January 20th, 2023
by Jon Welch
by Jon Welch
Day 15
Jesus now moved back to His hometown of Nazareth, the place where he had grown up. Remember what it had been like for Jesus from your study in Psalm 69? Jesus may have suffered here in His youth at the hands of the elders who had constantly ridiculed him and his family,and the town drunkards who seemingly made up songs about Him. Now he was retuning to teach in their synagogue on the Sabbath. What will happen?
Read Luke 4:16-30.
What is this passage telling us about the person of Jesus?
Why the anger in his hometown? (Vs.28)
What was their problem? Also see a later visit in Mark 6:1-6.
Wow! Did you catch that drastic change in atmosphere? Jesus reads from the Old Testament scroll Isaiah and the people are fixed on Him. They are listening intently and they are astonished. Look again at verse 22. What is the atmosphere like as Jesus sits down after reading and says, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing”? The people are all speaking well of Jesus and are somewhat shocked, saying, “Isn’t that Joseph the carpenter’s son, that kid we thought would never be worth anything?” Now, note the change in atmosphere by verse 28. Go ahead and read it again. The people are filled with rage and are ready to kill Jesus! Who do you go from speaking well of someone to being ready to kill him? Something happens between verses 22 and 28 that changes everything. The people went from praising Jesus to wanting to kill him. What could Jesus have said or done to invoke such a radical change in the people? I think you may need to stop and reread verses 23-27 again before you go on.
Jesus begins by sharing what he can plainly see on their faces, “I know what you want– you want me to do what I did in Capernaum.” What had they heard that Jesus had done in Capernaum? It was yesterdays story of the physical healing of the royal officer’s son. Jesus could read it on their faces, and maybe they had already begun to say to Him, “Do here in your own hometown what we have heard you did in Capernaum.” It is Jesus’ response to what they are asking for that will send the crowd into a furry.
Jesus basically says, “ Because of your lack of faith, you will not be seeing and tasting what I have to offer. Instead, just like in the days of Elijah the prophet, the heavens will be shut for you. But instead,” (And this is what set them off) “I will do what was done in days past; I will heal and cleanse, but not Jews. I will help non-jews. I will heal people like the woman of Zarephath and cleanse people like Naaman the Syrian captain.”
What a slap in the face! But why? Why would Jeus be so tough and speak so sharply to the people from his own hometown? Again, the comparison is to the Old Testament stories of Elijah and Elisha. We also get a hint in Mark 6:4-6. It was because of their unbelief, their lack of faith. Faith is what energies the work of God in your life and in the lives of those around you. Without faith, God has chosen not to work. He could work apart form our faith, on a dozen occasion does, but as a rule, God has chosen to allow us to be part of the process and to trust and obey Him. How is your faith? Do you want to see God move? Live by faith and you will see the impossible happen before your very eyes. Think about it.
This root of faith is a huge one. Without it you cannot be pleasing to our Father in Heaven (Heb.11:6). I challenge you to dig a little deeper into the story of Elijah and Elisha and see faith in action (1 Kings 17:1-18:1, 2 Kings 5:1-14)
Faith is key in your walk as a Chirst-follower. The power of God is ignited in you as you willingly choose to live by faith and not by sight. The word “Faithful” is often confused with the word loyal or with the concept of loyalty. But, faithful means to be full of faith. God is looking for faithful men and women, people full of faith– faith in God, not in yourself, your abilities, your government, your ideals or resources. The object of your faith is key. You will not have faith in Jesus if you do not know him. The more you know God the more you will trust Him and obey Him; in other words, the more faith you will have in Him.
Are you rooted in faith? What keeps you from being full of faith?
Read Luke 4:16-30.
What is this passage telling us about the person of Jesus?
Why the anger in his hometown? (Vs.28)
What was their problem? Also see a later visit in Mark 6:1-6.
Wow! Did you catch that drastic change in atmosphere? Jesus reads from the Old Testament scroll Isaiah and the people are fixed on Him. They are listening intently and they are astonished. Look again at verse 22. What is the atmosphere like as Jesus sits down after reading and says, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing”? The people are all speaking well of Jesus and are somewhat shocked, saying, “Isn’t that Joseph the carpenter’s son, that kid we thought would never be worth anything?” Now, note the change in atmosphere by verse 28. Go ahead and read it again. The people are filled with rage and are ready to kill Jesus! Who do you go from speaking well of someone to being ready to kill him? Something happens between verses 22 and 28 that changes everything. The people went from praising Jesus to wanting to kill him. What could Jesus have said or done to invoke such a radical change in the people? I think you may need to stop and reread verses 23-27 again before you go on.
Jesus begins by sharing what he can plainly see on their faces, “I know what you want– you want me to do what I did in Capernaum.” What had they heard that Jesus had done in Capernaum? It was yesterdays story of the physical healing of the royal officer’s son. Jesus could read it on their faces, and maybe they had already begun to say to Him, “Do here in your own hometown what we have heard you did in Capernaum.” It is Jesus’ response to what they are asking for that will send the crowd into a furry.
Jesus basically says, “ Because of your lack of faith, you will not be seeing and tasting what I have to offer. Instead, just like in the days of Elijah the prophet, the heavens will be shut for you. But instead,” (And this is what set them off) “I will do what was done in days past; I will heal and cleanse, but not Jews. I will help non-jews. I will heal people like the woman of Zarephath and cleanse people like Naaman the Syrian captain.”
What a slap in the face! But why? Why would Jeus be so tough and speak so sharply to the people from his own hometown? Again, the comparison is to the Old Testament stories of Elijah and Elisha. We also get a hint in Mark 6:4-6. It was because of their unbelief, their lack of faith. Faith is what energies the work of God in your life and in the lives of those around you. Without faith, God has chosen not to work. He could work apart form our faith, on a dozen occasion does, but as a rule, God has chosen to allow us to be part of the process and to trust and obey Him. How is your faith? Do you want to see God move? Live by faith and you will see the impossible happen before your very eyes. Think about it.
This root of faith is a huge one. Without it you cannot be pleasing to our Father in Heaven (Heb.11:6). I challenge you to dig a little deeper into the story of Elijah and Elisha and see faith in action (1 Kings 17:1-18:1, 2 Kings 5:1-14)
Faith is key in your walk as a Chirst-follower. The power of God is ignited in you as you willingly choose to live by faith and not by sight. The word “Faithful” is often confused with the word loyal or with the concept of loyalty. But, faithful means to be full of faith. God is looking for faithful men and women, people full of faith– faith in God, not in yourself, your abilities, your government, your ideals or resources. The object of your faith is key. You will not have faith in Jesus if you do not know him. The more you know God the more you will trust Him and obey Him; in other words, the more faith you will have in Him.
Are you rooted in faith? What keeps you from being full of faith?
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3 Comments
I can’t say anything keeps me from being full of faith but I can say seeing what Gods word says and seeing what is happening the word is coming true right before my eyes there is no doubt left all God adk if us is faith I love that he proved it over and over everyday Jesus walk and sacrifice for my sin is so overwhelming everyday there is no doubt he renews my faith through good and bad everyday
I think sometimes we are like the people of Nazareth. We live by what we want to see instead of what we can't see. We want God to perform miracles instead of working for Him. We want our "faith" to work for us. We want God to answer every prayer we send to him the way we want him to. It's almost like we are telling God, "I confessed my sins, I was baptized. You need to do what I want."
The older I get the more I think I understand it doesn't work that way. Our faith should be for what is going to happen in eternity, not for things that happen on this earth. Our faith should be focused on God's plan. Not on our selfish desires and wants. God has a plan for all of us. We need to listen to what that plan is.
I think I am more rooted in His word than I am in my faith, without daily access to it I dont think my faith could or would carry me through this life, very grateful for His word, those folks truly lived by faith, with very little acess to Torah thats literally all they had, Lord help my unbelief!