Introduction: The debate continues as to the nature of Jesus. Was He
merely a great man, a good prophet, or was He fully God and fully
man? Was He the Messiah, the Son of God? Luke, we decided, is fully
convinced of what he is writing. So, far, he recorded that Gabriel
and the angels said Jesus was God. Let’s dive in and continue to
explore what Luke records that Jesus said about Himself!
- Nazareth
- Read Luke 4:14-15. What kind of reputation does Jesus
enjoy? (“Everyone praised Him.”) - Read Luke 4:16-21. What does Jesus mean when He says “this
scripture is fulfilled in your hearing?” (This comes from
Isaiah 61:1-2 and Isaiah 42:7. These are prophecies about
freedom and healing. This suggests that Jesus is going to
release and heal the Jewish people, meaning He is the
Messiah.) - Read Luke 4:22. How did the people react? (It seems they
were very impressed, but then they said, “Wait a minute,
isn’t this Joseph’s son, the guy who worked in the
carpentry shop?”) - Read Luke 4:23. Is Jesus reading their minds? (Yes.)
- What are they thinking? (Right after the “Wait a
minute,” they recall the stories about Jesus’
miracles, and so they think that a miracle or two
will help confirm that they should consider His claim
to be the Messiah.) - Read Luke 4:24-27. Is Jesus going to perform a miracle for
them? (No!) - Why not? (First, Jesus says they will not accept Him
because they know He grew up there. Second, He says
that God has a practice of helping those who are not
Jewish, when at the same time Jews are in need.) - Put yourself in the place of the Jews of
Nazareth. How would you react to this? (I would
be insulted. Why not give me a chance to
believe? Why assume I will not, and then insult
me by saying God helps non-Jews.) - Read Luke 4:28-29. Would you get that mad? (No. I would
simply be insulted – hardly mad enough to try to kill
Jesus.) - Was Jesus raised in a town filled with lunatics –
people with an anger management problem? Or, can you
explain this behavior? (Moses told them in Leviticus
24:16 that those engaged in blasphemy should be put
to death. This proves our understanding of what Jesus
was saying in the synagogue. They understood Him to
claim to be the Messiah – the coming God who would
save them. Thus, killing Jesus (if He was not the
Messiah) was required by Moses. Luke shows us both
what Jesus said and how the crowd understood it.) - Read Luke 4:30. How do you walk through a crowd that wants
to kill you? Isn’t the best approach to start running as
fast as you can? (Luke wants us to know that something
extraordinary happened. Jesus walked through the crowd
like He was invisible.) - What does this say about Jesus? (He said He was the
Messiah, and God protected Him thereafter.) - Demon
- Read Luke 4:31-34. Why does Luke record the statement of
the demon? (The fallen angels with Satan know Jesus, and
they know He is “the Holy One of God.) - What do demons think Jesus has in mind for them?
(Destruction.) - Read Luke 4:35-37. Why didn’t the people remark about what
the demon said about Jesus? (They were not crediting the
witness of demons, but Luke has now told us that both
unfallen angels ( Luke 2:9-13)and fallen angels testify
that Jesus is God.) - Disciples
- Read Luke 9:18? Put yourself in Jesus’ place. Why would
you ask this? (A central part of Jesus’ mission was to let
the people know that He was the Messiah. He was taking a
survey on His progress.) - Read Luke 9:19. Is this an encouraging response? (They
think Jesus is special, but not the Messiah.) - Read Luke 9:20-21. Peter gets the answer exactly right.
Why would Jesus tell them not to tell the very thing that
Jesus needs to have known? (Read Luke 9:22. Robertson’s
New Testament Word Pictures tells us that this occurred
after the feeding of the 5,000, where the people tried to
make Jesus King ( John 6:15). Luke 9:22 reveals that Jesus
has a time-line. Jesus had to preserve a careful balance
to maintain His timing – to do things that would cause
people to later believe He was the Messiah, but at the
same time avoid starting a revolution right now.) - Read Luke 9:23-27. If the crowd wants to make Jesus King,
and Jesus is concerned about this, what do you think the
disciples want? - How does this series of verses speak to the thoughts
of the disciples? (No doubt they wanted Jesus to
declare as King more than any of the others. But,
Jesus is telling them this is a much more complicated
question – that glory comes much later. First, is
sacrifice.) - Notice the very peculiar thing that Jesus says in
Luke 9:27. Is Jesus saying that His Second Coming
will be in their lifetime? We know that did not
happen. - John the Baptist
- Read Luke 7:17-20. Why would John the Baptist ask such a
thing? (The Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary points
out that John the Baptist had been imprisoned for a year.
Re-read Luke 3:4-5. No doubt John wondered why Jesus had
not done these dramatic things – and freed him from prison
while He was doing it. This created doubt.) - What about you, do you sometimes doubt when things
are not going as you think they should? (Consider
that Jesus said about John “there is no one greater
than John.” Luke 7:28.) - Read Luke 7:21-23. What do you think about Jesus’ answer?
Does He give John an answer? (I think He gives John an
answer without specifically saying that He is the Messiah.
He encourages John to “not fall away,” not to become
discouraged because Jesus is not doing everything John
expected.) - Transfiguration
- Read Luke 9:28-31. Who are these people? (Moses was raised
from the dead (Jude 9) and Elijah was taken to heaven
while he was still alive ( 2 Kings 2:11). These are the
heavenly representatives of those who will be resurrected
from the dead, and those who will be translated alive at
the Second Coming.) - What is the topic of their discussion? (Jesus
returning to heaven! They missed Him and no doubt
thought Jesus was anxious to return.) - Read Luke 9:32. What have Peter, John and James seen? (Re-read Luke 9:27-28. We now see that Jesus’ prediction that
“some who are standing here” will “see the kingdom of God”
took place eight days later! Jesus was not talking about
His Second Coming.) - Read Luke 9:33-34. Why is Peter speaking nonsense? What
happened while he was speaking? (Peter is overwhelmed,
thinks he needs to say something, but does not know what
to say. In the meantime a cloud surrounds them and it is
very scary time.) - Read Luke 9:35-36. Who is Jesus? (Luke records that God
said Jesus is His Son!) - Friend, what do you say about Jesus? We have the witness
of the Old Testament about a coming Messiah. We have the
witness of the angels, both those who did not sin and
those who did. We have Jesus’ statement that He is the
fulfillment of prophecy, and we have God’s affirmation
that Jesus is His Son. Luke wants us to be absolutely
clear on his belief that Jesus is the Son of God. How
about you, will you affirm your faith that Jesus is God? - Next week: The Call to Discipleship.
