Gospel Prism

And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. 17 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” 23 And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Physician, heal yourself.’ What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.” 24 And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. 25 But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, 26 and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27 And there were many lepers [1] in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” 28 When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. 29 And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. 30 But passing through their midst, he went away.

Luke 4:16-30

Introduction

What do you think keeps most of us from living in the joy of the Gospel? Your list would probably consist of the many sins you commit each day, perhaps the anger towards your loved ones, the worry that you feel every time you check your bank account and see the bills you need to pay, the envy you have towards your coworker who always seems to be on your boss’s good side, or the temptation to glare at the scantily clad women on the web, etc. And yes, these sins certainly keep us from experiencing the joy of the Gospel. But what if I were to tell you that just as deadly as active sin is to our faith in Christ, so too are our righteous deeds that we believe gives us a foothold into God’s grace. Tim Keller comments:

Christians come to see that both their sins and their best deeds have all really been ways of avoiding Jesus as savior. They come to see that Christianity is not fundamentally an invitation to get more religious. A Christian comes to say: “Though I have often failed to obey the moral law, the deeper problem was why I was trying to obey it! Even my efforts to obey it have been just a way of seeking to be my own savior. In that mindset, even if I obey or ask for forgiveness, I am really resisting the gospel and setting myself up as Savior.” To “get the gospel” is to turn from self-justification and rely on Jesus’ record for a relationship with God. The irreligious don’t repent at all, and the religious only repent of sins. But Christians also repent of their righteousness. That is the distinction between the three groups–Christians, moralists (religious), and pragmatists (irreligious).

This is not just something Tim Keller made up. It is what Jesus teaches in Luke 4:16-30. The people who are listening to Jesus have all sorts of assumptions about Jesus and themselves. They assume they are good people who have no need for a Savior. Jesus assumes He is a Savior who is speaking to a people who need His message of Good News. Such a combination leads to surprising results simply because by nature, the Gospel is combustibly surprising. It will either lead to a person’s fierce anger or joyous salvation.

The Gospel Revealed (vv. 16-22)

Let’s look at our passage for today. Verses 16-17 set the scene. Jesus has come to his hometown of Nazareth and he enters the synagogue on the Sabbath. He is handed a scroll of Scripture, probably one that He had chosen to read. As He unfurls it, he reads the very well known words of Isaiah 61:1-2 and Isaiah 58:6. So why would Jesus read from this text of Scripture? What does it mean?

Many modern theologians and pastors believe this is Jesus’ revolutionary spirit against the rich. This was Jesus’ way of declaring war against poverty and the oppression of the masses. Theologies such as liberation theology have sprung out of texts like these. But is this what Jesus is saying? At some level, Jesus definitely has a concern for the poor and oppressed. But if we only receive Jesus’ message from a physically poor and defenseless perspective, I am afraid we will miss the most crucial point of His quoting this beautiful text: Jesus is revealing the Gospel that saves those who need spiritual deliverance.

At first glance, the word “poor” in verse 18 would seem to be addressed to the physically impoverished. But in Luke, those who are poor are not merely physically poor. In Luke 6:23 the poor of Luke 6:20 are compared to those prophets who believed in God but were killed by the Israelites. Physical wealth, according to 6:23, would not be the determinant factor as to whether one would be received into heaven. It would be the person who is, to use Matthew’s understanding of the poor, “poor in spirit.”

Also, there are the captives, and blind, and oppressed. But in Luke the captives are often spiritual captives, held prisoner by the destruction of sin. Those who are captive and oppressed are freed by His power to overcome the power of sin. If Jesus’ words were to be taken as words that would liberate the poor physically, then surely when Jesus was to be arrested and Peter drew his sword in defense, Jesus would have not rebuked him to put back his sword. When Jesus was questioned by Pilate, He makes this telling statement: “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” (John 18:36)

Jesus’ quotation of Isaiah 61 and 58 then must mean that the Gospel is a spiritual Gospel. It is certainly good news for the poor, the captive, the blind, and the oppressed. But this is a description of every person who is humbled by their own sin. The physically poor have some place in Jesus’ reference to Isaiah, since Isaiah rebukes Israel for the people’s neglect of the poor. But what Isaiah ultimately rails against is the people’s disregard for God Himself, their turning to idols, which in turn leads to the neglect of their ethical demands (such as caring for the poor). Once people have other gods before God, there will be a lessening of ethics and morality which are always rooted on God’s character and nature.

The Gospel then is a Gospel for those who know they are poor. The Gospel is not for the well-put together who have nothing wrong with their lives and who have no need for a Savior. When the Rich Young Man in Mark 10 walked away disheartened because Jesus said, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me,” he responded in such a way not only because he had much to lose, but he also was not desperate enough for a Savior. He didn’t need Jesus at all because as he himself said in Mark 10:20: “Teacher, all these [commandments] I have kept from my youth.” His own righteousness before God kept him from becoming poor spiritually. As wealthy as he was, his righteous deeds led him to believe he was good enough.

How many of you are sitting here today believing that your righteous deeds are good enough? Do you believe that you are utterly poor, captive, blind before a holy and omnipotent God? Some of you might believe that your acts of service such as going to Moz to care for the poor, or going to church every Sunday, or tithing, or serving in Gospel Train, or being loving and caring parents, or reading the Bible regularly, or not drinking, smoking, gambling, cussing, makes you righteous before God. If you do not see how desperately poor you are, at some level you probably still believe that your righteous deeds somehow balances out your sin, as if sin and righteousness are our yin and yang before God.

The Gospel is not good news for people who don’t need to hear good news. The Gospel is good news for those who are desperately poor. When Jesus is quoting Isaiah, he’s not merely speaking about the poor in Africa, he is speaking about me and you. We are the poor, the captive, the blind, and the oppressed. Theologian Leon Morris is absolutely right when he says:

We can think of forgiveness as something real only when we hold that sin has betrayed us into a situation where we deserve to have God inflict upon us the most serious consequences, and that it is upon such a situation that God’s grace supervenes. When the logic of the situation demands that He should take action against the sinner, and He yet takes action for him, then and only then can we speak of grace. But there is no room for grace if there is no suggestion of dire consequences merited by sin. (Leon Morris, The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross (London, England: The Tyndale Press, 1955), 185.)

But not only is the Gospel for the poor, it is wonderfully fulfilled in Christ. As Jesus said in verse 21: “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” The people listening and watching Jesus were truly mesmerized by him. And what was astounding was this statement, that Isaiah was talking about Jesus! Everything in Scripture that we read from Genesis to Revelation points to this good news that is met in the Son of God. And so we must be forever mindful that Jesus, His person and His work, is at the center of all that Christianity is about. But what is marvelous for us as Christians was a monstrosity for the Jewish listeners of Jesus’ day.

The Gospel Rejected (vv. 22-30)

The fact of the matter is that the Gospel is rejected by the people as it is still rejected today. Why is the Gospel rejected? First, the Gospel is rejected if the messenger is familiar (v. 22-24). The people at first are enthralled by Jesus’ words. But that quickly turns sour once they begin to think of its source. This was after all, Jesus, the carpenter’s son. This was the boy whom many saw growing up. And though they enjoyed what was said, though they “marveled at the gracious words coming from his mouth,” their ears were closed to Him and their hearts were hardened against Him. This is a warning for all of us who listen to the words of the Gospel regularly. You could admire the words that are spoken. You might even intellectually agree with the words. But in the end, these words are only religious words, not words that transform one’s thinking, one’s behavior, one’s outlook, one’s life. Unless the listener is poor in spirit, unless the listener is as Luke records later in the book of Acts, cut to the heart, they will be mere words. And such words, though at first wondrous, can eventually lead to one’s rejection of the Gospel.

The messenger bearing these words was too familiar. Jesus was no one special in their eyes. And so Jesus preempts their thoughts by saying, “Physician heal yourself.” That is, he had come into his hometown, a place where the people believed he should have first began his ministry of miracles. But in his hometown, the only thing he does is to declare He is the one who has come, the bearer of this good news. And people are upset and jealous.

Surely such people are not open to the Gospel and reject the Gospel because of their pent up pride. These people are certainly not poor in spirit. They do not need Christ. They are better than that. They deserve better treatment by Jesus. They deserve to be respected and honored. They are after all righteous Jews, God’s chosen people. How dare Jesus come into town with his fancy words, declaring Himself to be the Savior, after showing those uncouth Galileans all of the miracles and refusing to do any where he was raised?

May I give a few points of application here. We must be very careful that we never despise the familiar simply because it is familiar. There are parents in this room who might one day be led by their children to love Christ more, should one allow oneself to be led in such a way. One Sovereign Grace church has an associate pastor who is the father of the senior pastor. That couldn’t happen unless that associate pastor father understood His poverty before a holy God. Many older people refuse to be taught by those younger simply because of stubborn pride. Perhaps you have a brother or a sister who has been trying to remind you of the Gospel, but because it’s your kid brother or sister, you’re unwilling to listen because of your proud stubborn heart. Please open your heart to the Gospel, regardless of how familiar or young the messenger is.

One more point of application is this: We must be very careful that we do not take that which is familiar (people, the Bible, teachings, church, Sunday Worship, homegroups, etc.) and make it something dull. May we be careful to hold with awe God’s Word and the gathering of His people every Sunday, or we become as guilty as the Jews in this story. J. C. Ryle puts it well when he says:

Let us take heed to our own spirit in the use of sacred things. Often we may read the Bible, let us never read it without deep reverence. Often as we hear the name of Christ, let us never forget that He is the One Mediator, in whom is life. (J. C. Ryle, Luke, 121).

Do not let anything become so familiar that you breed contempt. How often we do this when we read the Bible and we read the passage that we have read many times before? By skimming through simply because it is familiar to us is no different that the Jews’ response to Jesus when they heard Him speak. It was too familiar and there was no awe, no wonder. May we guard our hearts from such a perspective.

Also, the Gospel is rejected if the listeners believe they have no need for a Savior. Jesus gives two illustrations in verses 25-26. The first is recorded in 1 Kings 17:7-16 and it’s the story of Elijah and the widow. A widow in Zarephath (a Gentile) is so poor that she is making a last meal so that she and her son could die. Elijah comes onto the scene and asks her to do exactly as he says, which is to make bread for him. In doing so, the Lord will provide for them miraculously. And in her obedience, God does provide.

The second story is of Elisha and Naaman the leper in 2 Kings 5. This time Elisha commands Naaman, the Syrian commander (another Gentile), to bathe in the Jordan to be healed of his leprosy. After prodding, Naaman does as he’s told and is healed. The point was clear to Jesus’ listeners. Both of these stories illustrate two Gentiles, who were outside of God’s people, who were poor enough, and trusted God enough to be open to the good news they received. And through their poverty in spirit, they received God’s grace. But the Jews listening to Jesus were unwilling to see themselves as poor at all. They were morally good people. They attended the synagogue regularly. They kept the feasts as commanded by Mosaic Law. They probably knew Scripture. They kept the sacrificial and dietary laws. They were upstanding citizens. They were well-to-do perhaps and educated. How dare this carpenter’s son come to his hometown to tell them that they needed to be poor, to see themselves as captives. They had heard all they were willing to hear. And unless Jesus as God did not act supernaturally, he would have been thrown down the cliff.

We need to realize that what kept the Jews from listening to Jesus and open to the Gospel continues to keep many from the Gospel. Their problem was that they believed they were better than what the Gospel required. They didn’t see themselves as sinners. As we will see later, they saw sinners as prostitutes, tax collectors, lepers, the lame, beggars, the dregs of society. Jesus’ words hurt their pride. It attacked them at the core because regardless of what one’s physical appearance was, or how one dressed, or what job one held down, or what crimes or acts of goodness one did, all still fell short of God’s glory. It attacked one’s self-righteousness. And when they listened to such things, they were “filled with wrath” according to verse 28. People do not like being called sinners because to be a sinner means that you need a savior. So never be surprised when people act angrily towards the Gospel. The Gospel either leads to repentance or exactly the opposite, it leads to anger, rage, and even cruelty against God and His people.

The Jews also believed that they performed enough good works for God’s acceptance (personal righteousness over Christ’s righteousness) and their own salvation. Let me illustrate this. When I bought my car, I financed it. I had to go into the dealership finance office where the gentleman behind the desk offered me gap insurance. Gap insurance covers the depreciated value of the car and the remaining balance that I owe which early in the loan, is more than the value of the car. Gap insurance covers that gap. Well, in many ways, far too many Christians believe our good works before God covers the gap that perhaps God’s work for us does not cover. Our good works is the insurance that we think we need just in case we don’t have enough to get in good with God. And this is exactly what the Jews thought of themselves, and what kept them from the Gospel. Their moralism made them feel insured against God’s wrath toward sin. And such faith based on good works is a terrible death trap that leads only to misery, condemnation, and pride. Tim Keller aptly writes:

This view [moralism] will either lead to a) self-hatred (because you can’t live up to the standards), or b) self-inflation (because you think you have lived up to the standards). It is ironic to realize that inferiority and superiority complexes have the same root. Whether the moralist ends up smug and superior or crushed and guilty just depends on how high the standards are and on a person’s natural advantages (such as family, intelligence, looks, willpower). Moralistic people can be deeply religious—but there is no transforming joy or power.

Are you standing on your righteous deeds alone as insurance that you will go to heaven to see the Lord? Are you counting your morality, I gave this much money to church, I raised my kids in the church, I served this ministry, I memorized this many verses, I have family devotions, as what will save you? If so, please be forewarned. Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:23 that though many will come to Jesus one day saying they did many works for him, He will respond: “I never knew you; depart from me.”

The Gospel Surprises

The Gospel surprises. We might think that God is looking for our good deeds, our good behavior. But God doesn’t care about our deeds if our hearts are far from Him. God desires such deeds, but it must flow from a heart that has accepted all of the Gospel. It must come from a heart that recognizes just how sinful you are and how desperately poor you are before God. The unrighteous need Christ. But so do the righteous. And so the Gospel surprises the wretched sinner, proclaiming that no sin is too great that the cross is not sufficient enough to overcome. And the Gospel surprises the righteous, religious moralist, proclaiming that such righteousness will never allow one to come before a holy God because one’s personal righteousness always falls short of God’s glory.

The Good News has come through the person and work of God’s Son, Jesus Christ. And He’s calling you to yield control over your life to Him, trusting that by doing so, you will encounter what Tim Keller calls transforming joy and power. For the Christian to say that he or she has no joy or is unwilling to forgive or receive forgiveness or insists that his work leads one to know God is much like saying a zebra is an animal without stripes or a ship is to sail in a desert. By definition, a Christian who is saved by the Gospel lives in joy, forgives and loves others, and is saved on the basis of Christ’s righteous work alone. The Christian understands fully Titus 3:5: “He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.” Let me close with this Pastor Kent Hughes’ story of the surprising Gospel (Kent Hughes, Luke Vol. 1, 146):

A large prestigious British church had three mission churches under its care. On the first Sunday of each new year all the members of the mission churches would come to the parent church for a combined Communion service. In those mission churches, located in the slums of a major city, were some outstanding cases of conversions – thieves, burglars, and others. But all knelt as brothers and sisters side by side at the Communion rail. On one such occasion the pastor saw a former burglar kneeling beside a judge of the Supreme Court of England – the very judge who had sent him to jail where he had served seven years. After his release this burglar had been converted and became a Christian worker.

After the service, the judge was walking out with the pastor and said to him, “Did you notice who was kneeling beside me at the Communion rail this morning?” The two walked along in silence for a few more moments, and then the judge said, “What a miracle of grace.” The pastor nodded in agreement. “A marvelous miracle of grace indeed.” The judge then inquired, “But to whom do you refer?” “The former convict,” the pastor answered. The judge said, “I was not referring to him. I was thinking of myself.” The minister, surprised, replied, “You were thinking of yourself? I don’t understand.”

“You see,” the judge went on, “it is not surprising that the burglar received God’s grace when he left jail. He had nothing but a history of crime behind him, and when he understood Jesus could be his Savior, he knew there was salvation and hope and joy for him. And he knew how much he needed that help. But look at me – I was taught from earliest infancy to live as a gentleman, that my word was to be my bond, that I was to say my prayers, go to church, take Communion and so on. I went through Oxford, obtained my degrees, was called to the bar, and eventually became a judge. I was sure I was all I needed to be, though in fact I too was a sinner. Pastor, it was God’s grace that drew me. It was God’s grace that opened my heart to receive Christ. I’m the greater miracle.”

All who bow to him, acknowledging their need and hopelessness, receive eternal life. Miracles of grace!