The Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany
January 31, 2016
Luke 4:20-32
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. 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. 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.” 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. 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. (NIV1984)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
I’d like you to picture three situations this morning— situations that may have been true at one time in your life or in the life of someone you know.
Situation #1: You meet someone that you think you might want to get to know better so you ask them if they want to go out for a dinner or maybe to see a movie— and they say “No, I don’t think so!” Not exactly the response you were hoping for!
Situation #2: You’ve been dating them for a while and then one day— possibly out of the blue— they tell you that there is something important that they need to share with you. Then they go on to say that they think it would be best if you both started seeing other people. Not exactly what you were hoping to hear!
Situation #3: Have you ever known someone who had gotten to the point in their relationship where they wanted to marry someone, but when they bring up the subject of marriage or when they asked that person to marry them they said, “No, I just can’t do that”? Again, not exactly the response they were anticipating!
There are any number of times in our lives when either we are unsure of how a person will respond to what we say to them or they respond in a way that is completely contrary to what we were anticipating. As we continue our study of Jesus’ visit to His hometown of Nazareth the evangelist Luke focuses our attention on the people’s response to Jesus’ statement: “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” This morning let’s study the people’s response by looking at the question, Who Is This? When it comes to Jesus of Nazareth there are only two possible answers, only two possible responses to this question, my friends. First, there is the response that is born from faith. Then, there is the response that is spawned by unbelief.
At first glance it might seem as though the people of Nazareth had a favorable response to Jesus’ proclamation, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Luke tells us in our text, “All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips.” From our perspective as the saved children of God that is exactly how we respond when we hear our dear Lord and Savior speak to us through His holy inspired Word. Unfortunately, in their very next breath the people of Nazareth go on to reveal the unbelief that was in their hearts. They say, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”
These people had known Jesus since He was a very young boy. They had watched Him grow up into a fine young man. They probably remembered seeing Him out laughing and playing and running around with His brothers and His sisters and His friends. (See Mark 6:1-3) They had possibly been impressed by the quality of the craftsmanship that Jesus displayed as He worked in His father Joseph’s carpentry shop. Now they are supposed to believe that this same Jesus is the fulfillment of all the Messianic prophecies that the Lord their God had revealed to their ancestors down through the ages? No way! Who does He think He is!
Jesus knew just how short-sighted the people of His hometown were being because of their unbelief. So Jesus gets right to the heart of the matter by saying 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.” Jesus knew that the people of Nazareth were expecting more from Him than just a “good sermon.” Jesus knew that the people of His hometown wanted Him to prove who He is by performing miracles like the ones they had heard that He done in Capernaum! When you get home today glance through the first five chapters of the Gospel of Mark. Mark reveals to us that in and around Capernaum Jesus drove out evil spirits, healed Peter’s mother-in-law, healed many people with various diseases, healed a paralytic, healed the woman who was suffering from bleeding and raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead. If Jesus were to do miracles like that in Nazareth then perhaps the people just might believe that He is who He claims to be!
Tragically, even a show of miracles will not always enable someone to look at Jesus and correctly answer the question, Who is this? (See Matthew1 11:2-24) There is only one way, my friends, only one way to look at Jesus and correctly answer that question. It all comes down to— faith! Jesus emphasized the necessity of the response that is born from faith when He reminded the people of Nazareth of two examples of faith: the widow in Zarephath and Naaman. When a person has faith in the Lord then they will be able to trust in His promises! When a person has faith in the Lord and trusts in His promises then they will be able to “see” that Jesus is the fulfillment of all those Old Testament Messianic prophecies!
These words of our Lord did not sit well with the people of His hometown, did they? Luke tells us that they were “furious.” Very literally Luke says that the people were “filled with rage” because of what Jesus told them! In fact, they were so “filled with rage” that they drove Jesus out of the synagogue and dragged Him to the “brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff.” That’s rage! That’s unbelief! But since this was neither the time nor the place for Jesus to die Luke tells us, “But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.”
Who is this? It certainly is not very difficult for us to look around in our own society today and see the answer that is spawned by unbelief. You may even know people who “see” Jesus as nothing more than a prophet, nothing more than a teacher, nothing more than an example, nothing more than a social activist. In some parts of the world there are people who would still be filled with so much “rage” over Jesus’ claims to be the Promised Messiah to be this world’s only Savior from sin that if they had a chance they would still try to kill Him!
As we look at this portion of Scripture there are two applications that I hope we take home with us this morning. First, one of our primary goals as the saved children of God is to be witnesses for Jesus— to share with others the Truth that Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promise to send a Savior into this world. But it should not surprise us if the response that we receive when we strive to share the Truth is the same kind of response that Jesus received here in our text for today. Does that mean that we should hold back from sharing our faith with others because we do not know how they are going to respond? Does that mean that we should avoid witnessing to people because they might respond in the “rage” of unbelief? Not at all! We certainly cannot control or predict how a person responds to our testimony of the Truth. But we can trust that no matter how they respond the Savior who had the power to simply walk right through this furious crowd will be there to guide us and protect us as we faithfully witness to Him!
At the same time this text also has a very powerful and a very personal application to each and every one of us. It is indeed very easy for us to look out into the world and see so many people whose view of Jesus is still spawned by unbelief. At the same time, however, it is also very valuable for us to spend some time examining how we are responding to that question, Who is this?
When you and I are sitting here in the Lord’s house it is pretty obvious how we are answering this question, isn’t it. We come here to confess that we do indeed believe that Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promises! We come here to confess that Jesus is our only Savior from sin! We come here to encourage each other and to strengthen each other in confessing this very same truth! We come here because by the grace of God the gift of saving faith which the Holy Spirit has created in our hearts gives us the ability to “see” that Jesus is who He claims to be!
However, is our answer to that question just as clear and just as consistent when we are “out there” in the “real world”? When we are at school or hanging out with our friends it is easy for them to see and to hear that we are indeed a Christian— a saved child of the one and only Living God? When we are at work do we conduct ourselves in such a way that if one of our co-workers asked us a question about what we believe concerning things such as life and death and what comes “next,” they would not be at all surprised when we tell them that we believe that the only way to eternal life in heaven is through faith in Jesus as one’s personal Savior? When we are out on the town or all by ourselves is it a “given” that we never have to worry if someone see us or if someone unexpectedly walks in on us because we not only know the correct answer to the question we are studying today, but we also live that answer no matter where we are, no matter what we are doing and no matter whom we are with? These are the types of questions that we need to be asking ourselves, my friends. These are the types of questions that each and every one of us can only answer for ourselves.
In the little town of Bethlehem so many years ago a young virgin by the name of Mary tenderly held her firstborn Son in her arms, lovingly gazed at His face and humbly pondered in her heart the miracle that had just taken place. Imagine yourself coming up to Mary on the night that Jesus was born and asking her the question, “Who is this?” Her response would have been a response that was born from faith, a response that would have undoubtedly reflected that Christmas hymn we know and love so well, “What Child Is This?”, the hymn that answers our question for today with the words: “This is Christ the King” (Christian Worship, #67).
In the little town of Nazareth so many years ago a hometown boy came back to visit. He read Messianic prophecies from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah, sat down in front of people who had watched Him grow up and said to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Imagine yourself coming up to any one of the people gathered there in that synagogue, pointing to Jesus and asking them, “Who is this?” Sadly their response would have been a response that was spawned by unbelief and fueled by rage: “This is Joseph’s son— and nothing more!”
In your little corner of the world today the Rabbi from Nazareth stands by your side no matter where you are, no matter what you are doing, no matter whom you are with. My prayer for you this morning, my friends, is that you not only know in your heart the correct answer to the question, “Who is this?” but I also pray that no matter who might come up to you and ask you about this Person who is obviously such an important part of your life that you smile and respond with the answer that is born from faith, “This is Jesus. Let me tell you about our only Savior from sin!”
To God be the glory!
Amen