Back Home in Nazareth, Part 1

Amen, let's pray together. Father, we thank you, Lord, that on this day, as we gather together in this place, we pray that our hearts would truly be hungry for the truth of your word. As a result, we'd grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, our Lord, and thus we'd understand more of our great God and Savior. Pray, Lord, that you'll bless our time in your word. In Jesus' name, Amen. Turn with me in your Bible, if you would, to Luke chapter 4.

Luke chapter 4, and we're going to talk about the first account of the public ministry of Christ, according to Luke's gospel.

This, of course, is not the first account in the public ministry of Christ, but yet this is the first one that Luke records.

And therefore, it must be of some significance to him as he presents to us the humanity of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. If you were with us last week, we told you that there were many other things that he did before this day. As you recall, there was about a year of ministry in Judea before he returned back to Galilee. John records that in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th chapter of his gospel. We notice that when Christ began his ministry, after the temptation, that he was gathering together some of his disciples.

He would make a brief journey for about two weeks back to Galilee, where he would perform a miracle there in Cana. And then he returned back to Jerusalem at Passover, and there would be the cleansing of the temple. There would be that conversation with Nicodemus in John chapter 3. There would be the conversion of the woman of Samaria and many Samaritans in John chapter 4. And then as his journey began going back to Galilee, there would be the healing of the nobleman's son in Cana. Well, Christ was in Cana, but the healing took place in Capernaum.

Those events all took place before what Luke describes in Luke chapter 4, verses 16 and following. But we know the ministry of Christ began because in verse number 14 it says, And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through all the surrounding district. And he began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all. You must remember that Jesus had one primary ministry, and that was the teaching and the preaching of the gospel. Yes, he performed a multitude of miracles, but the essence of his ministry was a preaching and teaching ministry.

And as we go through Luke's gospel, you're going to see this over and over again. In fact, if you go down to verse number 31 of chapter 4, it says this, And he came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and he was teaching them on the Sabbath. And they were amazed at his teaching, for his message was with authority. Then down in verse number 43 of chapter 4, it says, But he said to them, I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose. Down in verse number 17 of chapter 5, And it came about one day that he was teaching, and there were some Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting there who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem.

And the power of the Lord was present for him to perform healing. Over in chapter 6, verse number 6, And it came about on another Sabbath that he entered the synagogue and was teaching. You see, the ministry of Christ was a teaching, preaching ministry. That was the essence of what he was about. He said in chapter 4, I must preach the kingdom of God. Remember in Matthew chapter 7, as he concluded that great sermon there on the Mount of Beatitudes, That everybody was amazed at this one who spoke and the authority by which he spoke.

They were astounded at his message. Because when Jesus spoke, he never quoted any other rabbis. Didn't have to. Because he was God, and he would quote only his word. And the words that he spoke were the words of God. And so he spoke with great authority. Because he came to preach and teach the gospel. We told you last week that there were some 240 different villages in the Galilee. And in those villages, there would be synagogues. And Jesus would enter those synagogues and begin to teach. You see this all throughout his ministry.

He would go into that synagogue, he would begin to preach and teach the truth of the gospel. Something interesting about synagogues is that they all faced Jerusalem. So every synagogue in the North would face South. Because Jerusalem would be South. Every synagogue in the East would face West. And every synagogue in the West would face East. And every synagogue in the North, South, excuse me, would face North. They all faced Jerusalem. So that when the people would leave, they would leave exiting, facing Jerusalem.

Why? Because everything they talked about in the Old Testament from the law and from the prophets was a central focus on the coming of Messiah and the hope that Messiah would come. He would sit on the throne of David and rule and reign and Israel would be at peace. Whenever a man spoke in the synagogue, he would always speak facing Jerusalem. When Christ would address the people in the synagogue, he would always face Jerusalem, he would always face Calvary. And every synagogue was designed that way.

To have a synagogue, you'd have to have 10 Jewish men to begin a synagogue. Now the question comes, why do you have to have 10 Jewish men? What is the significance about the number 10? It's always interesting that whenever you talk to a Jew, you know Jews don't do anything sporadically. Jews are very methodical. They have a reason for everything they do. They just don't decide, well let's just do it that way. There's a reason behind why it is they do what they do. So why is it you have to have 10 Jewish men to start a synagogue?

A couple of years ago when I was on one of our trips to Israel, I sat down with my good friend Ezekiel and I said, Ezekiel tell me, why is it you have to have 10 men to begin a synagogue? He goes, oh Lance, the answer is simple. I said, well if it's that simple, please tell me because I'm dying to understand what the significance is about the number 10. He says, it's very simple. Book of Numbers. 10 spies that brought back a bad report. I said, so? He says, you must understand that we want to offset that.

They brought back a bad report because they didn't believe what our Lord God said in his word. So we have 10 men to start a synagogue because those 10 men are accountable to making sure that what God says, we don't disobey again.

Significant, huh? And so there'd have to be 10 Jewish men to begin a synagogue. And in those 240 villages in the Galilee, there would be at least one synagogue in each of those cities. Sometimes there was two, sometimes three, sometimes four, sometimes more. But there was at least one synagogue. A synagogue is a house of instruction. The question is, how do synagogues begin? Because you see, if you know how synagogues began, listen, you know how our churches began. You see, in 586 BC, when Israel went into Babylonian captivity, they were 70 years in that captivity.

And they longed to hear the truth of God's holy word. They wanted to know the truth. And so if you read the book of Ezekiel, specifically Ezekiel 8, 11, 14, 20, and 33, Ezekiel would gather the people around, and he would begin to interpret the law of God for the people. And they got used to that idea. And so after the captivity, there was this great dispersion of Jews all across the Mediterranean world. And they longed to hear the word of God. And so they would gather together in a house of instruction, and they would receive instruction about the Lord God.

You see, they couldn't all get to the temple. And so when you read about Nehemiah, and you read about Ezra and Zechariah, they did the same thing Ezekiel did. And so when there was this great dispersion of Jews all over the Mediterranean world, they couldn't each go to the temple, but they could gather together and receive instruction from the word of God. And what was that instruction like? It doesn't take much study to understand what happens in a Jewish synagogue. When you go to a Jewish synagogue, they begin with the singing of the halal, Psalm 145 to Psalm 150.

It begins with singing. And from that singing, they go to reciting together the great Shema, Deuteronomy 6, 4-9, or over in Numbers 15, verses 37-41. After they recite the Shema, they go through 18 different benedictions or blessings that they recite together. It's known as the Tefillah. When that is done, they go and they take the Torah, the law, and they open the scroll, and they open the book, and they begin to read from that book. And you will note that in a Jewish synagogue, it takes them about three years to go through the Torah, the first five books, the Pentateuch of the Old Testament.

And they have divided up into 52 different Sabbaths the amount of reading that would take them to get through the Torah in three years. And then once the reading of the Torah is done, then they read the Haftarah, the prophets. There's a portion of that that is read. And then there is someone who speaks about that for a brief moment of time. And when that is done, then there's the Aaron's benediction. He was the first high priest.

It's recorded in Numbers 6 with, after each phrase, there is the corporal amen that says, The Lord bless you and keep you, and the people say amen. The Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, and the people say amen. And the Lord turn His face towards you and give you peace. And they say amen. And they exit facing the city of peace, Jerusalem. Now why don't I tell you that? Say, I didn't come to church to hear about what happens in a Jewish synagogue. You need to understand that.

Why? Because, listen carefully, listen carefully. When the church began, it began with a bunch of Jews who were converted, right? And so Paul and Peter and all these guys, they'd go into the synagogue, they'd preach the gospel, some Jews would get saved, and they would begin this gathering together, not on the Sabbath, but on the Lord's day. And what did they do? They carried over what they learned in the synagogue, and they carried it over to the church, and they began the same kind of way. There was a great emphasis, listen, on the teaching of the scriptures.

Why do I tell you that? I tell you that because today's churches don't do that any longer. There's a minimal amount of teaching on the scriptures. And yet the Bible says, remember Paul told Timothy in 1 Timothy 4, 13, give your attention to the public reading of the scriptures, to the instruction of the scriptures, and to the interpretation of those scriptures.

That's what you give your attention to. And yet most churches don't give their attention to that. They give it to something else. And so as the years go by, we have gotten further and further and further away from our roots. That is the whole emphasis on the teaching of the word of God. I loved talking to my friend Ezekiel again in Israel, when he asked, you know, what do you do in your church? I asked him, you know, I always talk about a synagogue, and what he does, he goes every morning at 4 o'clock, and I said, what do you do in your synagogue?

And, you know, what does your rabbi say? I said, I'd love to be a guest rabbi at your church, because I'm kind of like a Jewish rabbi. You know, I'm a teacher. And I'd love to be a rabbi in your synagogue one day, and just come and explain the scripture. But what does your rabbi say? He says, oh, we just go through the Torah. It's the Torah, Torah, Torah. And he asked me, what do you do in your church? And of course, you know, we're in Genesis at the time. I said, well, we're in Genesis. Every year he asks me, where are you at?

Well, we're in Genesis. Come back the next year, where are you at? Well, we're still in Genesis. He goes, how come it takes you so long to get through the first book of the Bible?

And I said, Ezekiel, you have to understand that we understand that the New Testament is the completion of the Old Testament. And the New Testament is the fulfillment of the coming prophecies of the Messiah. And so we spend a lot of time talking about who the Messiah is, but in Genesis, which we were in at the time, I said, there is a lot of emphasis on the coming of Messiah and the promise that God gave to Abraham and to Isaac and Jacob. And I said, we believe those promises like you do, but we believe they're all fulfilled in the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, our Lord, which you don't.

And so by the time we go through and explain the fulfillment of those prophecies in the coming of Jesus Christ, our Lord, the Messiah, it takes us a long time to get through each and every book. We speak about every single verse in that book and we want our people to understand the history of Judaism because Christianity is the fruit of Judaism. Judaism is the root. Christianity is the fruit. John 4 tells us that salvation is from the Jews. So that's why it takes us so long to get through it because we want our people to have a very clear understanding of Old Testament prophecy and the coming of Messiah because we believe that Jesus is that Messiah.

And so I tell you all that because Jesus had a ministry. It was a teaching, preaching ministry. He would enter into a village. He would enter into a town and he would be the speaker. It would be one of those things like when everybody, when they knew a famous rabbi was coming, they would invite him to read that day and to explain the text that day. Well, you can imagine what it must have been like to have Jesus coming back to Nazareth. I mean, we've already read in verse number 15 that he was praised by all.

And we know that some of these people had been down in Jerusalem when there was a cleansing of the temple because it was Passover time. You can bet that they would have heard about the miracle of the water turning into wine at Cana some, you know, 9, 10, 12 months ago. You can bet that they heard about just the different miracles that Christ had done in his teaching. His press clippings had gone before him. And so you can imagine this day in Nazareth, the people gathering together, hey, guess who's back?

Jesus is back. And it's not like they would say, Jesus who? He was raised in Nazareth. And Jesus would be back and they'd be saying, amen. He's going to be the speaker today in the synagogue. The place was packed. I mean, it was overflowing with people. It wasn't that there was just a few people here scattered around. I mean, he was the guest speaker in Nazareth. Everybody knew that he was back in town. His family lived there. They resided there. Christ was raised there. And they would gather together and Jesus was going to be there and they were anticipating everything he was going to say because he was so popular.

Everybody was talking about Jesus. He was the guy. He was the man. So you can imagine everybody saying, hey, you know, whatever I was going to do today, I'm putting on a hold. I'm going to go hear Jesus. I'm going to go see what Jesus has to say. Because remember, listen carefully. Jesus had spent 30 years in Nazareth and only attended the synagogue. He never spoke in the synagogue. But on this day, he is given the scroll. He reads and he speaks. Now think about that. You know, I'm a pastor and I go to other churches and I hear other preachers speak.

And I don't know everything. I don't even know a little bit. But when I go to churches and hear guys speak or listen to them on the radio or get a video or tape of somebody, I think to myself, oh my, that's horrible. What are those people getting in that place? How horrible that could be. And I've gone to churches, I've sat in the audience and I thought to myself, every day, every week, they're going to die in the vine. And that's just me. Think about Jesus going to the synagogue and sitting in the back.

Some rabbi getting up and extrapolating about what he thinks this text means and Christ in the back. He's got to endure all that for 30 years. The patience he must have to listen to people speak about something they have no idea about what they're speaking about. And there would be Jesus sitting in the synagogue listening because the text says, as was his custom, he entered the synagogue. Let me read to you the text of this day because this is the first account that Luke gives us of his Galilean ministry.

Now remember, Luke is the only one to give us the account of Jesus when he was 12 years old in the temple in Jerusalem and the conversation he had with his parents. So if you were with us at that time in Luke 2, we told you about the significance of that event and why it was so important. But Luke was the only one to record that event. Luke is also the only one to record this event. Yes, Matthew and Mark record about a situation in the synagogue with Christ, but that's at the end of his Galilean ministry, not here at the beginning of his Galilean ministry.

So Luke is the only one who gives us this event. That means it must be of extreme importance for us to get it because of all the events Luke could have chosen about the ministry of Christ and how it began and where it began, he chose this event. So it has to be paramount. It has to be of a supreme importance to Luke, therefore it must be of supreme importance to us because we need to understand what it is he wants us to get from this scenario of Christ back home in Nazareth standing at the speak in the synagogue and the significance of it.

Let's read it. Luke 4 verse number 16. And he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up and as was his custom he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read. And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him and he opened the book and found the place where it was written the Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind set free those who are downtrodden to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.

He closed the book and gave it back to the attendant and sat down and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed upon him. And he began to say to them today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. And all were speaking well of him and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from his lips and they were saying is this not Joseph's son? And he said to them no doubt you will quote this proverb to me physician heal yourself whatever we heard was done at Capernaum do here in your hometown as well.

And he said truly I say to you no prophet is welcome in his hometown but I say to you in truth that there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah and the sky was shut up for three years and six months when a great famine came over all the land and yet Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath in the land of Sidon to a woman who was a widow and there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elijah the prophet and none of them was cleansed but only Naaman the Syrian and all in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things and they rose up and cast him out of the city and led him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built in order to throw him down the cliff but passing through their midst he went his way this event is of supreme importance for us to understand the ministry of Christ in Galilee remember this is about a year into his official public ministry he ministers in Galilee for about a year and a half chapter 4 verse 14 all the way to chapter 9 verse number 50 is about his Galilean ministry and then after that two and a half years he begins to make his way toward Jerusalem because the time of his crucifixion is before him he understands that but this is his Galilean ministry and this is where he is he's back home in Nazareth and there are several things I want you to see I think there's ten of them but we're going to cover the first couple of ones this morning the first thing I want you to see is his maturation the maturation of Jesus this is his hometown this is where he grew up this is where he grew from infancy to boyhood to adolescence to adulthood now think about that this is where Jesus grew up the Bible tells us he did no miracles in Nazareth none and yet this was his hometown this is the place where this young man would grow up and you know what he would never lie he would never steal he would never cheat he wasn't the bully on the block he wasn't the one that everybody hated on the contrary he was the one everybody adored everybody liked him because he never said an evil word he never said an unkind word he was always pleasant he was always respectful he was always honoring his mother and father this is where he grew up this is the place of his maturation you must understand that this is the context this is where he was raised everybody knew Jesus everybody knew the family of Jesus he is no stranger to these people they know him well but they don't know him well enough they think they know him because he grew up there for 30 years but on this day they get a whole different side of Jesus a side they never anticipated a side they could not even imagine but they should have known and we'll explain that to you as we go but I want to move from his maturation to his proclamation I'm sorry I'm sorry number two his reception from his maturation to his reception he would be received well we know from verse 15 that everybody was praising him we know as we read the text that they were astonished by the words that were falling from his lips and they were saying is this not Joseph's son so the reception at the outset was fabulous I mean think about it he's the hometown boy he's the guy everybody's talking about all the press clippings in the Jerusalem Post are all about Jesus his picture's on the front page every day because of the miracles that he has accomplished because of his cleansing the temple and because of all that he has done up to that point everybody knows about Jesus he's received well he's in our village he's in our town let's get him to speak to us because the words that fall from his lips are absolutely unbelievable you gotta hear Jesus you gotta hear how he says it he doesn't say it like anybody else says it he says it with authority he says it with passion you gotta come hear Jesus so there was this reception of Jesus and I want you to notice what the text says as was his custom he entered the synagogue as was his custom this is something Jesus did every Sabbath it wasn't something that he would neglect and I need to emphasize this because it's something that we need to understand that if we're going to be like Jesus it must be our custom it must be the custom of us as we as we go through life that people will know that it's our custom to be in the Lord's house on the Lord's day if you go home today and there are a lot of phone calls on your machine at home it's probably because it's not your custom to be in the Lord's house on the Lord's day that's why people I go home there's no phone messages on my phone cause they know I'm not gonna be there they're gonna wait to get to call me when I get home right because they know where I'm at do people know where you're at on the Lord's day if somebody wanted to find Jesus on the Sabbath where would they go they go to the synagogue because it was his custom to be there if somebody wants to find you on the Lord's day where would they find you in the house of God or someplace else you see it was his custom to be there if I could as father to father if I could exhort you gentlemen if you did only one thing for your family only one in all the years you were a father if you only did one thing the only one thing you need to do is to make sure it is your custom to be on the in the Lord's house on the Lord's day if you only did one thing that's it now you're gonna do more but if you only had to do one that would be the one thing you would need to do why because as you lead your family and as you listen build a legacy it must be a part of your family tradition of your lives to worship the Lord on the Lord's day folks that is the most important thing every family listen carefully to what I'm going to tell you in the last thirty years of my ministry every family that I have counseled in a crisis situation is the family that has failed to be in their father's house regularly on the Lord's day without exception you need to understand that there's something about being with God's people on the day that God has placed it aside to honor Him as being of utmost importance because it is the most crucial thing you ever do it's the most crucial decision you ever make if you can't lead your wife spiritually at least bring her to church on Sunday if you don't know how to teach your children at least bring them to church on Sunday if you don't know how to be the kind of person you need to be at home the rest of the week at least come to church on Sunday at least do that and as minimal as that is it makes a significant impact in your family and you won't see it immediately but you will see it down the road just like when it's not your custom to be in the Lord's house on the Lord's day you don't see the immediate effects of that but I guarantee down the road you will see a tremendous negative impact because of that it just happens so I implore you father to father if you're a single mother make sure it's your family's tradition your family's experience to be in the Lord's house on the Lord's day that it is your custom to be with God's people in God's house to worship Him now I gotta add a little side note to that is that you gotta make sure you take them to a church that preaches and teaches the word of God ok there's a lot of churches in the world ok but you gotta go to one that teaches the word of God we wrote a booklet a number of years ago called how to choose a church and why we wrote that is because we had so many visitors coming to our church and they're looking for a church to go or they're moving out of our area and they've gotta find a church so we said here's a booklet on how to choose a church and it goes through seven crucial principles that outline what it is that makes a church a church a place that you can go and you can begin to build a family legacy and have an impact in your children's life if you haven't read that book I'd encourage you to get it it's free doesn't cost you a thing but it helps you understand what it is we at Christ Community Church try to live by and try to try to accomplish here every single time that we're together because it's crucial it's the most important decision you ever make ok listen fellas you're gonna make a lot of decisions about your career that's not nearly as important as the decision where you worship on Sundays you're gonna make a lot of decisions about how many kids you're gonna have or you know and that's a crucial decision but it's not nearly as crucial as where you're gonna go to church on Sundays you're gonna make decisions every single day of your life but there is no decision greater than the decision you make about where you worship God on Sundays because it has a supreme effect on your spiritual condition and if your spiritual condition is weak everything else you do will be weak so important I can't emphasize that enough as was his I could spend a year of Sundays on as was his custom he entered the synagogue and began to teach it's so important I want you to understand that and this is where he would be received and this is where people would come to hear him as he began to preach why is it Jesus would go to a synagogue why is it he made this his emphasis it's because it identifies him as the Messiah and it will clarify his ministry as Messiah that's why Luke records it it identifies who he is and why he came and Luke at the outset wants you to understand that this is what Jesus is all about he's about going to the synagogue that was his custom he was about teaching and preaching the gospel because that was his custom this is who he is it identifies who he is remember everything in the Old Testament points to who Jesus the Messiah that's why on the road to Emmaus way back in Luke chapter 24 after the resurrection of Christ our Lord was walking with two disciples he says this in verse 25 O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into his glory don't you understand it was absolutely essential that the Messiah suffer in order to enter into glory and beginning with Moses that's the Pentateuch and with all the prophets he explained to them the things concerning himself in all the scriptures did you get that he went to the Old Testament and he explains how the Old Testament and it's entirety pointed to him and he was the fulfillment of that prophecy we missed that see when we go to the Bible we don't go to the Bible to read the Bible to see Jesus we go to the Bible because we got this problem that we got to have handled and so we go to read it hoping that somehow God throws the verse out there that will show me how to handle my problem and that's why you read your Bible and you get nothing out of it you go to read your Bible because the Bible is about Jesus Christ the Savior of the world the whole message of the Bible is about God's plan of redemption and how he had a tremendous plan for the very beginning of time to send his son as the substitute for your sin so that you could have a way to go to heaven to be with him forever that's what the Bible is about and so when we go to the Bible and read it because we got this little situation happening in my relationships that I don't like and I go to read my Bible to find out what I need to be doing and I say well man I'm reading this I don't get anything out of it it's because you're going to the Bible for the wrong reason your Bible is the word of God that explains to us who God is and what he's about and you see you'll begin to realize that when you do that this little petty problem you have in your relationship really is not that big a deal it pales in comparison to the glory of Christ and the ministry that he's entrusted to you as a representative of the gospel and so Jesus takes these men back to the Old Testament and says hey it's about me everything points to me and again it's a whole emphasis on how the word of God points us to the direction of Christ the Messiah and how that is the way we should be going every single day we should be going to the word of God that we might open the pages of scripture to see only Jesus and if you go to the word to see Jesus you'll see him he's on every page he's in every paragraph he's in every sentence he's in every word because they are his words so as was his custom he's in every he would go into the synagogue he would begin to teach that leads us to point number three is proclamation this proclamation the Bible says that he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath he stood up to read and the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him now listen carefully remember the Jews do everything in a systematic way systematic order they just don't throw things out they just don't say hey what do you want to read today read whatever you want say whatever you want we're here to listen no no no no they have a very methodical order with the Torah and with the prophets so on this day in the synagogue what was handed to him was a very was out of the prophet Isaiah chapter 61 verses 1 and 2 see God never does anything by accident see that's why you're here today when you people come to church you know and they say oh man boy that sermon man really zinged me that one was for me I tell you that pastor must have known something about our conversation last night honey because he said exactly what we were talking about last night let me tell you something that's of the Lord folks that's of the Lord see God never does anything by accident everything is mapped out in the mind and plan of God and so he has you in certain places he has you in church today to hear this message because you need to hear it it's for you it's for me and so the people in the synagogue that day heard something that they knew quite well but did not understand of whom it was speaking primarily that is Jesus Christ our Lord the Messiah he would come the book of the law would be handed to him the book of the prophets excuse me and there he would begin to read out of Isaiah 61 the spirit of the Lord has spawned me because he anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor he has sent me to proclaim relief to the captives and a recovery of sight to the blind set free those who are downtrodden to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord he closed the book and he gave it back to the attendant and sat down and the eyes of all the synagogue was fixed upon him what's he gonna say how's he gonna say it what's he gonna do next interesting note the attendant in the synagogue the guy who would take the scroll and give it to the rabbi and then when he was done the rabbi was done he would give it back to the attendant he would place it back that person the attendant as you read the life and times of Jesus the Messiah a book by Alfred Edersheim it's a book that tells us that the attendant had to be blameless he had to be above reproach his family had to be in order why because he handled the law of God you see the Jews got this part right they really value the word of God and anybody who handled the word of God had to live a life that was above reproach you know we come waltzing in here carrying our Bibles as if it's another book that we bought out of Barnes and Noble see and it means nothing to us that's one of the reasons after we're done with Joshua in a few weeks we're going to go through a great lengthy study of Psalm 119 because it's a book about the Bible on the Bible it's about what God says about his word and I've come to realize through my study of Psalm 119 that I don't value God's word nearly as highly as I ought to value God's word and I think that we need to come to grips with the fact that God's word is the most precious thing in all the world Psalm 138 verse number 2 thy word O Lord is magnified even as thy very name the importance of God's word God's word is the most valuable possession of your life it is the most important thing that you treasure in your heart it is all there is to your life the word of God is what your life is about and you need to hold it dear you need to memorize it you need to read it you need to sing it you need to study it you need to teach it you need to learn it it is the most important thing in all the world the Psalmist in Psalm 119 understood that the Psalmist went through many difficult times but he always came back to the word of God because it was his life so we need to realize this attendant would take the book and set it down Jesus sat down the proclamation that Jesus gave this day listen carefully is his gospel presentation Jesus preached the gospel this is his gospel he came to proclaim the favorable year of our Lord in other words he came to proclaim the era of salvation he came to proclaim the year of salvation he came to say today is the day of your hope because he would say to them today this scripture is fulfilled in your eyes today listen every other rabbi said someday this scripture will be fulfilled and all of a sudden this rabbi says today it has been fulfilled in your hearing this is the favorable year of the Lord this is your year of hope this is your time of salvation I am your Messiah every Jew knew Isaiah 61 was about the Messiah every Jew knew that the Messiah would have the spirit of the Lord upon him all you got to do is go back to Isaiah chapter 11 verses 1 and 2 where it talks about the branch and the spirit of God will be upon the branch the Messiah a term designated specifically for the Messiah the Netzier he will have the spirit of the Lord upon him you go back and you read Isaiah 42 you go back and you read Isaiah chapter 11 verse number 10 Isaiah chapter 4 verse number 2 it all talks about the coming of Messiah whose name is called the branch and the branch listen will have on him the spirit of the Lord and he says on this day the spirit of the Lord is upon me now we know that because we've already studied the baptism of Christ right where the spirit of God descended upon him everybody in the water that day in the Jordan River was able to visualize this spirit of God coming down upon the Messiah and we know that it was the spirit of God who drove him into the wilderness and we know that the spirit of God according to Luke 4 verse number 14 was the one empowering him to live his life and Christ says the spirit of the Lord has anointed me the spirit of the Lord is upon me and I've come to preach the gospel to the poor to those in prison to those who are downcast and those who are downtrodden I've come to give them the good news this is the good news because this is the favorable year of the Lord today is the day are you thinking about that?

it's no wonder they were astonished wait a minute this is the carpenters boy this is Joseph's son we know him we've known him for 30 years he grew up here some of our daughters babysat him when he was younger they changed his diaper when he was a baby we know this boy he and his father did work on our house a number of years ago we know him we saw him in action and now he's come to tell us that the spirit of God is upon him now he's come to tell us that he's the one we've hoped for he's the one we've longed for what is this?

how could this be? and you will note that all of their praise would soon turn to rage remember we told you at the beginning of our time that every synagogue faced where? Jerusalem right? the city of peace and on this day after hearing what he had to say they would exit facing the city of peace pursuing the prince of peace in order that they might put him to death why? why would they do that? listen carefully to what I'm going to say it's because he preached the true gospel message that's why they hated him he preached the true gospel message and they wanted nothing to do with it why is it people are enraged against those who preach the true gospel?

why can't they stand those kind of people? why do they why are they irritated so? Luke 4 tells you why because the message he preached about them and their condition they didn't accept they didn't want now you think about that Christ says in the sovereignty of God the scroll is given to him it's on this day that synagogue it is in Isaiah chapter 61 he opens it he reads the first two verses and he stops in verse 2 and doesn't complete the verse because if you complete Isaiah 61 verse number 2 it says and the day of vengeance well this wasn't the day of vengeance it was the favorable year of the Lord it wasn't the day of vengeance the day of vengeance is going to come down the road it's when Christ comes back again but on this day it was the favorable year of the Lord Christ comes to them and says I want to let you know about today I have come to handle your true spiritual condition you are poor you are blind you are imprisoned and you are downcast but here's the good news there's hope there's hope and today is that favorable day folks I want to let you know something the same is true today there's hope and that hope comes through Jesus Christ our Lord the true Messiah of Israel He is the one who gives sight to those who are blind He is the one who gives release to those who are imprisoned He is the one who bestows forgiveness upon those who are enslaved He is the one who lifts up those who are downtrodden because only He can do that and I wonder if you've experienced the salvation of the Lord it's evident to the people in Nazareth that they did not receive the salvation of the Lord and we'll talk more about that next week as to why it is the message He gave was so against their way of thinking and I trust that today this message would have sparked an interest in your heart and life that if you don't know Jesus Christ as Savior that today would be the day of your salvation let's pray together Our most gracious heavenly Father we are grateful for the word of God what a joy it is to know that in your word there is no word there that's irrelevant every word in the scriptures is extremely relevant to our lives the Bible says that not one jot or one syllable will pass away the reason that is is because it's the eternal word of God and what you've given to us is the truth and my prayer Lord is that for everyone who is here with us today or who one day will be listening by way of radio will understand the truth you presented that day was the gospel the good news for man who is blind who is poor downcast and imprisoned that those who are in need of salvation would receive that free gift this day and Jesus needed it