All are here. I’m so glad to see all of you. But there was some comfort in thinking maybe I would just be preaching to my family. But here you all are, so we’ll get through this together.
There’s a story of a young man from Africa who for years had been intellectually convinced that Christianity was true. But he felt utterly unable to break free from his deeply ingrained sexual sins. He had lived for over a decade with a mistress and had a son with her. He described himself as a slave to lust, torn in two, wanting to be chased but not willing to give it up. As he grew, this brilliant young man moved to Milan to take up an appointment as a professor of rhetoric for the imperial court.
One September, he was walking through a garden, and as he walked, he wrote of the agony of he felt over his sin.
I was saying these things to myself, and my words were being lashed by my own thoughts. My old loves held me back. They plucked at my farmer of flesh and whispered, are you sending us away? Shall we never be with you again? I was terribly torn.
In my soul. The very toys of toys and vanities of vanities. My. My ancient mistress held me back. They tugged at my fleshly garment and softly whispered, do you cast us off?
He threw himself down under a fig tree, weeping bitterly, crying out, how long? How long? Tomorrow. And tomorrow. Why not now?
Why not this very hour? Make an end to my depravity? At that exact moment, he heard a child’s voice from a neighboring house, singing repeatedly, tolle lege. Tolle lege. Take up and read.
Take up and read. Taking it as a divine command, he opened a nearby copy of Paul’s Epistles, and his eyes fell on Romans 13, verses 13 and 14. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires, he later reflected. Instantly, as I reached the end of the sentence, it was if the light of assurance was flooded into my heart and all the darkness of doubt was dispelled. The crushing weight of his sin, far from being downplayed, became the very thing that drove him to total surrender to Christ.
Years later, this man, whose name was Aurelius Augustinus Hipponnesis, or as we would later call him, St. Augustine, wrote the famous opening line of his work, Confessions. You have made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in thee as we Continue. In the Gospel of Luke, this morning we see Jesus beginning his ministry in his hometown, announcing his divinity to those in the temple and proclaiming that he had come for those that know the weight of their sin and are desperate to be set free. If you would turn with me to the book of Luke, chapter four this morning we’ll be looking at verses 16 to 30, Starting in verse 16.
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. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.
And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. 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?
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. And he said, truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah.
And when the heavens were shut up three years and six months and a great famine came over all the land. And Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were many lepers in Israel at the time of the prophet Elisha. And none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian. When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled, filled with wrath.
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. But passing through their midst, he went away. Let’s pray.
Father. God, you’ve been gracious to us again this morning and giving us the opportunity to be together.
Father, we are so grateful for the opportunity that we have to gather together to hear Your Word, Father. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your presence. Lord, long after my words are forgotten, I pray that your word would be remembered in Jesus name. Amen.
Luke wrote his Gospel, most likely in the early 60s. Luke, the author of the third gospel, explicitly states in his prologue, chapter one, verses one to four, that he was not an eyewitness himself, but carefully investigated the events by drawing on accounts, corporations, quote, handed onto us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the Word. He aimed to provide an orderly account based on thorough research and consultation with firsthand sources. Bible scholars and commentators across traditions widely agree that Luke’s unique material, especially the detailed infancy narrative in Luke 1 and 2, reflects intimate personal details that only someone very close to the events could provide. The most likely source, as Aaron has mentioned, is the mother of our Lord Mary herself.
Other sources for Luke most likely include first hand accounts from disciples like Peter and other women who followed Jesus ministry, e.g. joanna and Susanna, mentioned in Luke 8. In fact, Luke’s writing transcends the first century’s neglect and dismissal of women, with more women mentioned than any other gospel. The strongest secondary source was most likely John Mark. Luke’s gospel framework follows Mark’s, with about half of Luke’s writing paralleling Mark.
While the Bible never explicitly states that Luke and Mark were in the same place at the same time, there is near universal acceptance that that was indeed the case with both in Rome with Paul, as supported by Colossians 4 and Philemon verse 24. Luke was well educated, cultured, a historian, a theologian and a physician. He wrote the longest of the Gospel accounts, about a thousand words longer than Matthew, giving us the most extensive and artistically constructed account. Looking at the literary context of our passage this morning, we see the following in Luke 3:1 20, we see the ministry of John the Baptist preparing the way, calling Israel to repentance. Luke 3:21 and 22 John baptizes Jesus, the heavens open, the Spirit descends, and God declares, this is my beloved son.
Luke 3:23, 28 the genealogy of Jesus tracing Jesus back to Adam, the first Son of God, pointing to Jesus as the second and greater Son of God. Luke 4:1 13Jesus is tempted in the wilderness. Full of the Holy Spirit, he defeats Satan through the Scriptures, quoting Deuteronomy Luke 4:14, 15, Jesus begins his early ministry teaching in synagogues around Galilee. To everyone’s amazement, we can see by the text, Luke follows the structure of Matthew and Mark, skipping over the details of These first few engagements, the gaps are detailed more fully in the first four chapters of John’s Gospel. So the timeline would have went something like this.
Jesus is baptized by John. Matthew 3 Mark 1. Luke 3. John 1 the day after John 1 records Jesus encountering his first disciples. He goes into the desert, is tempted by Satan and and is attended to by the angels.
Matthew 4 Mark 1. Luke 4 Jesus travels to Cana where he attends a wedding with his family. It is there that he performs his first miracle, turning water into wine. John 2 Jesus has his conversation with Nicodemus. John 3 After he travels south to Capernaum, where he ministered and performed miracles, Jesus travels through further south to Judea, teaching for several months.
John 3 Jesus and his growing followers travel back north where he passes through Samaria, where he meets the woman at the well. John 4 Jesus heals the nobleman’s son in Cana. John 4 Now traveling home, Luke stops to focus on the events of our text this morning.
So for our text, for the structure this morning, I’ve broken it down into four parts. The first part is verses 16 and 17. Jesus honored at his homecoming. Next, verses 18 to 22A. One sentence that changed the world.
22B to 24 their marveling turns to murmuring. 25 to 30 murmuring turns to rage.
Start with verses 16 and 17. 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. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him.
He he unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written.
Jesus is returning home to Nazareth. Already a rising celebrity in Galilee. He is invited to be the honored Sabbath guest at the synagogue. The entrance to the synagogue would face southwest towards Jerusalem. When you entered there, there was a room directly to the left that held the scrolls of the Law and the Prophets.
The synagogue then would have large rooms with four rows of stone bench seating along the walls. There is evidence from several synagogues of a special decorative seat called the seat of Moses for the honored guest. Synagogue services in the first century went like this. First there would be singing from Psalms 145 to 50, followed by the Shema and prayer. The word Shema means hear or listen.
It was the declaration of the Jewish faith found in Deuteronomy 6:11 and Numbers 15. Next there would be a reading from the Torah or the Law. Lastly, the aphtora, which literally translated means the conclusion. The aphtora was a section from the Prophets read Every Sabbath morning after the Torah reading, it consisted of one passage read or chanted by a distinguished guest, who would then exposit or preach on that text to end, the congregation would close the service with the Aaronic benediction from number six, with the people responding Amen after each division. As we see from the opening verse, Jesus had been asked to be the honored guest to perform the aphtara.
Jesus in his celebrity homecoming is the honored guest. And Luke could have just focused on that in his opening two sentences, but he inserts a little more, which I want to focus on that I think is important. Luke makes a point of saying that although this particular Sabbath synagogue service is unique, Jesus went not because of its importance, but because in the text it was his custom.
Luke intentionally points out to us that Jesus, always our perfect example, made a point of consistently going to synagogue. It was his love and his duty. Christianity has a long tradition of understanding the importance of congregating together on the Sabbath day. Somehow over the years, we have lost the understanding of the love of of duty of the church. We tell ourselves the church is a when I have time occasion.
Like so much of our lives, we rely on our feelings to tell us when and where we go. Embarrassingly, through Covid, the church in America humiliated itself as it bowed before the idol of government compliance over the clearance teaching of Scripture.
We think that going out of duty is pharisaical and we should only attend if we feel led to.
And if our motives are quote unquote pure, well, guess what? Our motives are never pure. Jesus didn’t teach that. He didn’t live by that example. Beloved, the Bible repeatedly teaches us the importance of the church.
Hebrews 10:24 and 25. Let us consider how to stir one another up to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, this is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near. Acts 2:42. And they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Colossians 3:16.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you, richly teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Psalm 122:1. I was glad when they said to me, let us go to the house of the Lord.
Not only is the Bible consistent in its command to meet together, but the Church also has a long history of consistency in its teaching on the Church. Ignatius of Antioch let no one deceive himself. If anyone be not within the altar or assembly. He lacks the bread of God. Those who walk according to their own lusts are not in the place of the congregation.
Justin Martyr on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place. We all meet together on the Lord’s day, because it is the day on which God will made the world and Jesus Christ our Savior on the same day rose from the dead the Didache on the Lord’s own day, gather yourselves together and break bread and give thanks. Martin Luther Apart from the church, salvation is impossible at the time and place where the word and sacraments are present. There is the church, and there one must go. John Calvin to those to whom he is a father, the church must also be a mother.
Hence it follows that separation from the church is the denial of God and Christ. There is no salvation outside the church. Puritan Richard Baxter if you forsake the assemblies, you forsake Christ and your own souls. The Lord’s day is the market day of souls. Will you stay at home when Christ has set open the doors of his shop for you?
John Wesley no motive, however strong, can excuse us from assembling ourselves together. The Bible knows nothing of solitary religion. Charles Spurgeon I know there are some who say, well, I have given myself to Christ, but I do not need to be in church. That’s like saying, I have given myself to the King, but I do not need to be in his army. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together is one of the surest evidences of true Christianity.
If you wait until you feel like going to church, you will stay at home forever. But if you go to church because God commands it and because you love him, you will find the blessing. Jesus entered the synagogue that day, as was his custom, because he loved his Father and he loved his house.
Verses 18 to 22A the assembly had gathered, songs were sung, the declaration declared, prayers prayed, the law read. Now the attendant brings the honored guest the scroll of Isaiah. Jesus unrolls the scroll and reads, the spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendants, and sat down.
And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. And all spoke well of him, and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth.
The reading was a combination of Isaiah 61, verses 1 and 2, with an added reference to chapter 58, verse 6. Not only was what Jesus read noticed, but also what he omitted. Jesus does not finish verse 2, but stops short, not reading the second half of the verse, which says and and the day of vengeance of our God. Jesus had their attention.
Luke tells us, all were marveled. They were still, everyone quiet, eyes fixed on him. The preacher would have rolled up the scroll, handed it to the attendant, sat down on the seat of Moses and began his message. Jesus opens his mouth and says, today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. Kent Hughes in his commentary says, Jesus was obviously saying two things.
First, the consolation of Israel, promised long before by Isaiah 50 found its ultimate expression in Jesus and his message. And second, while the day of vengeance of our God would come, it was not being fulfilled on that day. What was being fulfilled on that day was the year of the Lord’s favor.
Through this passage in Isaiah, Jesus highlights the four types of people who would be saved to by his coming the poor, the captives, the blind, and the oppressed. First, Jesus came to proclaim good news to the poor. The Greek word for poor here is tokis. It’s the same word Jesus would later use in the Sermon on the Mount in the first Beatitude. Blessed are the poor in spirit.
The word means deep spiritual poverty. While it certainly includes material poverty, the emphasis would be on a more complete definition. In other words, the condition of one’s soul. Only those who know of the completeness of their own sin, their true depravity, know the destruction of their hearts and recognize their need for a Savior.
Similarly, captives has a spiritual application as the word literally translated means prisoner of war. Those who see themselves as bound to their sin in the bondage of great spiritual slavery, slaves to money, status, lust, pride, hatred, guilt. Only Jesus, as Charles Wesley wrote, breaks the power of canceled sin, sets the prisoner free. His blood can make the foulest clean. His blood availed for me.
The next characteristic in Isaiah’s Messianic prophecy is recovering of sight to the blind. Over 20 times the Bible uses physical blindness as a metaphor for spiritual blindness.
Isaiah 6, 9 and 10 keep on hearing, but do not understand. Keep on seeing, but do not perceive, lest they see with their eyes and turn and be healed. Psalm 119:18 Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law. John 9:39 41 after healing the man born blind, Jesus says, for judgment I came into this world that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind. Pharisees ask, are we also blind?
And Jesus says, if you were blind, you would have no guilt. But now that you say we see, your guilt remains. In Acts 26:17 18, Paul’s commission from Jesus on the Damascus road to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. Almost every New Testament author uses the motif as those who without Christ are spiritually blind. I like how the New Living translation puts Jesus words in Matthew 6:23 but when your eye is bad, your whole body is filled with darkness.
And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is.
Lastly, the term oppressed means broken, shattered or crushed. In his book A Body of Divinity, the Puritan Thomas Watson wrote, sin is a load that presses the soul downward toward hell. It is a heavy burden that makes the conscience groan. One sin is a load of guilt. A thousand sins are a mountain of lead upon one’s spirit.
Jesus uses the four characteristics in Isaiah 60:1 to instruct that knowing God starts with a correct understanding of who we are in relationship to a Holy God.
C.S. lewis in Mere Christianity put it this way. The gospel is not a philosophy or a set of rules or even a way of life. It is a person and a fact and a power. But it begins with bad news.
The gospel must be bad news before it can be good news. We have to be knocked down before we can be lifted up. We have to be made to see that we are under judgment before we can be told that we are forgiven.
Listen to the words of Vadi Bakam. Commenting on the growth of false gospels in our age, he said this why did these false churches grow? The answer is that the bible is true. 2 Timothy 4:3 4 for the time is coming will people will not endure sound teaching but having itching ears. They will accumulate for themselves teachers to to suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth and will wander off into myths.
False teachers will prosper and false churches will grow. How do we respond? By continuing to preserve and proclaim the gospel and by continuing to endure the suffering that will inevitably come as a result. And one of the ways that this leads to that kind of suffering is this. There is a world out there that hates the gospel because they love their sin.
There are false teachers who are scratching itching ears. For example same sex marriage. There are preachers out there who are now moving away from preserving the truth and embracing this lifestyle. And the world says yes, finally enlightened ones.
And the end result is those who are holding fast to the truth are now further marginalized. As people say, that’s the real Christianity, because it’s loving, affirming and tolerant. And you are absolutely not like Jesus because you are a hateful bigot. What are you going to do? Are you going to continue to preserve and proclaim or to try and find some way to alleviate the pain through compromise?
That’s just one of many examples. But here’s what we know. People are not saved by hearing that which pleases them, unless that which pleases them is the gospel.
And so what is desperately needed in our age is, as in the apostolic age, is those who will preserve and proclaim the gospel and in turn endure the suffering that will come inevitably as a result.
Jesus never minced words he didn’t hear. He challenged his audience with his passage and then hit them right between the eyes, telling them that that the Messiah had come.
Verses 22B to 24.
And they said, is not this Joseph’s son? 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. And he said, truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown.
The crowd starts to turn. As you can imagine, they came excited to hear from the hometown boy. No doubt they had heard of his miraculous signs and wonders performed in neighboring towns. And they came to see it for themselves. But that was not the message that Jesus had for them.
As it starts to become clear that Jesus had come to save the unrighteous and not those who thought they were already righteous, their amazement turns to contempt. They said to themselves, is this not Joseph’s son? In other words, who does he think he is? He’s just one of us. He’s the carpenter’s son.
We know him. He’s nothing special. How could he possibly be the Messiah? Their familiarity turns to scorn. John MacArthur comments.
The crowd couldn’t see past the humanity to his deity. They couldn’t see past the familiar to the divine.
And so the amazement turns to offense.
This is the fallen human heart. It hears the truth, it marvels at the truth, but it rejects the truth because of pride and familiarity. Jesus knew their pious hearts, and he anticipates their Demand in verse 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 as we recall last week, this request is quite similar.
As Satan had tempted Jesus with in the desert. And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, if you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here. For it is written, he will command his angels concerning you to guard you, and on their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. And Jesus answered him, it is said, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test. Satan tempts Jesus to use the miraculous to prove his divinity.
But Jesus responds with the Scriptures, knowing that no other evidence is needed other than the word of God, of God. Jesus would again make this point later recorded in Luke 16 in the story of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man and Lazarus both die. The rich man enters Hades and sees Lazarus in heaven at Abraham’s side. The rich man wants his brothers to be warned about the torment waiting for them to that he is going through and begs Abraham, saying, send him to my Father’s house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them lest they also come into this place of torment.
But Abraham said, they have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them. And he said, no, Father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.
He said to them, if they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead. The Word gives us all the evidence needed for faith in Christ. We need no other sign. Charles Spurgeon said, the Scripture is our infallible rule. I would not touch a single word of it.
I would not take a letter away from it, nor add a single syllable. To is the perfect word of God. And that is enough for us. The Holy Spirit still speaks through the written word and he needs no other voice. The Bible is enough evidence for us.
And we’re not very good at obeying the one book that we should ask for more. At least I feel that way. This is why we need to be wary of personal prayer languages. In Revelations, John Owens said it well. If private revelations agree with Scripture, they are needless, and if they disagree with Scripture, they are false.
Verses 25 to 30 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. And Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian. When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath.
And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built so that they could throw him down the cliff. But passing through their midst, he went away.
If we think Jesus had thrown out some fire so far, he was just getting started. Jesus gives two Old Testament stories as applications.
In 1 Kings 17 we read that during the worst famine in Israel’s history, God sent his prophet Elijah not to any one of the thousands of widows in Israel, but to a gentile widow in Sidon, a pagan land. This widow, who had enough left for one small meal, gives Elijah everything she had and her faith was rewarded. Why did God send Elijah to a pagan?
Because Israel had rejected God and his prophet. So God showed grace to a believing outsider. Second in 2 Kings 5, during the time of Elisha, the successor to Elijah, there were countless lepers in Israel. But God cleansed only the sworn enemy of Israel, Naaman the the Syrian general. Again, because Israel rejected God’s word, grace went to a Gentile who would believe.
Let’s stop for a second. Think about this. The nation of Israel was set up to be set apart from the world. Deuteronomy 7:6. You are a people holy to the Lord your God.
Israelites knew themselves to be chosen, set apart, unique in clothing, worship, sabbath diet, appearance, Calendar, Laws. Leviticus 20:26. You shall be holy to me, for I, the Lord, am holy, and I have separated you from the peoples that you should be mine.
The Jewish people knew they were special. Can you imagine how much they hated those Old Testament passages?
They were offensive, humiliating. Jesus was taking a flamethrower to their pride because just like in the time of the prophets, the nation had had forgot an important truth. The Israelites were set apart not because they were special, but because God was special.
Their glory at best, was a reflection of the glory of their God, for they had no light themselves. The point? God’s saving grace was not confined to the piously religious or to any other privileged group. The Messiah’s blessing goes to anyone who is called to receive him by faith. Jesus was saying.
Just as God bypassed unbelieving Israel in the past, he will bypass you now and take the gospel to the poor in spirit. Jesus had cut through their comfortable religious facade. And it was the ultimate insult.
The passage concludes, when they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath, 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 can throw him down the cliff. But passing through their midst, he went away. Enraged, the crowd got up and drove Jesus out of the synagogue and to a cliff. Nazareth was built on a hill with a cliff just steps away. They intended to murder him, violating not only the Sabbath but also laws against killing, but in an act of divine protection.
Verse 30 finishes, but passing through their midst, he went away. Jesus was miraculously saved from the mob as his hour had not yet come. The closing verse foreshadows Jesus ultimate victory over death in the resurrection.
Beloved, we must come to Jesus. We must come to him poor in spirit, caught in our captivity, aware of our spiritual blindness and wanting to be set free. We come to him knowing who he is.
In his essay what Are we to make of Jesus Christ? C.S. lewis writes the following There is no halfway house and there is no parallel in other religions. If you had gone to Buddha and asked him, are you the son of Brahma? He would have said, my son, you are still in the veil of illusion.
If you had gone to Socrates and asked, are you Zeus? He would have laughed at you. If you had gone to Muhammad and asked, are you Allah? He would have torn his clothes and then cut off your head. If you had asked Confucius, are you Heaven?
I think he would have probably replied. Remarks which are not in accordance with nature are in bad taste. The idea of a great moral teacher saying what Christ said is out of the question. In my opinion. The the only person who can say that sort of thing is either God or a complete lunatic suffering from that form of delusion which undermines the whole mind of man.
If you think you are a poached egg when you are looking at a piece of toast to suit you, you may be sane, but if you think you are God, there is no chance for you.
We may note in passing that he was never regarded as a mere moral teacher. He did not produce that effect on any of the people who actually met him. He produced mainly three hatred, terror, or adoration. There was no trace of people expressing mild approval.
We give up everything, knowing that Jesus demands all from us. We may fall at his feet and call him Lord or reject him like those listening in the synagogue that day. He left no other option. Jesus pulled no punches. He gave no quarter Nor should we.
The gospel is offensive on purpose. The cross is an insult to human pride, and it must be. Don’t water it down. Proclaim it with steadfast love, offending those whose eyes are dark. Jonathan Edwards said, the gospel humbles man to the dust, and therefore man hates it until God breaks him.
As we turn the page on Thanksgiving and enter the Advent season, we ready our hearts to celebrate the birth of our Savior, the greatest defense to human reason, the infinite and infant. Yes, eternal God, a finite human, the king in a manger. Man wants a conqueror on a golden throne. God gives a baby in a stable. We want our enemies put to the sword.
God sent us a cross.
Malcolm Muggeridge Comments the depravity of man is at once the most empirically verifiable reality and the most intellectually resisted fact. In a world gone mad, only the madman of Nazareth makes sense. This paradox is the heartbeat of Christian theology. The highest become the lowest. The immortal tasted death.
The judge was judged in our place.
The greatest summary given to us by Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:21 for our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Let’s pray, Father.
Lord, you have created us for yourself and Father, we are unworthy. We are. We ask that you help us realize our poverty of spirit, that we would know that we are captives to sin and that we would know that you alone can set us free.
Father, we thank you for your scriptures. We thank you for the truth of the gospel. Lord, may we never be afraid to proclaim your truth to others.
Pray these things in Jesus name. Amen.