“ 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.

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.

 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. 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.” 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.

 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.

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.

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).

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).

FREE high resolution PowerPoint of this and other presentations visit www.SaintPaulMinistries.net