The Ministry of Jesus Begins

Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for the wonderful gift of salvation. And we thank you, Lord Jesus, that in your sovereign plan, you have allowed us to be a part of this great kingdom of God. We pray, Lord, that the things we learn today will enable us to see you for who you truly are, the great king of the universe, in Jesus' name. Amen. If you have your Bible, turn with me to Luke chapter 4.

Luke chapter 4. And we will begin the ministry of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Hopefully, I'll be able to get through the sermon today. I've got my pharmaceutical supplies up here on my pew. I've got my decongestants. I got my Hall's menthol liptus. I've got my Kleenexes. I even got my own little bottle of Vicks menthol up here in case it gets too stuffy. But if I'm speaking and a cough drop protrudes from my mouth, just put your Bible up, and it'll bounce off of there, and you'll be safe, okay? There are many times over the years that I have preached when I have been sick, and cough drops have gone all over the auditorium.

Other times, I've swallowed them and almost died. But God is good, and I'm still here today. And I just thank the Lord that I can get up and preach this morning because we have some great things we want you to see in the Word of God. As we begin the ministry of Christ in Luke chapter 4, verse number 14, we come to a very crucial portion. It's only two verses. But these two verses are like doors that open up and show us the great ministry of our Lord. They're doors that, once you look at, they don't seem really that big and that great.

But once you open them, you're able to enter into the ministry of Christ in a very unique and positive way. And this morning, our plan is to show you how that happens by looking at two verses and showing you the ministry of Christ. Our Lord had two avenues of ministry, one in Galilee and one in Judea. And the Galilean ministry begins in Luke chapter 4, verse number 14. It goes all the way to chapter 9, verse number 51. That's his whole Galilean ministry. And in verse number 51 and following, he sets his sights on Jerusalem because that is the end of his ministry.

He goes there to fulfill the plan of God. In chapter 8 of Luke, we realize the nature of our Lord's ministry when he says these words. And it came about soon afterwards that he began going about from one city and village to another, proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God, and the twelve were with him. We will note in our ministry of our Lord that he had a continual emphasis on preaching and teaching in the synagogues. That's what his ministry was about. And we begin to understand more of that ministry as we study the Gospels and come to realize that there were some 240 towns and villages in the Galilee during the time of Christ.

It's an area that our Lord could minister to by going to each of those towns and each of those villages and sharing with them in their synagogues the Gospel. And next week when we get into Luke chapter 4, we'll further, we'll understand what when he goes into the synagogue at Nazareth, exactly what does he say when he goes to these synagogues? Because chapter 4 gives us an understanding of what his ministry was all about. And isn't it interesting that in Acts chapter 1, after our Lord ascended, that he told the disciples that he would give him the Spirit of God.

And that Spirit of God will empower them and they will become witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, and in Samaria, and in the uttermost parts of the world. But he never mentions anything about Galilee. Why is that? Could it be that our Lord so covered that area that there was no longer a need for them to go to that area? I don't know. I don't think anybody really knows why he didn't say Galilee. He specifically said Judea. He specifically said Samaria. But he never said anything about the Galilee. His Galilean ministry is a strategic ministry.

But Luke chapter 4 doesn't fill us in in terms of what takes place before the Galilean ministry. There's a whole year of ministry that Luke skips. A whole year of ministry that we need to come to grips with so we understand what happens in verses 14 and 15 of Luke 4. In fact, let me read them to you.

It says this, 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 the synagogues and was praised by all. What you have before you in those two verses is our outline today. You have the place of his ministry, which is Galilee. You have the power of that ministry, which is through the Spirit of God. You have the popularity of that ministry because it spread throughout all the district. You also have the priority of that ministry and that was to preach in the synagogues and you also have the praise of that ministry where everybody was praising him.

But when you come to Luke 4 verse number 16, that praise begins to cease. And yet you need to understand what takes place before Luke 4 verse number 14 to understand the Galilean ministry. You must understand the Judean ministry of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And it happens in two ways, once at the beginning of his ministry and once at the end of his ministry. And so we need to come to grips with this whole ministry of our Lord by looking at what the gospels say about the ministry of Christ.

And John is the one who fills us in on that ministry. You see, Jesus did not return to Galilee until John the Baptist was imprisoned. Remember Christ had his ministry and John's ministry overlapped about six months. John came on the scene first, then Christ came on the scene about six months after that and there was a period of time where they overlapped in their ministry for about six months, maybe eight months, maybe even a year.

But Mark 1 14 is very clear to show us that our Lord did not go to Galilee until John was imprisoned. It says this, and after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of God. So we know now that Jesus was doing something else before he went into Galilee to preach the gospel of God. The question is where was he and what was he doing? And that's why as you read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the four gospels together, you're able to get the whole story of Christ and his ministry.

And so I want to talk to you about the outline this morning, because that's the outline in verses 14 and 15 of chapter 4 of Luke. But in reality, I want to give you the idea behind what took place before verse number 14 of Luke 4, so you will understand what happens in verse number 16 of Luke and following. You with me? Good. Turn to Gospel of John chapter 1. The Gospel of John chapter 1. In chronology, this is what takes place. Remember, for the first 30 years of our Lord's life, it was basically silent.

And the first three chapters deal with the credentials of the Messiah. The first three chapters of Luke tell us about who Jesus Christ is.

And so Luke goes into great detail giving us the credentials of the Messiah. And we saw it through his genealogy. We saw it through the affirmation of the voice from heaven, his father. We saw it through his baptism. We saw it through all the testimonies of Zacharias and Elizabeth and Mary, Simeon, Anna, the angels. All that was to testify to the credentials of the Messiah, who he is and what he's about. And when you come to chapter 4 verse number 14 of Luke, he begins his ministry in the Galilee.

But before that, there was about a whole year of ministry in Judea. So when you come to verse number 29 of John chapter 1, you realize this takes place after the 40 days of temptation. And after the angels, according to Matthew, came and ministered to him after that temptation, he goes now back to the Judean wilderness and John sees him. And in verse 29, it says the next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. John's ministry, as you recall, was to point to the Messiah.

That he was the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And as you read on through John chapter 1, John gives testimony to the fact as to who Jesus is and in conjunction with his ministry specifically. And then it says in verse number 35, again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples and he looked upon Jesus as he walked and said, Behold the Lamb of God. That was a title that John gave to Jesus. And he would point people in the direction of the Messiah. And John was a great prophet and people would follow what John would say.

And two of his disciples would follow after Jesus. It says, And the two disciples heard him speak and they followed Jesus. And Jesus turned and beheld them following and said to them, What do you seek? And they said to him, Rabbi, which translated means teacher, Where are you? Where are you staying? He said to them, Come and you will see. They came therefore and saw where he was staying and they stayed with him that day. For it was about the tenth hour. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.

He found first his own brother Simon and said to him, We have found the Messiah, which translated means Christ or Messiah.

Now you must understand that Jesus is beginning to gather people around him. This is not the official call of Peter or Philip or Nathanael or Andrew. These were men who were disciples of John the Baptist. They believed that Jesus was the Messiah and they began to follow him. The official call of the disciples does not happen until Luke chapter six. The disciples, the twelve, are a group of men who are a part of a whole group of disciples who are following the Lord. And our Lord chooses out of that whole group of disciples twelve specific men to follow him.

And we will discuss them in great detail when we get to Luke chapter six. But this is the beginning of his ministry. John is introducing to us the Messiah. People are following the Messiah. They're gathering around him and John just gives us a couple of their names to let us know who these people are. Now listen to this. Verse 42. He brought him to Jesus. That is Andrew brought Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said you are Simon son of John. Now, how did Jesus know Peter was Simon? How did he know his name?

You see, remember John, his emphasis is on the deity of Christ. Luke's emphasis is on the humanity of Christ. Matthew's emphasis is on the royalty of Christ. And uh, excuse me, Mark's emphasis is on the humility of Christ as the servant. And so John wants us to see Jesus as God. Andrew brings his brother. Jesus sees him and says you're Simon. Well, how does Jesus know that? Unless Jesus is omniscient. He knows everything. He's, he's God. Read on. Verse 43. The next day he purposed to go forth into Galilee.

And he found Philip and Jesus said to him follow me. Now Philip was from Bethsaida of the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him we have found him of whom Moses is in the law. And also the prophets wrote Jesus of Nazareth the son of Joseph. And Nathanael said to him can any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip said to him come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him and said of him behold an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile. Nathanael said to him how do you know me?

How do you know me? Listen to this. Jesus answered said to him before Philip called you when you were under the fig tree I saw you. So how did Jesus see him? How did Jesus know about Nathanael? Well, because Jesus is God and he's omniscient he knows everything. So John is introducing us to the deity the personhood of Christ that he is God in the flesh that he knows everything. Folks the whole flow of John 1, 2, 3, and 4 is so very important because it all takes place before the actual Galilean ministry in Luke 4.

But what John gives us is such a beautiful picture of salvation and how it all comes together. You need to understand it to understand the ministry of Christ how it began and what he was about. And here is our Lord. He knows everything. He knows Simon's name. He knows where Nathanael is. He knows everything. He knows that on the inside of Nathanael is purity, is humility, is a man of integrity. And Nathanael says how do you know that? I want you to know something. God knows everything in your life.

He knows what you're thinking right now. He knows what you're going to think 10 minutes from now. He knows everything about you. There's nothing he does not know. And John wants us to see his omniscience. Now listen to Nathanael's response. Nathanael answered him, Rabbi you are the son of God. You are the king of Israel. I mean you must be God in the flesh. I mean who would know where I was before I was called and who would know what's on the inside of me except God. And Jesus answered and said to him, because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe?

You shall see greater things than these. You think that's something? Oh you wait. You wait. The blind will see. The lame will walk. The dead will be raised. I'll walk on water. So will Peter. And you will see fishes and loaves multiplied. You think this is something Nathanael? You haven't seen anything yet. Because what I'm about to tell you will blow your mind. Verse 51. And he said to him, truly, truly I say to you, you shall see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the son of man.

He says Nathanael, you haven't seen anything yet. Because what I'm going to show you is the way to heaven. You will see angels descending and ascending on the son of man. Now, now what is that about? Well, if you're with us in our study of Genesis, you know that takes you all the way back to Genesis 28. Where Jacob had a dream. Remember that? Turn back to Genesis 28 with me for a moment. Genesis chapter 28. Jacob had just been sent away by his mother to Laban's home and he's on his way. He falls asleep.

He has a dream. And listen to what takes place in Genesis 28 verse number 11. And he came to a certain place, spent the night there because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of the place and put it under his head and laid down in that place. And he had a dream. And behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac, the land on which you lie.

I will give it to you and your descendants. Your descendants shall also be like the dust of the earth and you shall spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south. And in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you. Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it.

And he was afraid and said, how awesome is this place? This is none other than the house of God and this is the gate of heaven. Now did Jacob see a gate into heaven? Answer, no. But he saw a ladder descending from heaven to earth. The Hebrew syntax is that the ladder is coming down to earth. The ladder is not coming from earth to heaven. And what Jacob sees, listen very carefully, he sees the way to heaven. He sees that the only way to heaven is through the son of man. Jesus picks that up in Luke, John 1 51 and talks about angels descending and ascending on the son of man.

You see the ladder is the son of man. The ladder, listen, is the gateway to heaven. What did Jesus say in John chapter 10? I am the door, which translated means I am the gateway. I'm the gateway. You see what Jacob saw was that there was one way to heaven and that was through the son of man only. Jesus says to Nathanael, Nathanael, you haven't seen anything yet.

You think I know all about you. That's true. But I will let you know that I have brought heaven down to you. I have brought salvation to you, Nathanael. I have brought heaven's glory to you, Nathanael. And the only way you're going to get to heaven, Nathanael, is through me. I'm the son of man and the angels ascend and descend on me. It's all about the ministry of the angels and we've seen that, right? We saw it in Luke chapter 1 where the angels came and told us about the coming of Messiah. We saw that at the birth of the Messiah that the angels would come to the shepherds.

We saw about how angels would minister to Christ after his temptation. They would minister to him in the garden of Eden before his crucifixion. The angels would be at the tomb after the resurrection. The angels would be at his ascension when he ascended up into glory. It's all about the ministry of the Messiah opening up the way to heaven through him. How does that happen? It can only happen when our lives have been cleansed. That's it. And that's why the next story is so important. The wedding at Cana.

Listen to what it says in John chapter 1 verse number, I'm sorry, John chapter 2 verse number 1. And on the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee.

Now listen carefully to what I'm going to say. Jesus leaves Judea and goes back to Galilee, listen, for about two weeks. This is not what Luke's talking about in Luke 4 verse number 14. In Luke 4 14 you have his full Galilean ministry that lasts all the way to chapter 9 verse number 51. But there was a brief moment in time where Christ would leave Judea. He would go back up to Cana of Galilee because there would be a wedding there. And that wedding evidently were friends of his and his family. He would go there and this were where he would perform his very first miracle.

But you must understand the context of John chapter 1. John is presenting to us the Messiah. His deity. He's God in the flesh. He knows everything. Not only does he know everything, he's way beyond man because he's transcendent. He existed way back in Genesis 28. He's right here now among Nathanael, among Andrew, among Simon, and among Philip. But if he's the way to heaven, the only way to get to heaven is through him. And the only way that happens is if you have been cleansed. And so John gives us the illustration of the miracle in Cana.

Now listen carefully. Every miracle that Jesus does in the physical realm is a picture of what he does in the spiritual realm. If you miss that, you're going to miss the miracles. If you miss that, you're going to miss why this was his first miracle.

Why was this his first one and not his middle one or his last one? Why couldn't the first one be a resurrection?

Why did they have to be turning water into wine? Seems kind of minuscule compared to a resurrection, right? Ah, but you see it's all a part of the scenario. It's all a part of the story about the Messiah being the only way to heaven and the only way to get there is to be cleansed from your sin. So how does the miracle in Cana demonstrate that to us? Look what it says. And on the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee.

And the mother of Jesus was there and Jesus also was invited and his disciples to the wedding. And when the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, they have no wine. Now listen, wine to Jews is equivalent to joy. So if you read the Old Testament, you realize that joy and wine are equivalent. That is, they look at wine as a symbol of joy in one's life.

And so Mary, the mother of Jesus, comes and says that they have no joy. Now this is a wedding. Have you ever been to a wedding where everything went right? No, nothing ever goes right at a wedding. There's always a problem. Somebody forgets something. Somebody forgets to do something. Something always happens. Well, you know what? Same way it is today. Same way it was in the days of Jesus. And why? So what does Mary, the mother of Jesus do? She goes to her son, the great problem solver. Listen to what happens.

And Jesus said to her, woman, what do I have to do with you? He said, well, if I talk to my mother that way, she slapped me upside my head. How can he talk to his mother that way? You see, the reason he is, is because he's distancing himself from her. Remember that? He needs, she needs to see him no longer as son, but as savior. It's not a term of derision. It's a term of kindness by calling her woman. What have I to do with you? Listen to this. My hour has not yet come. Remember seven times in the gospel of John, Christ mentions the hour.

The first time is in conjunction with his mother. The last time is with his father who is in heaven. But seven times he mentions the hour in the gospel of John, because the hour is a time of his crucifixion, the hour for which he came. He says, my hour's not yet come. And then it says, his mother said to the servants, whatever he says to you, do it. Now there were six stone water pots set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing 20 or 30 gallons each. Jesus said to them, fill the water pots with water.

They filled them up to the brim. He said to them, draw some out now and take it to the head waiter. And they took it to him. And when the head waiter tasted the water, which had become wine and did not know where it came from, but the servants who had drawn the water knew, the head waiter called the bridegroom and said to him, every man serves a good wine first.

And when men have drunk freely, then that which is poor, you have kept the good wine until now. The beginning of his signs, Jesus did in King of Galilee and manifested his glory and his disciples believed in him. Now you see, the great thing about this is that there's, listen, there's no fanfare. Jesus doesn't get on top of the roof and say, we're going to turn the water into wine. So everybody pay attention because this is going to be my first miracle and you need to see how it all comes together because this will prove to you that I am the Messiah.

Didn't do that. Just simply had to fill the water pots and turn the water into wine. Let me tell you something.

This is the miracle of creation. To take water with no grapes, with no vine, no sun, no ground, and immediately turn it into the best of all wines. Folks, this is the first miracle he does.

And it's symbolic because you see, when Jesus says to Nathanael, you haven't seen anything yet because you see what I do is all supernatural.

And what I do is purify the life and make it the best of all lives because I am the one who creates out of nothing. You see, the whole miracle of turning water into wine is symbolic of purification. Why did he take the Jewish purification jars? Why those? Because you see, Christ came to purify our lives. Christ came to cleanse us from our sin, right? And that's why this miracle, this first miracle is so significant.

Because that's what Jesus is into doing. He's into cleansing your life. He is a son of man. He is the ladder descending from heaven to earth in which angels ascend and descend. And he is the gateway to heaven. But the only way you get there is to be cleansed and only he can do that. Only Christ can cleanse your life. Only Christ can make you clean. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things are passed away, but all things have become new, right? He cleanses us with the washing of water through the word, Ephesians 5, 26.

Titus 3, 5, not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but by the washing of regeneration and renewing in the Spirit of God, a man is born again. And so Christ wants us to see, John wants us to see about what Christ is doing as he cleanses the life because he's the one who can do that, you see. And then it says in verse number 12, and after this, he went down to Capernaum. He and his mother and his brothers and his disciples. And there they stayed a few days, verse 13. And the Passover, the Jews was at hand and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

Now we know that Jerusalem is south of the Galilee. But whenever you go to Jerusalem, you always go up to Jerusalem because Jerusalem is up on a plateau. It's always up. You never go down to Jerusalem. You always go up to Jerusalem. So Christ began his Judean ministry after his temptation, went back to Galilee for about a week or two. Now he's back in Jerusalem. Now he's down in Judea and will be there for almost a year before he once again goes back to Galilee. You with me so far? This is important because now he's in Jerusalem.

This is the first Passover he has attended since his ministry begins, okay? First Passover he has attended since his official ministry begins.

And what does he do? What does he do? Look what it says. And he found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves and the money changers' seat. And he made a scourge of cords and drove them all out of the temple with the sheep and the oxen. And he poured out the coins and the money changers and overturned their tables. And to those who are selling the doves, he said, take these things away. Stop making my father's house a house of merchandise. The very first time that Christ shows up in Jerusalem after his official ministry begins, he demonstrates his concern for the complacency of sin and the irreverency toward his father who is in heaven.

He takes a whip. He begins to turn over the tables. He runs people out of the temple because they were using the house of God for their own purposes. They were using the house of God so that they would be able to gain more and more profit. And Christ was furious. Now, listen carefully. Luke chapter 1, I mean, excuse me, John chapter 1, the men are beginning to follow him. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He is omniscient. He knows everything. Nathanael is baffled by the fact that he knows where he was, what his name is, what's on the inside of him.

And Christ says, you haven't seen anything yet because I'm the gateway to heaven. And the only way to get to heaven is through cleansing. So we have the miracle in Canaan to show us the purification of Christ. And we also understand that cleansing is important by how he cleanses the temple. Listen, when you give your life to Christ, your body is the temple of the Spirit of God. And God doesn't want what's happening on the inside to be irreverent. He doesn't want what happens on the inside to bring a reproach upon his name.

And he will do whatever it takes to cleanse the temple where he himself dwells, because God is into cleansing. And so you had this whole scenario. If they would have known the Old Testament, they would have known Psalm 69, verse number 9. It says this in verse number 17. His disciples remembered that it was written, zeal for thy house will consume me. That was a prophetic psalm about the coming of Messiah. If they would have known Malachi chapter 3, verse number 1, they would have known that the Messiah would come to the temple suddenly.

And he did on three occasions. The first was at his dedication when Mary and Joseph brought him after eight days.

The second when he was 12 years of age, when he made that declaration that he was about his father's business.

And this is the third time he comes into the temple immediately and he cleanses it. And that is that the denunciation of the religious establishment. So he did come. If they would have known the Old Testament, they would have known that this was the Messiah. Now listen to this. It says this, verse number 19. Jesus answered and said to them, destroy this temple in three days, I will raise it up. The Jews therefore said, it took 46 years to build this temple. And will you raise it up in three days?

Before that, you must realize in verse number 18, it says, the Jews therefore answered him and said to him, what sign do you show us seeing that you do these things? Why do you come in here? Turn these things over. Why do you come in here like you own this place? Who do you think you are? Give us a sign. And Jesus only gave them one sign. And that was a sign of the resurrection. Only one. They would continually ask for a sign. But the only sign he gave them was the sign of the resurrection. Destroy this temple.

Three days. I'll raise it up again. John is portraying to us the eternality of God. You can't kill God. He will raise himself up again. He became man so he could die. But remember, he holds the keys to death and Hades. He's in complete charge of everything. And it goes on and says this, verse 22. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this and they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken. Now, when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in his name, beholding his signs which he was doing.

But Jesus, on his part, was not entrusting himself to them. For he knew all men. And because he did not need anyone to bear witness concerning man, for he himself knew what was in man. There are many people who got on the Jesus bandwagon and they believed in him. I mean, look at the miracles he's doing.

Look what's happening with this guy. And they would get on the Jesus bandwagon, but Jesus never entrusted himself to them. Remember we told you, it's not whether or not you know God, it's whether or not God knows you, right? A lot of people say they believe in God, but Jesus knows exactly what's inside of you, right? He knows what's there. He didn't trust himself to them because he knew that was all superficial. Superficial. When you come to John chapter three, you have the interchange between Christ and Nicodemus.

Remember that? And Christ said that you must be born again or you must be born from above. And Nicodemus was that great teacher of the law. And Christ questions him over in verse number 10, are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things? Nicodemus was the teacher in Israel. He was the man. And he came to Christ in the night to talk to him. And Christ knew what he was coming about. He said, you must be born from above Nicodemus or you'll never see the kingdom of God. You see, we need to get back to what it means to be born again because people don't understand that term anymore.

They forget all about that. But Nicodemus knew, don't think for one moment Nicodemus didn't know what Christ was talking about. In fact, when Nicodemus said these words, how can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?

You think Nicodemus was actually talking about crawling back up into his mother's womb and be born again? No, he wasn't talking about that. He knew exactly what Christ was talking about. Christ says, listen, Nicodemus, you're the teacher of Israel.

You gotta realize that everything that you've done through your whole life is wrong. You gotta go all the way back to the beginning. You gotta be born from above. You have gotta have a new life. And the only way you can have a new life is if you have a new spirit. And the only one who can give you a new spirit is the Messiah. And he uses terminology from Ezekiel chapter 26, or 36, which says this, verse 25. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.

Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and you will be careful to observe my ordinances. That's the new covenant. And Nicodemus knew the law. He was the teacher of the law. And Christ says, you gotta be born of water and you gotta be born of the spirit.

That wasn't literal water. It was the washing of regeneration. It was the cleansing work of the blood of Christ. That's what it was all about. Nicodemus knew that. In John chapter three, it's all about being born again and what it means to give your life to Christ. And Nicodemus is challenged about, listen, everything you've learned up to now, Nicodemus, is wrong. It's wrong. You can't work your way to heaven. You can't do enough good things to get there. It's all about what I have done, Nicodemus.

It's not about what you do. It's all about the grace of God. It's about having faith in what God has done. That's what it's about. You see, it's all about being cleansed. And John two, John three is all about that. And when you come to John chapter four, what do you have? Look at John four for a moment.

I know I'm hurrying, but I just, I'm just trying to give you a brief overview to understand what happens before Luke four, verse number 14. Verse number one of chapter four of John.

When therefore the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John, although Jesus himself was not baptizing, but his disciples were, he left Judea and departed again into Galilee. Now he's leaving Judea. He's going back to Galilee. And the text says, and he had to pass through Samaria. So he came to a city of Samaria called Sicar near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his sons, Joseph. And Jacob's well was there. Jesus, therefore being wearied from his journey was sitting thus by the well.

It was about the sixth hour. Christ now is leaving his Judean ministry. He's going back to Galilee and he passes through Samaria. Now the Samaritans were half breeds. They were Jews who had intermarried with the Gentiles and they were despised. And he meets a woman there, the woman at the well. She's been married five times before. She's had five husbands. The one she's with is not her husband. And so she's living in an immoral relationship and she has a conversation with the Messiah and the Messiah leads her to saving grace.

You see, it's all about salvation and the ministry of our Lord. And Jesus does something very significant here. That the first person in the scriptures that we see coming to Christ is a Samaritan woman, an outcast, an immoral person, a filthy individual.

Because Christ wants us to see something very significant. He had a ministry to the unlovely. He had a ministry to the immoral person. He had a ministry to the filthy people. He had a ministry to the poor people, to the outcasts. That's who he came to save. And that will help you understand what happens in the synagogue at Nazareth. That's next week's sermon. But you see, he goes to Samaria because he came to reach the world with the gospel, not just the Jewish people. That's important to understand as we begin to grasp what's taking place.

And listen to verse number 39. And from that city, many of the Samaritans believed in him because of the word of the woman who testified. He told me all the things that I have done. So when the Samaritans came to him, they were asking him to stay with them. And he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. And they were saying to the woman, it is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this one is indeed the savior of the world.

See, that's the ministry of our Lord. He's the savior of the world. And after the two days, he went forth from there into Galilee for Jesus himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans received him, having seen all the things that he did in Jerusalem at the feast, for they themselves also went to the feast. Verse 46. And he came therefore again to Cana of Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son was sick at Capernaum.

He heals the noble man's son. And this becomes now the second miracle that Jesus Christ does. And John records. Now you understand Luke chapter four. Turn back there with me, if you would, for a moment. And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the spirit. He returned to Galilee after having already gone through Samaria, after already been back to Cana, having already healed the noble man's son in Capernaum. Now he is back in Galilee under the power of the spirit of God. The popularity of our Lord has grown.

I mean, there are scores of people following him now. And he's being praised by all. The text says these words. And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the spirit. And news about him spread. The word news is feime. We get our English word fame. And the fame about him began to spread all over the place. Why? Because these Jews were down in Jerusalem at the Passover. They saw what was happening down there through this Messiah. And they've seen great things taking place. And all of a sudden the news begins to spread upwards to the Galilee.

And everybody knows he's popular. Praise goes before him. He's being praised by all. And Luke now picks up the ministry of Christ about one year into it to show us how all that praise turns to persecution. How it all begins to turn away from adoring him to wanting to kill him. Because now the tide will turn against the Messiah. But the emphasis is this. He went about teaching and preaching in all the synagogues. Why? Because he had a teaching preaching ministry. Because he wanted people to know the truth.

They needed to be cleansed. And that cleansing comes through the washing of regeneration. It comes through the preaching and teaching of the word of God. It's God's word, John 15 3, that cleanses us. You are cleansed through the word of God. And so Christ now begins this ministry in Luke chapter 4 in the Galilee. Having already had a year's ministry in Judea, and people have begun to follow him and to praise him, and the swell, the groundswell has grown to such an extent that everybody is praising his name.

Until you come to the synagogue in Nazareth, where he stands up and begins to preach, and we're able to understand exactly what he's saying now.

He tells them that he's their Messiah. And they turn against him. They don't want him to be their Messiah, because they don't like what he said. What did he say? That's next week, as we understand the ministry of Jesus Christ. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for today and all that you've done. And thank you, Lord Jesus, for the word of God. There's so much to cover, yet so little time to do so. Your ministry is so great, so magnificent. It goes way beyond anything we could ever imagine.

Yet, Lord, we thank you for the word of God that details for us those things that would help us see our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the Messiah, and all of his greatness. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.