Encounter Jesus – Luke Week 4

The Launch of Jesus’ Ministry, Forgiveness

Luke 4: 1-30

AUDIO

Lecture Handout

Luke Week 3/4 – Temptation & Launch Handout

Lesson Notes

Tonight we continue to consider the kind of Messiah Jesus is, and the kind He isn’t, as we finish with the temptations, consider the launch of His ministry, and the shocking events at a dinner party.

The Temptation of Jesus (Luke 4: 1-13)

  • Verses 2-4 – The first temptation – comfort
  • Verses 5-8 – The second temptation – power and the easy way out
    • Verse 8 – Deuteronomy 6: 13 – Note the importance of Scripture memorization
    • Jesus will receive this authority anyway – through the cross (Matthew 28: 18)
  • Verses 9-12 – The third temptation – safety, demonstrating power for no good reason
    • Satan quotes Scripture here, but Jesus replies with Deuteronomy 6: 16
    • Read Deuteronomy 6: 10-19 – this is where Israel failed and Jesus succeeded
  • The temptations reveal the kind of Messiah that Jesus is NOT – authoritarian, power-hungry, status-conscious, idolatrous, self-serving, safety-conscious, or disobedient to God
  • Now let’s consider the kind of Messiah Jesus is

Jesus Begins His Ministry (Read Luke 4: 14-30)

  • Verse 14 – Jesus returned – in the power of the Spirit
  • Verse 15 – People get to know Him by His teaching in the synagogues
  • Based on verse 23, He’s apparently already working miracles in Capernaum before He goes to Nazareth to formally announce His Messianic identity
  • Verse 16 – Jesus goes “home” to Nazareth and is invited to read the Scripture and deliver the sermon in the synagogue
  • Verses 18-19 – He reads Isaiah 61: 1 regarding the coming Messiah
  • Verse 18 – He certainly knows the Spirit is upon Him – a dramatic moment
  • Verse 21 – “Today” is emphasized in the Greek – the Kingdom of God is now
  • Verse 21 – “Today this has been fulfilled” = “I am the Messiah, this is the Messiah I am”
  • Verse 22 – The people marvel (not necessarily a good thing) – they know Him from back when and just can’t picture Him this way
  • Verses 23-27 – He’s basically provoking them with His message of coming for ALL
    • He anticipates they’ll ask for a miracle like they’ve heard about from Capernaum
    • He says they can’t get past their image of Him as a youth and won’t really believe
    • Verses 25-26 – Many widows in Israel, but Elijah went to a Canaanite widow
    • Verse 27 – Elisha healed a Gentile of leprosy, not Jews
    • When Israel rejects God’s prophets, God sends them to the Gentiles
  • Verses 28-30 – And they tried to kill Him, but He passes through them – seems miraculous in light of the mob trying to kill Him

The significance of these passages – the nature of Christ’s coming, the kind of Messiah He is

  • Jesus is the perfect Son of God, the greater Adam, the greater Israel
  • Jesus is definitely the Messiah
  • Jesus is the Messiah for all who trust in Him
  • Jesus is a Messiah of salvation and healing, restoration and mercy, grace and love

Forgiveness & Love (read Luke 7: 36-50)

  • Verse 36 – Jesus is at a Pharisee’s house for a Sabbath meal or banquet
  • Verses 37-38 – a sinful woman comes and makes a scene
    • Essentially interrupts the party to clean and anoint Jesus’ feet with her tears, hair, and ointment
    • This would have been seen as inappropriate – this took great courage
    • Showing her hair indicated a loose woman
  • Verses 39-40 – The Pharisee scoffs to himself about Jesus – IF he were a prophet, he’d have nothing to do with this kind of woman
  • Verses 41-43 – Parable of the moneylender
    • Forgiving a modest debt (2 month’s pay) vs. a huge debt (20 month’s pay)
    • Verse 42 – Which will love him more for cancelling that debt?
    • Verse 43 – the one who owed more
    • Verses 44-46 – Jesus contrasts Simon’s failings as a host vs. the woman’s passion
    • Verse 47 – He who is forgiven little, loves little
    • “She loved much” – her behavior evidences the forgiveness she received
    • Matthew 5:3 – Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven
    • This is about us. We’ve each had debt cancelled through the sacrifice of Jesus
      • For some, it’s massive – a life of sin, rebellion, and antagonism to God
      • For others, it seems more modest – nothing “really bad” – instead – the everyday small rebellion of choosing self over Christ
      • We need to really consider the magnitude of our sins – our rebellion vs. the standards of the perfect Creator of the universe
      • Only then will we really appreciate the grace we receive from God through the sacrifice of Christ
      • Romans 3: 21-26 – the gospel in a nutshell
  • Verse 49 – Her sins forgiven by faith (verse 50)
  • They wonder at Jesus’ claim to forgive sins – the work of God
  • This gives clarity about who Jesus is to Luke’s readers
  • She wasn’t saved by her sacrifice or her work; She was saved by her faith in Christ as her Savior and her love for Him as Lord
  • Big Themes
    • Concern for the lesser of society
    • The offer of salvation to “sinners”, those viewed as unworthy

Next Week: Luke 9: 57-62 (The Call and  Cost of Discipleship)