May 25 - The Rejection of Jesus Christ at Nazareth
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Luke 4:16-31

 

  1. The time.
    1. After his temptation, where he was accepted by God the Father, and approved by the Holly Spirit of God.
    2. Christ was accepted in other places.
      1. Verse 14-15 – He was accepted at Galilee.
      2. Verse 31-32 – He was accepted at Capernaum.
    3. The scripture he read.
      1. Quoted from Isaiah 61:1-2, stopping after the first phrase of verse 2.
        1. When Jesus came to die for sinners, he fulfilled Isaiah 61:1-2a.
        2. When Jesus comes again, he will fulfill Isaiah 61:2b-3.
      2. Verse 22 implies Jesus spoke other words that are not written here.
        1. It was hard for them to believe his words, because they knew his background.
        2. It is often hard to really hear the words of a speaker and the truth of God’s word being preached if the personality of the speaker gets in the way.

     

  2. Why wasn’t he accepted in Nazareth?
    1. Verse 23 – They wanted to see the same kind of miracles performed in Capernaum.
      1. Verse 20 indicates they were all very anxious to hear what he had to say, expecting some great thing.
      2. Verse 22 – all declared and wondered at his gracious words, but they believed none of them.
    2. Verse 24 – No prophet is accepted in his own country.
      1. What kind of preacher/pastor do you want?
      2. Some folks like a loud preacher, while some folks want a quiet preacher.
      3. Some folks want a dignified preacher, while others want a "spitting" preacher.
      4. We should want one who preaches God’s eternal truths, regardless of his mannerism.
    3. He preached contrary to their personal beliefs.
      1. He preached God’s blessings on those not Jews, or of the nation of Israel.
        1. Compare the different reaction of verse 22 to verse 28.
        2. As long as Christ was preaching "good" doctrine (in the ears of the listeners), he was accepted, but when he preached against their personal beliefs, he was not accepted.
      2. The widow woman who fed Elijah.
        1. This occurred when Israel rebelled against God.
        2. Israel accepted Elijah as a prophet of God, but rejected his being fed by a non-Israelite.
      3. The healing of Naaman, the Syrian.
        1. This is the only recorded healing of a leper.
        2. The little Israelite servant girl who declared the prophet of God could heal her master had no scripture to rely on, only her faith in God that he could do anything.
    4. If Christ preached to us, as he preached to Nazareth, would we accept him?
      1. Comparing the work of our church (IBC) with
        1. Answers in Genesis.
        2. Gideons who pass out Bibles and are very well known for their work.
        3. Organizations who translate the Bible into various languages.
      2. While we might agree that all these organizations do a good work, they are certainly not Baptist.
        1. We would proudly proclaim these organizations will receive no reward for all their labor, yet we go about our daily lives, not even thinking that, as Baptists, we should be doing what they are doing.
        2. We, as Baptist, have done as Israel did, and we would probably get angry at Christ when he preached to us "home folks" about our deficiencies.
      3. Matthew 28:18-20 – Baptists have the assurance of the all encompassing power of God, and the Great Commission, yet "sit on it", just as Israel "sat" on the oracles of God.

     

  3. Their reaction is severe.
    1. They were all filled with wrath.
    2. They attempted to kill him, but failed because Christ had other work to do.