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Week:05, Season:1,
2013
Posted on Saturday by PCT
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Learn from Jesus’ Spirit of Proclaiming the Good N
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Scripture：《
Luke 4:21-30
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4：21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. 22 And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph's son? 23 And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country. 24 And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country. 25 But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; 26 But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. 27 And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian. 28 And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, 29 And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. 30 But he passing through the midst of them went his way,
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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 home town what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.”’ 24 ‘Truly I tell you,’ he continued, ‘no prophet is accepted in his home town. 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 leprosy in 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.
There are many important lessons we Christians need to learn. One of the most basic is to learn from Jesus, to be more like Jesus and to see God through Jesus. Let us learn how Jesus proclaimed the good news from the Bible passages we read today.
Jesus learnt Scripture by heart
When Jesus was little, he came to the synagogue and sat among the Jewish rabbis. He listened to their teaching and asked questions. Since he was very young, Jesus had therefore started seeking the truth of the Bible. He learnt it by heart and was able to draw inferences about other cases from one example. During his time preaching the Gospel, he often quoted from Scripture. He was filled with the power of God.
Jesus went back to his home town Galilee to preach in the Synagogue. He was filled by the power of the Spirit and his name was widely known by people from everywhere. One Sabbath, he came to Nazareth, where he had grown up. Jesus stood up and was going to read some Bible verses. Someone gave him the Book of Isaiah. Jesus opened it and read, “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 favour.” Jesus then proclaimed that God’s will had been fulfilled. His purpose was to tell people in his home town of Nazareth who he was. In other words, Jesus was the Messiah who the prophet Isaiah had told the Israelis to anticipate. Suddenly, the crowds were amazed by what he said, but on the other hand they still doubted Jesus’ power and identity.
Jesus broke boundaries and lived in truth
While the crowds were all amazed by the gracious words spoken by Jesus, they were still suspicious and said, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” Jesus is our Lord. He knows every thought in our minds. He knows every weakness we have: jealousy, contempt, narrow mindedness, selfish judgement and the limits which lead us to miss the grace and blessings from God.
Jesus used historical stories to teach people that rejecting the truth is refusing a blessing. Jesus told them that, in Elijah’s time, there was a severe famine throughout the land for three and half years. There were many widows in Israel who needed help but Elijah chose to help the one in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. There were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian. This tells us that even at a times when God’s people rejected his grace and abandoned the prophet Elijah and Jesus, his work of salvation still continued.
The people of Israel moved away from God because of their pride; they rejected the arriving of the salvation because of their ignorance. Isn’t this a fact that has never changed from ancient times, from Elijah’s time to Elisha’s? Humans have lived in a chaos due to our own pride and corruption. We rejected God’s grace because of our pride; we rejected God’s salvation because of our ignorance. Therefore, the grace and salvation of God slipped through our lives. Therefore, we have lived in a corrupt environment without his blessing.
The people of Israel claimed they were descendants of Abraham; that they followed the Law of Moses and were God’s chosen ones. Even so, they lived a life obeying the Law blindly. They limited their development by their pride and corruption. They lived in days without light. Then, the salvation of the Son of God, Jesus, broke the boundaries of the Law, replaced the Law with God’s grace and brought salvation to foreigners. Christians today are the new Israelis and the chosen ones by the grace of the Lord.
Jesus encountered difficulties, but he respond with humble manner
All the people in the synagogue in Nazareth “were furious when they heard Jesus’ preaching” (verse 28). These people raged at Jesus, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. This was a trick of Satan: to make people enraged. Satan wanted people in the synagogue to suffer conflict.
We can tell that Jesus preached the Gospel in a humble manner in order to complete his mission. His preaching in Nazareth was doubted. The stubborn spirit of the crowds made them angry at the truth. It was Satan’s trick to break the reconciliation between God and humans and to keep us from obeying Jesus. Although Jesus faced great conflicts with the crowds’ suspicion and violence, he knew this was going to happen beforehand. He knew he would have to deal with conflicts and rejection from people. He also knew no matter what, he needed to proclaim the good news about the kingdom of God.
Proclaiming the good news is a fight between the message from Jesus (good news of God’s kingdom) and message of devil. Jesus was challenged, but he walked right through the crowd and went on his way (verse 30). Jesus refused to have conflicts with people. He only preached the message of God’s kingdom.
All Christians may encounter the difficulty Jesus once had while proclaiming good news. These difficulties include human pride, contempt, jealousy, misperception…etc. We need to learn from Jesus to carry our cross in a humble manner, to work hard to preach the message of God’s kingdom and salvation with justice and obedient attitude. Eventually “the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.”
For example, before 4 February 2012 while NBA player Jeremy Lin started to attract people’s attention, no one thought he would become a star player judging from his appearance, height or skin colour. No one thought he was qualified to be a NBA player in any way. Like the people in Nazareth who doubted Jesus, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” no one cared or noticed Jeremy Lin. Under a series frustrations, many people might give up trying, but Jeremy Lin’s persistence helped him to seize every opportunity to play the basketball game. His success was not only contributed to by the family education he was given by his parents, but, more importantly, his success came from God.
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For discussion：
1. How would you face the difficult situation Jesus faced while telling the good news ?
2. Please share your experiences of overcoming difficulties through the help of God.
3. How would you deal with the challenge of when your faith is rejected by others?
Please pray for：
1. That the gospel of Jesus will enter the city. Pray that people’s hearts will be cleansed.
2. Pray that the leaders of Taiwan will have a courageous attitude to see things differently, with the insight to lead Taiwanese people towards a better life. May they follow Jesus and proclaim freedom for the prisoners, recover the sight of the blind, and set the oppressed free.
Prayer：
Merciful Father, thank you for giving us your only son to teach us the truth and the true meaning of life. Please open our eyes with your words so we can understand what we can do to please you. Please help us to obey your words, to continue the great mission of proclaiming the good news and to make all people be your people. May Jesus Christ rule the world and fulfil the kingdom of God in heaven as on earth. Please change our heart, remove our weakness, pride, jealousy and disobedience. Please build us a humble, gentle and obedient heart. In the name of Christ, Amen.
Something you can do：
1. Take actions to “apologise” and “make peace” whenever you offend people. Ask for God’s forgiveness.
2. Ask God to discipline your tongue. Do not speak negative words, but praise rather than criticise; encourage rather than blame.
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