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Pastor Tom's Place

It was a Monday. April 2, 1739. John Wesley preached open-air for the first time. He had left the pulpits inside of churches to preach to the common people. He preached to 3000 in the town of Kingswood Bristol. His text was from Luke 4. That is the passage for us today. I have read some accounts of people calling this time in Jesus’ ministry his “Galilean Spring.” This is the first time Jesus teaches since He was baptized by John the Baptist. Only Luke tells us about this in our passage. The other gospel writers do not.
It was the story of “local boy does good.” 4:14 tells us that “he returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.” Several things of note. It was the power of the Spirit, that is the Holy Spirit, that is credited with empowering the Lord Jesus. The second part of the verse tells us about His popularity all through the area that surrounds Nazareth. That popularity will be in a great many places that Jesus will visit, but not His hometown. Ultimately, they would look down on Him as being just a carpenter’s son.
Do you remember a moment ago mentioning the baptism of Jesus? That is considered the official beginning of the Lord’s ministry. Immediately, Jesus begins to offer Himself to the people of Israel as Messiah. John the Baptist had declared Jesus to be The Christ, “the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.” God the Father spoke from heaven “this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” The Holy Spirit descended upon Him in the form of a dove. From that moment He offers himself to the nation. As we move into the next few verses some of the habits of Jesus are revealed.
He went to the Synagogue on the Sabbath Day. We see this in verses 15-16. The habit of meeting together is celebrated in the New Testament many times over. There is no such thing as a Christian that doesn’t need other Christians! When the Lord created man, He hard-wired us to be with others. There isn’t any place where this should be more celebrated than church. It should be our habit. The 26th President of the United States was Teddy Roosevelt. He gave the Ladies Home Journal an interview in 1917. In the interview he gave at least ten reasons he went to church. I won’t give all ten today, I’ll quote only two. “4. Yes, I know all the excuses. I know that one can worship the Creator and dedicate oneself to good living in a grove of trees, or by a running brook, or in one’s own house, just as well as in church. But I also know as a matter of cold fact the average man does not thus worship or thus dedicate himself. If he strays away from church, he does not spend his time in good works or lofty meditation. He looks over the colored supplement of the newspaper. 5. He may not hear a good sermon at church. But unless he is very unfortunate, he will hear a sermon by a good man who, with his good wife, is engaged all the week long in a series of wearing, humdrum and important tasks for making hard lives a little easier.”
More habits? The activities of the synagogue began with a prayer seeking the blessings of God for their group and the nation. Next would come the reading of some confessions usually from Deuteronomy. An example would be Deuteronomy 6:4-9. This reference is referred to as “the Sh’ma.” This word “sh’ma” simply means to “hear or listen.” One of the most familiar portions of scripture for Jews and Christians alike are the words in Deuteronomy 6:4-9. It is the one Jews had on their lips through the centuries when facing death in Medieval Europe, the Holocaust or even now with the rise of antisemitism. More prayers would follow, then readings from various passages from the prophets and songs sung from the Psalms. The main speaker (teacher) for that Sabbath Day would then rise, open a scroll and read with comments. It would be read in Hebrew but a paraphrase (the comments) by the teacher would be offered in Kione (common) Greek or Aramaic. On this Sabbath Day Jesus is the special rabbi, teacher, for the day. He chose a passage from Isaiah 61:1-2. After His reading, He simply tells them what seems to be several times, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears” (4:21). When Jesus says this to them, every one of them understood what He was claiming. They had been taught their whole lives that when Messiah came, He would do these things Isaiah refers to. The poor would receive preaching and attention. Broken hearts would be healed and enslaved, captivated people would be freed. Blind people would have sight restored or given. In other words, Messiah was going to do miracles proving He was The Christ. Jesus had been doing these very things from the time His ministry began. All through the region of Galilee he healed and gave hope. Now he’s back in His hometown, He makes the claim of being Messiah and they won’t accept Him. Ultimately, the whole nation will reject Him, not just Nazareth.
In closing, let me draw down on me and you concerning our relationship with Christ and His Church. Jesus made it a habit to attend regularly. Is it a priority in your life and mine? Is church a take it or leave it decision based on what’s on your agenda? The people of God have always had a place to meet collectively with the Lord. It was a place of priority. In the Old Testament it began in the Garden of Eden in the cool of the day. Later it was the Tabernacle and then the Temple. In the New Testament it is the local church. If the church isn’t the place to meet the Lord as a group, then there isn’t a place. Jesus made it a habit, so should we. He participated in prayers and Bible readings. So should we. He sang Psalms and so should we. See Ephesians 5:19. Music is a huge part of worship. Last Sunday was awesome with the Cantata by the choir. The church was edified and our guests were blessed. Jesus taught truth as He travelled from synagogue to synagogue. We ought to strive hard to speak truth, biblical truth, just like Jesus.
One final thought about the passage in Isaiah 61:1-2. It was connected with what is called the Year of Jubilee. Once every 49 years, the year of Jubilee would happen. Slaves would be set free and land would be returned to families (Leviticus 25). It was a time of celebration. When Jesus enters our lives, we are set free from sin and its awful penalty and our lives are restored so we can be made a trophy of God’s grace. If Jesus has done this for us, isn’t it only sane to live for Him, obey Him, and love Him with our whole heart? His Galilean Ministry offered it all. Some individuals believed, but overall, most did not. Just as the Galilean Ministry, specifically Nazareth, rejected Him I certainly don’t want to follow in their footsteps with the “Foskeyian Ministry” or the “Corinthian Ministry” in fighting against His Lordship. My prayer is that you don’t either. Time is gone.