The Unwelcome Prophet
Luke 4:22-30
January 21, 2018
Last time we met we looked at the beginning of this story,
And we chose not to complete it because
It is such a rich explanation from Jesus as to why He came.
He came to:
• “Preach the gospel to the poor”
• “Proclaim release to captives”
• “Proclaim…recovery of sight to the blind”
• “Set free those who are oppressed”
• “Proclaim the favorable year of the Lord”
In short, Jesus is a Savior for all who are in the most desperate condition.
• The “poor” there referred to literal beggars who cower in the shadows.
• The “captives” referred to criminals who had been captured at spear point.
• The “blind” referred to people who had no ability to find deliverance on their own.
• The “oppressed” referred to broken and bleeding and even people who had been run through.
While there are distinctions to be made in that list,
The more important message relates to what their commonalities
Namely that they all dwell in a HOPELESS SITUATION.
They are helpless, hopeless, condemned, broken, and afraid
They have made such a mess out of life by reason of their sinful decisions
That all they really have to look forward to is a sure and certain judgment.
These AREN’T people who need help in their own efforts,
These are people who are so broken that
They need someone else to do it all for them.
Jesus said those are precisely the type of people that He came to deliver.
• He came to give mercy to the beggars
• He came to forgive the debt of the prisoner
• He came to give discernment to the blind
• He came to give relief to the burdened
IN SHORT JESUS CAME TO SAVE SINNERS.
And if you are convinced that you are one of those sinners, then Jesus is hands down the best news you’ve ever come across.
• Beggars who know they are beggars love mercy
• Prisoners who know they are guilty love pardon
• Blind men who know they are blind love healing
• Burdened men who know they can’t fix their problem love relief
• Sinners who know they face judgment love salvation
The problem comes when beggars or prisoners or blind men or the oppressed or sinners refuse to come to grips with who or what they are.
Perhaps you remember the story of when Jesus healed the actual blind man…
John 9:39-41 “And Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.” Those of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, “We are not blind too, are we?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.”
The explanation of Jesus there makes the point.
• These Pharisees were blind, but didn’t know it.
• It was the goal of Jesus to make them blind (i.e. convince them of their
blindness) that they might run to Him.
And according to Jesus, if they would come to grips with their blindness,
They “would have no sin” (because they would have run to Jesus for forgiveness)
But because they refused to come to grips with what they were
Their “sin remains.”
This is echoed by Jesus in the Beatitudes.
Matthew 5:3-6 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”
The Greek in those cases is in the emphatic indicating that Jesus is saying “theirs alone!”
• Only those who are poor in spirit receive the kingdom.
• Only those who mourn over sin receive comfort
• Only those who are submissive inherit the earth
• Only those who hunger for righteousness receive it
A prerequisite for salvation is a proper acknowledgement of what you are.
Listen to this statement by Jesus.
Mark 2:17 “And hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
• That DOES NOT MEAN that there are some people who are righteous and
don’t need salvation,
• It simply means that there are some who think they are righteous and
who think they don’t need salvation.
That person renders themselves disqualified for salvation
Because Jesus saves sinners and sinners only.
The required mindset that we are referring to here is: HUMILITY
“Humility is when you believe you are what God says you are.”
The proud, by contrast, argue with God about His assessment of them.
And you are aware of the common Old Testament truth.
“God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble”
So long as people refuse to acknowledge their own sin,
They render themselves unable to respond to Jesus.
And that is really WHAT THIS STORY in Luke’s gospel IS ABOUT.
It is about a people so arrogant
That after hearing the greatest revelation Jesus ever made about Himself,
And the greatest offer Jesus ever gave to anyone,
Instead of embracing Him, they tried to throw Him off a cliff.
The scene reeks of pride, it stinks of arrogance and self-sufficiency.
And only serves to further emphasize the point
Luke has been making over and over and over again.
It is not the worldly important that are coming to Christ,
It is the insignificant, down and out, poor, overlooked beggars
That are being saved.
People like:
Zacharias, Elizabeth, Mary, the shepherds, Simeon, and Anna
But the important and noble people like the chief priests
And the people from His own hometown are missing out altogether.
It is an important concept to grasp
If you are to understand who this Jesus really is.
So, we just heard Jesus give the most amazing revelation about Himself.
Luke 4:16-21 “And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. 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 THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.” And He closed the book, 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.”
Now let’s look at this unbelievable response.
4 things
#1 DOUBT EXPRESSED
Luke 4:22
“And all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips; and they were saying, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”
The immediate response of the crowd certainly seems positive.
• “all were speaking well of Him”
• They were “wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips”
What you have here is
A VERY COMMON RESPONSE to the preaching of Jesus.
He was a good preacher and people were blown away by Him.
Remember the end of the Sermon on the Mount?
Matthew 7:28-29 “When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.”
In short, no one ever preached like Jesus.
• Priests and Prophets and Scribes typically said, “Thus sayeth the Lord”
• Jesus shows up and says, “I say unto you…”
His preaching was authoritative
And it blew the mind of those who heard it.
HOWEVER, it didn’t take long for the insinuation of His sermon to set in and then the mood quickly begins to sour.
• Jesus just offered mercy to beggars
• Jesus just offered forgiveness to prisoners
• Jesus just offered sight to blind men
• Jesus just offered release to burdened men
And it is beginning to sink in that HE WAS TALKING TO THEM!!!
And it begins to produce some of those
“Who does He think we are?” type of responses.
And they even articulate as much:
“and they were saying, ‘Is this not Joseph’s son?’”
It quickly moved from “Who does He think we are?”
To “Who does He think He is?”
Who does He think He is to come into our synagogue and insinuate that we are nothing more than oppressed, guilty, blind, beggars?
• They don’t like the insinuation of guilt.
• They don’t like the insinuation of helplessness.
• And they voice it!
It reminds me of the similar response Isaiah received
When he confronted the sin of his contemporaries:
Isaiah 28:9-10 “To whom would He teach knowledge, And to whom would He interpret the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just taken from the breast? “For He says, ‘Order on order, order on order, Line on line, line on line, A little here, a little there.'”
(incidentally, the Hebrew there is all mono-syllables which indicates they were basically responding to Isaiah by saying, “na-na-na-na-na…blah-blah-blah-blah-blah)
The people of Jesus hometown don’t want to hear it either.
Jesus gave the most gracious revelation the world had ever received,
And the people of Nazareth are offended by it.
So we see their doubt expressed
#2 DESIRE EXPOSED
Luke 4:23-24
(23-24) “And He said to them, “No doubt you will quote this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we heard was done at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.'” And He said, “Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown.”
You have to love the ability of Jesus to get right to the point.
The people did not have to tell Him what they were thinking,
He knew exactly what they were thinking.
And basically here it is.
We didn’t call You here to get all preachy, we called You hear to work miracles like You’ve been doing everywhere else!
Have you ever been in a witnessing or evangelistic situation where you confront someone’s sin and offer the gospel only to have them respond, “JUDGE NOT!”
Or, some who are little more versed in the Bible will say, “Why don’t you get the stick out of your own eye before you start judging me!”
That is exactly how Nazareth is responding to Jesus?
“Physician, heal Yourself!”
• We didn’t ask You hear to make some sort of insinuation about how we are sinners and need to be saved,
• We don’t have to hear that from You.
• Why don’t You just focus on Your own problems.
They weren’t interested in facing their sin.
What they wanted was a miraculous show.
“Whatever we heard was done at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.'”
That is what we want.
• Turn water into wine…
• Heal a sick girl…
• Raise someone from the dead…
• Cast out a demon…
But don’t come in here and lecture us about our need for salvation.
And Jesus reveals that this sentiment is precisely why
It has taken Him so long to return to Nazareth.
“Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown.”
It simply means that familiarity breeds contempt.
They didn’t want some kid who grew up before them to come back and start judging them.
What Jesus reveals is that Nazareth was a town of extreme arrogance.
They had no desire to have their sin confronted,
Or to be convicted of their poor condition.
They didn’t think they needed it.
It is the exact attitude that rejects Jesus throughout the gospels
And throughout the world even today.
Doubt Expressed, Desire Exposed
#3 DISAPPOINTMENT EXPLAINED
Luke 4:25-27
“But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land; and yet 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 Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”
What we have is Jesus now giving a very pointed illustration
To explain to the people of Nazareth
Why their selfish desires will not be fulfilled.
They didn’t want their sin confronted, they only wanted miracles.
Jesus appeals to two O.T. stories to reveal why they are out of luck.
THE FIRST DEALS WITH ELIJAH AND THE SIDONIAN WIDOW.
You can find the story in 1 Kings 17,
But I’ll give you a quick rundown of it.
• Elijah was the major prophet of Israel in the days of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel.
• Ahab was noted as the most wicked King Israel ever had,
• It was also noted that he was so because of the influence of pagan Gentile wife (Jezebel) who just happened to be a Sidonian as well.
• When you read the story of 1 Kings 17 along with James 5 you learn that in response to the severe irreverence and idolatry of Israel, Elijah called for a drought on the land.
• The drought (no doubt symbolizing a spiritual drought) was severe and there was no relief for anyone.
• So long as the people of Israel refused to repent, Elijah refused to pray for their relief.
• In the midst of this drought God first supernaturally provided for Elijah by a stream in the wilderness and by feeding him with ravens, but when the brook dried up Elijah actually went into Sidon where he took up residence with a widow there who was preparing to die.
1 Kings 17:8-16 “Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there; behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” So he arose and went to Zarephath, and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks; and he called to her and said, “Please get me a little water in a jar, that I may drink.” As she was going 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 have no bread, only a handful of flour in the bowl and a little oil in the jar; and behold, I am gathering a few sticks that I may go in and prepare for me and my son, that we may eat it and die.” Then Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go, do as you have said, but make me a little bread cake from it first and bring it out to me, and afterward you may make one for yourself and for your son. “For thus says the LORD God of Israel, ‘The bowl of flour shall not be exhausted, nor shall the jar of oil be empty, until the day that the LORD sends rain on the face of the earth.'” So she went and did according to the word of Elijah, and she and he and her household ate for many days. The bowl of flour was not exhausted nor did the jar of oil become empty, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke through Elijah.”
If you keep reading in the story
You will also see that Elijah raised her child from the dead.
So while widows were starving in Israel,
Elijah saved the life of this one Sidonian widow.
The other event Jesus referenced is very similar in nature. It is ELISHA AND THE LEPER NAAMAN
It is found during the ministry of Elijah’s successor Elisha.
You can read about it in 2 Kings 5
• During Elisha’s day the nation which heavily afflicted Israel was the nation of Aram,
• The captain of the army of Aram was a man named Naaman who happened to be a leper.
• After raiding an Israeli village and taking a small girl captive, the girl revealed how there was a prophet in Israel who could heal Naaman of his leprosy.
• Naaman goes to Israel where Elisha tells him to dip in the Jordan river 7 times and he will be cleansed. (Eventually Naaman consents and he is healed)
2 Kings 5:14 “So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child and he was clean.”
And according to Jesus, just like with Elijah and the drought,
There were many lepers in Israel who did not get cleansed,
But this one Aramean leper did.
WHAT COULD THE POINT POSSIBLY BE?
If your immediate response is:
• “Oh those poor widows in Israel that Elijah overlooked.”
• Or “Oh those poor lepers in Israel that Elisha overlooked”
YOU ARE TOTALLY MISUNDERSTANDING THE SITUATION.
In order for that Sidonian widow to be delivered by Elijah
• She had to trust his word,
• Believe in the deliverance of his God
• And obey his command.
She did and so God also delivered her.
In order for Naaman to be cleansed of his leprosy,
• He had to listen to Elisha,
• Do what he said,
• Trust Elisha’s God for deliverance.
He did and so God cleansed him.
THE POINT IS NOT
That these prophets refused mercy on the children of Israel,
But that there were no widows nor lepers in Israel
Who would trust God.
There was not a single widow in Israel who would have obeyed Elijah
There was not a single leper in Israel who would have obeyed Elisha
ONLY A FILTHY SIDONIAN WIDOW
ONLY A WICKED ARAMEAN CAPTAIN
Those filthy, pagan, sinful, hopeless beggars received deliverance,
But the Israelites who refused to humble themselves did not.
NOW DO YOU UNDERSTAND JESUS POINT?
There is only one type of person who receives the benefits of God.
The hopeless, sinful, pathetic, broken, blind, beggars.
And more importantly, those who admit that they are so!
Jesus just revealed to the self-righteous people of Nazareth
That there would be NO DEMONSTRATION OF MIRACLES FOR THEM
Because they lacked the necessary humility and faith.
Matthew’s gospel records it like this:
Matthew 13:53-58 “When Jesus had finished these parables, He departed from there. He came to His hometown and began teaching them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? “Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? “And His sisters, are they not all 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 and in his own household.” And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.”
These people refused to see what they were,
And therefore failed to receive what Jesus offered.
And understand, this was not a new phenomenon,
This is how God has ALWAYS RESPONDED to human pride.
Psalms 34:18 “The LORD is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
Psalms 51:16-17 “For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.”
Isaiah 57:15 “For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, “I dwell on a high and holy place, And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the contrite.”
Isaiah 66:2 “For My hand made all these things, Thus all these things came into being,” declares the LORD. “But to this one I will look, To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.”
God has always been willing to save the broken and the oppressed,
• Even if they were from Sidon, even if they were from Aram.
• Even if they were prostitutes, even if they were tax collectors.
The ones who were not acceptable
Were the ones WHO REFUSED TO SEE their own pathetic condition.
Matthew 21:28-32 “But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in the vineyard.’ “And he answered, ‘I will not’; but afterward he regretted it and went. “The man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered, ‘I will, sir’; but he did not go. “Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you. “For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe him.”
It is the simple fact Jesus revealed over and over and over.
Jesus will save any sinner,
But they must come to grips with their sinfulness.
The people of Nazareth only wanted miracles
And Jesus revealed that they were about to be disappointed.
Doubt Expressed – Desire Exposed – Disappointment Explained
#4 DEPRAVITY EXHIBITED
Luke 4:28-30
Now it is only fair at this point to reiterate that up until this point
We have yet to see or hear anything from the crowd.
All we have heard from them is their statement: “Is this not Joseph’s son?”
All of the inference about them being stubborn and arrogant
Came from Jesus exposing their heart.
The people of Nazareth had every chance to prove Him wrong.
All they had to do was acknowledge their spiritual poverty
And ask Him for salvation.
All they actually did was CONFIRM the depravity that Jesus just exposed.
(28-29) “And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things; and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff.”
Can you see how badly they hated the confrontation of their sinful state?
They were “filled with rage”
It reminds of when Stephen confronted the Jews in the Sanhedrin.
Acts 7:54 “Now when they heard this, they were cut to the quick, and they began gnashing their teeth at him.”
The Bible says that in that instant they actually rush at Stephen,
Drove him out of the city, and stoned him to death right there.
That is exactly what the Jews of Nazareth had in store for Jesus.
“they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which the city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff.”
• They hated the insinuation that they were poor beggars in need of salvation.
• They hated the insinuation that they were like the stubborn Jews of Elijah’s day or the stubborn Jews of Elisha’s day.
• They hated the insinuation that they were less appealing to God than the filthy Sidonians or the filthy Arameans.
And so they set out to murder Jesus.
Of course, Jesus is sovereign and His time had not yet come so:
(30) “But passing through their midst, He went His way.”
Jesus didn’t come to Nazareth to die.
That was planned for later.
Jesus merely came to Nazareth to expose a very important reality.
• It doesn’t matter how religious you are…
• It doesn’t matter how enamored with Jesus you are…
• It doesn’t matter how much you desire supernatural things…
• IF YOU ARE NOT HUMBLE YOU ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE
And again I remind you that
Humility is when you agree that you are what God says you are.
What does God say you are?
Romans 3:10-18 “as it is written, “THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.” “THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING,” “THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS”; “WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS”; “THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD, DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR PATHS, AND THE PATH OF PEACE THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN.” “THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES.”
• I don’t care if you grew up in church…
• I don’t care if you have Christian parents…
• I don’t care if you are heavily involved in community projects…
Jesus visited city after city and village after village.
He spoke to crowd after crowd after crowd.
And I can’t remember one single time
That He ever asked someone for their resume.
The overwhelming story of the gospel writers (especially Luke)
Is that when Jesus came it was the humble who were saved
It was the self-righteous who hated Him.
Again:
Matthew 5:3-6 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”
And so this morning, our message is obvious.
Until we come to grips with what we are before God
We are in no way a candidate for salvation.
You can scream “Judge Not!” until you are blue in the face,
But every time I hear someone say that to me,
All it does is confirm to me how far they are from salvation.
Proverbs 15:12 “A scoffer does not love one who reproves him, He will not go to the wise.”
Can I let you in on a little secret in that regard?
• I’m a believer in Jesus Christ.
• My soul objective is to be like Christ and to honor Him in how I live.
• And because that is my desire, I ABSOLUTELY INVITE YOU TO JUDGE ME!
That doesn’t mean I desire false accusation (like the devil brings)
But if you come up to me and confront sin in my life,
I may not enjoy it, but I will thank God that you have done it.
In fact, I don’t know any true believers who walk in humility that ever get up in arms when a brother comes up and says, “Hey man, you can’t do that.”
Those who are humble, relish the confrontation of their sin
Because their desire is sanctification.
Proverbs 9:7-8 “He who corrects a scoffer gets dishonor for himself, And he who reproves a wicked man gets insults for himself. Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you, Reprove a wise man and he will love you.”
Proverbs 17:10 “A rebuke goes deeper into one who has understanding Than a hundred blows into a fool.”
AND THAT IS THE UNMISTAKABLE POINT FROM LUKE.
The people of Nazareth wanted nothing to do with Jesus
Because they did not want to embrace how sinful and wretched they were.
AND NOW WE BRING THE POINT TO OUR OWN HEARTS.
Are you willing to own up to your sinful condition?
If you say “yes” then I have to ask you,
How you respond when people do expose it?
• Are you quick to reply, “Don’t judge me!”?
• Are you quick to say, “Physician, heal yourself!” (Take the log out of your
own eye)
Because if you are, it may be that YOU ONLY THINK
You own up to your sinful condition,
BUT IN REALITY you are still filled with pride and arrogance.
Salvation must crush your pride because God is opposed to the proud.
And if you are in agreement with God about your spiritual condition,
Then GOOD NEWS!
Jesus came to give grace to the poor, forgiveness to the prisoners,
Sight to the blind, and rest to the oppressed.