Luke 4:16-22

http://biblehub.com/parallelgospels/The_First_Rejection_at_Nazareth.htm

WWJD has become a popular acronym for believer to ask themselves: What Would Jesus Do? This is a valid question to ask as we attempt to decide a course of action in any given situation.  The only problem with this is that we don’t always have the ability to know for sure what He would do and in many cases don’t have the ability or the authority to do what He would have done.  Today’s text doesn’t tell us what Jesus would have done in our situations but it tells us what He did in His circumstances.  As Jesus comes into His Hometown He takes a specific course of action that gives us several insights into what He did, why He came and gives us an example that we can seek to apply in our own lives.

JESUS FREQUENTED THE SYNAGOGUES: Many times we have the idea that Jesus spent all of His time teaching outside while sitting on a rock or in a boat at the edge of the sea.  He did teach in those places but this passage tells us that it was His custom to go to the Synagogue on the Sabbath.  His teaching was not limited to the Synagogue but He definitely went there on a regular basis to spend time with and teach the people who would gather there to study the Scripture.  This was the traditional meeting place for the Jewish people during the day of Jesus.  He took advantage of these gatherings in order to spend time with people and to spend time with the Scriptures.  It is important that we remember that Jesus could not walk around from place to place with a Bible under His arm.  Jesus did not own a copy of the Scriptures and neither did any of His disciples.  The only place that He had access to the Scripture was in the Synagogues and His own memory.  The fact that it was His custom to frequent the Synagogues demonstrates the importance He placed on as well as His love for the Scriptures.  It also demonstrates His love for a desire to minister to people.  If we want to model our ministries after what Jesus did; this is a pretty good place to start.  His ministry centered on the Scripture and people.  Today, churches are the places that people go to study the Word of God together.  It seems pretty clear that if Jesus were walking the earth today; He would be regularly going to church.  There are no perfect churches just like there were no perfect Synagogues but Jesus went to these places because He loved the Bible and He loved people.  The ministry of teaching God’s Word should never be limited to the church but in certainly ought to include the church.

JESUS FULFILLED THE SCRIPTURES: Much of the Scriptures were written about Jesus and He fulfilled all that was written about Him.  The passage of Scripture from which He read gives us insight as to what Jesus came to do.  The first thing that we see about the ministry of Jesus is that it was done in the power of the Holy Spirit.  We often forget that the Son was empowered by the Spirit for His ministry on earth.  This is an important reminder for all of us that we are all dependent on the Spirit of God in order to be able to do the work of God.  The Spirit empowered Jesus to be able to preach the Gospel to the poor.  Many consider poverty to be some sort of a curse from God and think that God does not care for the poor.  Just the opposite is true.  Jesus came to minister to those who were outcasts in the rest of society.  God does not make exception of people based on wealth and neither should we.  The Spirit also empowered Jesus to set captives free.  All men without Christ are enslaved to sin and are under the control of Satan.  We may not even realize that we are imprisoned but that is the reality of every man who has not trusted Christ.  Jesus has power over the forces of the evil world and over the sinfulness in our own hearts.  That power comes from the Spirit of God.  If Jesus was dependent on the Spirit how much more do we need to be?  We can minister the Gospel to men and experience freedom from sin in our own lives because of the power of the Gospel of Christ and the presence of the Spirit of God in every believer.  Jesus also had the power to heal because of the power of the Spirit.  He did not do miracles in His own strength just like Paul did not do them in His own strength.  It is a comfort to know that the strength for any and all ministry comes from the Spirit of God.  Jesus came to free the oppressed by the power of God’s Spirit.  There were many kinds of oppression in the days of Jesus.  The people were oppressed by Rome, the religious leaders of that day were also oppressing the people.  Jesus does not automatically eliminate all oppression, but He is able to do so if He chooses.  That same Spirit operates in us today.  If we experience oppression we can rest assured that God is in control and He will use it in ways that we may never understand.  Jesus also came to proclaim the year of the Lord.  It is rather hard to know exactly what God had in mind with this expression; but it is clear that He was pointing to the future hope of the Gospel.  We all have a tendency to live in light of our immediate circumstances but the Holy Spirit empowers us to live in light of the eternal promises of God.  The ministry of Jesus on earth was all about proclaiming the Gospel in the power of the Spirit for the purpose of transforming people.  This must be our purpose as well as we seek to follow Him.  The Spirit is empowering us to do exactly that.

JESUS FASCINATED THE SPECTATORS: This kind of powerful teaching with a clear purpose was fascinating to the people.  They were not accustomed to hearing this kind of preaching.  Unfortunately, many people that attend our churches today don’t hear this kind of teaching very often either.  The people could not take their eyes off of Him as they recognized that He was preaching with authority.  Jesus did not say anything apart from what the Spirit empowered Him to say and He was not motivated by the opinions of men.  His preaching was powerful and captivated the people because He was confronting their sin while at the same time giving them eternal hope.  Our ministries are supposed to serve people but that does not mean that we are to live in fear of people.  Those who speak only what other want to hear may be able to gather large crowds but there is not life transforming power in that kind of preaching.  We must never be distracted from our calling of giving people what they need: the Gospel in order to give the what they want: to feel good.  Both methods will attract crowds but only the Gospel of the Jesus Christ proclaimed and applied in the power of the Spirit has the power to transform lives.

APPLICATION: We must have a love for the Scriptures and spend time going to places where we and others can grow as we minister in one another’s lives.  Going to church is an important part of our lives.  God’s Spirit is vital to our lives and ministries.  He empowers us to transform the lives of people through the proclamation of the Scriptures.  We must teach to transform not to inform or entertain.