JESUS BEGINS HIS MINISTRY

WE ARE STUDYING THE FOUR GOSPELS MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE AND JOHN TO KNOW THE LORD AND SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST.

Today we look at;

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

The sinner’s Saviour, Jesus Christ, to know Him is to love Him.

The Genealogy of Jesus Christ

Matthew 1 and Luke 3 shows the Genealogy of Jesus Christ and the name God chose for His Son, what the word means and stand for.

Birth of John the Baptist and Jesus Foretold

Note the reactions and what happened surrounding the announcement by the messenger of God, Angel of the Lord named Gabriel (Luke 1:1 – 80).

Notice the reaction here on earth what happened when “??? ???? ??” called “?????” by His earthly father, Joseph, a common man, a tradesman, a carpenter. Jesus was born in a stable, His first bed was a manger filled with straw covered with the love of his mother. We had seen what happened when men that followed the prophets, looking at the stars of heaven, realized the ??????? ?? ?????????? had been ????.

The Flight to Egypt and Herod Kills the Children

We also saw how Satan and his human followers reacted in planning to kill this ???????? ??? ?? ???. Who and what Satan used trying to protect his domain, killing the children in Bethlehem, Matthew 2:18, and Jeremiah 31:15. Again we saw the messenger of God saving the Child Jesus from this world by getting the child’s earthly father to take him to Egypt; likewise, the prophets are fulfilled for the “Out of Egypt have I called my son.” Hosea 11:1, Matthew 2:15.

We read that God sends a man called John the Baptist to prepare the people for the coming ???????, ??? ?? ???, ??? ???? ??. Matthew 3:1-12.Mark 1:1-11,Luke 1:5-25, John 1:19-28

In Mathew 3:17, Mark 1:11, and Luke 3:22 ;

Jesus first recorded words in the Bible

The Boy Jesus in the Temple

The twelve-year-old Jesus stunned the grownups and the eldered. His first witnesses about Himself; and about His Father God in Heaven, to His earthly Mother and Father. Jesus first recorded words in the Bible;

“How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?” Luke 2:49

And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man. Luke 2:52

John the Baptist Prepares the Way.

The BABTISM OF JESUS

We saw GOD JEHOVAH HIMSELF witnessed that Jesus is His SON in which He is well pleased after Jesus was baptized.

We will see two more places in scripture where God Spoke to Jesus as His son. Matthew 17:5, John 12:28. In 2 Peter 1:17, we see Peter witnessing it as well. Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and not just a prophet as some “prophets” claim He is.

The Temptation of Jesus

After God declared Jesus as His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased Matthew 3:17 and Luke 3:22. The Spirit led Jesus up into the wilderness and was tempted by the devil. Matthew 4:1-10, Mark 1:12-13, Luke 4:1-13. Satan did not tempt Jesus right away, “No!” He waited until Jesus was hungry, a perceived weak point or moment after Jesus has fasted forty days and forty nights and afterward hungered, Matthew 4:2-3, Luke 4:2-3.

Now, look at the tactics Satan uses! The same as what he used on Eve in the Garden of Eden and the same he uses against us today still. We have read at how Charles Spurgeon explains it to us in his sermon;

Sonship questioned

“??? ?ℎ? ????? ???? ???? ℎ??, ?? ???? ?? ??? ??? ?? ???, ??????? ?ℎ?? ????? ?ℎ?? ?? ?? ???? ?????. ????ℎ?? 4:3

We also saw where to find and how to use the Word of GOD the Bible if we are tempted and tested by Satan in the sermon;

Infallibility-where to find it and how to use it

But he answered and said;

It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Mattthe 4;4

We have seen how Jesus kept on dealing with the temptations of this adversary of God and the entire Human race, called the Devil, the old serpent of Genesis 3:1, by learning and reading the sermon called;

Temptations on the pinnacle

Matthew 4:5-7 and verse 11.

Then the devil took him up into the holy city, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him,

If you be the Son of God, cast yourself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning you: and in their hands they shall bear you up, lest at any time you dash your foot against a stone. Jesus said to him, It is written;

“You shall not tempt the Lord your God.“

11. Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him. Mat 4:11

Satan departing, angels ministering.

Luke 4:9-13

And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence:

For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee:

And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

And Jesus answering said unto him,

“It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. “

And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.

We praise and thank God for men writing the KJV of the Bible.

We also thank God for men like Charles Haddon Spurgeon Dr. J.Sidlow Baxter, Frederick Brotherton Meyer, (F.B.Meyer) a contemporary and friend of D. L. Moody and A. C. Dixon, was a Baptist pastor and evangelist in England involved in ministry and inner city mission work on both sides of the Atlantic.

We thank God for William MacDonald, President of Emmaus Bible College, teacher, Plymouth Brethren theologian and a prolific author of over 84 published books. MacDonald refused to accept royalties for his books but established a fund for translating his work Believers Bible Commentary into foreign languages who gave us the Believer’s Bible Commentary as a Bible aid.

Most of all we will test everything against the WORD OF GOD always, so each of you need to have a KJV of the Bible at hand always.

Jesus Begins His Ministry told to us by Charles Spurgeon in his sermon;

Light for those who sit in darkness

Jesus rejected in Nazareth.

Luke 4:14-30

We will look at what William MacDonald tells us his book The Believer’s Bible Commentary about the fact that Jesus was rejected at Nazareth;

Luke 4:14-30

Preparation by Teaching (4:14-30)

4:14, 15 Between verses 13 and 14 there is a gap of about one year. During this time the Lord ministered in Judea. The only record of this ministry is in John 2-5.

When Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee to begin the second year of His public ministry, His fame spread through all the surrounding region. As He taught in the Jewish synagogues, He was widely acclaimed.

4:16-21 In Nazareth, His boyhood town, Jesus regularly went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, that is, Saturday. There were two other things which we read that He did regularly. He prayed regularly (Luk_22:39), and He made it a habit to teach others (Mar_10:1). On one visit to the synagogue, He rose to read from the OT Scriptures. The attendant handed Him the scroll on which Isaiah’s prophecy was written. The Lord unrolled the scroll to what we now know as Isaiah 61, and read verse 1 and the first half of verse 2. This passage has always been acknowledged as a description of the ministry of the Messiah. When Jesus said, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing,” He was saying in the clearest possible manner that He was the Messiah of Israel.

Notice the revolutionary implications of the Messiah’s mission. He came to deal with the enormous problems that have afflicted mankind throughout history:

Poverty. To preach the gospel to the poor.

Sorrow. To heal the brokenhearted.

Bondage. To proclaim liberty to the captives.

Suffering. And recovery of sight to the blind.

Oppression. To set at liberty those who are oppressed.

In short, He came to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord—the dawning of a new era for this world’s sighing, sobbing multitudes. He presented Himself as the answer to all the ills that torment us. And it is true, whether you think of these ills in a physical sense or in a spiritual sense. Christ is the answer.

It is significant that he stopped reading with the words “ … to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” He did not add the rest of the words from Isaiah “ … and the day of vengeance of our God.” The purpose of His First Coming was to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. This present age of grace is the accepted time and the day of salvation. When He returns to earth the second time, it will be to proclaim the day of vengeance of our God. Note that the acceptable time is spoken of as a year, the vengeance time as a day.

4:22 The people were obviously impressed. They spoke well of Him, having been attracted to Him by His gracious words. It was a mystery to them how Joseph’s son, the Carpenter, had developed so well.

4:23 The Lord knew that this popularity was shallow. There was no real appreciation of His true identity or worth. To them, He was just one of their own home-town boys who had made good in Capernaum. He anticipated that they would say to Him, “Physician, heal yourself!” Ordinarily this parable would mean, “Do for yourself what you have done for others. Cure your own condition, since you claim to cure others.” But here the meaning is slightly different. It is explained in the words that follow: “Whatever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in Your country,” that is, Nazareth. It was a scornful challenge for Him to perform miracles in Nazareth as He had done elsewhere, and thus save Himself from ridicule.

4:24-27 The Lord replied by stating a deep-rooted principle in human affairs: great men are not appreciated in their own neighborhood. He then cited two pointed incidents in the OT where prophets of God were not appreciated by the people of Israel and so were sent to Gentiles. When there was a great famine in Israel, Elijah was not sent to any Jewish widows—though there were plenty of them—but he was sent to a Gentile widow in Sidon. And although many lepers were in Israel when Elisha was ministering, he was not sent to any of them. Instead he was sent to the Gentile Naaman, captain of the Syrian army. Imagine the impact of Jesus’ words on Jewish minds. They placed women, Gentiles, and lepers at the bottom of the social scale. But here the Lord pointedly placed all three above unbelieving Jews! What He was saying was that OT history was about to repeat itself. In spite of His miracles, He would be rejected not only by the city of Nazareth but by the nation of Israel. He would then turn to the Gentiles, just as Elijah and Elisha had done.

4:28 The people of Nazareth understood exactly what He meant. They were infuriated by the mere suggestion of favor being shown to Gentiles. Bishop Ryle comments:

Man bitterly hates the doctrine of the sovereignty of God which Christ had just declared. God was under no obligation to work miracles among them.

4:29, 30 The people thrust Him out of the city … to the brow of the hill, intending to throw Him down over the cliff. Doubtless this was instigated by Satan as another attempt to destroy the royal Heir. But Jesus miraculously walked through the crowd and left the city. His foes were powerless to stop Him. As far as we know, He never returned to Nazareth.

We will also look at what F.B Meyer, Frederick Brotherton Meyer, a contemporary and friend of D. L. Moody and A. C. Dixon, was a Baptist pastor and evangelist in England involved in ministry and inner city mission work on both sides of the Atlantic has to say about Jesus rejected at Nazareth;

Luke 4:14-30

“HIS OWN RECEIVED HIM NOT”

A wide gap occurs here, embracing the important transactions of Joh_1:29-51; Joh_2:1-25; Joh_3:1-36; Joh_4:1-54.

What a flutter in Mary’s heart when she saw her son sitting in the teacher’s place of His native synagogue! How gratified at the reception given to the opening sentences! What a sword pierced her heart at the sudden revulsion of feeling! They were jealous that He performed only a few private miracles; but He could not do more because of their unbelief. See Mar_6:5.

Note that our Lord here sounded forth the silver trumpet of jubilee. Seizing on the imagery of the gladdest festival of Hebrew life, He likened Himself to a priest proclaiming the acceptable year of the Lord. Not yet the day of vengeance! Compare Luk_4:19 with Isa_61:1-2. This is Christ’s program for the present age.

We will listen to a sermon b Charles Spurgeon on Luke 4:28-30

“And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, 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. But he passing through the midst of them went his way.” Luke 4:28-30.

https://www.spurgeongems.org/sermon/chs753.pdf

PLEASE PRAY THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL USE THESE SERMONS AND STUDIES TO BRING MANY TO A SAVING KNOWLEDGE OF JESUS CHRIST.

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Jesus Rejected at Nazareth.