Sermon for 1/30/22 18 Minutes "Missed Blessings"

Luke 4:21-30

This morning I'll be reading Luke chapter 4 verses 21 through 30. And I'll be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible. Luke 4:21–30 I'm sure that you might remember,,, if you heard last Sunday's sermon,,, that the first verse of today's scripture was the last verse of last weeks scripture,,, and that's true because it is so important to these words of scripture,,, and to our life today.

Luke 4:21–30 (HCSB) 21 He began by saying to them, “Today as you listen, this Scripture has been fulfilled.” 22 They were all speaking well of Him and were amazed by the gracious words that came from His mouth, yet they said, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” 23 Then He said to them, “No doubt you will quote this proverb to Me: ‘Doctor, heal yourself. So all we’ve heard that took place in Capernaum, do here in Your hometown also.’ ” 24 He also said, “I assure you: No prophet is accepted in his hometown. 25 But I say to you, there were certainly many widows in Israel in Elijah’s days, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months while a great famine came over all the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them—but to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. 27 And in the prophet Elisha’s time, there were many in Israel who had serious skin diseases, yet not one of them was healed —only Naaman the Syrian.” 28 When they heard this, everyone in the synagogue was enraged. 29 They got up, drove Him out of town, and brought Him to the edge of the hill that their town was built on, intending to hurl Him over the cliff. 30 But He passed right through the crowd and went on His way. God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning. Let us pray: Dear Lord,,, as we begin this morning,,, with everyone here today and all that are listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen. ----------------------------------------------------------- Last Sunday,,, we looked at the verses where Jesus has just come back to His hometown of Nazareth,,, and,,, as usual,,, He enters the synagogue and begins to teach.

We learned that we need to pay attention to the things that Jesus did “as usual” and do our best to try to copy them each week as we continue our walk with God.

We also seen that because “scripture was fulfilled” just like Isaiah wrote about so many years before Jesus,,, and that Jesus fulfilled that prophesy just as He said that He would,,, all of this helps us in our faith today.

This morning we will look at the verses for this week,,, beginning with,,, as I said earlier,,, the last verse of last week,,, and see how they help us in our walk with God this week.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verse 21 says: 21 He began by saying to them, “Today as you listen, this Scripture has been fulfilled.”

What a wonderful statement this is to us.

To Jesus’ friends and neighbors though,,, they just couldn’t get past how He could be their Messiah when they had watched Him grow up and they believed that Joseph was His biological father.

Jesus wasn’t who they thought they knew Him to be,,, and they couldn’t get past that.

This is something that we need to learn from because God will do so many things,,, accomplish so much for us,,, in ways that we aren’t expecting,,, and use people that we aren’t expecting as well!

But as I said,,, what a blessing it is for us,,, and we know from the written word that we have,,, that Jesus fulfilled that promise just as He said that day!

And at first the people were pleased with Jesus’ words.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verse 22 says: 22 They were all speaking well of Him and were amazed by the gracious words that came from His mouth, yet they said, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”

This reminds me of someone that has made a successful career in movies,,, or sports,,, or a singing contract,,, then they come back to their hometown and everyone looks up to them.

It’s amazing that they were able to do the impossible,,, or so it seems to those that stay in their town and continue like everyone else,,, with just their normal life style around them,,, while this person has made it to the big time.

So here is Jesus,,, He’s come back to His hometown,,, the people have heard of the miracles that He’s done in other cities,,, and that has gotten their attention.

He speaks very well,,, His words sound so wonderful,,,, but then,,, they question themselves.

Isn’t this Joseph’s son?

And yet,,, He’s saying that He’s the Messiah that we’ve been expecting for so long.

How can this be,,, how can he make this claim,,, we’ve known Him all of His life,,, we’ve watched Him grow up here,,, we know Him,,, this can’t be right!

I believe that we can see,,, that they might have known about Jesus,,, or thought they knew about Him,,, but they didn’t have a close enough relationship with Him to truly know Him.

And that was their mistake,,, they just thought they knew Jesus.

And we have people today,,, that make the statement that they know Jesus,,, but their lifestyle,,, the way that they live during the week,,, tells a different story.

And Jesus knows whether we are true to our words today,,, because He knows how we truly feel inside,,, just as He knew their thoughts that day in the synagogue.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verses 23 and 24 say: 23 Then He said to them, “No doubt you will quote this proverb to Me: ‘Doctor, heal yourself. So all we’ve heard that took place in Capernaum, do here in Your hometown also.’ ” 24 He also said, “I assure you: No prophet is accepted in his hometown.

According to my Faithlife Study Bible,,, the phrase,,, ‘Doctor, heal yourself.,,, in Greek could be understood to mean,,, “heal your kin”,,, so the whole statement meant that the people of Nazareth want to experience Jesus’ healing power.

In other words,,, they wanted Jesus to show them His power by doing what He has done elsewhere.

But as I’ve already said,,, Jesus knew what they were thinking,,, what they wanted to see,,, and why.

That’s why that He said: “I assure you: No prophet is accepted in his hometown.

Those words led to two examples of Gentiles receiving blessings.

The first example is seen in the next two verses.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verses 25 and 26 say: 25 But I say to you, there were certainly many widows in Israel in Elijah’s days, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months while a great famine came over all the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them—but to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon.

This can be found in 1 Kings 17:8-24 during a famine in the land and during a time when Israel wasn’t listening to God then either.

So God sent Elijah to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon instead of any of the Israelites.

And God took care of her,,, her son,,, and Elijah during this time.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verse 27 says: 27 And in the prophet Elisha’s time, there were many in Israel who had serious skin diseases, yet not one of them was healed —only Naaman the Syrian.”

This can be found in 2 Kings 5:1-19 and here we see that during Elisha’s time there were many in Israel that had serious skin diseases,,, but only Naaman the Syrian was healed.

Naaman was suffering from this skin disease and his servant girl that had been captured from a raid on Israel,,, told him that if he would go to the prophet who is in Samaria,,, that he could cure him.

So Naaman gets permission and goes to Samaria and tries to meet Elisha.

But Elisha,,, without meeting him,,, gives him instructions,,, through a servant,,, which he at first ignores,,, after becoming angry,,, but because of Naaman’s own servants wise advise,,, he decides to dip himself in the Jordan River as Elisha commanded him and he is healed.

And at this time,,, as Jesus said,,, there were many that had diseases in Israel,,, but only Naaman the Syrian was healed.

That’s a short version,,, there is much more to tell,,, but you can go back and read this fascinating story to see everything that I’ve left out.

So,,, this is again another illustration of a time when Israel was not listening to God as they should,,, or living in unbelief,,, the same way that the people of Nazareth are dealing with unbelief of the words that Jesus is saying to them.

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

The people were furious when they heard these words from Jesus.

The Israelites during that time,,, placed women,,, Gentiles,,, and lepers,,, or those with skin diseases,,, at the bottom of the social scale.

And here was Jesus,,, implying that all of these were being placed above them,,, the unbelieving Jews at that time,,, and now,,, since history was going to repeat itself and once again the Israelites would reject God,,, so Jesus would turn to the Gentiles,,, just as Elijah and Elisha had done.

So then the people tried to kill Jesus,,, but it wasn’t His time,,, so Jesus,,, miraculously,,, passed through the crowd and went on His way!

----------------------------------------------------------- It wasn’t Jesus’ time,,, they weren’t going to force God’s hand before it was time.

Jesus went to the cross only when God decided it was time,,, not before.

And I’m so thankful that He made that decision for all of us,,, especially since we are undeserving of the sacrifice that He made for us,,, paying a price that we could never pay!

And we,,, today,,, aren’t going to force God’s hand either!

God isn’t going to return until He is ready,,, just as He chose the time to go to the cross,,, He will decide the time to return.

And we have so many,,, that aren’t ready for His return.

The problem that we have,,, is just like the religious leaders of

Jesus’ day,,, we think that we can figure it out!

But we can plot,,, and plan,,, think that we have everything figured out,,, but just like the religious leaders that thought they had won when they put Jesus in the tomb,,, they had to deal with Jesus’ return from the tomb,,, and one day,,, we will be surprised by Jesus’ return,,, but when He returns this time,,, it will be the end for so many of our time,,,

Those that think they have just one more day,,, week,,, year,,, or whatever it is that they will be thinking at that time.

Jesus told the disciples before He left them that it’s not our job to know when He will return,,, our job is to make sure,,, that we are ready,,, and everyone that we know,,, are ready as well.

And the only way to be ready is to have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.

And if you haven’t made that decision,,, it must be made today because we aren’t promised tomorrow,,, so the choice must be made today.

We don't know the hour or the day when Jesus comes back nor do we know if we will be called home,,, we are just told to be ready.

And to be ready,,, you must have made the decision to follow Jesus,,, so be sure that you have made that decision today!

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And if you know that you have made the decision to follow Jesus,,, turn your eyes to those around you each and every day,,, your loved ones,,, your coworkers,,, anyone that you happen to meet.

Because there are so many today,,, that just like those in Jesus’ home town of Nazareth,,, that thought they knew Jesus,,, we have so many today,,, that think that they know Him,,, but they don’t.

Without that personal relationship,,, they don’t know what joy and peace He can bring,,, and it’s our job to show them!

So in the days ahead,,, as you continue your walk with God,,, remember these verses,,, and the way that the people of Nazareth didn’t know Jesus,,, and missed a chance to experience God’s blessings,,, so that you will be sure that you accept your opportunity,,, or,,, if you have already made that choice,,, then be sure to help someone else experience what you already know to be,,, the most wonderful decision,,, you’ve ever made!

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Hymn: 337 - Oakdale Hymn: 337 - Seminary Benediction ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------------