Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21

“ Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

1: 1 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things which have been accomplished among us,
2 just as they were delivered to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word,
3 it seemed good to me
also, having
followed all
things closely
for some time
past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus,
4 that you may know the truth concerning the things of which you have been informed.
4: 14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee, and a report concerning him went out through all the surrounding country.
15 And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.
The Holy Bible : Revised Standard Version Second Catholic edition (2006), with the ecclesiastical approval of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Thomas Nelson Publishing for Ignatius Press.

16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up; and he went to the synagogue, as his custom was, on the Sabbath day. And he stood up to read;
17 and there was given to him the book of the prophet Isaiah. He opened the book and found the place where it
was written,
18 “ The Spirit of
the Lord is
upon me,
because he has
anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
19 to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
20 And he closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.

21 And he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Jesus is rejected.
As we study the Bible we notice a pattern of rejection.
All of the prophets, those who spoke for God, were in someway rejected by the very people to which they were sent.
Today we read about Jesus using Isaiah’s message to
announce his
arrival and
mission.
Jesus was
already known
as a popular
teacher, so it would be natural for synagogue officials to ask him to read from and explain a scripture passage as part of their weekly Sabbath celebration.
Jesus followed synagogue tradition by standing to read and then sitting down to explain the passage.
Do you recall the saying, “familiarity breeds contempt?”
That’s what happened in Nazareth because they knew him, how could he claim to be the Messiah, he’s just a local son of a humble carpenter.

The people found his reading and message socially unacceptable.
Jesus read, “to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight of the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,”
Why would you ever
want to preach to
the poor, they
can’t return
anything of
value.
Why in the world would your want to release captives? They were imprisoned for a reason.
The blind?
They couldn’t earn a living so how could they contribute to your mission?
Liberty to those oppressed?
Was he planning to free Jews from Roman rule?
In the values of the day, what he said was impossible, and was counter-cultural.

Once forming such an opinion of Jesus the locals decided to reject his message.
They had rejected the messenger because they didn’t like the message.
Sometimes we see people leave the church because they don’t like the message.
It’s much easier to
reject that which
inconveniences
us rather than
searching for the truth which might not be immediately clear.
This is what happened in Nazareth but take heart, in time many of those who disbelieve returned to the church once they came to understand.
Later Jesus would tell Thomas, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.” (Jn 20:29).

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Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21

by Daniel Mayne Sr. on Nov 09, 2009

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Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21 — Presentation Transcript