1995 Issue 4 - Sermon on Luke 4:14-30 the Startling Preaching of Jesus in Nazareth, Part 3 - Counsel...

8/12/2019 1995 Issue 4 - Sermon on Luke 4:14-30 the Startling Preaching of Jesus in Nazareth, Part 3 - Counsel of Chalcedon

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The Content o the Sermon

o Jesus at Nazareth

After reading Isaiah 61:1-2 and

58:6,Jesus c/osedthe

book

and

gave

it

back

to

the

attendant

and

sat

down

...

AndHe began

to

say

to them, 'TODAY

THIS

SCRIPTURE HAS BEEN

FULFIUED

IN

YOUR

HEARING. '-

Lk.4:20-21. Hispointlsdramaticand

astonishing:

the jubilantkingdom of

God has broken into

human

life to

bringcomprehensivesalvation to the

world

n he

person

and work of Jesus

Christ.

The Dawning

o the Jubila,nt

Kingdom o God

The Time o

the Dawning o

the Kingdom

o God

Jesus is

explaining to His

audience that

at

Ute

.verymomentofHis

teaching,

and

wiUt

His person and

ministry

the Jubilant Day

of

Restoration promised by isaiah 61 is

breillting into human life, society

and

experience. The rich blessings

Isaiah promised, from this point

in

Jesus' life onward, will begin to be

bestowed

and

experienced

by

God's

people gradually and increasingly

until

they

are brought to. full

perfection in individual believers at

Uteir deaths,

and

brought to full

consumation for the entire creation

at

Ute

second coming of Christ.

The Effects o the Dawning

o the Kingdom

o

God

The underlying gospel principles

taughtin Ute provisions of theJubilee

Laws of Ute

Old

Testament will

be

gradually and progressively

experienced

in

history

by

believers DEFIN

ITIVE-PROGRESSIVE-FINAL

in Jesus

and

will be perfectly and structure... . Salvation

was

eternally experienced at the end of DEFINITIVELYaccomplishedinthe

history wiUt Ute physical return of perfect, finishedworkofJesusChrist;

Jesus Christ and the completion of it is PROGRESSIVELY and

His kingdom, I Cor. 15:24f. The INCREASINGLY appliedduring this

promised

Jubilee is already "in age, personally and institutionally;

progress"--"TODAY

this

Scripture,

and it

will be

FINALLY

achieved,

in

Le., Isa. 61:1-2; 58:6), is

fulfilled

in its highest fulfillment, at Ute end of

YOUR, (Le.,Christ's first century history on the Last Day. We HAVE

hearers),

hearing.

Those who believe BEEN saved, II Tim. 1:9, we ARE

inJesus Christ

as

the Divine-human BEING

SAVED

now, Phil. 2:1213,

Savior,

and

who restuponHim alone

and

we WILL

BE

saved in the future,

for salvation will experience the IPet. 1:9. Toputitanotherway we

restorationof ustice

and

God's moral

HAVE

BEEN remade n God's image,

order

to

human society

full

restoration to total welIness, spiritual

renewal ofindividualsand societies,

the cancellation of all their

indebtedness

to

God for their sins,

deliverance from

Ute

slavery of sin

and

Satan, inheritance of Ute earth,

eternal life and communion with

God individually and SOCially,

gradually

and

progressively until the

Jubilee comes

in

total perfection with

Ute second coming

of

Christ.

The Threefold Pattern to the

Coming

o

the Kingdom o God

There

is A THREEFOLD

PATTERN TO BIBLICAL

PROPHECY AND ITS

Eph. 4:24,

we

ARE

BE I N G

progressi.vely

'

remade

in

His image,

n

Cor.

3:18

and

we

look

forward to

the day

when

we

WILL BE .

perfectly

remade in

. His .image, ..

hi 1 .

3:20-21."- David Chilton, Paradise

Restored, pg. 24-25, (Tyler, texas;

Reconstruction Press, 1985). Orto

say

it

in yet two other ways: The

Jubilee

HAS

BEGUN

in

Christ. The

Jubilee

IS

INCREASINGLY being

realized

in

Christ. TheJ ubiiee

WILL

BE perfectly fulfilled with the return

ofChrist. The Kingdorn ofGod HAS

COME wiUt all its saving power and

blessingsin Christ. The Kingdorno

God

IS

COMlNG in progressive

triurnph over sin and opposition in

Christ in history. The Kingdorn of

God

WILL COME

in total

FULFILLMENT: "Scripture presents consurnrnation at the end ofhistory,

salvation in terms

of a I Cor. 15:24f.

4 TIl COUNSEL of Chalcedon April, 1995


2/6

The

Significance o

the Word,

Today

in

Lul,e 4:21

"Luke emphasizes that salvation

has become present

in

Christ with a

frequent use of the adverbs 'now'

and 'today.' He uses 'now' fourteen

times (Matthew 4 times, Mark 3

times) and 'today' eleven times

(Matthew 8 times, Mark once).

In

Jesusthetimeofsalvationhascome."

Leon Monis,

The

Gospel According to

Luhe, Tyndale

Commentaries. See

"now" in 1:48; 2:29; 5:10; 6:21, 25;

11:39; 12:52; 16:25; 19:42; 22:36,

69; and "today'

in

2:11; 4:21; 5:26;

12:28; 13:32, 33; 19:5, 9; 22:34;

23:43; 24:21. Luke understands the

imelVention of God into history in

Jesus Christ to bring global and

comprehensive salvation to His

peopleas the establishment ofa new

world orderin which there wouldbe

the complete reversal of he condition

of God's people from oppression to

exaltation and global triumph, Isaiah

2: This new world order can

be

desclibed as the coming of the

Kingdom of Christ, which is the

manifestation of the sovereign rule

of God in histOlY

in

powerand grace

which

establishes a new

order

(dvilization) of righteousness

and

blessedness in

and

through Jesus

Christ

in

fulfillment

of

God's

covenant promises. The

long-awaited era when God delivers

His people from the misery

and

oppression of sin and Satan and

blings them into spiritual, moral,

sodal , political, economicand global

prosperity, as promised time

and

again in the

Old

Testament, has

fina1ly

begun with the incarnation,

life,

and

ministry of the Lord Jesus

Christ. In Nazareth two thousand

years ago God began the restoration

ofHis church and creation

in

Christ.

And He who has begun anew work in

youwill heep on peJjorming it until the

day

ofChristJesus. The New Heavens

and

New Earth have already begnn

emblyonically in Ch,ist at His first word of God.

What

she meant is

advent and will be consummated in unmistakable. Spiritualize it and

Him at His second advent. youmustspiritualize theincamation

The Wonderful Nature

o theJubilee We

Have

in Christ

or What

is Life in

the

Kingdom o Christ

The importance of this subject

should be obvious. TI,e salvation

Ch,istcame to bringisnotexclusively

personal, subjective, "spilitual," and

heavenly

as

the Pietists believe; nor

is it exclUSively sodal, political and

economic

as the Liberation

Theologians believe. As we have

seen

in

our study of

Mary's

MAGNIFICAT in lllke 1:39-56 and

in

Zacharias'BENEDICIlJS in Luke

1:57-80 this salvation s

PERSONAL,

GLOBAL and COMPREHENSNE.

Salvation "relates to every part of

man's life, both now and n thefuture;

it ouches all ofcreation

and

even the

destructiveness of Satan. --- Christ

is at this very moment a

comprehensive Savior who came

to

make His bleSSings flow far as sin's

curse is found " - Greg Bahnsen,

Penpoint,July, 1992, Vol. 3, No.4.

Just as in the prophetic use of the

provisions of theJubilee legislation,

so Mary, the mother ofjesus, in her

MAGNIFICAT speaks of a global

reversal of men's fortunes. As we

have seen

in

our study ofhermoving

and

brilliant hymn, there is nothing

sentimental nostalgic or

other,worldlyaboutit. It is explosive.

It speaks of the total Christian

Reconstruction of

men

and nations

on

earth in histOlY. The point of

her

third stanza, lk. 1:51-53,

is

that

Jesus Ch,ist is bringing a great

reversal in human sodety on earth,

and

it has alreadybegnn. The power

that is accomplishing this global

reversal was introduced into histOlY

in

the incarnation and ministry of

Jesus.

To

spiritualize Mary's words,

confining them to the spilitual or

heavenly realms, is to tlifle with the

about which she speaks; and

then

we would have no gospel. This

reversal will be as literalandas radical

as Mary said it would be. Those

who

are in

power---politically

economically,socially--willsomeday

not be in power. And those Ch,istians

who are not in power will someday

be in power. Those reprobate

who

are now millionaires will someday

be paupers;

and

those Christians

who are in selious need because of

the wicked cultures

in

which they

live, will someday be millionaires.

Those who are

proud

and full

of

self-lovewillbehumiliated;and those

who are full

of

God-loveand humility

will be exalted. The meekwill inherit

the earth

Or

to put

it in the words of the

Jubilee legislation: this divine

restoration ofhumanlife

and

sodety

will include the day when

men

and

women in Christ the world over will

not

only be renewed individually

and spiritually in their faith and

devotion to God

in

Christ, butwhen

they

will be renewed in their

faithfulness to God, to the creation,

and to each other as defined by

Biblical Law

The Gospel o Luke: as

a Booh

o

Ecstatic Joy

No otherN

T

gospel writer deals

so often with the idea

of

oy as Luke.

His

record

is dominated by

ECSTATICJOY that the kingdom of

God has come, is coming

and

will

come. The gospel begins with the

song of the angels 2: 14 the

Magnificat, the Benedictus and the

Nunc Dimittis, 1:46[; 1:68f; 2:29f.

Thoughout

the gospel, those who

receive blessings praise God, 2:20;

5:25f; 7:16; 13:13; 17:15; 18:43.

The words 'rejoice'

and

1oy' occur

several times, 1:14 44 47; lO:21;

199:6;

15:6,

9f. There is laughter

April, 1995 l' THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon l 5


3/6

and

merry-making

in

this gospel,

15:23,32. And

the gospel ends as

it

began, with the praise ofGod,24:52;

1:14, What is the cause of this joy

and praise in Luke? Luke "sees God

at work bringing men salvation and

itishis pleasure

to bringout

a variety

of

aspects

of

his

great saving work. "

Leon Morris. The Gospel of Luke is

full of ecstatic joy because of his

"conviction that salvation, (Le., the

Jubilee), is a reality

in

the

present

and

will

be

such even more in the

future." -

Bo

Reicke,The

GospelofLuke.

"

..

(T)he

events of the gospel do

not

simply belong to

thePAST,

but

alsohave

to

do with

a continually

PRESENT

reality

which fills the heart

with a thrillingjoy and

constrains all followers

of]

esus to do their part

forthekingdom ofGod

in the

assurance that the FUTURE

consummation is at hand. --- Past,

present,

and

future belong together

in

Luke precisely because of this

FULFILLMENT. (1). The drama of

redemptiOn.,

2):

the.

lirnvefsality

of

mission,

(3). the

eschatological

joy

and hope, constitute

an

organic

UNITY." -

Bo

Reicke. The jubilee we

have

in

Christ

IS and

WILL

BE an

ecstatically joyful time

he

Lord's Messiah

is

the Bringer

of

the Jubilant

Kingdom

of

God, and

hat

Messiah

s

Jesus

According toJesus the fulfillment

of Isaiah

61

was taking place that

very

moment in

His

own

person

and

preaching. He is

the

Messiah

anointed

by the

Lord to establish

God's great kingdom

in

the hearts

and

societies

of men and to bring to

actual fulfillment the provisions and

blessings of the Jubilee. Jesus is the

One Who

will,

in

His preaching, Le.,

by His powerful Word, actually bring

the good news of salvation to the

"poor," i.e., those

crushed

and

shattered by sin. In proclaiming

"release" to "prisoners," He will

actually bring liberation from the

slavery ofsin and healing of sight to

those who are blind. He binds

up

the broken-hearted and comforts all

those who mourn

in

Zion, Isa. 61:2.

He, through His restored Church,

will

rebuild the

ancient ruins," and

raiseup theformerdevastations, 61:4.

He will cause His people

to be

called

the

priests of

the

Lord, to eat

the

wealth

of

nations,

and

in

exchange

for their humiliation

they will shout

for joy over their portion ...everlasting

joywillbetheirs, 61:6-7. Thebenefits

and effects of Hisworkandreign will

be global. All the world

w ll

recognize

His people as the

offspring whom

the

Lord

has

blessed, 61:9. God's people

will rejoice

greatly

in

the

Lord, .... for

He (Christ)

has clothed (them) with

garments of salvation, and wrapped

them

with

a robe of righteousness as a

bridegroom

decks

himself with a

garland,

and

as a bride adorns herself

with her jewels,

61:10.

All

these

blessings the

Church

will enjoy

because of

the

New

Order

of

righteousness, theJubilee-Kingdom

of

God, which the LordJesus Christ

has brought to us--- For as the earth

brings

forth its sprouts, and

as a

garden

causes

the

things

sown

in

it to spring

up,

6 TH COUNSEL of ChaIcedon April, 1995

so

the

Lord Godwill cause righteousness

and praise

t spring up

before

all

the

nations,

61:10-11.

The Messiah

as King

and

theJubilee Prophecy

The predominant conception

underlying Messianic expectation

among the Jews of the first century

was

KINGLY, 1:27,32,33,69;

2:4,

11; 3:23-31. The belief, based on

the promise

of

he Old

Testament, was that

when the Messiah

arrived He

would

announce

the

establishment of the

Reign of Jehovah on

earth,

Samuel

7;

Genesis 49: 10.

In

his

birth narratives Luke

made explidtly clear

that Jesus is the Son

of the Most High God

and the promised king

of the house ofDavid,

fulfilling the Davidic Covenant of

Samuel 7 John the Baptist impressed

us with Jesus' unparalleled

supremacy and superiority, whenhe

identified Jesus as

being

"mightier"

than' he,

in

fact sO'superior that'

he,

Oohn), was not worthy

to

untie His

shoes. Luke's genealogy of Jesus

traced His lineage back to King David,

(and beyond), Luke 3:23[ The

Divine Voice from Heaven atjesus'

baptism ncluded a phrase taken from

Psalm 2 which prophesies Jesus'

kingship---

ThisisMy

belovedSon.

...

Moreover, the rite of anointing in the

O.T. was particularly related to the

inauguration of lsrael's kings; and

Jesusis "The AnointedOne ofIsaiah

61, anointed with water

by

J olin the

Baptist, and with the Spirit by the

Father. In the light of

Luke's

framework thus farJesus in Nazareth

could

be

depicted as "standing

up

among His own people

to

deliver

HIS INAUGURAL KINGLY

ADDRESS, His Kingly Accession


4/6

Speech,

as

He read from Isaiah 61,

explained it and appliedit to Himself.

Isaiah 61 bears some striking

resemblances to the kingly speech

of Psalm 72 in which:

(1).

The

Messiah's reign

is

given Divine

sanction; (2). the kingly Messiah's

subjects

and

all the earth rejoice

at

His enthronement;

(3).

All of creation

rej

oices and produces abundantly;

(4). the poor

and

oppressed of God's

people have special cause for joy,

because amnesty

is

declared, prisons

are opened, their causes will be

heard, justice will be established,

and

creation s

abundance

will

provide for all their needs--all of

which will together result in their

personal and social re-enfranchise

ment. The above represent perhaps

the most frequently mentioned

blessings that were associated with

the accession of the king in the

ancient Near East.

In

Isaiah 61

we

see:

0 .

the Messiah's Divine

sanction; vs.

1;

(2). the

rejOiCing

of

the poor and the oppressed,

vs.

1,2;

(3). amnestyfor prisoners, vs. 1; (4).

abundance of creation and material

prosperity, vs. 5,6,7; and (5). the

establishment

of

ustice in the eatth,

vs. 8-11. So, therefore, it is obvious

that Isaiah 61 represents the Messiah

as

a great King Who will establish a

great Kingdom.

The

O.

T. associates the theocratic

king with thejubileelegislation. For

example some of the kings of Israel

instituted jubilee and Sabbath-year

laws in the fOlm of royal decrees of

social reform declared at regular

intervals,

jer.

34:8-22. It is

not

surprising therefore to note that in

those statements in Isaiah which

declare the birth andlorcoming

of

a

great (messianic) king,

Isa.

9:6-7;

11:1-5; 42:1-4, one clear aspect of

the expectations expressed in each

instance is the hope for a sovereign

who will not cease to labor until

he

has 'established justice in

the

earth:

Isa. 42:4. - Sloan. Isaiah 61:

itself

reflects and presupposes this kingly

figure of Isaiah 9:6-7, etc.

In the synagogue in Nazareth

Jesus identifies Himself

as

the

Divinely Anointed King, Who in

establishing His Kingdom

in

the

eanh, will bring in the Jubilee Era

The Messiah as Prophet

and

the

Jubilee

Prophecy

In the synagogue in Nazareth

Jesus also identifies Himself as a

PROPHET OF JEHOVAH,

as

were

Elijah and Elisha---

..

no

prophet is

welcome

in his hometown,

-

Lk.

4:24-27.Jesuswas widely recognized

as

a prophet

in

His lifetime,

Lk.

7:16;7:39; 13:33; 22:64; 24:19.

However, it

is

not merely as a

prophet that Luke presents Him;

but it is

as

THE FINAL PROPHETIC

FIGURE

OF

END-TIME

EXPECTATION AND

HOPE. Jesus

is THE PROPHET LIKE MOSES

promised in Deuteronomy

18: 15

(Acts 3:22f ;7:37). What was it in

the life of Jesus that provided for

Luke the historical foundation for

his belief that Jesus

is

that Prophet?

The claim to be anointed by the

Spirit of the Lord not only had

profound MesSianic implications in

the kingly sense, but also reflected

therein

is His

claim to

be

a prophet

of

far

greater significance thanMoses,

Elijah and Elisha.

The

promise

of

a messianic

prophet like Moses, Deut. 18, and

the Jubilee legislation, Lev. 25, are

connected simply by virtue of the

fact that they are given to us by the

Spirit-inspired Moses. The claim of

Jesus to

be Spirit-anointed of the

Lord, to be the Bringer of theJubilee,

and the prophet, greater than Elijah

and Elisha lies all these strands of

O.T. truth together.

In Acts 3: 18-26 Peterclearly links

the prophethood of] esus andJubilee

Promises. In that text he identifies

Jesus

as

the Prophet like Moses of

Deuteronomy 18:15

and

then

explains that the coming ofJesus as

this Prophet was intimately bound

up with the restoration

ojall things

promised in the Jubilee legislation.

Peter's words are these:

Repent

therefore and return, that your

sins

may be

wiped

away, in

order

that

TIMES

OF REFRESHING may come

from

the

presence of

the Lord;

and that

He

may

se:ndJesus,

the Christappointed

for you,

Whom heave:n

must

receive

until THE

PERIOD

OF

RESTORATION OF ALL TffiNGS,

about

which

God spoke ry the

mouth

of

His holy

prophets from

ancient

time.

Moses

said,

'The Lord

God

shall

raise

up

for you a

Prophet lihe

me from your

brethren; to Him

you

shall give heed in

everything He

says

to

you. And it shall

be that every soul that

does

not

heed

that prophet shall be utterly destroyed

from among the people.' And likewise,

all the prophets who

have spoke:n,from

Samuel and

his successors

onward,

also

announced these

days. Itis

you who are

the sons of the prophets, and of the

covenant

which God made with

your

fathers, saying t

Abraham,

'And in

your

seed

all the families

of

the

earth

shall

be

blessed.' For you first, God

raised

up His Se ,ant, and sent Him to

bless you

by turning

every one oj you

from

your

wielled ways.

Therefore, there

can

be little

doubt that Luke has understood,

and so presented, the scene at

Nazareth to represent, among other

things, the functional claim

by

Jesus

to be THE eschatolOgicalProphet of

theend times, the Prophet ikeMoses

who is inaugurating

the

eschatological year ofjubilee. -Sloan

To SUl1unarize:

Luke would have his first centulY

readers believe that Jesus entered

April, 1995

l'

TIlE COUNSEL

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5/6

Nazareth, the cityofhis upbringing,

and

read

in the synagogue from sa.

61,

a well-known Messianic text of

SCripture which spoke

both

of the

eschatological year of Jubilee

and

the

charismatic,

(Le.,

Spirit-endowed), activity of its

kingly/prophetic agent.

Furthermore, Luke declares that

Jesus so interpreted that text as to

proclaim

Himself as its

present

fulfillment, the very

bne

whose activity

was therein spoken

of, and

thereby

claimed to fulfill

Simultaneously the

roles ascribedboth to

the MessiahKingand

the

Prophet

like

Moses

of

the

end

times:- Sloan. What

a stanlingimpactthis

had

on his

readers,

and

on Christ's

hearers

The

Universality of

the wrd s

Messiah and

HisJubilant Kingdom

The

Implicit

Teaching

of

Jesus in

His Answers

_

..

wBisAudiencein

- .

the Synagogue

in

Nazareth

Regarding the Universality

of Salvation

Not only has the Jubilee broken

into

history, and

not

onlyisJesus the

agent by

which

that Jubilee comes;

but

that Jubilee is for the whole

human race, Jew and Gentile alike,

and Christ's Kingdom is comprised

of

all

who believe

in

Him, regardless

of

ethnic origin, Galatians 3:29.

We

learn this from the Elijah and Elisha

stories to which Jesus refers in

defending His

statement that

a

prophet is without honor n his own

country,Lk. 4:24-27 .Jesus uses these

stories

to instruct His hearers, as

Luke uses the record 0

f ] esus'

referring to them to instruct his

readers,

about the

universal

application of

the

gospel of

the

kingdom and

the

universal

character ofJesus'Messiahship. -

Jesus is not just the 10ng-1lwaited

Messiah oftheJews, for Luke Heis

also

the Messiah

of

the Gentiles.

From this perspective Luke's

understanding

of

the

jubilee year

seems

to

extend

beyond

the

boundaries

of Mosaic Law, which

tended to

preserve

the blessings

ofthatyearfotJewsalone. -Sloan.

Therefore, here we see once again

emphasized Luke's distinctive theme:

Jesus Christ is the bivine-human

Savior of the whole world

The Point Made

.

bJ1tSUs RefeftiiCt

to Elijah and Elisha

In Luke 4:20-27 we see a verbal

exchange between Jesus and His

audience

in

the synagogue

in

Nazareth. Jesus explains that Isaiah

61 is fulfilled n Him and in His

ministry,

vs. 21. His

shocked

audience,

in

unbelief, asks: But how

can thatbe since you are only the

son

of Joseph the carpenter?- vs. 22.

Jesus answered them, anticipating

what they were about to saybecause

He knew the hearts of

men

, John

2:25,

"No doubt you will

quote

this

proverb to

Me

'Physician, heal yourself;

whatever

we

heard

was done at

Capernaum, do here

in

yourharnetown

as

well.'

And He

said, Truly I say

to

you, no prophet is welcome in his

8 TIlE

COUNSEL

of Chalcedon f April,

1995

hometown. But

I

say to you in truth,

there

were

many widows in Israel in the

days

of

Elijah, when the sky was

shutup

for

three

years

and s x months, when

a

great famine

came

over all

the

land;

and

yet

Elijah was sent t

none of hem,

but

only

to Zarephath, in

the

land

of

Sidon, to a

woman

who was a widow.

And

there were many lepers in Israel n

the

time

of

Elisha

the

prophet; and

none

of hem was cleansed, butonly Naaman

the Syrian."- Th. 4:20-27.

The

Meaning of

Proverbs

n

Luke

4:23-24

Only Luke, the

beloved physician,

preserved thissaying

of christ . Jesus read

the minds

of

His

hearersandsoquotes

a well-known

proverb they were

about

to

use \vith

Him: "PhYSician, heal

yourself " His hearers were wanting

to say to Him: "We have heard of

your miracles

n

CapernauID. and

elsewhere, sowe ~ n d ofyou that

you do here in your own hometown

what you have done elsewhere,

b e c a u s e t i r e i y

a s y o u r h o n e t o ~

friends and relatives, your own flesh

and

blood, have more claim on you

than strangers. Prove to us that you

are what you say you are--more than

a mere son of] oseph the carpenter."

He responds with a rebuke

by

quoting another familiar proverb:

r

uly I say to

you, no

prophet is

welcome

in

his

hometown."

Or , to put

it

in

modern lingo: "Familiatity

breeds contempt."

In other words, Jesus "refuses

to

comply

with.

their demand

to

prove

lhe

genuineness

of His claims

through displays of power

and

sensational miracles. They were not

desirous of salvation

in

theirrequest

for a revelation of His power,

but

did

so withmotiveswhich were anything


6/6

but holy, and which resulted in His

refusal. - Geldenhuys

The Illustrations

From

the Lives o lijah and Elisha

Lenski cannot be beaten in his

explanation of Jesus' use of these

illustrations

in

Luke 4:25-27. He

writes: The argument involved

in

these illustrations is overwhelming.

The

people

of Nazareth were

comparing two Galilean cities: their

own town where Jesus had actually

been a nativeand Capemaum where

He had removed over a year ago.

The examples top this with a

reference to all the widows and lepers

in the whole ofIsrael and one widow

and one leper of pagan lands. What

is then the force of the argument?

The gifts of God's grace, in particular

the works of His power, are not

bestowed because of nationality or

outward connection of any kind,

(including blood-relations).

Nazareth has no claims over against

Capernaum nor, for that matter,

apemaum over against any other

city.

All

the widows and

all

the

lepers in all Israel had no claims that

God recognized over against the

widow of Sarepta and Naaman of

Syria. THERE ARE NO CLAIMS

THAT COERCE GOD; HE

BESTOWS

THE GIFTS OF HIS

GRACE

AND MERCY

FREELY,

WITHOUT HUMAN MERIT OR

WORTHINESS, yet not arbitrarily

but according to His gracious plans

and designs, in which he considers

man's need and emptiness and the

hearts that make

no

claims at

aU---these He delights to bless.

'Jesus did not come

to

Nazareth

because it was His native city and

thus had special claims on him; he

had

not gone to Capemaum for any

such reason. He brought the gospel

to Nazareth as He brought it to any

number

of

places

in

Galilee. Instead

of receiving Him gladly Nazareth

thought of its special claims, met

Jesus with this presumption, and

ended by driving Him out.

Jesus is teaching his hearers

regarding the universality of the

gospel, that there's a wideness in

God's mercy, like the wideness of

the sea. - F.W. Faber. He selects his

two O.T. examples, ElijahandElisha,

to show that God's grace overleaps

artificial, man-made barricades, not

only those of village, city

and

province, but even those of people

and country. -- This statement of

Jesus was indeed very significant. It

was a lesson needed by Christ's

immediate audience here in Nazareth

on this unforgettable Sabbath. But it

also served a wider purpose. t was

a clear indication of the dawn of a

new era in

the

history

of

redemption,

an

era

both

predicted

and

foreshadowed in

the

old

dispensation,butnot fully realized

until the new; a long, long period,

during

which, beginning from

Jerusalem, the door of salvation

would be opened more and more

widely

to

all

true comers

regardless of race or nationality.

Hendriksen

This truth

is

the basis for world

evangelization and the universal and

free offer of the gospel.

l this

Scripture

The whole

of

the O.T. was to Him a prophecy

respecting His life and work. And

this applies not only to prophetic

utterances, but also to rites and

institutions,

as

well

as

to historical

events which were so ordered

as

to

be a forecast of the salvation and

judgment which He was to bring.

Plummer. 'Jesus acknowledged the

Old Testament in its full extent and

its perfect sacredness.

The Scripture

cannot be broken,

Hesays,Jn.1O:35,

and forthwith draws His argument

from the wording ofit. - Weiss in

Plummer.

2 A factor of crucial importance

here, for a proper understanding of

not onlyJesus' behavior in Nazareth,

but

also for understanding

the

broader complex of data in the Gospel

with respect to Jesus' Messianic

self-consciousness, is that Christ did

not

avoid any reference

to,

or

acting

out of, his OWN accepted

FUNCTIONS of the MesSiah, but

rather He avoided the public and

open use of (and hence the public's

understanding of) the TITLE.

He

apparently did so not only because

of, as is commonly

and

correctly

recognized,

the rather stark

nationalistic hopes to which the title

itself was wedded,

but

also because

of the deeply set cultural pattern of

Jewish thinking, and the established

mode of Messianic expectation. t

was in fact this particular cultural

mode of Messianic self-expression

that provided the vehicle for Jesus'

re-interpretation of he title, Messiah.

It is not until after His suffering,

indeed,

BECAUSE

of His suffering,

that He is shown speaking more

openly of Himself

as

the Messiah,

Lk. 24:26, 46.

By

dealing

in

His

words and deeds with the functions

of Messiahship, as opposed to the

title Messiah, Jesus was able

to

affirm certain individual aspects of

contemporary Messianic expectation

(e.g. preaching good news to the

poor, beareroftheSpirit, announcing

the jubilary/restorative work

of

the

prophet like Moses) without at the

same time supporting those elements

of Messianic expectation (e.g.

militaristic conquest) with which the

title itselfwas so closelyassociated.

Sloan, pg.

80,

The

Favorable Year of

the Lord:

A

Study ofJubilary Theology

in

the Gospel ofLuke.

To

be

continued.

April, 1995 THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon 9

1995 Issue 4 - Sermon on Luke 4:14-30 the Startling Preaching of Jesus in Nazareth, Part 3 - Counsel...

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Transcript of 1995 Issue 4 - Sermon on Luke 4:14-30 the Startling Preaching of Jesus in Nazareth, Part 3 - Counsel...