Luke's gospel chapter four, I want for us to consider the second part of the section we read from verse 14. And we'll really focus up until verse 30. Luke's gospel chapter four, verse 14. And he came to Nazareth where he'd been brought up. And as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on a Sabbath day and stood up for to read. When you consider the different gospel accounts, you begin to see that Luke does not set his gospel out in a strict chronological order. His priority is not the sequence in time that events occurred. Matthew and Mark speak about our Lord coming to Galilee after John the Baptist was put into prison. There was a calling of the disciples. John tells us of the first miracle, and that was at Cana of Galilee, remember, at the wedding, and the water was turned into wine. But Luke focuses upon this event in Nazareth. as he begins to describe to us the public ministry of our Lord following his baptism in the time of temptation. Luke is not hiding the fact that there was an extensive ministry beforehand, and that's described in verse 14 and 15. We're told there that Jesus returned in power of the Spirit into Galilee, and there went out fame of Him through all the region round about, and He taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all. Our Lord's ministry was public. It was powerful, and it was persuasive. There was this great excitement as they began to glorify Him, as they recognized Here, God is dealing with us. Here is the promised one. We see that the temptation, it did not destroy our Lord, but rather it deepened, you might say, his experience, for he returns in the power of the Spirit into Galilee. But why does Luke then focus on this particular event? And I think the answer is because the themes which we find here during our Lord's appearing in Nazareth, in the place where he was brought up, his hometown, they characterize, you might say, they are typical of his ministry. And the themes are very simply this. we find his revelation and his rejection. He reveals himself, and having revealed himself, we see the response which comes, and the response is rejection, even in Nazareth. Well, we can think firstly then about the revelation of Jesus Christ, and that's the largest part of this section, from verse 14 right up to verse 27. There's an understated drama in what we have here. the excitement, the heightened expectation. The atmosphere is almost electric as the Savior comes to his own place, to his own people. And he enters the synagogue on a Sabbath day. And we're told that he stands up to read. Now, this is what happened. When someone would read from the scripture, they would stand to do so. And we're told he was given the book. Now, the book was not as we think of books, but it was a scroll. And he found a place. And there is this mounting expectation as he stands there and as he manipulates the scroll to turn to the right place. And the place he turns to is what we would call Isaiah chapter 61. And there he begins to read. This is deliberate. This is purposeful. And then having read, he closes the scrolls and he returns it to the minister, to the servant, to the man whose responsibility was to look after the books of scripture. And then he sits down, and that's the posture for teaching. And we're told that every eye was fastened on him. What will he say? What will he do? They have heard what he has said. They have heard what he has done. So what will he say? But what will he do here now? And he begins to say, we're told in verse 21, that this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. What is it that he's saying? He's saying, I am the one that has the Spirit of God. I am the anointed one. I am the Messiah. I am the Christ. He was anointed. And in his ministry, he has accomplished. And here, he clearly announces that so that they would know, and Luke records this here, so that you would know that Jesus is the Christ, the promised one. Now, throughout our Lord's public ministry, there was speculation, wasn't there? The people speculated, who is he and is he the one? John records in his gospel a time when the Jews came to him and they said, how long does thou make us doubt if thou be the Christ, tell us plainly? And you maybe wonder, why was it that he didn't just tell them plainly? Why was it so ambiguous? Well, friends, it wasn't ambiguous. He did tell them plainly. The inquiry of the Jews that John records there was disingenuous. They knew he was the Christ because he revealed plainly that he was. That's what's happening here in Nazareth. And that's what happens throughout his public ministry. Whether by his words or whether by his works, he's affirming this one reality. It's not hidden away. It's not obscured. It's not covered over. Later, the Lord would say to his disciples, he says, believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me. He says, believe what I say, or else believe me for the very work's sakes. He says, I have told you and I have shown you the revelation of Jesus Christ. Our Lord refused to be ensnared by the disingenuous questions of those who tried to catch him out, but he did not hide his identity. That doesn't mean that he answers every conceivable question, but rather he has given us a perfect revelation. He's given to you a perfect revelation. He opens the pages of Scripture. He reads the part which speaks about the promised one who will come to deliver. And then when everyone is listening and everyone is watching, he says, this is being fulfilled. This is who I am. This is what I have come to do. You know the words in Psalm 40, which refer to our Savior. We sing them, but we sing what he has spoken. And in Psalm 14, verse 10, he says, I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart. I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation. I have not concealed thy loving kindness and thy truth from the great congregation. Jesus Christ spoke plainly. Jesus Christ is revealed. You know, sometimes people will say, maybe you would say, or maybe you did say, well, I'm just not sure. I just don't know enough. But what we're being told here that in the pages of Scripture, there is a sufficient revelation. He reads in the prophet Isaiah and the passage in chapter 61, it's speaking about the Lord who will recover his people who have been driven into exile and he'll bring them home. And Jesus is saying that all that was promised there finds its fullest fulfillment, not in coming back from Babylonian exile to the land of promise, but it finds its fullest fulfillment to me. For I will deliver you, not from a Babylonian exile, but from the bondage and the poverty and the slavery of sin. And this acceptable year of the Lord is a reference to what was called the year of jubilee. Every 50th year, there was to be this year of jubilee, a year of liberty. And during the 50 years, Different families would have become impoverished. Some would get into debt. Some would mortgage their lands. And in the year of Jubilee, everyone was to go back to their own place. That's why, for the Jews, it was important to know exactly who they were and where they belonged to. Because when God divided the land, he gave each tribe its place. And within each tribe, each family had its place. The year of Jubilee was a year of new beginning. It was a year of new life. Jesus is saying that I am the one who will deliver you from exile. I am the one who will give you that new beginning. In me there is life. Lucky works, great miracles is not in doubt. Verse 14, Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit in Galilee, and there went out a fame of him throughout all the region round about. In verse 23, he said, you will say to me, physician, heal thyself. He says, you'll be saying to me, do the great works here that you've done everywhere else. He doesn't deny that he's done great works. Everyone knows that he's done great work. But that's not his priority. His priority is not the work so much that the works would reveal him. His priority is to make himself known. And these signs which affirm the word potentially could distract from the work. And so where these signs are not required, Jesus does not work these great signs. But even the very manner of His speech, we're told, was compelling. The people heard Him. The people understood. The people knew the revelation of Jesus Christ. But there was actually two aspects to what He revealed. Because not only did he reveal himself, but he revealed his hearers. And that remains true today, that the Bible doesn't just reveal God and his mercy, but the Bible is like a mirror, and it reveals you. And that's not always comfortable, because sometimes what you find revealed is the reality of your own heart. It's not a superficial reflection. It's not your outward appearance, but rather the attitudes of the heart. And that's why we find the Lord saying to the people of Nazareth, He said, you are thinking this, and you will say that, because this is what you're like inside. And he goes on to say, verily I say unto you, no prophet is accepted in his own country. He says, I am the Lord, but you do not want to know that. You refuse to receive me, but rather you will reject me. You think that you know me. You're offended at my ordinariness. You have a familiarity which has brought you to the point of contempt, and you're not willing to believe. Do you know why he gives the example from the life of Elijah when Elijah was sent out of the land to a widow woman? Why he gives the example of Elisha and how Elisha healed Naaman the Syrian, not one of the native lepers in the land of promise. Well, the point is this, that these dramatic signs were not given to the presumptuous, the self-righteous. It was not for those who had a misplaced sense of entitlement, who, in their proud provocation, grieved the Spirit of God. He said, you will say to me, physician, heal yourself. He says, I'm not playing your game. Elijah wouldn't play that game. Elisha wouldn't play that game. I'm not here to perform for you. I have revealed myself, but you don't want to know. Jesus reveals the hardness. of their heart of unbelief. And this heart of unbelief, it wasn't an intellectual issue. That's what makes it so horrific. It wasn't intellectual. It wasn't a lack of information. They had heard, and they knew it was a moral issue. They were not willing to believe. They were not willing to accept that logical conclusion. They were not willing to acknowledge Him. Our Lord said, I am among you as the one that serves. He is His servant, but that does not mean that every man is His master, and He will not perform according to their folly and their pride. Rather, we're told, that God resists the pride. We have a revelation here, a revelation of Jesus Christ. He reveals who he is and reveals something of our own heart toward him. The revelation of Jesus Christ is not according to your terms, but in the wisdom of God, it is a perfect, sufficient, revelation. And that's what takes place in Nazareth. And it's characteristic of the whole of his ministry, but so is the response. And the response is the rejection of Jesus Christ. Verse 28, And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, 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." There is this quite remarkable assault There's this sudden mob violence. He is manhandled out of the town to a precipice that he could be thrown off it. John says at the beginning of his gospel that the Lord had came to his own, but his own received him not. Now that applies to the whole nation, but we see that particularly here in Nazareth. He came to his own, but his own received him not." Why? Because they didn't see themselves as spiritually poor. They didn't see themselves as brokenhearted. They didn't see themselves in bondage. They didn't see themselves blind. They didn't see themselves bruised. They didn't see themselves in need of salvation or deliverance. They didn't see themselves as sinners. and therefore they resisted, and they resented, and they rejected Jesus Christ. There's no rational opposition here. There's an outburst of murderous violence. There's a hateful intolerance. Remember in verse 13, after the temptation of our Lord, we're told the devil departed from him for a season. But here you see the devil, don't you? Here you see the devil behind the scenes, stirring a rage, motivating a mob, seeking to destroy. I was reading recently about the trial and the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, without entering into all of the circumstances around that. One of the things that struck me was this, that at the point that she was taken to be executed, the condemned prisoner, there was something about her. The Queen, the Queen of Scots, She had been the queen of France. She had a claim to the English throne also. And there was something about her demeanor. There was something about the way she carried herself, which put even those who would execute her in awe of her. And she was still treated with the deference of royalty, even as she was taken to the executioner's block and her head was removed. But he is the Lord of glory, and he is manhandled out of town and taken to the edge of a precipice. Isn't that just astounding? We see the utter contempt, this hatred, this malice. There's no deference to him in his holiness. There's no deference to him in his wisdom, in the gracious words that he has spoken, in the mighty works that he has done. Jesus Christ is revealed, and yet Jesus Christ who is revealed is rejected because they cannot bear him. Those who knew him longest after the flesh. They wouldn't know Him. They refused Him. My friends, unless the Lord would have mercy upon us, that's true for all. You see, there's something about the heart of men and women, of boys and girls. which is fiercely proud and independent and refuses and scorns the authority of God. That's why this is typical of the ministry of our Lord, because again and again, he's confronted with the same response, not always so openly violent, but yet a rejection. Remember the great multitudes that followed him as he taught around Galilee and performed these great works. There came a point where they didn't follow him any longer. The way was too hard. They would not have him. None will receive him. unless God graciously intervenes. It says in John's gospel that those who received him were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. To be born of God. We see here the necessity of regeneration, the necessity of the new birth. You know, the Savior withheld from the people of Nazareth what they wanted to see, great works, that he might reveal to them what they needed to know, what they needed more, which was grace. The revelation of Jesus Christ and the rejection of Jesus Christ. And we see thirdly here, the restraint of Jesus Christ. They rose up and thrust him out of the city and led him into the brow of the hills whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. But he, passing through the midst of them, went his way." We see his restraint in what he permits and what he does not permit. We see his restraint in that he permits them to take hold of him and to manhandle him and thrust him out of the city. And then we see his restraint. As there at the brow of the hill, he simply walks through them. He endured such contradiction, such hostility of sinners against himself. Why? Well, it reveals His patience. It reveals His grace. It reveals His mercy. It reveals the violence of their hearts. But then, He simply passes through the midst of the mob and they have no power. They cannot do what their murderous hearts would do. He restrains. He prevents. He quietens. There's still that rage, but there's just that impotency. It's a remarkable incident, isn't it? You can imagine the violence of the mob and it suddenly is stopped. Not because there is a greater sound that comes from God, not because of a greater force or a raw force, but rather it's like snow that falls upon a great city. Overnight, the snow falls, and in the morning, the city doesn't wake up. Everything's muffled, everything's quiet, and even just by a few inches of snow, and you think, there's the power of God, able to stop the mightiest city in a moment. Well, here is the power of God, as the Savior passes through their midst. There's no wrestling on his part. There's no protest. He simply passes through, and he passes through without rebuke. He passes through without revenge. His power is revealed. No more permission is given. The restraint of Jesus Christ Now, I know that in studying Luke's gospel, we've already considered his compassion. We've already considered his condescension. And there's a sense in which that's what we see here again. As he passes through their midst, we see his condescension in that he has endured this indignity. We see his compassion in that he does not destroy them or consume them. So why is it that we're shown that again? Well, as we go through Luke's gospel, you will find it again and again and again and again, the condescension and the compassion of the Lord. Why are we showing that again and again and again and again? It's so that you would be utterly convinced of it, so that you would know, not simply that you would understand, but that you would feel that. so that you yourself might come to cast yourself upon him, not with a presumption, but with an urgency, that you would seek his grace, the restraint of Jesus Christ, who stopped them and who walked away. But you know, that control that he exhibits here, It's the same control that he had in Gethsemane. It's the same control that he had on the night in which he was arrested. It's the control that he had as he was abused by the soldiers of Herod and of Pilate. is the control that he had when he was taken out to Calvary and placed upon a cross. He had no less control at that point. It was not that he was overpowered, but rather that then the time was full and he allowed them to take him. and he did not pass through their midst, but rather he laid down his life. Or we can say that he was killed. But there is a greater reality behind his killing, which is that at that point he laid down his life. No man taketh my life from me, he said, but I lay it down. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. Remember the silence before Pilate. It wasn't the silence of a broken, bewildered man. It was a silence that made Pilate marvel because he was restrained. The revelation of Jesus Christ, the rejection of Jesus Christ, and the restraint of Jesus Christ. And in this mercy, friend, He is restrained today, for He has not come in judgment. He is restrained today, for He has not come in wrath. He is restrained in today, for He is present, revealing Himself, so that you might see and know Him, and that you might trust in Him. We see his patience as he awaits that final day. This event characterizes his ministry. It's typical of his ministry. He was rejected at Nazareth. He came to his own and his own would not have him. But it does not change the course of his ministry. But rather, he continues. Although he was rejected again and again and again, yet his ministry continues. He continues to reveal himself. He continues to make himself known. And just as his rejection did not change the course of his ministry, nor should your rejection change the course of your life. Because maybe for his sake, you experienced something of that rejection. Maybe for his sake, you see a little of that enmity, resentment, that malice, that bitterness. And it may be tempting to find another way. It may be tempting to find a way that kind of takes the focus off you, takes the heat off, so that you are able to just live a quiet life in a corner. But that is not your calling, Christian friends. Your calling is to stand for Christ. Your calling is to stand with Christ. Your calling is to walk in the way of Christ. Your calling is to bear your cross after Him, not in your own strength, Not alone. Sometimes it feels as though you're alone. But you're not alone, for he said, lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world. His rejection does not change his course, and nor should it yours. But rather, walk in the way of the Savior. because that day will come when he will say, well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord. He, passing through the midst of them, went his way and came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the Sabbath days. And they were astonished at his doctrine, for his word was with power. This is the Lord Jesus Christ. And therefore, don't reject the revelation that he's given you. There may be many questions you have. I suppose, in a sense, there will always be questions. But questions must never hide where you must never allow questions to obscure the reality of what you see, that He is the Savior, and He reveals Himself to you so that you would know Him. And it may be that the Savior sometimes deals with others in another way. And sometimes there are those who are given to see more clearly. Sometimes there are those who are given to see more dramatically. But what matters isn't that you see dramatically, but that you see. And I don't think any of you here today can say that you do not see that Jesus is the Christ, the promised one of God, the anointed one, and that he who is anointed is actually the son of God. He is God and he is man. that he has lived a righteous life. He died, though he was without sin, and he rose again from the dead. And therefore, friends, surrender to what you know. Surrender to him who has shown this to you. Don't hold yourself back. Don't allow the familiarity that you have with this to bring you to the point of contempt where you find yourself demanding more or resenting the very revelation that you have. But humble yourself and give thanks to God. Confess that reality to him. Confess that reality in the church. Confess that reality in the world around you, and He will sustain you, and He will comfort you, and He will give you all needed grace. You know that He is able. You know that you're not able yourself, and we all know that. But you're not the measure of it, He is. And so cast your care upon Him, for He careth for you. Amen. Let's pray.