Feb. 25, 2024

The Road to Rejection

Luke 4:14-22; 28-30 (NLT) ¹⁴ Then Jesus returned to Galilee, filled with the Holy Spirit’s power. Reports about him spread quickly through the whole region. ¹⁵ He taught regularly in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. ¹⁶ When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures. ¹⁷ The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written:

¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released,
that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free,
¹⁹ and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.”

²⁰ He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently. ²¹ Then he began to speak to them. “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!” ²² Everyone spoke well of him and was amazed by the gracious words that came from his lips. “How can this be?” they asked. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” ²⁸ When they heard this, the people in the synagogue were furious. ²⁹ Jumping up, they mobbed him and forced him to the edge of the hill on which the town was built. They intended to push him over the cliff, ³⁰ but he passed right through the crowd and went on his way.

JESUS Made 3 Claims The People Rejected:

“I am the Messiah”

Isaiah 61:1-2 (NLT) ¹The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.  He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released, and prisoners will be freed.  ²He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of the Lord’s favor has come,

Isaiah 61:2 (NLT) … and with it, the day of God’s anger against their enemies.

Isaiah 9:1-2 (NLT) …but there will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles, which lies along the road that runs between the Jordan and the sea, will be filled with glory. ² The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine.

“You’re not more important.” 

“You need God’s grace as well.”

“They love truth when it enlightens them… but hate truth when it accuses them.” (St. Augustine)