Luke 4:14-22 – Indifference

When Christ comes to the synagogue He comes to a place where the Lord’s Day and God’s Word are meant to be taken seriously. It is common practice in those days for a visiting teacher to read and teach from God’s Word. Jesus picks Isaiah 61:1-2, a prophecy of the kind of work the Messiah is going to do. Then, he tells the listening crowd around Him that these words are written about Him.

Jesus wants to make it clear, right from the start, what kind of Messiah He is. He knows that the Jews are looking for an earthly king that will defeat the Romans and make Israel great among all the other nations. He wants them to know that these expectations are wrong. His kingdom is going to be a spiritual one, over the hearts of men and women. His victory is over sin; He will defeat not the power of Rome, but the power of Satan. Jesus is not only telling them that He is the Messiah, He is telling them what kind of Messiah He is going to be.

So, how do the people react? Do they rejoice that the long-awaited Messiah is here? Do they praise and thank God for what He has done? Do they attack Jesus for speaking lies? Do they hate Him for what He says? Actually, they do neither. It is as though they are completely indifferent to what He is saying. They are merely impressed that someone from their town is such a good public speaker. In our churches today there are men and women just like that. Week in and week out they listen to God’s Word being preached, and they are indifferent. They may think some ministers are better speakers than others, but they pay no attention to the content. Search your heart to see if you are indifferent to what God has to say.

Questions
1. What does Christ read from?
2. What kind of Messiah was Jesus? What kind did the Jews want?
3. How did they respond to Jesus’ message?

Prayer Points
1. Pray for the salvation of your family and friends.
2. Use prayer points from your congregation.
3. Pray for family matters.