Rejected

• Spiritual highs often precede spiritual tests. Last week, we

talked about Jesus’ baptism. He was filled with the Holy

Spirit. Immediately after this, he leaves and goes into the

wilderness. Luke 4 says that he went without food or water

for 40 days. At His weakest point, he was tested by Satan.

Jesus had mastered control of His physical desires, so he

resisted the Devil. Having passes these tests, Jesus was

ready to begin His ministry. He begins in Capernaum, on the

northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. Word of His preaching

and miracles spread all around. So, after this, He heads to His

hometown of Nazareth. One might think He would receive a

warm welcome, but as we will see, this wasn’t the case.

• True Identity

• Luke 4:16-21

◦“And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought

up: and he entered, as his custom was, into the

synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up to read.

And there was delivered unto him the book of the

prophet Isaiah. And he opened the book, and found the

place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is

upon me, Because he anointed me to preach good

tidings to the poor: He hath sent me to proclaim

release to the captives, And recovering of sight to the

blind, To set at liberty them that are bruised, To

proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. And he

closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and

sat down: and the eyes of all in the synagogue were

fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, To-

day hath this scripture been fulfilled in your ears.”

• When arriving in Nazareth, Jesus goes to the synagogue.

• A typical synagogue service opens with an invocation for

God’s blessing and a recitation of the traditional Hebrew

confession of faith (Deut. 6:4-9, 11:13-21)

• Deuteronomy 6:4-9

◦““Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You

shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and

with all your soul and with all your might. And these

words that I command you today shall be on your

heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children,

and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and

when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and

when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your

hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.

You shall write them on the doorposts of your house

and on your gates.”

• Deuteronomy 11:13-21

◦““And if you will indeed obey my commandments that I

command you today, to love the Lord your God, and to

serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, he

will give the rain for your land in its season, the early

rain and the later rain, that you may gather in your

grain and your wine and your oil. And he will give grass

in your fields for your livestock, and you shall eat and

be full. Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you

turn aside and serve other gods and worship them;

then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you,

and he will shut up the heavens, so that there will be no

rain, and the land will yield no fruit, and you will perish

quickly off the good land that the Lord is giving you.

“You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your

heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a

sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets

between your eyes. You shall teach them to your

children, talking of them when you are sitting in your

house, and when you are walking by the way, and when

you lie down, and when you rise. You shall write them

on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, that

your days and the days of your children may be

multiplied in the land that the Lord swore to your

fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above

the earth.”

• This was followed by prayer and the prescribed readings, then

a brief sermon

• Jesus was apparently selected to do that days reading

• He begins to read from the book of Isaiah

• Isaiah 61:1-2

◦“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;”

• Jewish rabbis interpreted this passage as referring to the

Messiah. Jesus was boldly claiming that he was the fulfillment

of this passage, and the people in the synagogue would have

recognized that.

• The words Messiah and Christ mean the same thing. They

both mean “anointed one”. Messiah is the Hebrew word,

Christ is the Greek.

• Anointing means to authorize, or set apart, a

• How would you respond if someone you grew up with showed

up one day and announced that they were the anointed of

God?

• False Understanding

• Luke 4:22-27

◦“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.””

• “Physician, heal yourself” doesn’t come from the book of

Proverbs, but was likely a known saying in the Jewish

community. It meant take care of yourself first.

• The people of Nazareth were wanting Jesus to perform

miracles in His hometown, like they had heard of Him doing in

Capernaum.

• Jesus gave two examples of how God works outside of

people’s expectations

• He was showing that His purpose on earth likely wouldn’t

meet their expectations

• What type of modern misconceptions do people have of

Jesus?

• Misguided Response

• Luke 4:28-30

◦“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.”

• Jesus’ words were an affront to the Jewish people’s national

pride.

• Jesus was exposing their prejudices against gentiles

• Having their beliefs questioned brought the people to anger

• A mob got together to drive Jesus out of town.

• The mob wanted to throw Jesus over a cliff

• Jesus’ time had not come, so He miraculously passed through

the crowd and went on His way.

• Do people today sometimes react to Jesus in the same way?

• What kind of preconceived notions do people have about

Jesus’ nature today?

◦He died for all, so all are saved

◦Only those that believe what I believe will be saved