Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany

February 3, 2019

Sermon Text: Luke 4:20-32

Other readings: Jeremiah 1:4-10 and Romans 10:13-17

 

  1. When Jesus claimed that he was the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies, what question did the people raise?
     
  2. What did Jesus say that aroused the people’s anger?
     
  3. Many Jews looked down on Gentiles in general and saw them as second-class souls. What groups of people might you be tempted to look down on as second-class souls?
     
  4. The people in Nazareth seemed to focus on Jesus as a person (v. 22), but the people in Capernaum seemed to focus on Jesus’ teaching (v. 32). When we listen to preaching, whose example should we follow? Why?
     
  5. Jesus calls himself a prophet. How is he still acting as a prophet, even from heaven? (Ephesians 4:11-13)

 

 

 

  1. The people of Nazareth asked themselves, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” They had seen Jesus grow up among them. They had a hard time seeing him as the promised Messiah.
     
  2. Jesus said that “no prophet is accepted in his home town.” He alluded to the prophets Elijah and Elisha, who helped Gentile foreigners because God’s Old Testament people were, for the most part, unwilling to listen to the prophets’ message. (You can find those stories in 1 Kings chapter 17 and 2 Kings chapter 5.)

 Jesus would have much the same experience. “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him” (John 1:10). Jesus was usually rejected as Savior.

  1. Answers may vary. But in general, isn’t it very easy to look down on people who don’t look like us and people we don’t know very well? We must still remember these are souls God loves and for whom Jesus died.
     
  2. We should follow the example of the people in Capernaum. The Holy Spirit works through a biblical message of our sins and God’s grace (Jeremiah 1:10). An impressive-looking person or an entertaining speaker cannot make the Spirit’s work more effective.
     
  3.  He has given us his words in the Bible and sends workers to do ministry in the church – pastors, teachers, and staff ministers. Have your children thought about doing ministry? Do your parents or grandparents know anyone you can encourage towards ministry?