Luke 4:14-22
Suggested further reading: Isaiah 61:1-7.
Our Lord’s first sermon, preached in His hometown, should have stunned the congregation when He revealed to them who He really was! He read aloud a prophecy from Isaiah and told them that He fulfilled that same prophecy and was their long-expected Messiah!
Our Lord spent much of His ministry trying to correct the misconceptions people had about the character of His mission. They wanted an earthly ruler to deliver them from Rome’s tyrannical rule. They failed to understand that before the Messiah could perform that role, He had to die to deliver people spiritually from sin.
It is very important to have correct, Biblical views about who Jesus is and what He has done and will do. We must, of course, reverence Him as God come in the flesh, and recognize His Lordship by which He will judge the world, remove sinners in eternal judgment, and set up His kingdom on earth. But if we wish to participate in His reign, we must receive Him by faith as THE Savior, the Physician of the sin-diseased heart, and the Deliverer of souls in bondage.
The people’s response is sad. After Jesus revealed that He was God’s Messiah, the people were, at first, astounded at the manner of His presentation but then soon began to whittle Him down to a manageable level—this man is the little boy we knew, who grew up here. Jesus and His claims were rejected with polite nostalgia.
Such may happen again today when people who listen to a sermon, enjoy the presentation & some idea or two that is found interesting, but by their response they reveal that the sermon reached their ears but not their hearts. When that happens, people will continue to live a superficial life of thoughtless amusement, worldliness, and sin.
Lanny Tanton is the Pastor at The Bible Church of the Lakes in Horseshoe Bay, Texas – just outside of Marble Falls. Pastor Tanton welcomes you to our website and hopes that you’ll enjoy reading these insightful blog posts. Please contact us if you have further questions!!
