Luke 4:14-4:44
Last week we looked at Jesus’ temptation in the desert. Recall that Jesus spent 40 days without food and then was tempted by Satan in three ways. First, He was tempted to use His power as God to turn the stones into bread and satisfy His intense hunger. Second, He was tempted to worship Satan in exchange for having total power over all the kingdoms of the world, to do with as He pleased, even to do things for their good. And third, He was tempted to throw Himself down from a high place at the Temple so that His angels would protect Him. Each of these temptations was ultimately about having Jesus do what He would want rather than what God the Father would want. But Jesus, filled with the Spirit, rejected these temptations and stayed true to His Father. Let’s pick up the account with Luke 4:14.
Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through the whole countryside. He taught in their synagogues, and 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. And He stood up to read. – Luke 4:14-16
Once again Luke indicates that Jesus does what He does in the power of the Holy Spirit. Among other things I take this to mean that Jesus goes where the Spirit leads Him. He is back in Galilee; His period of testing in the desert is over. What is Jesus doing in Galilee? He is going from synagogue to synagogue, teaching on the Sabbath days. His messages are appreciated, and He is beginning to get a favorable reputation. Then He goes back to His home town of Nazareth, and once again, on the Sabbath day, He goes into the synagogue and stands up to read.
There is something important about going back to your home town. Have you noticed that politicians usually announce that they are running for whatever office they are running for from their home towns? Imagine you are one of the people of Nazareth. Jesus is here, you are here, and you can just tell that something big is about to happen. You can sense it in the air. And now, the crowd becomes quiet and Jesus stands up to read.
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 preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." – Luke 4:17-19
Jesus is invited to read from the scroll of Isaiah. He unrolls it to what we call chapter 61, and He reads a rather short section: The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. What is it like to hear Jesus read these words? Does He emphasize the word me?
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, and He began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." 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. – Luke 4:20-22
Do you feel the incredible tension that is there before Jesus begins to speak? All eyes are fastened on Him. What is He going to say? And then He says something that is just astounding to hear, if you have ears to hear it. “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” When is it fulfilled? Today – right now. Where is it fulfilled? In your hearing – right here.
Now did Jesus say more at this point? Does the “He began” mean to imply that Jesus said other things before the congregation spoke well of Him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from His lips? Did Jesus explain how that scripture was being fulfilled today in their hearing?
We don’t know. My suspicion is that He did say more, and what He said was indeed “gracious” – filled with grace. Let us discuss how we can see that scripture fulfilled in Christ.
“The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
Why is the Spirit of the Lord on Jesus? Because He has been anointed, chosen as God’s Messiah, or promised One, to be the one who is to preach good news. This good news, or gospel, is to the poor. This could refer to those lacking in possessions, but I think it especially implies those who are poor in heart. If you are one who feels like you are poor in heart, this is good news. If you feel you are fine and don’t think there is anything wrong with you, then this is irrelevant. I think of people who know they need help when I think of the poor in heart. I don’t know about you, but I know I need help. I know that there is something wrong with me, and I don’t just mean my cough. I know that my heart, apart from Christ, is desperately wicked. I don’t even like the “me” that was there before I came to faith in Christ. The good news to the poor is that there is help. Through faith in Jesus, we are made rich in heart. Through faith in Jesus, we all get heart transplants – I find there in my heart a new “me” that is not really me, but Christ. And this “me” I really like. To the degree that my old “me” doesn’t get in the way I find that I love this new “me.” This is indeed good news!
And Jesus has been sent to proclaim freedom for the prisoners. Are you a prisoner? I am; that is to say, I was. I was a prisoner to my own patterns of sin. We all become prisoners to our patterns of sin. I have in the past mentioned a book entitled “Cobwebs and Cables” – perhaps my favorite thing about this book is the title. Sins start out like cobwebs but as they are repeated, begin to hold more and more strongly onto us until they become like steel cables. Any sin can make you prisoner – from the sins of addiction, to lust, to anger, to pride – anything. If you are a prisoner to sin, Jesus comes to proclaim freedom to you. You are hereby free, He declares! Now sometimes it is a process to learn how to live as free men and women; like the Israelites, we can tend to want to go back to Egypt. But we have been freed, and through growing in relationship with God and, in many cases, with each other, we can learn how to live in our freedom.
And Jesus has been sent to proclaim recovery of sight for the blind. Are you blind? I am; that is to say, I was. What does it mean, spiritually speaking, to be blind? I think it means to become unable to see or understand spiritual truths. We can become hardened to spiritual things, jaded, skeptical, cynical. We can become bitter, unable to believe the best of others, including God. But Jesus has come to give us back our sight, to take away our jadedness and skepticism and cynicism, to make our hearts rejoice again in Him, to replace our hard hearts with softened hearts full of love. He has come to give us eyes of faith.
And Jesus has come to release the oppressed. Can we be oppressed? You bet. We can be oppressed by people, by situations, and by demonic forces. We can be tempted, just as we saw Jesus was last week. All of this is oppression. And Jesus comes to release the oppressed. With regards to temptation, we know that He will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear. We know that He will provide a way out, a way of release. Praise God that Jesus comes to release the oppressed.
And finally, Jesus has come to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. What does this mean? This is a reference to the Old Testament Year of Jubilee. The Year of Jubilee is described in Leviticus 25. It is to occur every 50 years. In the Year of Jubilee, all debts are forgiven. You couldn’t actually buy land from another tribe – you could in effect only lease it until the Year of Jubilee, at which time it would return to the real owner. If someone became poor and needed money, he could sell his land, but it would be returned to him in the Year of Jubilee. This is a powerful symbol for the gospel. We, each of us, have become poor because of our sin. By willfully sinning, we have in effect sold our birthright and become debtors to Satan. There is nothing we can do in our own strength or ability to get out of this debt. But Jesus proclaims that it is the Year of Jubilee! He Himself redeems us and by His sacrifice, pays for our debt so that our debts are forgiven. In all these amazing ways, this powerful scripture is completely fulfilled in Christ. Coming back to the passage:
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.
Did the people of Jesus’ hometown get all this? I don’t think so. I am not sure they really heard Him at all! This is simply my impression of what may be going on here: I picture the congregation smiling, impressed not with the content of what Jesus is saying, but simply impressed by how Jesus is “all grown up” now. “Hometown boy does good.” They were proud of Him! Is this the kind of response Jesus’ message demands? Certainly not! To quote a commentary (Joel Green), “It is as though at this juncture they (the townspeople) have filtered His message through their restrictive presumptions about Him.” I believe this is the way to take the question, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” They are asking, “This is our local boy, right? Just the son of the carpenter! He talks like one of those big city rabbis!”
The world is filled with people like this today. You can tell them the gospel, and they smile and nod, but they somehow don’t think it applies to them. They would say, “That’s great if it works for you.” But if you persist on the topic for too long, or make it personal, they will start to become offended. They will say things like, “I think religion should be a private matter.” Behind your back they will make fun of you, saying to their friends, “Since when did he become a religious nut?” These can be people who go to church every Sunday, but just like the townspeople, they have managed to filter out the message of the gospel.
I remember when I became a believer while in graduate school, the first Christmas break since I had become a believer I went home to California and visited an old friend from my undergraduate days and had lunch with her. I had known she had always gone to church, and in my naiveté assumed that she had to be a Christian. As I told her all about how I had become a Christian, I eventually started to notice that she wasn’t really excited with me about it. At first she had remained polite, but eventually it was clear she was getting really uncomfortable. With a shock I began to realize that maybe she wasn’t a Christian at all. I have not kept in touch with her, but as far as I know, nothing ever changed with her. What is ironic is that she eventually became a missionary with her church – not to share the gospel, but to do social welfare in a third-world country.
Jesus was sensitive to how He was being received. Today, in the business world, when you find yourself in such a situation, what is the advice? Work with people. Try to build bridges of understanding. Establish a win-win situation where you are. Was this Jesus’ approach? No. Jesus knew that were they were, was dead in their sins. Their only hope was to be shaken out of their filtered presumptions.
Jesus said to them, "Surely you will quote this proverb to me: 'Physician, heal yourself! Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.' I tell you the truth," He continued, "No prophet is accepted in his hometown. – Luke 4:23-24
What is Jesus getting at here? He is saying that people are going to be skeptical of Him. They aren’t going to want Him to heal them because they are sick, but because they want to see Him do His “tricks” here at home. They don’t want to be healed themselves, but they want to see a good show of healing. And Jesus in effect says, “No, I’m not going to put on a show for you.”
He goes on to say that this is how it has always been. No prophet is accepted in his hometown, because the hometown people refuse to see the prophet as a prophet of God, but instead continue to put on their blinders and think of him as their “hometown boy.” Jesus then goes on to give two examples from scripture.
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 4:25-27
The widow of Zarephath is discussed in I Kings 17. She is the one whose jar of flour and jug of oil never was used up. It is interesting that later in the chapter her son dies, and through Elijah’s fervent prayer, is brought back to life. The Syrian Naaman is discussed in II Kings 5. It is also an interesting story. Naaman had to give up his pride and simply wash himself 7 times in the Jordan river to be cleansed. Elisha refused payment, but his servant Gehazi ignored Elisha’s wishes and obtained payment from Naaman anyway. Gehazi was punished by contracting Naaman’s leprosy.
The point Jesus is making with these two examples is that there is a pattern. First, a situation arose in which the people of Israel had need. Second, the prophet was sent to people outside Israel. And third, the people the prophet was sent to were not just outsiders, but people a “hometown boy” would call an outcast. Jesus is saying that He will not go to put on a hometown show, but instead will go to people the hometown folks will find patently offensive.
We see this message echoed later in other passages. When Jesus says He does not come to healthy, but the sick, He is saying the same thing. So what does the crowd think about all this?
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 down the cliff. But He walked right through the crowd and went on his way. – Luke 4:28-30
Isn’t that a remarkable change? Jesus had certainly struck a nerve. It is clear that the townspeople only liked Jesus as long as He stayed “in His place.” No “son of Joseph” is going to tell them that He isn’t going to dance for them! Who does this Jesus think He is, anyway? He needs to stop thinking of Himself as too good for them! How dare He!
Again, we can see this reaction to the gospel today. This is why, even if you tell people that Jesus has paid the price for sin, people become angry if you tell them that, apart from Him, they are headed to Hell. “Who do you think you are?” We should understand that when we point out sin, even indirectly (and what Jesus said was pretty indirect), we too may experience rejection and anger just as Jesus did.
I also wonder one thing from this event. Here the people are about to throw Jesus off a cliff! Does this sound familiar? It is just like Satan’s third temptation we saw last week! Was Jesus again tempted to let them throw Him down? After all, just as Satan had said, quoting scripture, “He will command His angels concerning You, to protect You,” and “On their hands they will bear You up, so that You will not dash Your foot against a stone.” Certainly, if Jesus had done this, the townspeople would have been impressed and amazed. But again, Jesus followed the will of His Father and did not put the Lord to the test.
Then He went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath began to teach the people. They were amazed at His teaching, because His message had authority. – Luke 4:31-32
Now we are given a glimpse of frequent aspects of Jesus’ life during His period of active ministry on earth. He now teaches at Capernaum.
In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an evil spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice, "Ha! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!" "Be quiet!" Jesus said sternly. "Come out of him!" Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him. – Luke 4:33-35
What is happening here is one fulfillment of the passage Jesus read back in the synagogue in his home town. He is releasing the oppressed. Now in our “modern” world we may be uncomfortable with the thought that there are demon-possessed people out there, but that is simply the result of listening too much to our atheistic-worldview world. The spiritual reality is that there is a wide range of demonic activity in our world, from demonic suggestion, to demonic influence, to demonic strongholds, to demonic possession. In the parts of the world that have not embraced the modern western worldview, incidents of demon activity, including possession, are more common. For just one example, I have been told a number of astounding stories from the missionary family I visited several years ago in Mongolia. This family comes from America, and it took some getting used to the reality of what he was seeing there.
Why is this? I think the answer is pretty simple. Satan and his demons are not stupid. They will use any means that work to keep people away from coming into a saving relationship with Christ. In our culture, evidence of the supernatural is as likely to drive people to Christ as it is to drive them away, so it is more prudent to use stealth, you could say, to remain a “sleeper cell.”
In fact, this may have been the case in our incident in Luke 4. This demon-possessed man was where? In the synagogue! This is not where I would expect a demon-possessed person to hang out. It could well be that until the demon saw Jesus, he was working quietly and subtly in the life of the person he was attached to. It was only the presence of Jesus that so shocked the demon that he blew his cover.
Now the other thing that strikes me about this passage is the nature of Jesus’ response. “Be quiet!” “Come out!” Short commands. Does this remind you of anything? It reminds me of how you talk to young children! Indeed, I think this exactly what Jesus thinks of demons – they are like immature, badly behaved children in need of discipline!
Now, there is some evidence that rabbis sometimes attempted to kick out demons as well. But their approach was much different. Typically there would be lots of prayers, complicated rituals, and so on. How very different from the simple, direct approach of Jesus!
All the people were amazed and said to each other, "What is this teaching? With authority and power He gives orders to evil spirits and they come out!" And the news about Him spread throughout the surrounding area. – Luke 4:36-37
And you can see that the people were also impressed with how Jesus treated the demons like disobedient children.
Jesus left the synagogue and went to the home of Simon. Now Simon's mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Jesus to help her. So He bent over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up at once and began to wait on them. – Luke 4:38-39
We will learn more about Simon next week. The main thing I want to point out here is that it says that Jesus “rebuked” the fever. This Greek word is the same word Jesus used to rebuke the demon in verse 35. (In the NIV it is translated “said sternly.”) This same word is used when Jesus rebukes the wind and the waves in the raging storm on the Sea of Galilee (Mark 4). When you think about it, this is an amazing thing. We are given a brief glimpse of the true nature of Jesus as fully God. Only God Himself can speak to His creation and tell it what to do. This applies to all of His creation, including fevers.
When the sun was setting, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying His hands on each one, He healed them. Moreover, demons came out of many people, shouting, "You are the Son of God!" But He rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew He was the Christ. – Luke 4:40-41
How long did this go on? We don’t know. It might have gone on most of the night. Jesus continued to fulfill Isaiah 61.
At daybreak Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for Him and when they came to where He was, they tried to keep Him from leaving them. But He said, "I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent." And He kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea. – Luke 4:42-44
Here we see that Jesus knew His mission, and He stayed with it. His mission was not just to heal everyone in one village, but to go throughout the region, fulfilling Isaiah 61. The word “sent” in Greek is apostello, from which we get the word “apostle,” which literally means “sent one.” As it said in Isaiah 61, “He has sent Me…”
When I think about applications of today’s passage, I am drawn back to the Isaiah passage. First and foremost, we should be receiving all that Jesus was sent to offer. If you are (spiritually) poor, have you joyfully accepted the good news of the salvation found in Jesus? If you feel you are a prisoner to sin and compulsive habits, have you found freedom in Jesus? If you feel like you are spiritually blind, are finding recovery of your sight in Jesus? If you feel oppressed, are you finding release in Jesus? And have you discovered the truth of Jubilee in your life? Do you understand that your debts are forgiven in Jesus, all of them?
And second, we should be ministering the truth of Isaiah 61 to those hurting people in the world around us. The same Spirit that sent Jesus sends you. We too should be proclaiming good news to the poor, freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, releasing the oppressed, and proclaiming that jubilee that is found in Christ and Christ alone. Let us be Christ’s hands and feet and mouth in the coming week.
And finally, we should not fear rejection as we minister. Just as Jesus experienced a rejection of His message, at times so will we. It comes with the territory.
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. – I Cor. 1:18
Last week we looked at Jesus’ temptation in the desert. Recall that Jesus spent 40 days without food and then was tempted by Satan in three ways. First, He was tempted to use His power as God to turn the stones into bread and satisfy His intense hunger. Second, He was tempted to worship Satan in exchange for having total power over all the kingdoms of the world, to do with as He pleased, even to do things for their good. And third, He was tempted to throw Himself down from a high place at the Temple so that His angels would protect Him. Each of these temptations was ultimately about having Jesus do what He would want rather than what God the Father would want. But Jesus, filled with the Spirit, rejected these temptations and stayed true to His Father. Let’s pick up the account with Luke 4:14.Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through the whole countryside. He taught in their synagogues, and 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. And He stood up to read. – Luke 4:14-16
Once again Luke indicates that Jesus does what He does in the power of the Holy Spirit. Among other things I take this to mean that Jesus goes where the Spirit leads Him. He is back in Galilee; His period of testing in the desert is over. What is Jesus doing in Galilee? He is going from synagogue to synagogue, teaching on the Sabbath days. His messages are appreciated, and He is beginning to get a favorable reputation. Then He goes back to His home town of Nazareth, and once again, on the Sabbath day, He goes into the synagogue and stands up to read.
There is something important about going back to your home town. Have you noticed that politicians usually announce that they are running for whatever office they are running for from their home towns? Imagine you are one of the people of Nazareth. Jesus is here, you are here, and you can just tell that something big is about to happen. You can sense it in the air. And now, the crowd becomes quiet and Jesus stands up to read.
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 preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." – Luke 4:17-19
Jesus is invited to read from the scroll of Isaiah. He unrolls it to what we call chapter 61, and He reads a rather short section: The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. What is it like to hear Jesus read these words? Does He emphasize the word me?
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, and He began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." 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. – Luke 4:20-22
Do you feel the incredible tension that is there before Jesus begins to speak? All eyes are fastened on Him. What is He going to say? And then He says something that is just astounding to hear, if you have ears to hear it. “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” When is it fulfilled? Today – right now. Where is it fulfilled? In your hearing – right here.
Now did Jesus say more at this point? Does the “He began” mean to imply that Jesus said other things before the congregation spoke well of Him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from His lips? Did Jesus explain how that scripture was being fulfilled today in their hearing?
We don’t know. My suspicion is that He did say more, and what He said was indeed “gracious” – filled with grace. Let us discuss how we can see that scripture fulfilled in Christ.
“The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
Why is the Spirit of the Lord on Jesus? Because He has been anointed, chosen as God’s Messiah, or promised One, to be the one who is to preach good news. This good news, or gospel, is to the poor. This could refer to those lacking in possessions, but I think it especially implies those who are poor in heart. If you are one who feels like you are poor in heart, this is good news. If you feel you are fine and don’t think there is anything wrong with you, then this is irrelevant. I think of people who know they need help when I think of the poor in heart. I don’t know about you, but I know I need help. I know that there is something wrong with me, and I don’t just mean my cough. I know that my heart, apart from Christ, is desperately wicked. I don’t even like the “me” that was there before I came to faith in Christ. The good news to the poor is that there is help. Through faith in Jesus, we are made rich in heart. Through faith in Jesus, we all get heart transplants – I find there in my heart a new “me” that is not really me, but Christ. And this “me” I really like. To the degree that my old “me” doesn’t get in the way I find that I love this new “me.” This is indeed good news!
And Jesus has been sent to proclaim freedom for the prisoners. Are you a prisoner? I am; that is to say, I was. I was a prisoner to my own patterns of sin. We all become prisoners to our patterns of sin. I have in the past mentioned a book entitled “Cobwebs and Cables” – perhaps my favorite thing about this book is the title. Sins start out like cobwebs but as they are repeated, begin to hold more and more strongly onto us until they become like steel cables. Any sin can make you prisoner – from the sins of addiction, to lust, to anger, to pride – anything. If you are a prisoner to sin, Jesus comes to proclaim freedom to you. You are hereby free, He declares! Now sometimes it is a process to learn how to live as free men and women; like the Israelites, we can tend to want to go back to Egypt. But we have been freed, and through growing in relationship with God and, in many cases, with each other, we can learn how to live in our freedom.
And Jesus has been sent to proclaim recovery of sight for the blind. Are you blind? I am; that is to say, I was. What does it mean, spiritually speaking, to be blind? I think it means to become unable to see or understand spiritual truths. We can become hardened to spiritual things, jaded, skeptical, cynical. We can become bitter, unable to believe the best of others, including God. But Jesus has come to give us back our sight, to take away our jadedness and skepticism and cynicism, to make our hearts rejoice again in Him, to replace our hard hearts with softened hearts full of love. He has come to give us eyes of faith.
And Jesus has come to release the oppressed. Can we be oppressed? You bet. We can be oppressed by people, by situations, and by demonic forces. We can be tempted, just as we saw Jesus was last week. All of this is oppression. And Jesus comes to release the oppressed. With regards to temptation, we know that He will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear. We know that He will provide a way out, a way of release. Praise God that Jesus comes to release the oppressed.
And finally, Jesus has come to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. What does this mean? This is a reference to the Old Testament Year of Jubilee. The Year of Jubilee is described in Leviticus 25. It is to occur every 50 years. In the Year of Jubilee, all debts are forgiven. You couldn’t actually buy land from another tribe – you could in effect only lease it until the Year of Jubilee, at which time it would return to the real owner. If someone became poor and needed money, he could sell his land, but it would be returned to him in the Year of Jubilee. This is a powerful symbol for the gospel. We, each of us, have become poor because of our sin. By willfully sinning, we have in effect sold our birthright and become debtors to Satan. There is nothing we can do in our own strength or ability to get out of this debt. But Jesus proclaims that it is the Year of Jubilee! He Himself redeems us and by His sacrifice, pays for our debt so that our debts are forgiven. In all these amazing ways, this powerful scripture is completely fulfilled in Christ. Coming back to the passage:
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.
Did the people of Jesus’ hometown get all this? I don’t think so. I am not sure they really heard Him at all! This is simply my impression of what may be going on here: I picture the congregation smiling, impressed not with the content of what Jesus is saying, but simply impressed by how Jesus is “all grown up” now. “Hometown boy does good.” They were proud of Him! Is this the kind of response Jesus’ message demands? Certainly not! To quote a commentary (Joel Green), “It is as though at this juncture they (the townspeople) have filtered His message through their restrictive presumptions about Him.” I believe this is the way to take the question, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” They are asking, “This is our local boy, right? Just the son of the carpenter! He talks like one of those big city rabbis!”
The world is filled with people like this today. You can tell them the gospel, and they smile and nod, but they somehow don’t think it applies to them. They would say, “That’s great if it works for you.” But if you persist on the topic for too long, or make it personal, they will start to become offended. They will say things like, “I think religion should be a private matter.” Behind your back they will make fun of you, saying to their friends, “Since when did he become a religious nut?” These can be people who go to church every Sunday, but just like the townspeople, they have managed to filter out the message of the gospel.
I remember when I became a believer while in graduate school, the first Christmas break since I had become a believer I went home to California and visited an old friend from my undergraduate days and had lunch with her. I had known she had always gone to church, and in my naiveté assumed that she had to be a Christian. As I told her all about how I had become a Christian, I eventually started to notice that she wasn’t really excited with me about it. At first she had remained polite, but eventually it was clear she was getting really uncomfortable. With a shock I began to realize that maybe she wasn’t a Christian at all. I have not kept in touch with her, but as far as I know, nothing ever changed with her. What is ironic is that she eventually became a missionary with her church – not to share the gospel, but to do social welfare in a third-world country.
Jesus was sensitive to how He was being received. Today, in the business world, when you find yourself in such a situation, what is the advice? Work with people. Try to build bridges of understanding. Establish a win-win situation where you are. Was this Jesus’ approach? No. Jesus knew that were they were, was dead in their sins. Their only hope was to be shaken out of their filtered presumptions.
Jesus said to them, "Surely you will quote this proverb to me: 'Physician, heal yourself! Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.' I tell you the truth," He continued, "No prophet is accepted in his hometown. – Luke 4:23-24
What is Jesus getting at here? He is saying that people are going to be skeptical of Him. They aren’t going to want Him to heal them because they are sick, but because they want to see Him do His “tricks” here at home. They don’t want to be healed themselves, but they want to see a good show of healing. And Jesus in effect says, “No, I’m not going to put on a show for you.”
He goes on to say that this is how it has always been. No prophet is accepted in his hometown, because the hometown people refuse to see the prophet as a prophet of God, but instead continue to put on their blinders and think of him as their “hometown boy.” Jesus then goes on to give two examples from scripture.
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 4:25-27
The widow of Zarephath is discussed in I Kings 17. She is the one whose jar of flour and jug of oil never was used up. It is interesting that later in the chapter her son dies, and through Elijah’s fervent prayer, is brought back to life. The Syrian Naaman is discussed in II Kings 5. It is also an interesting story. Naaman had to give up his pride and simply wash himself 7 times in the Jordan river to be cleansed. Elisha refused payment, but his servant Gehazi ignored Elisha’s wishes and obtained payment from Naaman anyway. Gehazi was punished by contracting Naaman’s leprosy.
The point Jesus is making with these two examples is that there is a pattern. First, a situation arose in which the people of Israel had need. Second, the prophet was sent to people outside Israel. And third, the people the prophet was sent to were not just outsiders, but people a “hometown boy” would call an outcast. Jesus is saying that He will not go to put on a hometown show, but instead will go to people the hometown folks will find patently offensive.
We see this message echoed later in other passages. When Jesus says He does not come to healthy, but the sick, He is saying the same thing. So what does the crowd think about all this?
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 down the cliff. But He walked right through the crowd and went on his way. – Luke 4:28-30
Isn’t that a remarkable change? Jesus had certainly struck a nerve. It is clear that the townspeople only liked Jesus as long as He stayed “in His place.” No “son of Joseph” is going to tell them that He isn’t going to dance for them! Who does this Jesus think He is, anyway? He needs to stop thinking of Himself as too good for them! How dare He!
Again, we can see this reaction to the gospel today. This is why, even if you tell people that Jesus has paid the price for sin, people become angry if you tell them that, apart from Him, they are headed to Hell. “Who do you think you are?” We should understand that when we point out sin, even indirectly (and what Jesus said was pretty indirect), we too may experience rejection and anger just as Jesus did.
I also wonder one thing from this event. Here the people are about to throw Jesus off a cliff! Does this sound familiar? It is just like Satan’s third temptation we saw last week! Was Jesus again tempted to let them throw Him down? After all, just as Satan had said, quoting scripture, “He will command His angels concerning You, to protect You,” and “On their hands they will bear You up, so that You will not dash Your foot against a stone.” Certainly, if Jesus had done this, the townspeople would have been impressed and amazed. But again, Jesus followed the will of His Father and did not put the Lord to the test.
Then He went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath began to teach the people. They were amazed at His teaching, because His message had authority. – Luke 4:31-32
Now we are given a glimpse of frequent aspects of Jesus’ life during His period of active ministry on earth. He now teaches at Capernaum.
In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an evil spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice, "Ha! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!" "Be quiet!" Jesus said sternly. "Come out of him!" Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him. – Luke 4:33-35
What is happening here is one fulfillment of the passage Jesus read back in the synagogue in his home town. He is releasing the oppressed. Now in our “modern” world we may be uncomfortable with the thought that there are demon-possessed people out there, but that is simply the result of listening too much to our atheistic-worldview world. The spiritual reality is that there is a wide range of demonic activity in our world, from demonic suggestion, to demonic influence, to demonic strongholds, to demonic possession. In the parts of the world that have not embraced the modern western worldview, incidents of demon activity, including possession, are more common. For just one example, I have been told a number of astounding stories from the missionary family I visited several years ago in Mongolia. This family comes from America, and it took some getting used to the reality of what he was seeing there.
Why is this? I think the answer is pretty simple. Satan and his demons are not stupid. They will use any means that work to keep people away from coming into a saving relationship with Christ. In our culture, evidence of the supernatural is as likely to drive people to Christ as it is to drive them away, so it is more prudent to use stealth, you could say, to remain a “sleeper cell.”
In fact, this may have been the case in our incident in Luke 4. This demon-possessed man was where? In the synagogue! This is not where I would expect a demon-possessed person to hang out. It could well be that until the demon saw Jesus, he was working quietly and subtly in the life of the person he was attached to. It was only the presence of Jesus that so shocked the demon that he blew his cover.
Now the other thing that strikes me about this passage is the nature of Jesus’ response. “Be quiet!” “Come out!” Short commands. Does this remind you of anything? It reminds me of how you talk to young children! Indeed, I think this exactly what Jesus thinks of demons – they are like immature, badly behaved children in need of discipline!
Now, there is some evidence that rabbis sometimes attempted to kick out demons as well. But their approach was much different. Typically there would be lots of prayers, complicated rituals, and so on. How very different from the simple, direct approach of Jesus!
All the people were amazed and said to each other, "What is this teaching? With authority and power He gives orders to evil spirits and they come out!" And the news about Him spread throughout the surrounding area. – Luke 4:36-37
And you can see that the people were also impressed with how Jesus treated the demons like disobedient children.
Jesus left the synagogue and went to the home of Simon. Now Simon's mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Jesus to help her. So He bent over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up at once and began to wait on them. – Luke 4:38-39
We will learn more about Simon next week. The main thing I want to point out here is that it says that Jesus “rebuked” the fever. This Greek word is the same word Jesus used to rebuke the demon in verse 35. (In the NIV it is translated “said sternly.”) This same word is used when Jesus rebukes the wind and the waves in the raging storm on the Sea of Galilee (Mark 4). When you think about it, this is an amazing thing. We are given a brief glimpse of the true nature of Jesus as fully God. Only God Himself can speak to His creation and tell it what to do. This applies to all of His creation, including fevers.
When the sun was setting, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying His hands on each one, He healed them. Moreover, demons came out of many people, shouting, "You are the Son of God!" But He rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew He was the Christ. – Luke 4:40-41
How long did this go on? We don’t know. It might have gone on most of the night. Jesus continued to fulfill Isaiah 61.
At daybreak Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for Him and when they came to where He was, they tried to keep Him from leaving them. But He said, "I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent." And He kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea. – Luke 4:42-44
Here we see that Jesus knew His mission, and He stayed with it. His mission was not just to heal everyone in one village, but to go throughout the region, fulfilling Isaiah 61. The word “sent” in Greek is apostello, from which we get the word “apostle,” which literally means “sent one.” As it said in Isaiah 61, “He has sent Me…”
When I think about applications of today’s passage, I am drawn back to the Isaiah passage. First and foremost, we should be receiving all that Jesus was sent to offer. If you are (spiritually) poor, have you joyfully accepted the good news of the salvation found in Jesus? If you feel you are a prisoner to sin and compulsive habits, have you found freedom in Jesus? If you feel like you are spiritually blind, are finding recovery of your sight in Jesus? If you feel oppressed, are you finding release in Jesus? And have you discovered the truth of Jubilee in your life? Do you understand that your debts are forgiven in Jesus, all of them?
And second, we should be ministering the truth of Isaiah 61 to those hurting people in the world around us. The same Spirit that sent Jesus sends you. We too should be proclaiming good news to the poor, freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, releasing the oppressed, and proclaiming that jubilee that is found in Christ and Christ alone. Let us be Christ’s hands and feet and mouth in the coming week.
And finally, we should not fear rejection as we minister. Just as Jesus experienced a rejection of His message, at times so will we. It comes with the territory.
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. – I Cor. 1:18
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