Are You Sure You Like Jesus’s Preaching? - [Luke 4:22-30]

The True or False Outline for Understanding Luke 4

True or false?

I've always wondered what the origin of that true or false phrase might be. I did some research and it was first found in the Enlightenment era in 1690 with John Locke, the humanist, trying to get people to understand human knowledge.

I also found true or false phrase found in Boolean algebra with true being a value of one and false being the value of zero. And it really picked up steam here in America around the 1900s and then fast forward about the 1950s, you would ask students in school true or false because it makes you think.

It makes you say to yourself, I better not answer too quickly, it might be a trick question. True and false is designed to get you to really understand the subject. You don't wanna immediately overthink it.

You don't wanna say, oh, in a knee-jerk fashion, it's this. So this morning, I'd like to frame the sermon and the outline with true false questions, true or false, because I want you to get to know the passage and understand it well.

Before we begin with the true false outline, I have an introductory true false question.

True or false?

It's hard to understand the New Testament without understanding the Old Testament. No, don't answer too fast.

I'm just kidding.

That's an easy one. Well, we need to understand the Old Testament so that we understand the New Testament. And the passage we're looking at today in Luke 4 comes from and includes something from the Old Testament that the listeners would know about.

So before we go to Luke 4 this morning, I want us to go to 1 Kings and 2 Kings so we know what the Old Testament is talking about. Then when we're in the New Testament, we'll have that in the back of our mind and we'll say, oh, I understand it.

So please take your Bibles and turn to 1 Kings 17. We're going to look at Elijah the prophet, and then we're gonna look at, in the next passage, Elisha the prophet, because Jesus is going to make mention of both of the accounts that I'm going to read.

So instead of going to Luke 4 and then in the middle of it, go to the Old Testament and come back, I thought it'd be better to just have it up front, two Old Testament accounts so that you could understand what Jesus says in Luke 4 better.

So let's go to Luke 4 and let's look at the first one here.

The first one is 1 Kings 17, verses eight and following. 1 Kings 17, verse eight. The word of the Lord came to him, arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I've commanded a widow there to feed you.

He's talking about Elijah there. So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, bring me a little water in a vessel that I may drink.

And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, bring me a morsel of bread in your hand. And she said, as the Lord your God lives, I have baked nothing, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug.

And now I'm gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son that we may eat it and die. And Elijah said to her, do not fear, go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me.

And afterward, make something for yourself and for your son. For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, the jar of flour shall not be spent and the jug of oil shall not be empty until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.

And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. The jar of flour was not spent and neither did the jug of oil become empty according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.

Verse 17, after this, the son of the woman, the mistress of the house became ill. And his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. And she said to Elijah, what have you against me, O man of God?

Have you come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son? And he said to her, give me your son. And he took him from her arms and carried him up into the upper chamber where he lodged and lay him on his own bed.

And he cried to the Lord, O Lord, my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourned by killing her son? Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, cried to the Lord, O Lord, my God, let this child's life come into him again.

The Lord listened to the voice of Elijah and the life of the child came into him again and he revived.

And Elijah took the child.

And brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother. And Elijah said, see, your son lives. And the woman said to Elijah, now I know that you're a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is true.

That is the widow's son being revived by God through Elijah. And Jesus will mention that. He'll also mention this next one. And so let's read it first. Second Kings chapter five. Second Kings chapter five.

We first saw Elijah the prophet and now we'll see Elisha the prophet, the one that succeeded Elijah. Second Kings chapter five, you probably know the passage pretty well, but it's still worth reading because it is the backdrop helping you understand Luke.

And that's really one of the goals we have when it comes to preaching is for you to understand the passage, right? So you can better appreciate the Lord and to worship him rightly. Second Kings chapter five, verse one.

Naaman, the commander of the army of the king of Syria was a great man with his master and in high favor because by him, the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.

Now the Syrians on one of their raids had carried off a little girl from the land of Israel and she worked in the service of Naaman's wife. She said to her mistress, would that my Lord were the prophet, were with the prophet who was in Samaria, he would cure him of his leprosy.

So Naaman went in and told his Lord, thus and so spoke the girl from the land of Israel. And the king of Syria said, go now and I will send a letter to the king of Israel. So he went taking with him 10 talents of silver, 6 ,000 shekels of gold and 10 changes of clothing and brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, when this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you Naaman, my servant, that you may cure him of his leprosy.

And when the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, am I God to kill and make alive that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Only consider and see how he's seeking a quarrel with me.

Verse eight, but when Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent to the king saying, why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me now that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel.

So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha's house. And Elisha sent a message to him saying, go and wash in the Jordan seven times and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean.

But Naaman was angry and went away saying, behold, I thought he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the Lord as God, wave his hand over the place, cure the leper. Are not Abana and Parfar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel?

Could I not wash in them and be clean? So he turned, went away in a rage, but his servants came near and said to him,.

My father, it's a great word,.

The prophet has spoken to you, will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, wash and be clean? So he went down, dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child and he was clean.

Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company and came and stood before him and he said, behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel. So accept now a present from your servant.

All right, chapter 17 of first Kings, chapter five of second Kings. With that in mind, let's turn to Luke chapter four. At this church, we're preaching through the Bible, verse by verse, we're in Luke chapter four today.

It's exciting, I've been amped up all week to preach the passage. And now that we have the prophet Elijah and the prophet Elijah's accounts in the back of our mind, it's going to make much more sense.

By the way, what did those two accounts have in common? First Kings 17 with Elijah and second Kings five with Elisha. Divine miracles, yes. Both Elijah and Elisha called the man of God are their prophets, yes.

Both of the people that were healed were not Jews, but Gentiles. Both responded and had faith, both the widow and Naaman. And both were sovereignly selected by God. And that's going to be important as we come to Luke chapter four.

Remember what's going on in Luke. Luke is writing this so that you trust in the Lord. That means if you're an unbeliever that you initially trust, or if you're a believer that you keep on believing. That's the definition of a Christian, by the way, is not someone that does something good.

A Christian by definition is someone who believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, the risen Savior. And Jesus has been tempted by Satan and he succeeds, right? Not one time, not two times, but three times and probably more.

And now he begins his public ministry and he goes into all places, Nazareth, his hometown, and he goes into the synagogue. Remember the Isaiah scroll was opened by Jesus and Jesus reads Isaiah 61 and a little bit of 58, maybe more, and he says, I am the Messiah.

Remember, he says, as you look at verses 18 and 19, this sent one by the Father that the Spirit's upon, he has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives. That's not just physical, spiritually enslaved people, recovering of sight to the blind, good news of the poor, liberty of those oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

And so Jesus goes in and picks that passage and then says, that's me. Verse 20, when you would read scripture in those days, you would stand up and when you would teach as a rabbi, you sit down. In verse 20 of Luke four, he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down and all the eyes of the synagogue were fixed on him.

They're staring, they are staring like people stared when Jesus ascended in Acts one, same word. Can you imagine if Jesus just starts going up to heaven? You would have your eyes fixed on him. That's the idea here.

They were staring at Jesus knowing he was going to say something. This is the kind of stare that when Stephen was about to get stoned, he looked up to heaven and saw Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father.

They're wondering what's going on. They wonder, what is he going to say? There's tension, there's drama. Jesus has read the passage and after you read the passage, you preach from the passage. And it seems to me, Jesus calmly, not rushing, quietly rolled up the scroll.

Verse 20, gives it back to the attendant, sits down. All the eyes are fixed on Jesus. They can't take their eyes off of him and now the exposition begins as you learn from the last two weeks. Verse 21, Jesus says, today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.

I know I shouldn't say this, but I want to say, come on Luke, why did you only record the first sentence of the sermon? I want more. There's more said, but what Luke records is only this. And it's enough for us.

Everything in Luke is pointing to the fulfillment of the Messiah. You can remember back in the early parts of Luke. Today a Savior is born to you who is Christ the Lord. The angels announce it. Fulfillment of the Messianic prophecies.

In the end of the book of Luke, everything must be fulfilled, Jesus says, that is written about me in the law of the prophets, Moses and the Psalms. And Jesus now says, today is the day. In your hearing, literally in your ears, you hear this right now.

Certainly he wasn't talking about tithing or Sabbath. He's talking about, I am the Messiah. I'm here to redeem you. I'm the suffering servant.

New era.

The day of Jubilee. And with one sentence, Jesus says, today, this day.

Sounds familiar in Luke.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David. And Jesus said to Zacchaeus, today salvation has come. Jesus said to the thief on the cross, today you'll be with me in paradise. It's all happening today.

And so now we come to our outline found in verses 22 to verse 30. Three true false statements designed to get you to understand the passage better and thoroughly so you can keep walking by faith. Three true or false statements, that's the outline today.

Let me give you the true false statements up front so you know where we're going. Sometimes I want you to anticipate, sometimes I give it to you, so here we go. Three true false statements up front. True or false, the right response to the preaching of God's word is anger.

True or false, number two, you should not believe God's word unless it's confirmed by a sign. And true or false, number three, the sovereignty of God should make you mad.

So those are the three.

The right response to God's preaching is anger. You should not believe God's word unless it's confirmed by a sign, and the sovereignty of God should make you mad. What do you answer, by the way?

Are you sure?

Yes, you are, okay. So let's look at true false statement number one. The right response to the preaching of God's word is anger. Obviously that's false, but that's what these people did. Take a look at verse 22.

And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, is this not Joseph's son? Now at first blush, you start thinking, well, that sounds pretty positive.

They were speaking well of him. But literally, the language that was written in Greek is all were witnessing to him. And you can witness to someone, or you can witness against someone. And even at the end of this verse, it should tell you, this is not all positive.

Is this not Joseph's son? I mean, he's running around like a little carpenter and running around and sticking his nose where it doesn't belong, this little tiny kid. Is this Joseph's son? I mean, how can he be even the Messiah?

What's happening here is they think he's a great speaker, but we'll find out at the rest of this verse and later in verses 28 and following, they didn't like what he said. They liked how he said it. He would have fit in perfectly in Athens.

They all would have said, he's a great speaker. He's a wonderful public speaker. But what he says, we don't like. It seems like it's positive. And I don't know why the ESV translates that they spoke well of him, because they witnessed about him.

They witnessed against him. They don't like what he says. Is this not Joseph's son? That's a negative statement. They're not impressed. And by the way, if you can't find fault with what Jesus says, you find fault with Jesus.

If you can't find fault with what the preacher says, you find fault with the preacher. This is an ad hominem attack against the man. He says things, we can't argue with what he says, but we don't like him.

And so they attack Jesus as a person. Is this not Joseph's son? I mean, really, he's the God-man? And the writer Luke is wanting you all, along with me, to keep asking the question, who is this Jesus and what does he want done with me?

How do I respond? And the right response is not attacking Jesus when he preaches. The right response to the Word in general when you read it is not attack the messenger. The right response, as you know, is simple.

And by the way, this is a theme throughout the entire passage. It's faith. When you hear God's Word preached, when you read God's Word, the right response is not, I'm mad, I don't like it. The right response includes certainly conviction and joy and encouragement, confession of sin.

But ultimately, the right response is, I believe it. I believe what God says. That's the Christ-honoring way to read Scripture and to hear Scripture preached. How did they respond? They responded with unbelief.

And we're gonna see that permeates this whole section. They don't believe, they don't take God at his Word. By the way, that's a good definition of faith. Taking God at his Word. Taking God at his Word.

Did you know every sin's root is unbelief? Just like back in the garden with Eve, not believing what God had said and Satan attacked Eve in that very area. Yes, unbelief leads to lawlessness and leads to idolatry and everything else, but at root, the core of everything is, do we believe God's Word or do we not?

Luther said, we cannot do any greater dishonor to our Lord God than by unbelief, for by it we make God a devil. The right response to reading your Bible, hearing Jesus preach, is not unbelief, not attacking the person, not saying, he can't be, we saw him when he was a little kid.

The right response is faith, assent, trust. Our own statement of faith says this, by this faith a Christian believes to be true whatsoever is revealed in the Word for the authority of God himself, yielding obedience to the commands, trembling at the threatenings, and embracing the promises of God for this life and that which is to come.

When there's a hard saying in Scripture, we need to believe it. When there's something convicting in Scripture, we need to believe it. When the world says one thing, but the Bible says another, we don't go with the world, we believe it.

They didn't believe what Jesus said, so they started attacking him. The right response to God's Word, read or preached, is faith. Secondly, true or false? You should not believe God's Word unless it's confirmed by a sign.

Well, let's see what they want here. By the way, I think faith is the right response, not sign, let's find out. Verse 23 of Luke 4, and he said to them, doubtless you'll quote to me this proverb, physician heal yourself, what we've heard you did at Capernaum do here in your hometown as well.

And he said, truly I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. One of the, I wanted to say cool, I guess it's cool. What do young people say now if something's cool? That it's base? Is that what they say?

Do they? Okay, that was probably a generation ago. Doesn't matter, it's cool, it's base, I like it. Jesus, shown especially in Luke, knows what people are thinking because he's the eternal God-man. He's the Son of God, he's the Son of Man.

He knows what they're thinking. In chapter five, when Jesus perceived their thoughts. Chapter six, he knew their thoughts. Chapter nine, knowing the reasoning of their hearts. Chapter 11, knowing their thoughts.

And here, what's the text say? He said to them, doubtless you'll quote me this. That's what they're thinking. He knows what they're thinking because Jesus is the God-man. I know what you're thinking.

And by the way, if you look very, very carefully, and one of the best things to do when you read your Bible is not to read too fast, what we have heard you did at Capernaum, that's what we're thinking.

Not even what you did in Capernaum. It might not even be true what you did in Capernaum. We're not sure. We don't have witnesses. But what we kind of heard, maybe you did once in a while. Everything about this shouts, they don't believe, they don't believe.

Unbelief is at the root. And you, Jesus says, want me to prove to you who I am by doing some kind of sign. To prove it. Basically they're saying, prove it. Do miracles here in your hometown like you did someplace else.

Give us a sign. Your word isn't enough, Jesus. You aren't enough, Jesus. We want more. And by the way, unbelief always wants more. Unbelief is never satisfied. You probably know this in your own life.

I remember talking to friends, even back in Los Angeles,.

35 years ago about the Bible.

And I go find the answer for them. And then that's not enough. Then they got the next question, and the next question, and the next question. Signs are never enough for unbelievers. Hey, prove it, Jesus.

You think you're a big shot? Prove it. Prove your worth. As one writer said, and I think he's right, Jesus, put up or shut up. That's what we think about you. They didn't say it, but Jesus knows what they're thinking.

We'll believe you if you do something that we want you to do. Just jump down, the angels will catch you, then we'll believe. Unbelief is satanic, by the way. Now, it's expanded a little bit. Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, physician, heal yourself.

And what's going on here, it's physician, heal yourself, and your home town.

That's what he's after.

Jesus will believe you, is if you take care of your homeboys. You take care of your homies. Hey, right here where we are. We don't even know if he did anything in Capernaum, but we'd like you to do it here.

Unbelief is never satisfied with signs. Verse 24, Jesus said, and only Jesus says this word truly or amen, used regularly, but he says it when there's something solemn that he's going to utter. And Jesus says truly or amen at the front of the sentence.

I say to you, no prophet, remember we've been talking about Jesus the prophet, is acceptable in his hometown. No prophet was acceptable in his hometown back in the Old Testament. No prophet's acceptable now in their hometown.

I'm a prophet and you don't accept me. The Old Testament Israel, because of unbelief rejects the prophets sent by God and you're rejecting me too. I solemnly declare that's the truth. And of course we all know that without faith.

It's impossible. To what?

Please God.

It's almost like Paul wrote 1 Corinthians 1 with this in mind. Listen, 1 Corinthians 1, for indeed Jews ask for signs, Greeks search for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Gentiles foolishness.

People want signs. They won't believe. And Jesus said not once, but twice in Matthew, an evil and adulterous generation seeks after signs. He's not commending people that say show me a sign. The right response is always believe and to trust your congregation on a side note.

For us too, we are believers and we don't need a sign in order to believe that the Lord Jesus died for sinners like us and was raised from the dead. But just in your daily walk, would you please guard yourself regarding this area of, I will go do this if I see a sign.

We want to believe by faith. We also want as Christians to walk by faith and faith does not say, I don't know who to marry, Jill or Jenny, and then I need a sign and you drive past Jenny Street or Jill Street and you're like, that's a sign.

It is a sign. It's a sign that you're dumb.

Stop it. Did I just say that?

It's actually not really dumb. It's unbelief. It's an unbelief that says, you know what, God, I know you love me and I know you provide for me. You're a good father. My human father protected, pitied, provided for.

And I know you'll provide for me everything I need in due time. But you know what, I need a sign. Same thing, so many Christians. Well, open door, closed door. Well, sometimes an open door is, don't go through it, be wise.

Sometimes closed door is, knock that thing down, keep going. We have to be very careful how we work through this in our life, even as Christians. We walk by faith, 2 Corinthians 5, not by sight. Also, we have to be very careful along the same notes, that we don't go by our feelings as signs.

Many people take their feelings as signs. Well, I don't feel like I want to do that. I don't feel like this is true. I don't feel like staying in this marriage. I don't feel like doing the right thing.

I feel like dating this unbeliever. I feel like if I dated this unbeliever, I could turn him into a Christian. I feel this, I feel that. We essentially walk by unbelief when we go by our feelings. Because as you know, Luther says, if feelings come and feelings go, and feelings are what?

Deceiving. My warrant is the Word of God. Nothing else is worth believing. And so, just a little practical thing in the background here. Remember, unbelief says I want a sign. I won't believe Jesus unless somebody strikes me with a lightning bolt.

But also, it affects Christians as well. We want to walk by faith. Though you have not seen Him, 1 Peter 1,.

You love Him.

Though you do not see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible.

And filled with glory,.

Obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. We believe God's Word baldly and nakedly,.

Not with signs.

And now, true or false, number three, the right response to the preaching of God's Word is faith. We want to take God's Word by faith. We don't need a sign. And now, number three, true or false, the sovereignty of God should make you mad.

Hmm.

Verses 25 through 30. By the way, most people aren't mad at God's sovereignty because He's sovereign over the weather. Most Christians aren't mad at God's sovereignty when they think, these were the parents that I was born from.

Most people aren't mad about the sovereignty of God and what country they were born in. Most people aren't mad about the sovereignty of God in many areas, but here's the rub. They're mad at the sovereignty of God or they have consternation about the sovereignty of God when God determines who goes to heaven and who doesn't.

That's where even Christians are mad about the sovereignty of God. You mean to tell me? So let's see what happens here. So we watch the responses to God's sovereignty. So we respond rightly with faith and submission and humility and not with rage.

Now is when our Old Testament passages that I read at the beginning come into play. And Jesus is going to give in this section two stories. Two not made up stories, but two accounts of the Old Testament to bring His point forward.

Both of these are Gentiles, one a widow, one a general. And both were living in days where there was a lot of unbelief. Both were living in the days where there were plenty of widows in Israel. There were plenty of lepers in Israel.

So what in the world and what is going on when God uses His prophet to heal a Gentile and then another Gentile? And what Jesus is going to say in these two stories, just like unbelieving Israel, you people here at Nazareth,.

You Jewish people,.

You don't believe.

You simply will not believe. And so Jesus is going to stick, a stick in their proverbial eye here to make the point. Illustration number one, story number one, speaking of Jesus the prophet, speaking of 1 Kings 17, Luke 4 .25.

But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel.

In the days of Elijah,.

When the heavens were shut up.

Three years and six months and a great famine came over all the land. Lots of men died. Lots of husbands died. Husbands died in the war too. Lots of widows. And Elijah was sent to none. Sent by God is the inference.

God sent Elijah to not one of those Israelite widows. Not one. But only to Zarephath in the land of Sidon to a woman who was a widow. And if you look at a map sometime, up far north on the sea of Mediterranean, far away in Gentile land, is Sidon and Zarephath.

Israel obstinately rejected the prophet. And so then what did God do? Well, I guess I can't do anything in life because if Israelites don't accept, no one will. Backdrop is, there are other people too that will accept and they're Gentiles.

They're pagans. Actually, they're enemies. Syrians were enemies of God and enemies of Israel. In these dark days, Israel was rejecting God and they should have been believing God. Even though they were chastened by God, they should have believed.

And God sent His prophet to Israel's enemies, the Gentiles, passing over the Jews. This kind of sounds like what Jesus said the Anointed One would do in Luke 4, verses 18 and 19. Setting at liberty those oppressed.

Proclaim liberty to the captives. Proclaim good news to the poor. Proclaim the years of the Lord's favor. That's what it sounds like Jesus is going to do. Side note, did Jesus believe in the account where Elisha supernaturally, by the grace of God, lays on that boy and not resuscitates him but revives him from the dead?

Did in fact Jesus believe that? Of course, the best way, and I just said this the other day to someone, the hospital chaplain. I should have said physician, heal yourself,.

But he was just a chaplain.

He was a liberal chaplain. And I said, my view of the Old Testament is Jesus's view of the Old Testament. Don't you think the Messiah would have come along and said, by the way, a widow laying down, resuscitation, Jonah three days in the belly of the fish, Sodom, Gomorrah, Adam, Eve.

Don't you think Jesus would have said, you know what, those are just stories. Those are made up. Those are myths. Those are all these other things. But Jesus confirmed and affirmed and quoted these very things like he is now.

And so I rejoice, dear congregation, that I'm sure most every one of you has the view of the Old Testament that Jesus did. No matter how hard the sayings are there, no matter how spectacular they are, supernatural they are, convicting they are, this is true.

And Jesus confirms even the supernatural miracle done in Sidon. This is done in their synagogue. This is done in a Jewish synagogue in Nazareth. We're gonna see in a minute, they're fuming. They're going to rage.

I've done a lot of things in my life in terms of preaching, but so far nobody's rushed me yet. I hope Seth takes care of them if they do. I think we should have these guys right here. They're my team.

Maybe they are.

They're going to run at Jesus. You mean to tell me that the sovereign God is going to somehow bypass the promised people and go to Gentiles because of unbelief? That's exactly what Jesus wants them to know.

No Jewish widows were healed.

Then he gives another story that we read about in 2 Kings 2, I mean 2 Kings 5. Verse 27. It's the same thing. There were many lepers in Israel. There were many widows in Israel. There were many widows and lepers in Israel.

There are many of you here at Nazareth. In the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed but only Naaman the Syrian. The arch enemy of Israel, Syria, and the main general, Naaman, he's the one that was healed.

By the way, if you go to Israel with us someday, you will go by the Jordan River. There's a couple of places you can access the Jordan. And one is a little farther south and it's right on the border of Jordan.

So you have Israel, Jordan River, Jordan. And it's kind of dirty and muddy. I can almost imagine when I'm there that Naaman would have said, why would I want to go get cleaned in that? I'm going to get dirty in that.