miracles in their midst.
It wasn’t that they believed Jesus’ claim but didn’t understand how it could be so.
Jesus made these points with two proverbs.
The first, “Physician, heal yourself” (v. 23), meant exactly what Jesus said it meant. What the people in Nazareth heard that he did in Capernaum, they would want him to do their in his hometown as well.
It was that they understood his claim but didn’t want to believe that it could be so.
The second, “No prophet is acceptable in his hometown” (v. 24), meant that the people in Nazareth wouldn’t believe him no matter what he said or what he did, so he would be going to people who would believe.
But with this second proverb, Nazareth becomes a symbol for Israel as a whole. It will not be Nazareth alone that rejects Jesus as the Christ, but ultimately all Israel.
He was sent to preach to the lost sheep of Israel and while some believed, on the whole, Israel rejected him as the Christ.
Thus, Jesus and his message of favor with God through faith in him as the Christ would go to the Gentiles (non-Jews) as a blessing to them but also as a judgment against Israel.
Jesus gives two historical examples of that very thing happening in the ministries of the prophets Elijah and Elisha.
When there was a severe famine in Israel, the Israelite prophet Elijah was not sent to the Israelites who had rejected God’s word, but only to a Gentile widow from Sidon.
It was she that believed the word of God and was fed.
When there were many Israelite lepers, the Israelite prophet Elisha didn’t cleanse the Israelites who had rejected God’s word, but only a Gentile leper named Naaman from Syria.
It was he that believed the word of God and was cleansed.
Jesus’ point is clear: how people respond to his word determines whether we will have favor or disfavor with God.
[Illus] I was eating lunch with a group of people back in 2010 when the Deep Water Horizon oil rig exploded sending an estimated 4,900,000 barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
Clean-up efforts were underway and one man at lunch asked me, “Why doesn’t God just send a preacher down there to say, ‘I serve Jesus Christ, be clean,’ and the Gulf would be clean and everyone would believe in Jesus?”
I thought about if for a moment and then paraphrased Jesus words from ...
“But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’ ”
Jesus said that when he was talking about the rich man and Lazarus.
Lazarus (not the one Jesus raised from the dead) was a poor beggar covered with sores who begged this rich man for the crumbs from his table.
Both men died and Lazarus was carried to Abraham’s side or bosom, a heavenly place, while the rich man was sent to Hades, a hellish place of torment. Then the rich man begged.
He begged Abraham for relief but the distance between the place of paradise and the place of torment was too great. No relief could be offered the rich man.
He then begged Abraham for someone to be sent to his brothers so that they might be warned about the place of torment, but Abraham said, “They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them,” ().
The rich man replies that his brothers will believe if they see a great sign; if they see someone rise from the dead, they will believe!
But then Abraham says, “If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead,” ().
Those who reject the word of God will not believe the miracles of God.
Those who reject the word of God will not believe the miracles of God.
[App] Jesus didn’t perform any miracles in Nazareth because they people wouldn’t have believed he was the Christ if he had performed miracles.
They had rejected the word of God concerning Jesus as the Christ.
They would have rejected the
They would have rejected the miracles of God worked by Jesus as the Christ as well.
If people will not be convinced by the word of God, they will not be convinced.
Sometimes people say they would believe if only they could see a sign or if God would work this or that miracle in their lives.
The truth is their disbelief would find a way to explain away the signs and miracles.
If people will not be convinced by the word of God, they will not be convinced, and God’s miracles are reserved for those who believe rather than those who don’t.
And the greatest miracles are reserved for those who believe.
Just think back to the two examples Jesus gave from the ministries of Elijah and Elisha.
During Elijah’s ministry, the widow was miraculously fed because she believed the word of God. (You can read about it in .)
During Elisha’s ministry, Naaman was miraculously cleansed of leprosy because he believed the word of God. (You can read about it in .)
Those who believe sometimes see miracles.
Those who see miracles don’t always believe.
It is those who believe
Do you believe the word of God concerning Jesus? Do you believe that he is the Christ? Do you believe that and every other passage about the Christ in the OT is about him? Do you believe that the only way to favor with God is through faith in him?
If you refuse to believe the word of God this morning, beware: Jesus may move on from you to those willing to believe.
[TS] One final part...
Part #3: The People Drive Him Out and He Walks Away (vv. 28-30).
Part #3: The People Drive Him Out and He Walks Away (vv. 28-30).
When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. 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. But passing through their midst, he went away.
[Exp] After hearing Jesus say that was fulfilled in him, that he would not be performing any miracles, and that he would be going to Gentile people because they actually had more faith than them, the people were “filled with wrath,” (v. 28).
They rose up, drove him out, and brought him to a cliff, so they could throw him down (v. 29).
They seem to be in control. After all, they did the rising, the driving, the bringing, and planned on doing the throwing, but they weren’t in control.
Jesus was always in control.
Jesus was always in control.
As says...
But passing through their midst, he went away.
They were filled with wrath.
They had murder in their hearts.
But he just walked away.
Where was he going?
There is a note of judgment here in v. 30.
Just as Jesus told his disciples in to shake the dust from their feet if anyone would not receive them or heed their words, so Jesus shakes the dust from his feet as he walks away from Nazareth.
They did not receive him.
They did not heed his words.
He was moving on to those who would receive him and believe him.
[Illus]
[App] Do you believe the word of God concerning Jesus? Do you believe that he is the Christ? Do you believe that and every other passage about the Christ in the OT is about him? Do you believe that the only way to favor with God is through faith in him? Have your received him?
Do you believe the word of God concerning Jesus? Do you believe that he is the Christ? Do you believe that and every other passage about the Christ in the OT is about him? Do you believe that the only way to favor with God is through faith in him?
You can believe and receive him this morning!
If you refuse him; refuse to believe the word of God this morning, beware: Jesus may move on from you to those willing to believe.
[TS] {see below}
Conclusion
Conclusion
Your eternal well-being is at stake.
Why would you drive Jesus away with your unbelief?
He will not be the savior you want him to be.
No, he will be much better than that.
He will not always do what you want him to do.
No, he will do much better than that.
He will welcome you into his Kingdom!
He will set you free from the curse of sin and death!
He will win for you the Lord’s favor...
…and he has already done all this through his perfect life, sacrificial death, and victorious resurrection if you believe!
Reason #1: Jesus claims to be the Christ (vv. 18-21).
Reason #2: [But] Jesus is Joseph’s son (v. 22).
Jesus Driven Out
Reason #3: [And] Jesus
Jesus reveals himself (vv. 18-21)
Why Drive Jesus Out?
Jesus Driven Out of Town
The people doubt Jesus (vv. 22-27)
Is Not This Joseph’s Son?
A Prophet Unaccepted
A Prophet Unaccepted at Home
Bock’s Outline:
vv. 18-21 - Scripture Reading and Its Exposition
vv. 22 - Response: The Initial Questioning of the Crowd
vv. 23-27 - A Proverb and a Historical Picture of Their Rejection
vv. 28-29 - The Crowd’s Anger and Hostile Desire
v. 30 - Jesus’ Departure
Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: Luke 1:1–9:50 a. Setting of the Scripture Reading (4:16–17)
A synagogue service had various elements (m. Meg. 3–4; m. Ber. 2): recitation of the Shema˓ (Deut. 6:4–9), prayers (including some set prayers like the Tephillah and the Shemoneh Esreh [Eighteen Benedictions]), a reading from the Law, a reading from the Prophets, instruction on the passages, and a benediction.
Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: Luke 1:1–9:50 a. Setting of the Scripture Reading (4:16–17)
The Hebrew Scripture would be read in a standing position in one- to three-verse units.
Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: Luke 1:1–9:50 a. Setting of the Scripture Reading (4:16–17)
After the reading came an invitation for someone to instruct the audience. Based on texts already read or on new texts, this instruction could be done by any qualified male in the audience, provided ten males were present.
Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: Luke 1:1–9:50 a. Setting of the Scripture Reading (4:16–17)
4:17 Jesus takes the scroll and unrolls it to the place from which he will give instruction. It seems that Jesus chose the reading from the Prophets and “found” (εὗρεν, heuren) the place in Isaiah from which he wanted to teach (Luce 1933: 120; Fitzmyer 1981: 531; Schürmann 1969: 228–29). If the text was part of a fixed reading schedule, then the scroll would have been opened at the appropriate place. This detail suggests that a reading schedule was not used, but that Jesus chose his text.
cf.
and coming to his hometown he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works?
In v. 23 Jesus is responding to v. 22. Obviously.
The people are thinking (and Jesus knows that they are thinking it and are about to ask for it), “You’ve claimed to be the Messiah. We’ve heard about what you did in Capernaum. Prove your claim by doing some miraculous things here as well.”
Luke 4:25
Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: Luke 1:1–9:50 d. Cycle 2: A Proverb and a Historical Picture of Their Rejection (4:23–27)
He cites a low point in Israel’s history: the time of Elijah and Elisha. In this historical comparison, the threat is that those closest to Jesus may miss God’s blessing, while others, who are far away, will receive it. Luke 4:25–27, which alludes to the period of the evil king Ahab, is unique to Luke’s portrayal of the synagogue account. The OT text alluded to here is 1 Kings 17–18, which refers to a specific famine and judgment for covenant unfaithfulness. Such unfaithfulness brought Israel under judgment at this time, so God’s provision and prophetic signs were absent from the land.
God’s blessings went elsewhere, to others outside Israel; Gentile widows and lepers! But why? Because they believed!
Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: Luke 1:1–9:50 e. Cycle 2 Response: The Crowd’s Anger and Hostile Desire (4:28–29)
Like Paul’s message about going to the Gentiles, this warning also left its audience displeased (Acts 13:46, 50; 22:21–22; Plummer 1896: 129). Outsiders might end up being blessed, while insiders are left out.
But there is no need to be angry. They can experience the blessing if they respond to Jesus the same way as Gentiles will - in faith!
cf.
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.
And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins.
Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his law.
“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?
Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: Luke 1:1–9:50 b. Cycle 1: Scripture Reading and Its Exposition (4:18–21)
Luke is summarizing textual material used by Jesus in his synagogue address, since a normal synagogue reading would not mix passages quite like this, and the description of Jesus’ remarks here is decidedly brief and dramatic (see the exegesis of 4:21). Jesus likely used both passages in the actual setting.
Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: Luke 1:1–9:50 b. Cycle 1: Scripture Reading and Its Exposition (4:18–21)
The figure of Isa. 61 brings a message of God’s deliverance to exiles. The deliverance imagery parallels the description of the Jubilee year (Lev. 25: 8–17), when debts were canceled and slaves were freed every fiftieth year. It is a picture of forgiveness and spiritual liberation, which is at the center of Jesus’ message
Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: Luke 1:1–9:50 b. Cycle 1: Scripture Reading and Its Exposition (4:18–21)
When Jesus applies the passage to himself, he is saying that the present time is like the message of comfort that Isaiah brought to the nation. In fact, the totality of the deliverance that Isaiah described is now put into motion with Jesus’ coming. He is the Servant par excellence.
4 infinitives...
…to proclaim good news to the poor
…to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind;
…to set at liberty those who are oppressed
....to set at liberty those who are oppressed (cf. )
Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: Luke 1:1–9:50 b. Cycle 1: Scripture Reading and Its Exposition (4:18–21)
While a prophet could proclaim the message of liberty for the oppressed, he could not bring it to pass. It is a deliverer who brings deliverance to reality.
Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: Luke 1:1–9:50 b. Cycle 1: Scripture Reading and Its Exposition (4:18–21)
Jesus will do what Israel was rebuked in Isaiah 58 for not doing: Jesus will meet in love the needs of those who need God.
…to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: Luke 1:1–9:50 b. Cycle 1: Scripture Reading and Its Exposition (4:18–21)
Because of the comprehensive character of the deliverance that Isaiah described, Jubilee was interpreted in Judaism as a reference to the dawn of God’s new age.
Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: Luke 1:1–9:50 b. Cycle 1: Scripture Reading and Its Exposition (4:18–21)
Jubilee, by analogy, becomes a picture of total forgiveness and salvation, just as it was in its prophetic usage in Isa. 61.
Jesus said more. Luke says that he began to speak (v. 21a), but the crux of it was this, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing,” (v. 21).
“Σήμερον (today) is a key term in Luke’s theology and stresses that the opportunity for salvation is this very moment. Luke uses σήμερον repeatedly in his Gospel to make this very point (2:11; 5:26; 12:28; 13:32–33; 19:5, 9; 22:34, 61; 23:43; and nine times in Acts; Liefeld 1984: 868).” Bock, D. L. (1994). (Vol. 1, p. 412). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.
Bock, D. L. (1994). (Vol. 1, p. 412). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.
Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: Luke 1:1–9:50 b. Cycle 1: Scripture Reading and Its Exposition (4:18–21)
The remaining issue in Luke 4:19 is the omission of a reference to judgment. One of two explanations is possible. First, the omission may have been made to delay the allusion to judgment until Jesus’ warnings in 4:24–27. As mentioned earlier with John the Baptist, the time of salvation is also a time of division (3:7–9, 16–17; 2:34–35). But another reason is more likely: the ultimate time of God’s vengeance is not yet arrived in this coming of Jesus (9:51–56; 17:22–37; 21:5–37). The division of deliverance and judgment in God’s plan, alluded to by the omission, is sorted out later in Luke. This omission represents part of the “already–not yet” tension of NT eschatology, and a Gospel writer can discuss an issue from either side of the temporal perspective. Jesus’ mission is placed initially in terms of hope, but it also brings an implication of judgment about which he will warn in 4:24–27.
is floating in the air, burning in their hearts, filling their minds, ringing in their ears. All eyes are on Jesus in this moment. What will he say next?
Jesus said more. Luke says that he began to speak (v. 21a), but the crux of it was this, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing,” (v. 21).
“Σήμερον (today) is a key term in Luke’s theology and stresses that the opportunity for salvation is this very moment. Luke uses σήμερον repeatedly in his Gospel to make this very point (2:11; 5:26; 12:28; 13:32–33; 19:5, 9; 22:34, 61; 23:43; and nine times in Acts; Liefeld 1984: 868).” Bock, D. L. (1994). (Vol. 1, p. 412). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.
And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Availability...
Availability...
… Today (right now; today is the day of salvation)
… Scripture fulfilled (salvation promised has arrived in Jesus Christ; perfect tense)
… Fulfilled (perfect tense:
… Hearing (with the hearing comes responsibility for decision)
but do not ignore his voice!
Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: Luke 1:1–9:50 b. Cycle 1: Scripture Reading and Its Exposition (4:18–21)
Of course, the era of fulfillment is very much tied to Jesus’ person. He brings a special time.
Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: Luke 1:1–9:50 b. Cycle 1: Scripture Reading and Its Exposition (4:18–21)
Jesus is saying to his hometown audience, “The time that all people faithful to God have been waiting for is now here and it is found in me.”
And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them.
. What a blessing! What plain speech! Would you have believed it?
Then turning to the disciples he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”
Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: “ ‘ “You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.”
The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
John 4:25
You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me,
.
Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.
They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”
4:22a - impressed by his language; 4:22b - distressed by his lineage
Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: Luke 1:1–9:50 c. Cycle 1 Response: The Initial Questioning of the Crowd (4:22)
Marveling at his words is a positive response to rhetorical skill, not to his claims.
effective politician we disagree with
slick defense attorney defending a guilty client
Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: Luke 1:1–9:50 c. Cycle 1 Response: The Initial Questioning of the Crowd (4:22)
The skepticism argues that Jesus’ claims are excessive for a Galilean Jew.
Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee?
You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.”
. at Capernaum
And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.
.
And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.”
Matthew 13:57
And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.” And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them.
And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.”
.
For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?”
Who has prescribed for him his way, or who can say, ‘You have done wrong’?
all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”
Daniel
cf. ,
Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.
cf.
. A history filled with wrath against God’s people, God’s truth, and ultimately God Himself...
But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.
As he went away from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press him hard and to provoke him to speak about many things, lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say.
Then Asa was angry with the seer and put him in the stocks in prison, for he was in a rage with him because of this. And Asa inflicted cruelties upon some of the people at the same time.
Then the Spirit of God clothed Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, and he stood above the people, and said to them, “Thus says God, ‘Why do you break the commandments of the Lord, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the Lord, he has forsaken you.’ ” But they conspired against him, and by command of the king they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the Lord.
Jeremiah 37:15-16
And the officials were enraged at Jeremiah, and they beat him and imprisoned him in the house of Jonathan the secretary, for it had been made a prison. When Jeremiah had come to the dungeon cells and remained there many days,
So they took Jeremiah and cast him into the cistern of Malchiah, the king’s son, which was in the court of the guard, letting Jeremiah down by ropes. And there was no water in the cistern, but only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud.
When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them.
Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him.
And he said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’ ” Up to this word they listened to him. Then they raised their voices and said, “Away with such a fellow from the earth! For he should not be allowed to live.” And as they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air,
who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose all mankind by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved—so as always to fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them at last!
I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you.
but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did.
If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’
John 15:24
The wicked watches for the righteous and seeks to put him to death.
Rose up and drove him...
… from the synagogue
… from the town
… from life itself (if he hadn’t avoided it).
Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: Luke 1:1–9:50 e. Cycle 2 Response: The Crowd’s Anger and Hostile Desire (4:28–29)
In all likelihood, Jesus is the object of the “lynch law,” where a person who is seen as flagrantly violating the law is executed on sight and without a trial (John 8:59; 10:31; Acts 7:54–58; 21:31–32; Plummer 1896: 129). If Jesus is viewed by the crowd as a false prophet, he could be subject to such a slaying according to Deut. 13:5 [13:6 MT] (also Jer. 11:21; Danker 1988: 110; Schürmann 1969: 239). Such a situation might presuppose a stoning (Blinzler 1970).
But Jesus was not a false prophet. His claim to be Messiah was true. But ultimate verification of this fact awaits his death and resurrection. These folks couldn’t see that in the synagogue, which is no excuse for their unbelief, but we have heard of his death and resurrection and we can see it in the pages of God’s Word. We need no further proof. The Word of God is testimony enough. The question is, “Do we believe?”
Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: Luke 1:1–9:50 e. Cycle 2 Response: The Crowd’s Anger and Hostile Desire (4:28–29)
In all likelihood, Jesus is the object of the “lynch law,” where a person who is seen as flagrantly violating the law is executed on sight and without a trial (John 8:59; 10:31; Acts 7:54–58; 21:31–32; Plummer 1896: 129). If Jesus is viewed by the crowd as a false prophet, he could be subject to such a slaying according to Deut. 13:5 [13:6 MT] (also Jer. 11:21; Danker 1988: 110; Schürmann 1969: 239). Such a situation might presuppose a stoning (Blinzler 1970).
. Not yet his time.
.
To reject Jesus is to stand on the edge of an eternal cliff. In your eagerness to reject Jesus, you will push yourself over the edge and plummet to eternal damnation.