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Pastor Scott L. Harris
Grace Bible Church, NY
August 11, 2013
Miracles and Rejection
John 4:43-54; Luke 4:14-30
Introduction (John 4:1-44)
I our study of John 4 the last couple of weeks, we have seen Jesus model how to witness to a stranger as He talked with the Samaritan woman by Jacob’s well. He asked questions and made statements designed to catch her interest, prod her to think and gently expose her sinfulness before He revealed that He was the Messiah. She then went to Sychar and told the people there who she had found. (See: Witnessing to Strangers). While they were coming from the city, Jesus gave a very important lesson to His disciples about seeing beyond the physical. He pointed out to them that more important and more refreshing than physical food is serving God according to His will. He also pointed out that God uses various people to sow and harvest and that there was a harvest of people for eternal life coming to them right then. Some had believed in hearing the testimony of the woman. Many more came to believe that Jesus was indeed the savior of the world upon hearing Jesus for themselves.(See: Seeing Beyond the Physical).
According to John 4:40-43, at their request, Jesus stayed with the Samaritans in Sychar for two days before resuming His journey to Galilee. As John continues his account in verse 44, he explains the reason Jesus returned to Galilee from Judea, not his reason for leaving the Samaritans. Jesus’ primary mission was to preach the gospel to the lost house of Israel, so he limited His time with the Samaritans. It is easiest to understand verse 44 if you recognize that verses 4-42 is a God directed interlude on His way to Galilee. If I jump from verse 3 to verse 44, I would have the following – John 4:3, He left Judea, and departed again into Galilee. John 4:44, For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. Recall that the reason that Jesus left Judea was to avoid a premature crisis with the Pharisees after their attention was turning from John the Baptist to Him (John 4:1). By returning to Galilee, Jesus avoided bringing about such a crisis. Jesus quoted proverbial statement, “A prophet has no honor in his own country,” in explaining the contrast between His reception by the Samaritans and the Pharisees in Judea. His reception in Galilee would be a mix.
Healing in Galilee (John 4:45-54)
Back to Galilee: John 4:45, 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. The Galileans did pay attention to Jesus when He arrived, but as the passage continues we will find that it is a mixed reception because of varying motivations. Though many of the Galileans had already met Jesus and even seen some of the miracles that He had done some eight months earlier at the Passover in Jerusalem, they do not respond to Him the same way that the Samaritans did. As verse 48 alludes, their interest seemed to revolve more around seeing additional miracles than in wanting to learn more from Him. That is why there is a lack among most of the people in believing Him and honoring Him. That will become very apparent when He goes to Nazareth and teaches in the synagogue which we will examine later in this sermon.
The first place recorded that Jesus went to was back to Cana of Galilee. John 4:46, 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. 47 When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him, and was requesting Him to come down and heal his son; for he was at the point of death.
Cana of Galilee was the location of Jesus’ first recorded miracle of His public ministry. He turned the water into wine at a wedding there which was a miracle of the first order. It could be no slight of hand or “magic” trick for it required something to happen that only God could do. Water is made up of just hydrogen and oxygen, but Jesus turned it into wine which also contains complex molecules and the elements carbon, nitrogen, potassium, sodium, iron, sulfur, chlorine and phosphorus. Those elements were created or formed instantly within the water jars.
The Request: While Jesus is in Cana, a Jewish man who served as a royal official, (probably to Herod Antipas), who lived in Capernaum heard that Jesus had returned to Galilee. This man had either been in Jerusalem at the Passover and had seen Jesus’ miracles himself or had been told about Jesus. He is in desperate need of help for his son who was near death. We can well imagine that this man had already had the doctors present and had the local Rabbis involved. But now he hears that Jesus is nearby and so travels the 16 or so miles from Capernaum to Cana to see Jesus. When he arrives, he begins to plead with Jesus to come to Capernaum and heal his son. I am sure every parent here can well imagine the urgency of his requests.
Jesus responds in verse 48. Jesus therefore said to him, “Unless you [people] see signs and wonders, you [simply] will not believe.”
The “signs and wonders” are miracles that are signs of divine activity, but they also astonish people. The grammar here is that they would not have any faith in Jesus unless they continually saw such signs and wonders. There is apparently a crowd that is present, because Jesus uses the plural pronoun instead of the singular, so Jesus is addressing this crowd and not just the man. It would be contrary to Jesus’ great compassion to make such a statement to put the man off. It appears rather to be a rebuke to the crowd and a clarification to the man of a fallacy in his thoughts. The crowd wanted to see more miracles. They apparently believed that Jesus could do miracles, but they did not believe Jesus’ claim to be the Son of God. They seemed to regard Him as a powerful Rabbi or a prophet of some sort, but not who He was claiming to be – the Messiah, and they would not believe unless they saw miracles with their own eyes.
That may have also been the mindset of this man, but his concern at the moment was not whether Jesus was the Messiah or not, but simply the life of his child. The man’s request indicates that he believed that Jesus would have to be present to heal His son. The urgency of his request in verse 49, “Sir, come down before my child dies,” indicates that he believed that if Jesus did not come soon, then the child would die and it would be too late to do anything. Every parent here can understand why the man would be so urgent in his plea. What Jesus says to him is not what he could have ever expected.
The Healing: John 4:50, Jesus ^said to him, “Go your way; your son lives.” This is a very direct statement of fact. This cannot be toned down to something like, “your chi
ld is going to live.” This is a deed of Jesus’ omnipotence performed in a moment and the child was now fully restored to health though the child was 16 miles away.
The man had taken to heart the earlier rebuke Jesus gave and responded in a positive manner to Jesus’ words. John 4:51, The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he started off. In other words, the man accepted the word of Jesus without seeing any deed done by him. Verses 51-53 give us the rest of the story.
51 And as he was now going down, [his] slaves met him, saying that his son was living. 52 So he inquired of them the hour when he began to get better. They said therefore to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” 53 So the father knew that [it was] at that hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son lives”; and he himself believed, and his whole household.
When you have to walk, sixteen miles is a long journey that takes quite a bit of time. The official started on his journey home after Jesus had told him his son lives, but it is not until the next day that he meets some of his slaves that apparently are coming to tell him the good news about his son. The father asks them when his son became better and they tell it was the day before at the seventh hour which was the same time Jesus had said, “your son lives.”
The result was not only a stronger belief himself, for verse 50 already stated that he believed, but it resulted in his whole household believing. The “whole household” refers to all that lived in this man’s house including his servants. They came to believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that His word could be trusted based on the testimony of this man about Jesus and what He had done.
John 4:54 states, This is again a second sign that Jesus performed, when He had come out of Judea into Galilee. The miracle that Jesus performed could only have been done supernaturally for the boy was 16 miles or more from where Jesus was at in Cana of Galilee.
There was not any kind of therapy or medication. Interestingly, some
Rabbis claimed to be able to heal through prayer, but Jesus did not even offer a prayer in this case. Jesus healed the boy simply by declaring it to be so. Jesus is God.
Rejected in Nazareth (Luke 4:14-30)
Return to Galilee: Because the apostle John wrote his gospel account with an emphasis on presenting Jesus as the Son of God and not in giving a chronology of all that Jesus did, especially if it was already covered in one of the other gospel accounts, John 5 jumps in time to the Spring when Jesus returned to Jerusalem and would perform another miracle that attested to His deity. Luke 4 gives us an account of what happened next in Galilee after Jesus healed the royal official’s son. Luke 4:14-15 give us a summary of Jesus’ ministry before going to Nazareth. And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through all the surrounding district. 15 And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all.
Luke does not mention Jesus’ journey from Judea through Samaria and the events that happened in Sychar. He just states that Jesus returned to the region of Galilee in the power of the Spirit. Jesus did not do anything on His own initiative, but according to the Father’s will by the leading and power of the Spirit (John 5:30; 8:42; 14:10). All of Jesus ministry was done in the power of the Spirit which is why it was so powerful. As already pointed out from John 4:45, the Galileans had received Jesus because many had seen the miracles Jesus had done during the previous Passover. The healing of the royal official’s son and any other unrecorded miracles spread His fame quickly through the entire region. When a well known Rabbi was visiting an area, it was customary for him to teach in the local synagogue, and Jesus began to do so in the region of Galilee, which was received very favorably by the people. It started off that way when Jesus returned to Nazareth where He had grown up.
The Synagogue Service: Luke 4:16-22, 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. 17 And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written, 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed, 19 To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.” 20 And He closed the book, 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.” 22 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?”
To this point, Jesus is the local boy that had achieved fame and so was considered a favorite son of the town. Nothing has changed in this response for people still want to gain prestige for themselves through the fame of someone else. In my travels around this nation over the years, I have seen many signs as you enter a town that say something like, “Welcome to the hometown or the birth place of so and so or some team.” I often do not know anything about so and so or the team mentioned, but the town is proud of the person or team. Towns are safer to wait until the person is dead before they put up those signs, for if the person does something that is not favorable, the town will have to endure the embarrassment or take down the sign.
Such was the response of Nazareth. They knew about the signs He did in Jerusalem during the previous Passover for some of them would have been there. There is no doubt they heard about some of the miracles He has done since His return to Galilee, and they knew of His spreading fame in the region. Now Jesus is back in the town He grew up in as a respected and popular Rabbi. That is why they are giving Him such a positive response in verse 22.
This text reveals several of the common customs in the synagogues during the time of Christ. First, the people would gather together on the Sabbath to hear the Scriptures read and explained as part of their worship of God on that day. The word synagogue (sunagwghv / synagoge ) means “gathering” or “assembly’ and came to also be used to designate the place where the people gathered for religious activity. The same is true for the word ejkklhsiva (ekklesia) which is translated as church when referring to an assembly of Christians. Jewish social life revolved around the synagogue which was why being excluded from the assembly was such a serious consequence for certain sins (Exodus 30:33; 31:14; Leviticus 7:20-25; 17:14; 18:29, etc.).
Another custom was that the honor of reading from the Scriptures and explaining them was often given to a visiting Rabbi, in this case, Jesus. The Rabbi would ask for the scroll that contained the particular scripture he wanted to read, and after he had found the place, he would stand up and read it. Remember that they did not have books as we do with the leaf of each page cut and bound together so that you could flip through each page. Neither were those books separated into designated chapters and verses as has been done in the Bibles that we use so that we can quickly find the point of reference. The chapter divisions were added in the 13th century by either Cardinal Hug or Archbishop Langton, and the verse divisions were added by the printer, Robert Stephens, about 1551.
Jesus was handed the scroll of Isaiah, and He stood and read from the section we refer to as Isaiah 61:1-2. I do not know when the practic
e of standing to read the Scriptures began, but the practice is clearly seen when Ezra reads the Law of God to the people who had returned from captivity to rebuild Jerusalem about 444 B.C. (Nehemiah 8:5). After the Rabbi finished reading the text, he would hand the scroll back to the attendant who kept them, then he would sit down to explain what he read. Jesus followed this custom and the people were now anxious to hear what He would say about the passage. As verse 20 states it, and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him.
The Initial Response: Jesus begins to give His sermon regarding the text, but He is stopped short by their response. Jesus states, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” They respond immediately interrupting Him by 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?”
The particular passage Jesus read from Isaiah is in a section concerning the future restoration of the nation of Israel in which her oppressors would be thrown off and punished and she would regain her former glory and righteousness would reign under God’s gracious hand. Most of those who heard Jesus would be familiar with this passage and the hope it gave which is why they responded with such joy and amazement. They recognize that Jesus is stating that He is the messenger of the good news that Isaiah prophesied would come in the verses that Jesus read. That is why they are astonished. Their question is rhetorical. They were not questioning Jesus’ identity. They knew this was Joseph’s son, but they are amazed that such wonderful news was coming from the man they knew as Joseph’s son.
However, in their joy and wonder, they failed to recognize three important points about what Jesus said. First, they failed to notice that Jesus had only quoted a very small portion of the passage. Jesus only quoted the section speaking of the good news for Zion about the blessings those who were afflicted, broken hearted, captured or prisoners would receive. Such people would be comforted, healed and set free to live in liberty. It was the beginning of the favorable year of the Lord – the ultimate year of jubilee. That is good news, but they would have had in mind the rest of the prophecy speaking about the punishment of the evil nations around them. That would have also been considered good news to them, but Jesus stopped short. He did not even continue on to the very next phrase which proclaims it to also be “the day of vengeance of Our God.” Jesus was not proclaiming that this was the beginning of the fulfillment of the entire prophecy of Isaiah, but only the first part. That part which would begin with the arrival of Messiah, but that is the second point they failed to recognize. Jesus was making that very claim. Remember, Luke began this passage pointing out that Jesus returned to Galilee “in the power of the Spirit.” The first two phrases in the prophecy of Isaiah 61 that Jesus said have been fulfilled in their hearing was “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me because He anointed Me to preach the gospel . . .” The Messiah, or in Greek, the Christ, is the anointed one prophesied to come. Jesus is stating that He is one anointed by the Spirit who was prophesied to come.
The third point they failed to recognize was the timing of this prophecy being fulfilled. Jesus stated that it was “today” and that it “has been fulfilled” in their hearing. The verb is in the perfect tense indicating that it has been and is continuing to be fulfilled in their hearing. If they had recognized these points, they would not have reacted the way that they do at the end of the sermon in which they become angry and murderous. They would have been appalled at their own behavior and then, like the Samaritans, they would have believed Jesus and pleaded with Him to stay and teach them more.
The Sermon: Jesus has read the Scripture passage and made His initial statement about it, but they had interrupted with their comments before He could continue. Jesus continues His sermon in Luke 4:23-28, but now He is making a pointed application to them because of their unbelief. 23 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.’ ” 24 And He said, “Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown. 25 “But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land; 26 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. 27 “And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”
Jesus begins the application section of His sermon by quoting an old Proverb. It is not a Biblical proverb, but it was a common phrase used to describe the necessity a physician proving his credentials by being able to heal himself. The idea being that if he could not heal himself, how could he be trusted to heal anyone else. The proverb had a general meaning that a claim had to be proved with the actions that verify it. Jesus then makes the direct connection of this proverb with their expectation that He would prove His credentials as a Rabbi, as a prophet and as this Spirit anointed messenger spoken about in the prophecy of Isaiah by doing among them as they had heard He had done in Capernaum. Luke does not state what Jesus had done in Capernaum, but we have already seen from our study of John 4:45-54 earlier in this sermon, that while Jesus was in Cana of Galilee, He had healed the son of the royal official though the boy was still in Capernaum. They are looking for Jesus to do a miracle, and though they were happy to have a local boy do well and gain fame, they would not believe until they could see with their own eyes Jesus do such miracles.
Jesus is very pointed with them calling their attention to the general truth, and one certainly applicable in His own situation, that the people of a town will not accept one of their own townsmen as a prophet. They were already astonished that Joseph’s son was the one speaking to them as a Rabbi. People are much quicker to recognize greatness in a stranger than in someone they know well. Later on the people of Nazareth will become so disdainful of Jesus they will only refer to Him as the “carpenter’s son.” Jesus then illustrates His point with two examples from Jewish history.
The first example is Elijah who was later considered one of the great prophets, but while Elijah was alive, he was not treated so well 25 “But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land; 26 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.” This is a reference to the story in 1 Kings 17. No one in the land of Israel was willing to step out in faith to feed Elijah during the famine. Instead, God sent him to a Gentile widow in Sidon who was down to her very last meal, yet at Elijah’s request and his promise of a miracle that her bowl of flour and jar of oil would not run out until it began to rain again, she fed him first.
The second example is about Elisha, the successor of Elijah, and also considered to be one of the greatest prophets. 27 “And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” This story occurs in 2 Kings 5. Naaman was a Gentile who was the captain of the army of the king of Aram. He had a captured Jewish girl as a slave who told him about the prophet Elisha and his abilit
y to do miracles. He believed her report that Elisha could heal him of his leprosy and so went down to meet him. Elisha did not even come out of his house to talk with him, but simply sent a messenger to tell him to wash in the Jordan river seven times. Naaman was at first in a rage, but then humbled himself and did as Elijah directed and was miraculously healed. A pagan Gentile stricken with leprosy believed a report from a slave girl about the prophet Elisha and was healed, but no one with leprosy in Israel had enough faith in Elisha as a prophet of God to even ask him.
There were two simple points of the application in Jesus’ sermon. First, He was aware that they did not accept and believe His claims. Second, they would not see the kind of miracle they wanted because they were like their ancestors and did not recognize the prophet that was among them. The truth of what Jesus said was then borne out in their response in rejecting Him.
The Rejection: Luke 4:28-30, 28 And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things; 29 and they got up and drove 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. 30 But passing through their midst, He went His way.
Their angry response of attempted murder revealed their evil and wicked hearts. They did not want to be compared to the failure of their ancestors, and even more so, they did not want to hear about God’s graciousness being extended to Gentiles who were more faithful than they. The people who had gathered to hear the Scriptures and learn from the Rabbi as part of the worship of God became a raging and murderous mob, no doubt controlled by Satan who was a liar and murderer from the beginning (John 8:44). They drive Jesus out of the synagogue, out of the city and to the edge of a cliff near the city with the clear intention of throwing Him off the cliff to kill Him.
How fickle the mob. Only a few minutes before they were all speaking well of Him. Just because someone says something does not make it true nor is it always a reflection of their actual beliefs. They were happy with Jesus until they did not get what they wanted, then they rapidly changed revealing the truth about their selfishness and murderous hearts. It is still that way for so many today. They will speak nice things about Jesus and may even claim to be a Christian as long as life is going well for them and they are getting what they want. When that changes, so does their tune. They can quickly become angry and hateful toward God and fail to recognize their own foolishness and unbelief. Do they really believe they can take out their vengeance on God and hurt Him? They will be disappointed just as the folks in Nazareth were.
John 4:30 states, “But passing through their midst, He went His way.” Their intent was murder, and though they were a mob, they could not kill Jesus. He let them go so far in demonstrating their intentions, then when He decided it was time to leave, He simply passed through their midst and went His way. They could not control him. God does what He wants when He wants in the way He wants in keeping with His character, purposes and promises. Jesus would not die until He was ready to lay His life down at the proper time in the proper place by the proper method for the proper purpose.
Conclusion
No man can control God and that includes you. Getting angry at God reveals your own ignorance of His identity, nature, character and purposes. It also reveals the wickedness and evil in your own heart.
Do not be like the people of Nazareth. It only results in your own condemnation. Be like the royal official who sought Jesus because He knew He was compassionate. Be like the Samaritans who believed what they learned and sought to know more of Jesus.
KIDS
Parents, you are responsible to apply God’s Word to your children’s lives. Here is some help. Young Children – draw a picture about something you hear during the sermon. Explain your picture(s) to your parents at lunch. Older Children – Do one or more of the following: 1) Tell in your own words why the royal official believed Jesus and the people of Nazareth rejected Him.
THINK ABOUT IT!
Questions to consider in discussing the sermon with others. Why did Jesus leave Judea? Why was Jesus going to Galilee? How does John 4:44 fit within that context? Why did the Galileans receive Jesus? Did they honor Jesus? What did Jesus’ first miracle in Cana demonstrate about Jesus? Where is Capernaum in relationship to Cana? How far? Why do you think this man thought Jesus could help his son? What did the man believe Jesus would have to do in order to help his son? Why did Jesus rebuke the people (verse 48)? What did Jesus do for the man? What was the man’s response? Describe the nature of this miracle? How does it show Jesus is the Son of God? What was the response of the man’s household? Why was Jesus teaching in the synagogue in Nazareth? What verses in Isaiah did Jesus read and what is that section of Isaiah about? What is a synagogue? Why did Jesus stand to read the scroll and sit to teach? What was the initial response of the people to what Jesus read and His statement about it? Why? What did they fail to notice about what Jesus read and said? What is the point of the proverb Jesus quoted in vs. 23? What had happened in Capernaum? Why did Jesus point out a prophet was not accepted in his hometown? What was the point of His example of Elijah and Zarephath? What was the point of His example of the healing of Naaman by Elisha? Why did the people become so angry? What did their actions prove about their hearts? Why couldn’t they throw Jesus off the cliff as they had planned? What is your response to Jesus? Do your actions match your claims, if not, what must change?
Sermon Notes – 8/11/2013
Miracles and Rejection – John 4:43-54; Luke 4:14-30
Introduction
Jesus modeled how to _____________ to a stranger with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well
Jesus taught His disciples to see beyond the _____________to recognized God’s provision and God’s work
Jesus heeded the pleas of the Samaritans and stayed with them for ____________ days
Healing in Galilee (John 4:45-54)
Back to Galilee: John 4:45
Many Galileans had seen what Jesus during _______________ and so welcomed him to their region
The first place Jesus returned was ____________of Galilee where he had worked His first recorded miracle
Turning water into wine required the _________creation / formation of additional elements in the water jar
The Request – vs. 46-47. A Jewish royal official requested Jesus to go to Capernaum and _____his sick son
Vs. 48 – Jesus responded that the crowd wanted to see signs and wonders _____________they would believe
Vs. 49 – the man’s concern was the healing of his _________- believing Jesus to him for that to happen
The Healing: John 4:50. Jesus simply ____________ the boy (~ 16 miles away) was healed
The man ______________ Jesus and began his journey home
Vs. 51-53 – The man’s slaves ________________ the son was healed at the time Jesus said it
The man gained a stronger belief and ________________ in his household also believe.
John 4:54 – Without therapy, medication or even a prayer, Jesus healed the boy as only _________could do
Rejected in Nazareth (Luke 4:14-30)
Return to Galilee – Luke 4:14-15.
______________ does not mention what happened on the way to Galilee
All of Jesus’ ministry was done in the power of the ______________
Jesus’ fame opened up opportunities for Him to _____________ in synagogues around the region
The Synagogue Service: Luke 4:16-22
Jesus is welcomed to speak at the synagogue in Nazareth as a ___________boy who had achieved fame
Synagogue: an ______________of people gathered for religious activity; the place such an assembly meets
A visiting Rabbi would be asked to read the scriptures, explain them and ____________ from them
_________divisions were added in the 13th century and verse divisions in the 16th century to aide referencing
According to custom, Jesus ______________ to read Isaiah 61:1-2a from the scroll, then sat down to teach
The Initial Response – Jesus begins to give His sermon, but is _______________ short by their response
Isaiah 61 is from a section prophesying the future _________________ of the nation of Israel
They do not question Jesus’ identity, but are ____________ that it is Joseph’s son that is speaking / teaching
They failed to notice that Jesus quoted a _________ section, stopping before vengeance is mentioned
They failed to notice this was a _____________ prophecy Jesus was applying to Himself
They failed to notice the __________of fulfillment was at that very time – “today . . . has been fulfilled . . .”
The Sermon: Luke 4:23-28
Jesus quotes a non-Biblical proverb pointing out their expectation for Him to ______Himself with a miracle
They heard about the miracle in done Capernaum and wanted something ___________ to be done there
Vs. 24 – Jesus points out the general truth that prophets are ___________ accepted in their hometown
Jesus’ first illustrative example is the story of ____________ and the widow Zarephath – 1 Kings 17
Jesus’ second illustrative example is the story of ____________ and healing of Naaman – 2 Kings 5
Jesus is aware that they do not accept and believe His __________
They were like their ancestors and would not see a miracle because of their ______________
The Rejection: Luke 4:28-30
Their angry response of attempted murder revealed their evil and wicked ______________
Mobs / people are fickle – their spoken claims are contradicted by the ___________ of their actions
It is _______________ for a person to think they can have vengeance on God or hurt Him
vs. 4:30 – Jesus was still in complete ______________ of His destiny
Conclusion – No man can control ____________
Do not be like those in Nazareth, but believe like the royal official and __________Jesus like the Samaritans
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