(Jesus at the) First Church of Nazareth
Introduction: One part of preaching that can be fun is coming up with titles for sermons. Titles can say little or nothing, or they can say a mouthful. Do you notice anything missing from this one tonight? The answer may not be that obvious at first…the “First Church of What”, “or Who?”
Likewise - Sometimes (if a preacher is not careful) a sermon title can leave God out. Worse yet, an entire church family can choose to leave God out of what they are doing. It has been done many times in many churches. Let me show you what I mean with…
Text: Luke 4:16 thru 30
Prayer:
The Apostle John said something very interesting in the last verse of the book of John. Chapter 21and verse 25,
And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.
At the time of our text –
I. Many things in the life and ministry of Jesus had already taken place.
A. Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist.
1. The Holy Ghost had descended on Jesus.
2. Jesus was of the age and qualifications and had become a Jewish Priest, but He was much more…
B. Satan had tried and failed at tempting Jesus to commit sin with -
1. hunger, test God, pride
2. full scale attack from the devil himself
C. The public ministry of Jesus was getting a lot of attention.
1. the crowds were getting bigger
2. the healings were amazing and convincing
D. Many were proclaiming Jesus as the Son of God.
1. Many if not all of the disciples were with Him.
E. Jesus cleansed the Temple with visible anger, wrath and vengeance.
1. the young man who was a carpenter had become very outspoken and powerful
F. His disciples were baptizing new converts everywhere they went.
1. Jesus’ disciples were becoming more and more like Jesus
G. Many amazing miracles that were documented and many that weren’t.
H. The townspeople of Nazareth had heard and maybe seen first hand of Jesus as the Christ.
1. News travels fast in the Jewish communities.
Transition: With all these recent events that had taken place, Jesus wanted His closest and dearest friends and relatives to know Who He really was.
II. A preview of Jesus’ ministry in verses 18 & 19.
A. “And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day,…”
1. In years past, Jesus had attended his hometown church regularly. He didn’t stay home -
a) To sleep in or lay around the house..
b) Because He was upset at the way things were going on down at the church
c) Because there was a “family reunion” going on
d) Because of the big game scheduled that day, etc…
B. Jesus first declared to them that He had the Holy Spirit (Himself) now resting on Him.
1. This was obvious to everyone and was true as a result of His baptism experience in the River Jordan.
2. Jesus was not pompous/arrogant about this. What had happened to Him was necessary for His daily ministries.
C. Jesus declared to everyone that He was going to be preaching now.
1. This would be the greatest portion of His ministry.
2. Jesus was no longer a carpenter by trade.
3. He would preach the Gospel of salvation to those who were poor, needy and downtrodden.
4. He would preach deliverance to those possessed of the devil
5. He would preach the “acceptable year of the Lord.” Things would now change for all of mankind in it’s relationship with the heavenly Father.
D. Jesus was going to restore sight to the blind.
1. Lenscrafters was not in business yet. A majority of people you and I personally know (today) would be helpless without their glasses.
2. Blindness comes in varying degrees that debilitate most people.
3. Poor vision has always been a great need for all of mankind.
E. Jesus was going to set the oppressed free from their bondage of depression.
1. Human suffering (of all kinds) causes many people to become withdrawn and isolated.
III. Jesus left part of Isaiah’s prophecy unsaid.
A. Isaiah 61:2(a),To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, And the day of vengeance of our God;
1. This was not a time for God’s wrath, rather His mercy and forgiveness.
2. “God did not send His son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3:17)
B. Jesus was the true Messiah in Whom the world would be saved from God’s wrath and judgment.
1. This was the primary reason why Jesus came to earth, and the folks closest to Him needed to know this first.
C. (At first) the people that had known Jesus all His life were surprised and amazed how God could possibly be so gracious.
1. Nazareth may have a town that had always been very religious, very strict and harsh.
2. If anyone had ever known these people, it would have been Jesus of Nazareth.
3. If anyone knows what you and I are like, it has to be Jesus…
D. The people of Nazareth were (at first) silent but quickly became angry with Jesus.
1. Jesus looked deep into their hearts and sensed their anger.
2. They were disrespectful and sarcastic to Jesus.
3. When we become harsh or angry towards any of God’s people, we have been this way towards Jesus.
4. Many times people will have preconceived ideas of how things should be down at the synagogue. But then Jesus will come along and preach at each one of us. We had better listen to the Son of God and what He has to say. Amen?
E. This behavior was unacceptable to Jesus, so He exposed their hearts. They were –
1. Children of their forefathers in unbelief
a) Jesus refers to them as being as bad as their forefathers in their pride, rebellion and religion
b) Jesus uses two illustrations that they can easily understand; Elijah having to leave Israel to find someone open to the things of God; and the healing of Namaan from being a leper.
F. Jesus’ own lifetime friends and neighbors couldn’t handle being told the Truth.
1. The friends and relatives of Jesus rose up against Him in the midst of the worship service to physically attack Him.
IV. Satan was out to destroy Jesus, and His plans of saving the world. He tried this with -
1. King Herod when Jesus was only a baby.
2. With tempting Jesus while He had been fasting and was physically weak
3. Jesus’ closest and dearest friends.
4. Jesus’ disciples.
Conclusion: Tonight the plan of salvation must continue to go forward at all cost to those who love and obey Him. We must not let the devil distract us with his schemes.
