The Life and Ministry of Jesus (3)

Jesus Faced Opposition

As we explore the life and ministry of Jesus, we will discover that he faced great opposition for who he was, what he taught, and what he did.

We too will face opposition for our faith in Jesus, because of who he is, what he teaches us, and what he does in our lives.

Luke 4:28–30 NIV

28 All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. 29 They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. 30 But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.

In a world of Religious smorgasbord, it can be challenging to say the least, to stand firm upon our faith in Jesus. Just as he faced opposition and criticism for who he was and is, for what he taught and did, we too will face opposition for what we believe concerning Jesus Christ or you may be opposed to who he is, therefore being opposed for your rejection of him and his ways.

For many in our society, it is difficult to hear what is described as a narrow way of belief. For example, Jesus says, “I am the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but by me.”

Or … “Broad is the way that leads to destruction, but narrow is the way that leads to eternal life.” ,

For many people it is hard to hear about Hell. You may have heard that Jesus spoke more about Hell than he did Heaven. Facts are, he spoke 3 times more about Heaven than Hell, but he did speak of Hell. So we cannot just ignore what he says about one and not the other. Jesus goal was to point people to Eternal life. That’s what we talked about a couple of weeks ago, when we read the earlier verse of this chapter in Luke. His mission and purpose was clear… he was the ‘Anointed’ from God; he came to preach the good news to all people - ‘That He is savior and Lord.

He came to proclaim freedom from sin, guilt and shame, ; recovery for the blind and release for those in the bondage of fear and addiction.

But even though he came to do all these good things; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor - Wanting to be each persons savior, friend, and helper, they opposed him.

Jesus opposition came from family and friends.

They opposed his claim to be God’s Anointed. Their hearts were filled with Anger and murderous thoughts. They did not want anything to do with Jesus.

In we read…

Mark 3:21 NIV

21 When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”

In we read that even his family did not believe in Him.

ILLUSTRATION: In some religious circles, when a person becomes a follower of Jesus Christ; their life show evidence of wanting to and doing the things that matter to God, family members oppose them, so much so that they may even disown them.

Jesus was opposed by religious leaders

Matthew 12:14 NIV

14 But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.

There were two significant religious types of leaders in Jesus day, The Pharisees - who believed in life after death (More common and for the people) and the Sadducees who did not(Mostly made up of aristocrats and very conservative in nature) of which the Sanhedrin were made up of (Judicial leaders . They were opposed to one another on this and other issues, but when it came to who Jesus was, in the end, they agreed that He should die for what he taught and who he claimed to be.

In today’s society, there are many opinions about various renown pastors, of which I will not go into. But only to say, the true test of any person who is anointed by God can be tested by who they say Jesus is based on what the Bible says.

1 John 4:2 NIV

2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,

1 John 4:2–6 NIV

2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. 4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5 They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.

Jesus was opposed by family and friends; by religious leaders and thirdly by Political leaders...

Jesus was opposed by Political leaders

If Jesus were to stand on the stairs of the Capital building in Washington D.C. and begin to preach from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke concerning the “Sermon on the mount” how do you think the world, let alone political leaders would respond to him?

How would they respond when he talked about … the very words that are in the Bible

Or on Murder in

What about adultry in

Then Jesus talks about Divorce in

And what about lies?…

And finally Love - Love for your enemies…

What kInd of opposition did he face?

Criticism of the company he kept

Matthew 9:11 NIV

11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

Criticism of breaking tradition - Even though it was against His disciples Jesus said in if they reject you, know that they have rejected me

Matthew 15:1–2 NIV

1 Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”

Luke 10:16 NIV

16 “Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; but whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

The reasons?

Because of Hatred

Because Peoples minds were closed

Jesus knew where this would all lead to, yet he remained faithful to God the Father and followed through with his purpose and mission.

He knew it would lead to death…

There is a proverb that goes like this…

Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations 7371 An Arab Proverb

(1) He that knows not and knows not that he knows not;

He is a fool—shun him!

(2) He that knows not and knows that he knows not;

He is simple—teach him!

(3) He that knows and knows not that he knows;

He is asleep—wake him!

(4) He that knows and knows that he knows;

He is a wise man—follow him!

Jesus knew what he was doing. HE did what he came to do. he is worth following. I hope that whatever opposition you may face from family or friends, other religious people or because of your political views, that you would stand firmly upon the truth of Jesus Christ, for who he is, what he has taught, and what he has done. You will find peace in the midst of struggle; clarity in the midst of conflict as long as you stay the course of your faith in Jesus.

Paul wrote in