I preached my first “real” sermon at Leighton Baptist Church—in the fall of 1975. I was a junior at the University of North Alabama at the time and was on staff at Leighton. I was the “Associate Pastor in Charge of Music and Youth” — longest job title I’ve ever had. When people asked what I did I usually just gave them my acronym: APICOMAY. It was quicker. One day my pastor, Steve Taylor, told me he would be out of town on an upcoming Sunday and asked if I, the APICOMAY, would preach in his absence. I told him I would be happy to—and immediately called my dad to ask for his help. With dad’s loving and experienced pastoral assistance I began work on my message. As the day I was to deliver my first sermon approached I didn’t think of asking someone else to lead the musical portion of the service—I just did my regular job—plus I preached. I suppose I proudly thought I should—and COULD do it all—which should have been a warning signal to me. Pride always goes before the fall! Anyway that Sunday it was sort of a one-man-show at Leighton—with me leading the hymns, directing the choir, doing the welcome, announcements, prayer—everything. And—since there was no coming and going from the pulpit—I mean, since it was only me—we finished the first half of the service in about twelve minutes. This means I began my first “real” sermon that day at about 11:12AM—and at that point in spite of my preparation and Dad’s wise input, I suddenly became very nervous. My nervousness made me talk even faster than I do these days. Anyway, I ended up finishing my sermon in just under eight minutes—which means we exited the church by 11:20AM.
Now—I got ZERO comments on the content of my message that day. I don’t even remember what I said—which is probably a good thing. But I did get TONS of compliments on the BREVITY of the service. The members of Leighton Baptist were thrilled to get out so early. I mean, for once, they beat the Methodists and the Presbyterians to the local restaurants for lunch!
I was humbled though—and I thought, “I will probably never get another chance to preach, but if I do—I need to put a lot more thought and prayer into my preparation.” In short, I realized I had a lot to learn—before I would ready to deliver my SECOND sermon. By the way, after 16 years of preaching every Sunday—I STILL have a lot to learn!
In any case, FIRST sermons are almost always memorable—and the same can be said about the first sermon Jesus delivered in His hometown of Nazareth. It was VERY memorable—but of course, not because of anything Jesus said or did wrong—no it was memorable because of the REACTION of His listeners. Today, as we continue our study of the life of Christ we come to the day He delivered that sermon. Here’s the context. After His baptism in the Jordan Jesus went into the Judean wilderness for forty days where He was tempted by satan. Jesus was victorious in withstanding the attacks of our adversary and when His time of testing was over He entered the region of Galilee where He began His ministry. Luke tells us that these first months were very successful—joyful—times for Jesus. He was well received by the people who lived in this region.
Much of the reason for His welcome must have been due to stories of the Baptizer and his introduction of the Messiah that had spread north into the area. I mean, John did a good job preparing the way for our Lord, which opened doors for Jesus to speak and teach and work miracles. Most people refer to these productive few months as Jesus’ “Galilean Springtime.” But sadly, after the warm welcome of this season came what is called “The Nazareth winter.” And as you will see, it is an accurate phrase to describe the reaction of the people in that town to Jesus’ message. Take your Bibles and turn to Luke 4. We’ll be reading verses 14-30.
14 – Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through the whole countryside.
15 – He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised Him.
16 – He went to Nazareth, where He had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day He went into the synagogue, as was His custom. He stood up to read,
17 – and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. Unrolling it, He found the place where it is written:
18 – “The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free,
19 – to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
20 – Then He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on Him.
21 – He began by saying to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
22 – All spoke well of Him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from His lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s Son?” they asked.
23 – Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to Me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell Me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that You did in Capernaum.’”
24 – “Truly I tell you,” He continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown.
25 – I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land.
26 – Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon.
27 – And there were many in Israel with leprosyin the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.”
28 – All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this.
29 – They got up, drove Him out of the town, and took Him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw Him off the cliff.
30 – But He walked right through the crowd and went on His way.
Now—Galilee gets its NAME from the Hebrew word, “galil” which means, “ring,” “cylinder,” or “circle.” This name came from the fact that the area was encircled by Gentile towns and villages—which means it was a place that was surrounded by non-Jewish influence. I mean, the Jews were very aware that the Gentiles were literally all around them—especially those in Nazareth which was almost in the center of that Galilean circle. It was also an area that was heavily populated because the soil was so fertile. The Jewish historian Josephus writes, “The cities lie here very thick; and the very many villages there are everywhere so full of people, by the richness of their soil, that the very least of them contain above fifteen thousand inhabitants.” Josephus also tells us there were more than two hundred of these cities in Galilee which means the population was about three million! Jesus probably ministered in these heavily populated villages or towns many months before He visited Nazareth—which itself had about 20,000 inhabitants. This means that Jesus returned to His hometown as somewhat of a CELEBRITY. To those who might say, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” the locals would reply: “Here is something good!” After all, the new popular teacher and miracle worker who was causing such a stir throughout the region had grown up right there on the streets of their town!
This was Jesus’ first visit to Nazareth since the beginning of His ministry and Luke tells us that as was His custom, Jesus went into the synagogue on the Sabbath. No doubt because of the “hometown boy makes good” circumstances, the synagogue was packed to overflowing that day.
I’m sure every space in that synagogue was filled that day—because everyone wanted to hear THEIR Jesus teach—and see Him work His wonders. Men would have been sitting on the floor up front and around the sides—in all the choice sitting areas while women would have been standing in the back—straining to see and hear.
For you non-Jews present this is how a synagogue service would have gone. I mean, if they printed bulletins, it would have included the following: First, there would have been a singing from Psalms 145-150, which means the service would have begun with a reminder of God’s greatness and compassion. These phrases would have been heard: “Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; His greatness no one can fathom. The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The Lord is good to all; He has compassion on all He has made. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Your dominion endures through all generations. The Lord is trustworthy in all He promises and faithful in all He does. The Lord upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.”
The next part of the service would have been a recitation of the “Shema,” which begins, “Hear O Israel—the Lord is one God—the Lord is One.” Next in the bulletin would be the “Eighteen Benedictions,” known as the “Tefillah” and they would be recited aloud in succession. Then came the reading of the Scripture that had been chosen for that particular day. An officer of the synagogue would go to the holy ark, take out the Torah scroll, remove its cloth covering, open it to its designated place, and put it on the table where it was read from by various attenders. The Torah was then returned to the ark, and a portion from the prophets, the “Haftarah” was read. This was followed by a SERMON. Then the service closed with the Aaronic benediction, and the people would pronounce “Amen” at each of its divisions. To give us the feel of that part of the service let’s do that together. It’s taken from Numbers 6:24-26. I’ll say the benedictions and you respond, “AMEN.”
“The Lord bless you and keep you”— “AMEN”
“The Lord make His face to shine upon you and keep you”—“AMEN”
“The Lord turn His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you”— “Amen”
“The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace”— “Amen”
Well done—especially for non-Jews! Now it is likely that before the service that day, because of His fame, Jesus had been asked by the synagogue president to read the “Haftarah.” — read from one of the prophets —and Jesus said yes and then requested He be able to read from a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Look at verses 17-19 again. “The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to [Jesus]. Unrolling it, He found the place where it is written: “The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
According to verse 20 then Jesus, “…rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down [in the place where the speaker—the preacher would deliver the sermon]. When He did this the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on Him.” They were on the edge of their seats, eager to hear their famous son deliver the sermon on that special Sabbath day. No doubt, Jesus mother, half brothers and sisters, His cousins, His teachers—His former customers at the carpentry shop—no doubt they all leaned forward to hear what He would say.
Well, they definitely heard more than they expected! You see, rather than merely explaining the Scripture from Isaiah verse by verse, Jesus made a startling CLAIM. He said, “This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears.” In other words, Jesus openly, publically declared Himself to be the Messiah of God. And, as Jesus continued to preach Luke says the people were amazed. They realized that reports of His teaching had not been exaggerated—for a continuous flow of gracious—winning words proceeded out of His mouth. I mean, they were very impressed—BUT—and I use that word intentionally because there was a hesitation—in their whispered comments to each other. In essence they said, “He’s a great Preacher—BUT—isn’t this Joseph’s son? Surely He could not possibly be the Messiah.” Another thing that got their attention and made them question Jesus’ Messianic claim was the fact that He left out part of Isaiah’s familiar prophecy—the part where the prophet spoke of the day of the VENGEANCE of God. You see, the Jews expected the Messiah to be a conquering hero—someone who would enact God’s vengeance on the Romans and the other Gentiles who surrounded them there in Galilee—but instead Jesus was proclaiming the year of God’s favor. He talked about preaching good news to the poor; proclaiming freedom for prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind; releasing the oppressed, etc. In short, no vengeance, only grace!
Now think with me for a moment. Can you imagine the EXHILARATION of hearing Jesus Himself preach!? People were enthralled and understandably so—but that is as far as it went. I mean, they couldn’t see themselves in these Scriptural metaphors from Isaiah—plus Jesus wasn’t talking like a Messiah should—which made sense in their faithless thinking. After all they knew this Man. He was Joseph’s son. They had seen Him play in their streets. They had watched Him work in the carpentry shop. They KNEW Him! Well, Jesus knew them right back! He had lived with them for 30 years. He could read them like a book He didn’t need His omniscience to “hear” the hesitation in their thoughts. He knew He was being rejected, so in response, Jesus attacked their lack of faith. Look at verse 23-24: “Jesus said to them, ‘Surely you will quote this proverb to Me: “Physician, heal yourself!” And you will tell Me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that You did in Capernaum.’ Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in his hometown.”
Jesus knew they wanted Him to prove His Messianic authority by doing a miracle or two. And with this knowledge in mind, Jesus attacked their PRIDE and LACK OF FAITH by citing two famous Old Testament examples. First He mentioned the time the prophet Elijah ministered to the widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. Remember? It was a time of famine and Elijah asked this woman to use the last of her flour and oil to prepare a meal for him. Elijah told her if she did this God would miraculously keep her jar of flour and her jug of olive oil full. The widow had enough faith to obey and God blessed her as Elijah promised. In verses 25-26 Jesus said, “I assure you that there were many [Jewish] widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon [—a GENTILE!]. In other words, Jesus was saying, if this Gentile widow had been like you guys here in Nazareth she would have demanded a miracle first but she had more faith than you! Then as their anger was beginning to build in response to these chastening words, Jesus hit them with ANOTHER example—this time from the ministry of Elijah’s successor: Elisha. Our Lord cited the story of the Syrian general—Naaman—who had leprosy and came to Elisha to ask for healing.
Elisha told this Gentile General to dunk himself seven times in the Jordan and Naaman did it. He too had faith to obey BEFORE the miracle. Look at Jesus’ words in verse 27: “And there were many JEWS in Israel with leprosyin the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.”
Well, with that the fine citizens of Nazareth had heard enough. It was bad enough that Jesus had claimed to be the Messiah of God but He also said they were less spiritual than Gentiles! According to the Jews the Gentiles were created by God for no other purpose than to be fuel for the fires of Hell. For Jesus to infer that they were objects of God’s favor—even more than God’s chosen people—that was an unforgivable affront. They might have overlooked this kind of thing if it came from a stranger but for it to come from Jesus was another matter. Why He even compared Himself to Elijah and Elisha! Who did He think He was? How could the town carpenter talk like this?! They were so ticked they did not even sit through the rest of the synagogue service. There was no Aaronic benedictions that day. They had heard enough about the graciousness of God!
They were so mad they got up, drove Jesus out of town, and took Him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built in order to throw Him off the cliff. I have to wonder what Jesus’ half-siblings and cousins did. Did they participate or did they simply watch in shock at what their friends and neighbors were doing?
I don’t know the answer to that question but think for a moment about what happened here. These people from Nazareth had seen Jesus grow from infancy to manhood. Even though they were too near-sited to see He was God, they certainly knew His CHARACTER firsthand. They had never seen Jesus do anything wrong. He had never lied, never disobeyed, He’d never been unkind. In fact, He was the most loving, thoughtful winsome person they had ever known. He was undoubtedly famous for His acts of mercy. In short, He was the most loving being they had ever encountered. But when Jesus used His sermon to cut through their comfortable religious façade, they tried to “lynch” Him—and on the Sababath to boot! If there was ever proof of Pauls’ later teaching: “The sinful man is hostile to God” this was it. (R. Kent Hughes’ Luke Commentary, Volume 1)
Well, MIRACULOUSLY Jesus walked through the crowd and went on His way—and I do think this was a MIRACLE. I stood on that precipice last fall and there would be no other way out of this other than for Jesus to miraculously part the crowd of thousands of irate Nazareth citizens and walk back down. I mean the only two directions Jesus could have gone were over the edge of the cliff or back down the path that leads to that precipice. Something made the angry people in that lynch mob move aside for Jesus—and I believe it was the power of God. A miracle was justified because it was not yet time for Jesus to die. He still had nearly three years of ministry before the cross.
For us, this miracle is a reminder that God’s purposes always work out—and according to His perfect timing. I take comfort from that fact—don’t you! Nothing stops God! Nothing! So, Jesus MIRACULOUSLY walked through the crowd and continued His ministry. In short, the people of Nazareth got their miracle even though it wasn’t the kind of miracle they expected.
As I said, we visited this precipice last fall during my sabbatical and it is a high cliff indeed. Here’s a picture of the view. You can look out from this precipice and literally see the HISTORY of Israel laid out before you.
- You can see Mt. Tabor where Deborah and Barak fought.
- You can see where Gideon won his victories.
- You can see where Saul fell on his sword.
- You can see the where good—but proud—King Josiah was killed in battle with the Egyptians.
- You can see Mt. Carmel where God used Elijah to call down fire from Heaven and kill the prophets of Baal.
In short you get a wonderful panoramic reminder of the history of God working in and through His chosen people. And that day in Nazareth on that high precipice you got another view of God at work as His Son miraculously walked right through that angry crowd—untouched—continuing on toward His work of redemption.
Well, sadly Jesus KEPT walking. I mean, He never went back to Nazareth. Instead He walked through the Valley of the Doves back down to Galilee and made Capernaum His headquarters
Now—in the rest of the time we have I’d like us to look at the two contrasts we see when it comes to the people’s response to Jesus: the “Galilean springtime” vs the “Nazareth winter.” What distinguishes the two? Or to put it another way, what has to happen for a person who “hears” Jesus’ message in order for him or her to experience the first…the “Galilean Springtime?” I want to point out two things.
(1) First, to experience all the blessings that Jesus came to give, a person must admit they NEED saving.
In His sermon Jesus said, “The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the POOR. He has sent Me to proclaim freedom for the PRISONERS and recovery of sight for the BLIND, to set the oppressed FREE, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Well, to enjoy a “Galilean Springtime” — to benefit from the message of the Gospel, we have to realize that these metaphors apply to us. We have to know that we are spiritually poor, imprisoned and oppressed by our sin, and blind—needing the truth of God that sets us free. In short, we have to admit we are sinners and therefore NEED saving. C. S. Lewis put it this way: “Christianity has no message for those who do not recognize that they are sinners.”
The citizens of Nazareth missed out because they thought the only problem they had was the Romans and the other Gentiles who encircled them there in Galilee. They didn’t think of themselves as sinners in need of the repentance John had preached. They pride-fully thought that as Jews they already had God’s complete favor. And they were incensed that Jesus would infer otherwise. I’m reminded of something Augustine said: “They love truth when it enlightens them but hate truth when it accuses them.” These citizens of Nazareth felt accused and they didn’t like it!
Many people today are just like those citizens of Nazareth. They don’t think of themselves as sinners. They don’t think they need God. They think they are basically good and don’t have a problem requiring God’s help. Maybe you’ve heard about the lady who walked into a psychiatrist’s office. She had two fried eggs on top of her head, and a strip of bacon tied over each ear. She said, “Doctor, I’ve come to talk to you about my brother. HE has a problem.”
Well, everybody has a problem, not just the ones who look like it or act like it, and the first step to solving that problem is to admit that our problem is we are sinners, lost—fallen—separated from God.
Unfortunately we live in a world where sin is becoming more and more obsolete. We no longer recognize things that God calls sin—as sin. That is a MAJOR issue because it keeps us from seeing that each and every one of us are sinful and imperfect IN NEED of God’s forgiveness and cleansing. This popular way of thinking makes us blind to the Bible’s clear teaching that we exist in a state of DEPRAVITY into which we are all born. According to Webster the word “depraved” means “marked by corruption or evil, perverted, crooked.” And when we hear that we think, “Well, that doesn’t apply to me. I’m not depraved! I’m not evil or perverted.” Or we think, “I’m not a terrorist. I’m not perverse! Besides that’s an outdated term!”
I’m saying, these days most people think that in THEIR estimation they are pretty good and I think that’s how the people of Nazareth felt. But according to the Bible sin and depravity have nothing to do with our estimation of ourselves but rather with God’s estimation of us. Dwight Pentecost writes, “The doctrine of depravity has nothing to do with man’s estimation of man, but rather with God’s estimation of man. The Scriptures do not measure men by man; they measure men by God Who has created them. The creature is measured by the Creator and is found to be wanting.” Well, we are all found wanting. We are all depraved. We are ALL marked by the disease of sin. We all need saving but if you don’t believe that—you cannot experience this Galilean Springtime. You have to know that you are a sinner desperate for the grace of God. To experience firsthand the blessings Jesus came to give—abundance in this life and eternity in Heaven—you have to realize that no matter what your race or economic status or family history—you are a sinner—lost and in need of saving.
Unfortunately the same kind of pride we see in the people of Nazareth still keeps many people from seeing this. They think, “I’m a good person. I have a good job. I haven’t ever killed anyone. I’m ok—You’re ok. Everyone’s ok!”
This week I read a story about a large prestigious British church that had three mission churches under its care. On the first Sunday of each new year all the members of the mission churches would come to the parent church for huge a combined Communion service. Those mission churches were located in the slums of a major city and in their membership they had some outstanding stories of conversion—hardened criminals who had come to Christ, people with a long rap sheet so to speak who had asked for and received Jesus’ forgiveness. But on that day everyone—no matter what their past—knelt as brothers and sisters side by side at the Communion rail. One New Year Sunday the pastor of the parent church saw a former convict kneeling beside a judge of the Supreme Court of England—the very judge who had sent the man to jail where he had served seven years. After his release this convict had been converted and become active in one of the mission churches. When the service was over, the judge was walking out with the pastor and said to him, “Did you notice who was kneeling beside me at the Communion rail this morning?” The judge said, “What a miracle of grace!” The pastor nodded in agreement. “A marvelous miracle of grace indeed!” Then the judge asked, “But to whom do you refer?” “The former convict.” The pastor answered. The judge said, “I was not referring to him. I was thinking of myself.” The minister, surprised, replied, “You were thinking of yourself? I don’t understand.” “You see,” the judge went on, “…it is not surprising that the thief received God’s grace when he went to jail. He had nothing but a history of crime behind him and when he understood Jesus could be his Savior, he knew there was salvation and hope and joy for him. And he knew how much he NEEDED that help. But look at me—I was taught from earliest infancy to live as a gentleman, that my word was my bond, that I was to say my prayers, go to church, take Communion and so on. I went through Oxford, obtained my degrees, was called to the bar, and eventually became a judge. I was sure I was all I NEEDED to be, though in fact I too was a sinner. Pastor, it was God’s grace that drew me. It was God’s grace that opened my heart to receive Christ. I’m the greater miracle.”
Indeed he was—because in spite of his “GOOD” station in life this judge saw that he was BAD—a sinner desperate for the grace of God. He saw that he needed saving. Everyone must have that understanding if they are to experience all that Jesus came to give us.
(2) But there is a second thing we need. We must also believe that JESUS ALONE can save us.
The citizens of Nazareth did not have the faith to accept Jesus as God’s promised Messiah so they rejected His claim. They rejected Jesus as THE WAY for them to be saved. To quote something Jesus would say later in His preaching ministry, “They were the builders and He was the STONE they rejected as worthless—when in fact He was and is the Chief Cornerstone.” (Matthew 21:41-43)
In 2007, pro baseball pitcher Matt White had an aunt who had been struggling for years to make ends meet. When her health started to decline, she was forced to sell her fifty acres of property to pay her medical bills. As an act of kindness, Matt traveled to Massachusetts and bought the land from his aunt for the full appraised value of $50,000. While exploring the land to see about building a house, he discovered outcroppings of stone ledges. Matt hired a geologist, who surveyed the land and informed him the stone was actually Goshen stone, a type of stone useful for sidewalks, patios, and landscapes. At the time it sold for $100 a ton and there were about 24 million tons on the land. The appraised value on the surface was $50,000, but some experts estimated that the land was possibly worth up to $2 billion. The news prompted some of Matt’s teammates to nickname him “The Billionaire.” And that’s not too far-fetched a nickname because during his first year of operation, the family-run business that he started to mine this Goshen stone made $600,000. And sales continue to remain steady. The first appraisers had apparently rejected the stone in that outcropping as being worthless.
Well, the people of Nazareth did the same thing with Jesus—and people still do that. I mean, today people get almost as angry as they did in response to Jesus’ sermon, when they hear someone say Jesus is THEY WAY for a person to get to Heaven. You may remember a good example of this from not too long ago, back in the wake of the Tiger Woods fiasco, when political analyst Brit Hume was on a Sunday morning talk show. When asked what Tiger should do to save his career, Hume said, “Tiger, turn to the Christian faith, and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world.” The media response was unbelievable. Tom Shales, a media critic at the Washington Post said it was the most ridiculous remark of 2010, pointing out how Hume had offended half a billion Buddhists. But those potentially offended Buddists are nothing new. People have seen Jesus as a stumbling block of offense for a long time.
And offensive or not—that is the clear teaching of Scripture. Acts 4:12 says, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is NO OTHER NAME under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” And as Jesus Himself said in John 14:6, “I am THE way, THE truth, and THE life. No one comes to the Father except by Me.”
We are sinners who need saving and Jesus is the ONLY One Who can save us—because Jesus is God’s only Son—the Messiah—the ONLY sinless man Who ever lived the only One Who can pay for our sins. R. C. Sproul puts it this way, “Moses could mediate on the law, Mohammed could brandish a sword, Buddha could give personal counsel, Confucius could offer wise sayings. But none of these men was qualified to offer an atonement for the sins of the world.”
WOULD YOU PRAY WITH ME?