Hometown Luke 4

Luke 4

Isn't this Joseph's Son?

How do people define you? How do you define yourself? Our story of who we are and the world's description of who we are shape our experience in life. Think about the words from Bohemian Rhapsody - I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me. He's just a poor boy from a poor family! Poor guy will never amount to anything. But what if the opposite happens: I'm just a poor boy, but God loves me and I'm going to be awesome when I grow up. The chorus will still echo, "he's just a poor boy from a poor family".

Today we are going to look at a group of people who knew Jesus, not as God saw him or as Jesus saw himself, but as outsiders. Jesus - the son of God, the savior of the world is standing right in the people's presence. He says I am the messiah, I am the fulfillment of the scriptures, I AM! What would you say if Jesus was standing right in front of you?

Lord have mercy on me for I am a sinful man!
Son of David have mercy on me!
Truly you are the son of God!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of The Lord!
My eyes have seen your salvation!
Could this be the Messiah?

But in this story no one praises God an no one praises Jesus. Instead they say, awww, isn't that sweet, Joseph's son thinks he's a teacher. The builder's son thinks he is a Rabbi. We know this guy, isn't he cute?

Jesus is many things, but he is not sweet or cute. He will not tolerate being trivialized.

And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. 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." (Luke 4:14-21 ESV)

Pretty simple statement - this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. It's happened, God has sent the messiah - that's me - and here I am standing right in front of you. He doesn't say it prayer like, dear God please let these words come true. He says it confidently, you heard the words and they have come true in me.

Matthew expounds a little more than Luke - 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? Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?" And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown an household". (Matthew 13:54-57 ESV).

Jesus doesn't reply in a nice way, he gets ticked!

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.'"
He also said, "I assure you: No prophet is accepted in his hometown. 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. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them-but to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. (Luke 4:23-26 HCSB)

First, what does "Physician, heal yourself mean?" It's basically saying prove it - if you are God, act like God. Essentially what the people taunted Jesus with on the cross, "if you are the Christ, save yourself and come down from the cross!" It's also similar to what Satan said, "So he took Him to Jerusalem, had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. For it is written:
He will give His angels orders concerning you, to protect you, and they will support you with their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone." (Luke 4:9-11 HCSB). Jesus has a peculiar thing about doing miracles and good for those who believe, not doing miracles to prove himself to those who don't believe. He won't waste any time proving himself to haters.

Second, what happened at Capernaum that everyone would have heard about? When He entered Capernaum again after some days, it was reported that He was at home. So many people gathered together that there was no more room, not even in the doorway, and He was speaking the message to them. Then they came to Him bringing a paralytic, carried by four men. Since they were not able to bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above where He was. And when they had broken through, they lowered the mat on which the paralytic was lying.
Seeing their faith, Jesus told the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."
But some of the scribes were sitting there, thinking to themselves: "Why does He speak like this? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?"
Right away Jesus understood in His spirit that they were thinking like this within themselves and said to them, "Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, pick up your mat, and walk'? But so you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins," He told the paralytic, "I tell you: get up, pick up your mat, and go home."
Immediately he got up, picked up the mat, and went out in front of everyone. As a result, they were all astounded and gave glory to God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!" (Mark 2:1-12 HCSB)

Again, if the people had heard this story, what should they be begging for? Forgiveness of sins, right? Not to see another miracle or proof. Jesus speaks the words of eternal life face-to-face to them and they don't believe. What greater miracle could there be? Imagine Jesus was standing at the front of church, reading the Old Testament lesson this week, how amazing would that be! Your people had waited thousands of years to see the Messiah and all of a sudden he is in your midst; The Truth is teaching you the truth! But they didn't understand and are about to learn a much harsher lesson.

He also said, "I assure you: No prophet is accepted in his hometown. 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. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them-but to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. (Luke 4:24-26 HCSB).

Here is the whole story:
Now Elijah the Tishbite, from the Gilead settlers, said to Ahab, "As the Lord God of Israel lives, I stand before Him, and there will be no dew or rain during these years except by my command!"
Then a revelation from the Lord came to him: "Leave here, turn eastward, and hide yourself at the Wadi Cherith where it enters the Jordan. You are to drink from the wadi. I have commanded the ravens to provide for you there."
So he did what the Lord commanded. Elijah left and lived by the Wadi Cherith where it enters the Jordan. The ravens kept bringing him bread and meat in the morning and in the evening, and he drank from the wadi. After a while, the wadi dried up because there had been no rain in the land.
Then the word of the Lord came to him: "Get up, go to Zarephath that belongs to Sidon and stay there. Look, I have commanded a woman who is a widow to provide for you there." So Elijah got up and went to Zarephath. When he arrived at the city gate, there was a widow woman gathering wood. Elijah called to her and said, "Please bring me a little water in a cup and let me drink." As she went to get it, he called to her and said, "Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand."
But she said, "As the Lord your God lives, I don't have anything baked-only a handful of flour in the jar and a bit of oil in the jug. Just now, I am gathering a couple of sticks in order to go prepare it for myself and my son so we can eat it and die."
Then Elijah said to her, "Don't be afraid; go and do as you have said. But first make me a small loaf from it and bring it out to me. Afterward, you may make some for yourself and your son, for this is what the Lord God of Israel says, 'The flour jar will not become empty and the oil jug will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the surface of the land."
So she proceeded to do according to the word of Elijah. Then the woman, Elijah, and her household ate for many days. The flour jar did not become empty, and the oil jug did not run dry, according to the word of the Lord He had spoken through Elijah.
After this, the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. His illness became very severe until no breath remained in him. She said to Elijah, "Man of God, what do we have in common? Have you come to remind me of my guilt and to kill my son?"
But Elijah said to her, "Give me your son." So he took him from her arms, brought him up to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed. Then he cried out to the Lord and said, "My Lord God, have You also brought tragedy on the widow I am staying with by killing her son?" Then he stretched himself out over the boy three times. He cried out to the Lord and said, "My Lord God, please let this boy's life return to him!"
So the Lord listened to Elijah's voice, and the boy's life returned to him, and he lived. Then Elijah took the boy, brought him down from the upper room into the house, and gave him to his mother. Elijah said, "Look, your son is alive."
Then the woman said to Elijah, "Now I know you are a man of God and the Lord's word from your mouth is true." (1 Kings 17:1-24 HCSB)

If you remember Jesus and the Syrophoenecian woman who we talked about on the retreat - this was the same town as the one Jesus went to when escaping from the craziness in Israel. Jesus' interpretation of why Elijah went there was very insightful. He knows our pain and sorrow and suffering. But it will not all be miraculously removed. The one widow was helped while Israel suffered. The question is do we love and trust God when there are no miracles; do we have faith? Paradoxically, if we do have faith, Jesus insinuates, we may see a miracle. . .though what we are looking for is Christ himself, not a supernatural magic trick.

"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." (Luke 4:27 HCSB)

Naaman, commander of the army for the king of Aram, was a great man in his master's sight and highly regarded because through him, the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man was a brave warrior, but he had a skin disease.
Aram had gone on raids and brought back from the land of Israel a young girl who served Naaman's wife. She said to her mistress, "If only my master would go to the prophet who is in Samaria, he would cure him of his skin disease."
So Naaman went and told his master what the girl from the land of Israel had said. Therefore, the king of Aram said, "Go and I will send a letter [with you] to the king of Israel."
So he went and took with him 750 pounds of silver, 150 pounds of gold, and 10 changes of clothes. He brought the letter to the king of Israel, and it read:

When this letter comes to you, note that I have sent you my servant Naaman for you to cure him of his skin disease.

When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and asked, "Am I God, killing and giving life that this man expects me to cure a man of his skin disease? Think it over and you will see that he is only picking a fight with me."
When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel tore his clothes, he sent [a message] to the king, "Why have you torn your clothes? Have him come to me, and he will know there is a prophet in Israel." So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha's house.
Then Elisha sent him a messenger, who said, "Go wash seven times in the Jordan and your flesh will be restored and you will be clean."
But Naaman got angry and left, saying, "I was telling myself: He will surely come out, stand and call on the name of Yahweh his God, and will wave his hand over the spot and cure the skin disease. Aren't Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?" So he turned and left in a rage.
But his servants approached and said to him, "My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more [should you do it] when he tells you, 'Wash and be clean'?" So Naaman went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, according to the command of the man of God. Then his skin was restored [and became] like the skin of a small boy, and he was clean.
Then Naaman and his whole company went back to the man of God, stood before him, and declared, "I know there's no God in the whole world except in Israel".(2 Kings 5:1-15 HCSB)

The people didn't get the point, just as the people in Elijah and Elisha's time didn't get the point - Love The Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength. Love your neighbor as yourself. If you do, things will be groovy, and if you don't, God will show his power to someone who will prove faithful even if they are not from his "chosen" people. Syrians, Phoenecians, North Koreans, whoever. . .God will seek out and reveal himself to those who would receive his grace.

When they heard this, everyone in the synagogue was enraged. 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. But He passed right through the crowd and went on His way. (Luke 4:28-30 HCSB)

Why were they so ticked? Because Jesus was saying God rejected them and accepted their enemies. It's kinda like Jonah, he preaches to the Ninevites, his mortal enemy; they repent and are spared God's wrath, and Jonah has a hissy fit. How dare God love anyone but me. How dare God show mercy to anyone but me! Me me me, I I I!!

Lets put it another way, imagine if a man stood up in the middle of Bryant Denny stadium and said, "The Bear has rejected Alabama. The Bear has rejected Nick Sabin. He will show his power at Auburn, and you will never win a football game again." People would go nuts. "Them's fightin' words". Don't talk bad about my mama, my truck, my dog, or my football team.

The people tried to do that day essentially what they will accomplish several years later - kill Jesus for treason. He is accusing them of losing God's favor and rather than repent, they would take his blood.

This is not the time, though. Jesus does a Jedi mind trick before they get to the top of the hill and walks away without a scratch. He will lay down his life, but no one can take it without his permission.