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    • Church History Articles >
      • 8-1-16 The Second Century Church, part one
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      • 10-1-16 The Second Century Church part five
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    • More Church History Articles >
      • 11-1-2016, The Second Century Church, part seven
      • 11-15-2016 The Second Century Church, part 8
      • 12-1-2016 The Second Century Church, part 9
      • 12-15-2016, The Second Century Church, part 10
      • 1-15-2017, The Second Century Church, part 11
  • Proverbs of Faith, Hope and Love
    • #1: The Love of God, from I John
    • #2: God's Love - Isaiah 58
    • #3: The Greatness of Jesus
    • #4: Our Sufficiency is in Christ
    • #5: The Importance of Our Words
    • #6: The Greatness of Jesus #2
    • #7 The Wisdom of God
    • #8 Faith and Prayer (from the teaching of Jesus)
    • #9 Faith and Prayer (from Romans)
    • #10 Faith and Prayer (from Hebrews)
    • # 11: God Gives us Hope
    • # 12: Mercy and Compassion
    • #13: The Lord is our Refuge
    • #14 Jesus is our Righteousness
    • #15 The Peace of God
    • #16 The Joy of the Lord
  • More Proverbs of Faith, Hope and Love
    • #17 Victory Over All the Power of the Evil One
    • #18: The Wisdom of God (from the teaching of Jesus)
    • #19 The Spirit of Truth
    • #20 The Love of God (from I Corinthians 13)
    • #21: The Love of God (from I Corinthians 13, part two)
    • #22: The Spirit of Truth, part two
    • #23: Victory Over All the Power of the Evil One, part 2
    • #24: The Whole Armor of God, part 1
    • #25: The Whole Armor of God, part 2
    • #26: Victory over all the power of the evil one, part 3
    • #27: Faith and Prayer, part 4
    • #28: Our God Gives us Hope, part two
    • #29: Victory over Fear
    • # 30 Freedom through Jesus Christ
  • Proverbs of Faith, Hope and Love, third group
    • #31: Seeking the Lord
  • Declarations of Faith
    • Declaration Proclaiming Forgiveness
    • Create Blessings!
  • Poems
    • #1 Poem Describing Heaven
    • Poem #2, A Great Battle at the End of Time
    • #3 Poem, the trials of Job
    • #4 Poem, God's Love from Romans
    • Poem #5: Receiving God's Rest
  • Miscellaneous Articles
    • # 1: "And the plague was stopped"
    • #2 "Let the Sun of Righteousness Arise!"
    • #3: The Pulling Down of Dagon
    • #4 The Pulling Down of Dagon, Part Two
    • #5: When a King and a Prophet Agreed in Prayer, part one
    • # 6: When a King and a Prophet agreed in prayer, part 2
    • #7: A Wall of Fire for our Nation

#14: HE CAME TO HIS OWN,
BUT HIS OWN DID NOT RECEIVE HIM, part two
(Luke 4:16-30, John 1:11)


An early summer morning, A. D. 27, Nazareth, Galilee

​The people of Nazareth are amazed that Jesus applied the prophetic passage in Isaiah about the Messiah to himself. “Does he realize he is claiming to be the Messiah?” they wonder. Jesus was not being proud or boastful, but he was taking the place God told him to take, and not the position that man would give him. Nevertheless, some of the people become agitated.

Also, as he rolls up the scroll and returns it to the attendant, some who are familiar with this passage in Isaiah wonder why Jesus left out the part about “the vengeance of our God” (Isaiah 61:2b). They look for a Messiah who will execute vengeance on the Romans. If Jesus had continued in this passage, he would have also read about the Gentiles serving the Jews and the Jewish people receiving the riches of the Gentiles (Isaiah 61:5-6). Some are disappointed that Jesus stopped reading where he did.
So they challenge him, “Let's see you work the miracles here like those we heard that you did in Capernaum! Show us that you are who you claim to be”, some think quietly, while others, less respectful, criticize him and dishonor him loud enough for the people around them to hear.

By the Spirit, Jesus knows their thoughts and tells them they are thinking: “Why don’t you do miracles here in your hometown like those you did in Capernaum?” He explains, “But the truth is, no prophet is accepted in his hometown. Certainly there were many widows who needed help in Elijah’s time . . . Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them. He was sent instead to a widow of Zarephath – a foreigner in the land of Sidon. Or think of the prophet Elisha, who healed Naaman, a Syrian, rather than the many lepers in Israel who needed help” (Luke 4:23b-27, NLT).

The synagogue audience facing Jesus becomes irritated as they hear Jesus compare his prophet’s ministry with the prophetic ministries of Elijah and Elisha. He teaches from the Scriptures how Gentiles were sometimes more open to receive from God than Jews. This teaching threatens their beliefs and challenges their pride.

The people of Nazareth expected Jesus’ sermon would be a prelude to his working miracles for them. Now it dawns on them that he might be explaining why he will not work miracles here. As he continues, many become skeptical and angry. Some of them ridicule and scorn him, saying, “Is this not the son of Joseph the carpenter?” as they look for a reason to reject him.
Some of them reason, “He is not doing miracles to prove who he is. Instead he is only making elaborate claims about himself.” Suddenly, their anger shifts into a demonic rage. Some rise up and surround him and began shoving and pushing him. Several strong men grab him, lift him up and carry him out of the synagogue, to the edge of town and up a hill. The devil, who earlier tempted Jesus to jump from a high place, works with these men who intend to throw him off a high place. These men who disbelieve in working on the Sabbath are now working strenuously on this Sabbath to kill the Son of Man. As they are about to throw him over the cliff to murder him, Jesus supernaturally passes through them. For God saves His anointed one, as promised:


“. . . the Lord saves his anointed king.
He will answer him from his holy heaven
and rescue him by his great power”
(Psalm 20:6, NLT).
 
Comment: Imagine if one of our friends went to minister in a church and the people there: (1) showed him no appreciation or respect, (2) didn’t thank him for speaking, (3) didn’t offer to pray with or for him, (4) gave him no offering, and (5) were outright hostile and physically abusive towards him. What would we say to our friend? Many of us would probably say something like, “I am sorry you had to go through that” or “At least you will never have to go back there” or “I guess we should have covered that meeting better with more prayer.”
 
However, on this day, Jesus did everything perfectly and he was still rejected. We know he had thoroughly prayed over this meeting. We know he was speaking on the subject that His Father wanted him to and that he spoke as the very oracles of God. During the first part of Jesus’ message the people witnessed how his manner of speaking was full of grace and beauty. But still he was rejected.
 
Have you ever witnessed for Christ and you felt like the one to whom you were reaching out rejected both you and your message?  I have. The devil wants to use such experiences to put into us a fear of failure or a discouragement that would lead us to shrink back and be quiet the next time we have a good opportunity to speak out for Christ or give a simple message of love and concern to someone.
 
How did Jesus react when he was rejected? Soon after this experience, Jesus told his disciples, “I must preach the kingdom of God in other cities also, because for this purpose I was sent” (Luke 4:43).  Jesus would not allow the rejection in Nazareth to discourage him. He knew that there would be those who would welcome him and receive him. So he went to other cities to share the blessings of the kingdom of heaven.

It is time for us to forget past rejections and move on. It is a new day for us, with new opportunities from God on the horizon. We can take advantage of those opportunities and be blessed and be a blessing to others.

Note: much of this devotional is from The Life of Jesus Foretold, pages 11-15.
© COPYRIGHT 2021 by Stephen Long. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Home
  • About
  • Books
    • Polycarp and the Second Century Church
    • The Life of Jesus Foretold
    • Proverbs of Faith, Hope and Love
    • 300 Things I Like About Who I am in Jesus
  • Reviews
    • Reviews of Polycarp and the 2nd century church
    • Reviews of The Life of Jesus Foretold
  • Devotionals & Articles
    • Life of Jesus Devotionals >
      • #1 Life of Jesus devotional
      • #2 Life of Jesus devotional
      • #3 Life of Jesus devotional
      • #4 Life of Jesus devotional
      • #5: Life of Jesus Devotional
      • #6 Life of Jesus devotional
      • #7: Life of Jesus Devotional
      • #8 Life of Jesus devotional
      • #9 LIfe of Jesus Devotional
      • #10 Life of Jesus devotional
      • # 11 Life of Jesus devotional
    • 2nd group - Life of Jesus Devotionals >
      • #12 Life of Jesus devotional
      • #13 Life of Jesus devotional
      • #14 Life of Jesus devotional
      • #15 Life of Jesus devotional
      • #16 Life of Jesus devotional
      • #17 Life of Jesus devotional
      • # 18 Life of Jesus Devotional
      • #19 Life of Jesus Devotional
    • 3rd group - Life of Jesus Devotionals >
      • #20 Life of Jesus Devotional
      • #21 Life of Jesus devotional
      • #22 Life of Jesus Devotional
      • #23 Life of Jesus Devotional
      • #24 Life of Jesus devotional
      • # 25 Life of Jesus Devotional
      • #26 Life of Jesus Devotional
    • Church History Articles >
      • 8-1-16 The Second Century Church, part one
      • 8-15-16 Second Century Church, part two
      • 9-1-16 The Second Century Church, part three
      • 9-15-16 The Second Century Church, part four
      • 10-1-16 The Second Century Church part five
      • 10-15-16 The Second Century Church, part six
    • More Church History Articles >
      • 11-1-2016, The Second Century Church, part seven
      • 11-15-2016 The Second Century Church, part 8
      • 12-1-2016 The Second Century Church, part 9
      • 12-15-2016, The Second Century Church, part 10
      • 1-15-2017, The Second Century Church, part 11
  • Proverbs of Faith, Hope and Love
    • #1: The Love of God, from I John
    • #2: God's Love - Isaiah 58
    • #3: The Greatness of Jesus
    • #4: Our Sufficiency is in Christ
    • #5: The Importance of Our Words
    • #6: The Greatness of Jesus #2
    • #7 The Wisdom of God
    • #8 Faith and Prayer (from the teaching of Jesus)
    • #9 Faith and Prayer (from Romans)
    • #10 Faith and Prayer (from Hebrews)
    • # 11: God Gives us Hope
    • # 12: Mercy and Compassion
    • #13: The Lord is our Refuge
    • #14 Jesus is our Righteousness
    • #15 The Peace of God
    • #16 The Joy of the Lord
  • More Proverbs of Faith, Hope and Love
    • #17 Victory Over All the Power of the Evil One
    • #18: The Wisdom of God (from the teaching of Jesus)
    • #19 The Spirit of Truth
    • #20 The Love of God (from I Corinthians 13)
    • #21: The Love of God (from I Corinthians 13, part two)
    • #22: The Spirit of Truth, part two
    • #23: Victory Over All the Power of the Evil One, part 2
    • #24: The Whole Armor of God, part 1
    • #25: The Whole Armor of God, part 2
    • #26: Victory over all the power of the evil one, part 3
    • #27: Faith and Prayer, part 4
    • #28: Our God Gives us Hope, part two
    • #29: Victory over Fear
    • # 30 Freedom through Jesus Christ
  • Proverbs of Faith, Hope and Love, third group
    • #31: Seeking the Lord
  • Declarations of Faith
    • Declaration Proclaiming Forgiveness
    • Create Blessings!
  • Poems
    • #1 Poem Describing Heaven
    • Poem #2, A Great Battle at the End of Time
    • #3 Poem, the trials of Job
    • #4 Poem, God's Love from Romans
    • Poem #5: Receiving God's Rest
  • Miscellaneous Articles
    • # 1: "And the plague was stopped"
    • #2 "Let the Sun of Righteousness Arise!"
    • #3: The Pulling Down of Dagon
    • #4 The Pulling Down of Dagon, Part Two
    • #5: When a King and a Prophet Agreed in Prayer, part one
    • # 6: When a King and a Prophet agreed in prayer, part 2
    • #7: A Wall of Fire for our Nation