__ATG Lesson Six

Jesus_ Message can be freeing or threatening.

Understanding The Bible

Jesus Earthly ministry involved Him presenting himself to the Jews as the Messiah. The passage in Luke 4:14-30 serves as a summary of Jesus entire ministry. Early in Jesus ministry, he was a very popular preacher because of his miracles and his teaching. But from the time Jesus offers himself as the Messiah there is a deep point of division among the people who hear him.

Jesus taught them that because he was not accepted by the Jews, that the Kingdom of God would be offered to Gentiles, which was an idea that was intolerable to Jews.

Much of the gospels record the conflict between belief and unbelief. To those who were able to get past their religious tradition, Jesus became their Messiah, but to those who were not willing to look past their own lives, he became offensive.

The Apostle Paul had a good understanding of this controversy, as he wrote "but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." (I Cor 1:23-24, NIV)

BIBLE COMMENTARY

What is a synagogue?

During the period of exile, after the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, the Jews started meeting in places called synagogues. The Synagogue served as a substitute for the temple. Before the exile in 586 b.c., the Jews always worshipped at Jerusalem in the temple. With the advent of the Synagogue, it was possible to worship God at many places, and so the religion was brought to the people. There are records of there being many synagogues throughout Israel. According to records, there were nearly 400 synagogues in Jerusalem when it was burned by Rome in 70 a.d. The synagogues spread throughout the Roman empire may have actually helped the spread of the gospel after Christ ascended into Heaven. Today the synagogue remains the focal point of public Jewish worship.

Jesus the teacher

According to the New Bible Dictionary, there were prescribed methods of worship in Jesus_ day which included reading parts of scripture. Jesus was apparently one considered qualified to read and interpret scriptures.

When it was time to read from the Prophets he chose verses from Isiaih 61, which leads to the assumption that teachers could chose their own reading. It was the normal custom for teachers to stand while reading the scriptures, and to sit down while explaining what had been read.

1. What did Jesus mean when he told the crowd that the scripture had been fulfilled before them that day?

Suggested answer: The passage he was quoting was from Isaiah 61 and predicts the coming Messiah. He was telling them that he himself was the long awaited Messiah which Isaiah had prophesied.

2. Why were everyone_s eyes "fastened upon him?"

Suggested answer: It could have been because he was a teacher with a lot of charisma who had grabbed their attention, but more likely it was because the where shocked at what he had said, that he was the promised Messiah. Jesus made a claim that no one in his day would have dared to make unless he were truly the Messiah.

BIBLE COMMENTARY

Authority of Jesus

The question of Jesus_ authority to make the claims he made were a key issue as people decided whether or not they would believe. This is perhaps why they recalled that the speaker was Joseph_s son, who they all knew, and this Jesus was the same person they had watched grow up around them. The implied question in their recalling these things, was, what authority did Jesus have to claim to be the Messiah? The issue of authority was the key to the conflict between Jesus and the Jewish leadership throughout the gospels. The Jews recognized the Law of Moses, and their own tradition that had grown up around the law, and that had become something they relied upon even more than God. At least in part, the reason the Jews did not want to accept the authority of Jesus was that in some way it would have meant a lessening of their own authority.

Seeking a sign

Throughout Jesus_ ministry, people sought signs and wanted him to perform miracles to prove his authority and that he was the Messiah. He did perform many miracles, but at times in the gospels Jesus saw through their charade. Many people wanted to see signs just to see a sign, and this is perhaps what he was referring to by saying that he thought they would want him to perform the same miracles he had performed at Capernaum. Throughout the Gospels Jesus did give signs to those who wanted to believe, but to those who were not disposed to believe he did not offer a sign. When questioned by Thomas after the resurrection, Jesus asked him to touch his wounds and see, (John 20:24-28) but to the Jews who angrily challenged him, he said the only sign they would get would be the sign of Jonah (Luke 11:29).

3. Why did Jesus_ words amaze the people he was teaching?

First his claims, that he was the Messiah, had to be amazing. The people had waited for hundreds of years for the Messiah, and now here was a man claiming to be the long awaited one. Another reason was that most teachers of Jesus day usually just quoted other teachers and rarely had anything new to say. The fact that Jesus spoke with authority was pleasing to the crowd, and amazing as well.

4. What is the significance of Jesus_ remarks about Elijah?

Elijah had been sent to Israel during a time of unbelief. It was a time when Israel was worshipping idols instead of God, and Elijah called them to repentance. His battles with the kings of Israel are legendary, but even that did not turn the people around, and eventually they were sent into exile. The significance is that since the Jews were not believing, the Messiah would be offered to Gentiles.

BIBLE COMMENTARY

Who is God_s child?

The story of Elijah and the widow of Zerephath is found in I Kings chapter 17. The story is told about how the woman was miraculously taken care of during a severe famine because she trusted God and sheltered Elijah. Elijah came to Israel at a time when the people were heavily involved in worship of idols and falling away from their devotion to God. God sent Elijah to them, but because they did not believe, God_s blessings fell to a Gentile woman who did believe in God. Jesus was teaching here that it is not those who are descendants of Abraham that are true children of God, but instead those that truly believe in God are God_s children. In relating this story, Jesus was telling them that because they did not receive him as the Christ, the blessings of God such as salvation would fall to others.

Threatening message

When the Jews understood that Jesus was claiming to be the Messiah, their response was to try to kill him immediately. In the Old Testament the Jews had been sent into exile for worshipping other Gods. After the exile the Jews seem to have learned their lesson as they no longer worshipped idols or other Gods. However, they were so far to the extreme or worshipping Jehovah God alone, they were unable to see how Jesus could be the Messiah. Part of the problem was he did not fit their pre-conceived notion of what the Messiah should look like, so they took no chances, and immediately rejected him. It seems from the record that some of the Jewish leaders were determined to not believe no matter what Jesus did.

5. In the earlier verses the people liked Jesus, why did they get angry later in the passage?

They may have had many reason for liking Jesus, but Jesus questioned their sincerity and even their religion, by pointing out how from their past they had rejected the prophets. They were also upset because he claimed to be the Messiah, and because he was including people who were not Jews in the Kingdom of God.

6. Why were they unsuccessful in their attempt to throw him off the cliff?

Several times in the New Testament is says that Jesus time had not yet come. There was a prescribed time for him to die, which was on the cross. There was no way anyone could harm Jesus until that time.

__Lesson 6 CBS

Jesus_ message can be freeing or threatening

Luke 4:16-21 NIV

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. And he stood up to read. 17 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 preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, 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 and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."

Luke 4:16-21 KJV

16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read. 17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, 18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. 20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.

Jesus returned to Nazereth, his hometown, and returned to his home church. Apparently Jesus was a well-known teacher because it seems normal in the scriptural account for him to be teaching in the Synagogue. It was customary for teachers to stand while reading the scriptures, and to sit down when explaining what had been read.

The scripture Jesus reads here is from Isaiah 61:1-2, which is a prophecy concerning the coming Messiah.

No doubt the Jews of Jesus day were very familiar with the passage from Isaiah and knew the scripture Jesus had read concerned the coming Messiah. Many Jews at this time were expecting the Messiah to arrive at any time, but they were expecting a military leader and not a spiritual one.

Jesus stops reading in the middle of verse two which begins to speak of the vengeance of the Lord. This perhaps signified that he was not to be the military ruler type of Messiah, but rather the suffering Messiah, which is what he was.

The people in the synagogue must have been shocked when Jesus told them the scripture was fulfilled in their hearing. He was plainly telling them that he was indeed the promised Messiah.

1. What did Jesus mean when he told the crowd that the scripture had been fulfilled before them that day?

2. Why were everyone_s eyes "fastened upon him?"

Luke 4:22-26 NIV

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! Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum._"

24 "I tell you the truth," 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.

Luke 4:22-26 KJV

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.

Many people followed Jesus during his Earthly ministry. They were amazed at his teaching because he spoke with authority (Luke 4:32) which may have been missing from normal teaching in that day.

People also followed him because of the miracles, and many crowds followed him because he met their physical needs by feeding them. They were looking for physical help from Jesus, but Jesus was ultimately offering more spiritual help than physical.

The people in the synagogue knew Jesus and many of them remembered him from his youth there in the town. Perhaps Jesus sensed a bit of sarcasm in their questions about him being the son of Joseph. He faced similar opposition in John 6:42 when people asked how he could claim to have come from Heaven when they knew his parents, Mary and Joseph.

Jesus cut immediately to the point, citing examples of times when prophets had gone to Gentiles to help them in earlier times when Israel did not believe God. Elijah had tried to turn the people back to God, but he was rejected, and as a result the people were sent into exile. This disaster was still in their minds, and must have cut the religious leaders to the heart when Jesus compared them to the people of Elijah_s day. Even so, the Jews of Jesus day believed that being God_s children meant no other group of people could be welcomed into the family. From this point in Jesus_ ministry, he began to reach out to Gentiles.

3. Why did Jesus_ words amaze the people he was teaching?

4. What is the significance of Jesus_ remarks about Elijah?

Luke 4:28-30 (NIV)

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 down the cliff. 30 But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.

Luke 4:28-30 (KJV)

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,

Jesus often upset religious people with his teaching. The people understood exactly what Jesus was saying with his references to Elijah and Elisha. He was telling them that because they did not believe, God_s salvation would be offered to the Gentiles. They also understood that Jesus was challenging their religion and their righteousness.

The Jewish leaders also understood that Jesus was claiming to be the Messiah, and because they did not believe him, they wanted to kill him.

In Old Testament days ancient days false prophets were stoned to death. If Jesus were not who he claimed to be, the religious leaders would have been doing the right thing.

Also during Israel_s history, the Jews had a tendency to not listen to prophets.

Even though they tried to kill him, Jesus escaped perhaps miraculously. But Jesus was not to be harmed until it was time for him to lay down his life at his own initiative on the cross.

5. In the earlier verses the people liked Jesus, why did they get angry later in the passage?

6. Why were they unsuccessful in their attempt to throw Jesus off the cliff?