Now the "fun part" of ministry begins for Jesus. His baptism was great, of course, with The Father's endorsement from on high. Fighting the devil couldn't have been too much fun. He was exhausted enough to have angels help him at the end of the fight. Now, though, Jesus gets to do the part that preacher/teachers enjoy the most. He gets to teach! His teaching must have been top notch, too, since Luke tell us that "everyone praised him."
He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." (Luke 4:16-21 NIV)
Matthew isn't the only one who points out Old Testament Scriptures fulfilled in the life of Jesus. Here Luke shares a teaching where Jesus himself claims to be the Savior/Messiah. He is claiming to be the one with the Spirit of the Lord on him. He is proclaiming the good news to the poor. This is great news for the people listening to him that day, because they are in oppression under the Roman government. They already went into captivity, returned home, and have remained in captivity or oppression for over 500 years now. They are ready to be set free.
All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. "Isn't this Joseph's son?" they asked. Jesus said to them, "Surely you will quote this proverb to me: 'Physician, heal yourself!' And you will tell me, 'Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.'" "Truly I tell you," he continued, "no prophet is accepted in his hometown. I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah's time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed--only Naaman the Syrian." (Luke 4:22-27 NIV)
It didn't take long, though, before the people started to change their minds. Oh, don't get me wrong. They still wanted to be set free from the current oppression of the Roman Empire. Their problem wasn't with what the teacher was saying. Their problem was with the person who was saying it. Jesus was just a kid who grew up in their neighborhood. They watched him grow up. He was just like any other child in the neighborhood. Now he's saying that he's the Savior/Messiah? How can that be?
To make things worse, he anticipates their doubt. Jesus doesn't try to convince them with a cool miracle like he was performing in other towns all around the region. Instead, he simply says that he is not "called" to perform miracles here at home. Then he talks about how the prophet Elijah wasn't called to perform miracles at home either. Who does this kid think he is? He's no Savior/Messiah. He's just a snot-nosed brat that has gotten too full of himself.
All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way. (Luke 4:28-30 NIV)
How about you? Do you have things that get in the way of your believing that Jesus is the Savior/Messiah? Do you get indignant when he won't do miracles for you the same way he did miracles for others? What would you do if you met Jesus today? Would you listen to his teachings? Would you praise him, ignore him, or taunt him? Would you try to throw him off a cliff?
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