82. NAZARETH REJECTS JESUS

"The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor"

Aim

To show how the people of Nazareth rejected Jesus and tried to kill him.

From Cana Jesus decided to return to Nazareth, his home town. Everyone knew him there. They knew him as the son of Joseph, the carpenter. They had heard the stories of his miracles and what he had done in Jerusalem. He had grown up amongst them and they knew him better than anyone else. This, however, was the very thing that made it hard for the people of Nazareth to believe that Jesus could be the Messiah, the Son of God. No doubt they had loved him as a boy, for he was always obedient and courteous. Now, however, he had come back as a teacher and they would not listen.

Luke 4:16-31

JESUS TEACHES IN THE SYNAGOGUE AT NAZARETH: Luke 4:16-22

On the sabbath day Jesus went into the synagogue" as his custom was" (vl6). He had always loved to study the word of God, even as a boy. Now on this sabbath day he stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him and he found the passage where it said, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord..." (vv18-19; see Isa. 61:1-2).

Halfway through the sentence in Isaiah, Jesus stopped reading, rolled up the scroll and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on him, as they waited to hear what he would have to say. The words that he had read pointed forward to Messiah, the one "anointed' 'by God. They told of miracles and happy times and freedom from pain and sorrow. Everyone listened quietly, being amazed at the "gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth" (v22). As he began to speak to them he said: "This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears" (v21). Here was Jesus of Nazareth telling them that he was Messiah, and they said among themselves, "Is not this Joseph's son?" (v22).

How wrong they were. Jesus was indeed the Son of God. To these people of Nazareth, however, he was the carpenter's son, who had grown up in their town with them and their children. Their minds were shut and they would not believe in him. If only they had listened carefully to the words from Isaiah, they would see what sort of man Messiah was - for he was sent to the poor, the brokenhearted, the captives, the blind and the bruised. These people of Nazareth did not even realise that they needed him. So strong were their feelings against him, that he himself was amazed at their unbelief (Mark 6:6).

NO PROPHET IS ACCEPTED IN HIS OWN COUNTRY: Luke 4:23-27

Jesus knew that they would expect him to do "signs and wonders" here as he had done in Capernaum. Yet they would not welcome him. They showed no faith whatever. So "he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief (Matt. 13:58).

"No prophet is accepted in his own country", Jesus went on to tell the people of Nazareth, as they sat there looking hostile and angry (v24). He reminded them of two great prophets of old, who had offered help to faithful Gentiles, because the people of Israel took no notice of the words of God (vv26-27).

(a)There were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when God sent no rain for three and a half years, but Elijah was sent to none of them. Instead, God sent him to Zarephath, a city outside the borders of the land of Israel to a widow woman there, who believed in the God of Israel. The women of Israel had turned from worshipping Yahweh, the true God. So God sent Elijah to a Gentile woman and helped her in the time of famine (see 1 Kings 17:1, 8-16).

(b)There were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, but none of them were cleansed of their leprosy. It was the Syrian captain, Naaman, who was healed (see 2 Kings 5).

The lesson was clear. Elijah and Elisha were great prophets, but they found few in Israel who believed their words. Two Gentiles showed a lot more faith and God was able to help them.

THE JEWS TRY TO KILL JESUS: Luke 4:28-31

When Jesus had finished, "all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath € (v28). They had not understood when he quoted to them from Isaiah 61, but there was no mistake about what he was saying now. They hated Gentiles and were too proud to learn the lesson. His words stung them. So they shut their ears "and rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him to the brow of the hill whereon the city was built, that they might cast him down headlong" (v29). These were the people he had grown up with. These same people now wanted to kill him because of his words.

God was with His beloved son and miraculously delivered him out of their wicked hands. His time had not yet come. So Jesus left Nazareth and made his way to Capernaum.

LESSON FOR US

What a sad thing it is when people are self-righteous. They are sure they are right and will not listen to God's Word. We all need God to help us, but we must be humble enough to listen.

It is easy to do the same as those Jews of Nazareth, to shut our ears when we are rebuked. Sometimes we shut our ears when our parents are pointing out what we have done wrong. They are trying to teach us right ways and we must not be too proud to listen. It is all preparing us to be obedient children of God. God will not work in our lives to guide us and help us if we refuse to listen to His Word as it is spoken by our parents and our teachers.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

When Jesus quoted from Isa. 61:1-2, we saw that he stopped part-way through a sentence. Why did he do this? If you turn to Isaiah you will find that the next words are: "and the day of vengeance of our God". That day of vengeance, when God would punish the wicked, was still to come. The apostle Paul speaks of that day when God will send His mighty angels to take "vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Thess. 1:8; read w 7-10). It will be a terrible day for the wicked, but what a glad day it will be for the righteous, who have loved and obeyed God. Isaiah speaks of that happy time in v3, and Paul writes of it in Rom. 2:7 and 10: "To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, (God will give in that day) eternal life ... glory, honour and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile".

So when Jesus spoke in the synagogue at Nazareth, that "day of vengeance" was a long way off. Meanwhile God had "anointed" him to do a work - to preach to those who would listen. Such people received help and blessings from him while he was among them and those same people will receive life eternal in his Kingdom.

QUESTIONS

Short Answers

1. When Jesus was in the synagogue at Nazareth, what part of the Bible did he read from?

1. When he sat down, what did he say to the people?

2. Who did they think he was?

3. Who was he really?

4. Why did he not do many miracles in Nazareth?

5. Which two great prophets did Jesus remind them of?

7. Why had God sent these prophets to help Gentiles?

8. Why were the people of Nazareth angry when Jesus told them these stories?

9. What did the people of Nazareth try to do to Jesus?

10. Why do we shut our ears sometimes when we are rebuked?

Detailed Answers

7. Tell what happened in the synagogue in Nazareth when Jesus got up to read.

8. Jesus told the people in the synagogue at Nazarath that € no prophet is accepted in his own country € .

1. What two stories did he tell to show what he meant?

2. Why did this make them angry?

3. When he finished speaking what did the Jews do?

Additional Answers

7. (a) What were the next words in Isa. 61:2 which Jesus did not quote?

(b) When will these words be fulfilled?