Luke 4:14-19
God’s Most Common Miracle
I’ll come back to that title at the end of the message.
INTRODUCTION: We are now into the life of Jesus.
\\#Luke 3:21-22\\ Jesus was revealed and empowered at His
baptism.
\\#Luke 4:1-13\\ Jesus was inaugurated with 40 days of
temptations
GAP - Then we have a time and ministry gap. Luke is not trying to
present a chronological order of Christ’s life. The gospel of
John gives us some missing details.
1. \\#John 1:35-49\\ Jesus’ first calling of disciples
2. \\#John 2:1-11\\ Jesus’ first miracle
3. \\#John 2:13-25\\ Jesus’ first Passover
4. \\#John 2:13-17\\Jesus’ first cleansing of the temple
5. \\#John 4:1-42\\ Jesus’ first revival
6. \\#John 4:43-44\\ Then John placed the teaching of this
event—but not the event itself. This event happened when
Jesus went to Galilee and more specifically, to Nazareth in
Galilee.
Luke gave us the details of the event.
1. \\#13\\ Luke did not mention those events but he did mention
the effect that they had.
Luke 4:13 …and there went out a fame of him
through all the region round about.
2. We will call this Jesus’ first trip home.
NOTES:
\\#16\\ Jesus goes to the city of Nazareth in the region of
Galilee \\#14\\. That is home. Evidently hasn’t been home since
His baptism.
\\#16\\ "…as was His custom" - Jesus did several things, not
because He had to do them but to identify with us (i.e. face
temptation and be baptized.) Now Jesus goes to church. If it
was Jesus’ custom to go worship, it should be ours.
I. \\#19-21\\ The Prophecy and the Proclamation
A. Prophecy \\#18-19\\
1. Jesus is quoting from \\#Isaiah 61:1-3\\.
Isa 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me;
because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good
tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind
up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the
captives, and the opening of the prison to them
that are bound;
2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD,
and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort
all that mourn;
3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to
give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy
for mourning, the garment of praise for the
spirit of heaviness; that they might be called
trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD,
that he might be glorified.
2. He stopped reading where the passage began to prophecy a
future judgment.
3. Why?
a. Because the day of judgment had not come.
b. This was the day of preaching and of setting the
captives free.
c. In \\#21\\, Jesus was literally proclaiming these
events to be happening.
B. Let’s consider WHAT Jesus was revealing about Himself.
1. The Servant of God’s Work
Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me….
a. Jesus was announcing that HE was the Messiah.
b. That is a BIG announcement and it was an honor that He
would come to Nazareth to make it.
c. Hold this thought. I hope to come back to it.
2. The Source of God’s Work - It was to be accomplished by
the Holy Spirit.
a. We noted last week that Jesus’ fight to win man’s
souls had rules.
b. Jesus had to fight as a Spirit-filled man would fight,
not as God.
c. The Source of all that Jesus will do is the Holy
Spirit.
3. The Summary of God’s Work
a. He was to preach the gospel to the poor.
Luke 4:18 … because he hath anointed me to
preach the gospel to the poor…
(1) Isaiah called the message "glad tidings."
(a) Luke called it "good news" or in the Greek,
the gospel!
(b) There is no better news than the fact that
Jesus save.
(2) Jesus’ ministry will be to the meek (Isaiah) and
the poor (Luke), not to the arrogant or the
rebellious.
(3) So Jesus would offer SALVATION to those who
would receive it.
b. He was to heal the brokenhearted.
Luke 4:18 …he hath sent me to heal the
brokenhearted…
(1) This is not physical healing but emotional
healing.
(2) Brokenhearted indicates hopeless.
(3) So Jesus would offer HOPE to the hopeless.
c. He was to proclaim deliverance to the captives.
Luke 4:18 …to preach deliverance to the
captives…
(1) These are spiritual not physical captives.
(2) So Jesus was to offer FREEDOM to those bound by
sins and Satan.
d. He was to give sight to the blind (physically,
mentally, and spiritually blind). So Jesus would
offer SIGHT to those blinded.
Luke 4:18 … and recovering of sight to the
blind…
e. He was to set a liberty those that were bound.
(1) Between Isaiah and Luke, we have two pictures
to describe one aspect of Jesus’ ministry.
Luke 4:18 …to set at liberty them that are
bruised.
(a) Luke says, "to set at liberty them that
are bruised (crushed)."
(b) Isaiah says, "opening the prison to them that
are bound."
(2) Together, they are speaking of someone who has
been abused by people or life itself and left
crushed, imprisoned by their inabilities.
(3) They can no longer trust people, love, try, maybe
even live.
(4) Jesus came to give LIBERTY to those who have been
shackled by life itself.
4. \\#21\\ The Season of God’s Work
Luke 4:21 …This day is this scripture fulfilled
in your ears.
a. He was to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
b. NOW - The ministry of preaching NOW is the accepted
time.
II. \\#22-28\\ People’s Responses - There were a lot.
A. \\#22\\ The People’s First Reponses
1. Wonder - amazed, marvelled, astonished - Not primarily at
what was said but at who had said it.
2. Dismissal - Is not this Joseph’s son?
3. We get the impression that they were surprised, even
shocked, that this Boy could use such gracious words.
4. That in itself indicates that Jesus had not been in the
public eye growing up.
B. \\#23-27\\ Jesus’ Response
1. \\#23-24\\ Prophet’s aren’t honored at home.
Luke 4:23 And he said unto them, Ye will
surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal
thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in
Capernaum, do also here in thy country.
24 And he said, Verily I say unto you, No
prophet is accepted in his own country.
a. To that most preachers would say, "Amen."
b. Often, people who know us or have known us the best
will not readily receive the Word that we preach.
c. However, for us, it is OUR fault.
d. If Nazareth was slow to receive Jesus’ word, it would
because of THEIR faults not His.
2. \\#25-27\\ Miracles aren’t for everyone.
Luke 4:25 But I tell you of a truth, many
widows were in Israel in the days of Elias,
when the heaven was shut up three years and
six months, when great famine was throughout
all the land;
26 But unto none of them was Elias sent, save
unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that
was a widow.
27 And many lepers were in Israel in the time
of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was
cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian.
a. Jesus anticipated their desire, that they would want
a miracle like what they had heard.
b. Jesus was basically telling them that that was not
going to happen.
3. Was this a rebuke to Nazareth?
a. That is definitely how the people took it. But was
it?
b. I have always thought so but now I consider….
(1) What would Jesus be rebuking them for? Being His
hometown? There is nothing to indicate that
they did anything wrong—yet.
(2) Could it be possible that Jesus was instead
paying them a greater honor?
(3) I think what Jesus was telling them was that
miracles are not the best honor. Preaching the
Word is.
4. Consider that no matter how many miracles are done, not
all can receive one!
a. Isn’t what Jesus was saying?
(1) Not everyone can be in the right place at the
right time for a miracle.
(2) Even if everyone gets a miracle right now, in a
few minutes, someone new will show up who did
not.
b. But the Word proclaimed can reach all. Those who
received a miracle from Jesus have long since died,
but we are still hearing His words!
c. Notice the emphasis in this section on the preached
WORD.
Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel
to the poor;
Luke 4:18 …to preach deliverance to the
captives…
Luke 4:19 To preach the acceptable year of
the Lord.
Luke 4:21 …This day is this scripture fulfilled
in your ears.
Luke 4:22 And all… wondered at the gracious
words which proceeded out of his mouth.
d. Jesus had brought something more powerful, more
enduring, more far-reaching than any miracle. Jesus
had brought them the WORD OF GOD.
e. Even more, Jesus had honored His hometown village by
coming to their synagogue to proclaim who He was and
what He was going to do.
f. I don’t think Jesus intended anything to be a rebuke
to these people.
(1) What He was telling them was that He had
something BETTER than a miracle to give to them.
(2) He was giving Nazareth the first opportunity to
hear who He was and what He had come to do.
C. \\#28-29\\ The People Second Reponses
Luke 4:28 And all they in the synagogue, when
they heard these things, were filled with wrath,
29 And rose up, and thrust him out of the city,
and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon
their city was built, that they might cast him
down headlong.
1. The people took Jesus’ statement as a rebuke and they were
angry.
2. They determined to kill Jesus by throwing Him over a
cliff.
a. It was a good thing that this was the church crowd.
b. These people were easily offended and excessive in
their response.
c. Actually they were offended because their hen refused
to lay the golden egg.
III. \\#30\\ Power of Jesus
A. Power to pass through His enemies. His time was not yet come.
B. Well, the people got to see a miracle.
1. Our understanding of what happened is limited for there
are few details.
2. It would appear that Jesus was physically apprehended by
those in the synagogue and then He was gone.
3. That is certainly a miracle.
C. The miracle:
1. Jesus was physically there and then He was not. He just
de-materialized.
2. Jesus was visible and then He was not. He just
disappeared.
3. It is no small thing for someone as BIG, as POWERFUL,
as DIVINE as Jesus to just be gone, but He was.
D. And this is God’s most common miracle!
1. For those who want God to be gone, He is gone.
2. For those who do not want to see God, He is invisible.
3. Some live their whole lives without seeing or feeling God.
4. Sadly, it is a miracle that will insure the damnation of
those who seek it, but it is God’s most common miracle.
I pray it is not a miracle that you have experienced!
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