Fair Weather Friends

“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, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”  Luke 4:18-19

Jesus was in His hometown of Nazareth and went to the synagogue on the sabbath as was His custom and in obedience to the fourth commandment to keep the sabbath holy and honor His Father.  Jesus observed every single commandment to the letter.  Upon His arrival, He stood up in front of those attending and read from the scriptures.  According to Luke 4:15, Jesus had taught in synagogues in other parts of Israel before, but this apparently was the first time that He had done so in Nazareth.  Since it was His hometown, many people gathered that day would have known Him or at least been acquainted with His earthly family.

His sermon was short, reading from the prophet Isaiah (61:1-2) who had foretold of the Messiah who would come to earth and fulfill the prophesies which he had foretold nearly 775 years prior to that day.  Because Jesus was God’s Son, He was filled with the Spirit of God, anointed and appointed to preach the gospel to the poor.  These were not necessarily those in financial need for all people, rich, middle class, and poor need the gospel.  These poor were the poor in spirit as written about in Matthew 5:3, those who recognized their utter poverty without the Spirit of God dwelling within their hearts.  Jesus spoke of the brokenhearted, those whose hearts were filled with the guilt of their sin, and the healing that only He could bring to them.  His preaching to the captives that He would deliver and set them free were those who were held in bondage by their sin.  He was not, as some of our politicians desire to do, favoring the opening of all the prisons and setting the criminals free.  All people until they repent and receive Christ are held captive to sin.

We know that Jesus healed folks who were physically blind, but that wasn’t the kind of blindness He spoke about here.  People, without Christ, are blind.  They cannot see how their sin affects not only their own lives, but the lives of everyone around them, nor understand that it separates them from God, their Creator.  Jesus came so that men and women could have their eyes opened to their sin and recognize their need to repent and trust Christ.  He came to set those free who were bruised, or crushed, by their sin, living with no hope, suffering depression, discouragement, and filled with dread.  The timeframe for which Jesus preached was the acceptable or favorable year of the LORD.  In other words, from the time of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection until now and to some point in the future, God is ready to redeem and save all those who come to Him in repentance and in belief in Christ.  We are now in the age of grace, the time when the opportunity for salvation is manifest among the lost sinners of the world.  It is the favorable time to be saved (II Corinthians 6:2).  However, in the original Isaiah quote, he wrote “the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God”, indicating that God will eventually bring His wrath upon those who reject Him.

When Jesus finished, He closed the book of scriptures and sat down.  Everyone was looking at Him with astonishment.  He then said, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears”.  They couldn’t believe that Joseph’s Son could be so eloquent and gracious.  But their admiration was short-lived.  Jesus could read their thoughts.  He told them what they were thinking which was that they desired for Him to do miracles in their town almost like they wanted to see Him do some “parlor tricks” to amuse them.  They were not considering His words to be directed at them according to their inward sin, but more toward outward healings and other miracles, something they could go home and tell their friends about.  I am reminded of another group of people who followed Jesus because He had miraculously fed them and not because of the words which He spoke to them (John 6:26).  Too many folks have that “what’s in it for me?” mentality.

Jesus then told them that “No prophet is accepted in his own country”.  They believed Jesus to be just a hometown young Man whom they didn’t really consider much more than that.  He cited two examples to them to show that “familiarity breeds contempt”.  Both examples were Old Testament prophets who chose to help foreigners rather than their own countrymen because many in Israel had no use for them.  Elijah helped a widow of Sidon, a Gentile, in the time of famine when Ahab and Jezebel ruled Israel (I Kings 17:9).  Elisha cleansed only one leper, Naaman the Syrian (II Kings 5:1-19).  When the people of Nazareth heard these two examples, they were insulted, became enraged, and chased Jesus out of the city, seeking His life, but He escaped and went to Capernaum where He found a much more receptive audience.  Matthew 13:58 tells us that Jesus did not do many mighty works in Nazareth because of their unbelief.  One moral of this story is that when one’s motive is challenged, the truth is revealed.