Capernaum: Part 1

Luke 4:31-37

“31 He went down to Capernaum, a city in Galilee, and was teaching them on the sabbath. 32 They were astounded at his teaching, because he spoke with authority. 33 In the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, 34 “Let us alone! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” 35 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” When the demon had thrown him down before them, he came out of him without having done him any harm. 36 They were all amazed and kept saying to one another, “What kind of utterance is this? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and out they come!” 37 And a report about him began to reach every place in the region.”

The people of Nazareth, the boyhood home of Jesus, had rejected and attempted to kill Jesus.  For most of us, this would have shaken us to our core.  But in the scripture above, we find Jesus in Capernaum, preaching with authority.

Coming out of the wilderness, Jesus was filled with the power of the Holy Spirit and this gave Jesus a clear sense of who He was, and His mission on earth.  For us, the type of rejection He received in Nazareth seems to run counter to God’s plan of redemption.  But it is worldly rejection that set God’s plan in motion.

In Capernaum, Jesus encountered a man with a demon in the synagogue. It is noteworthy that the demon knew who Jesus was. We think of evil forces as being ignorant of God, but in the Bible we find that they are very aware of God, and fearful of the power of God.

The unclean spirit asked, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?”.  He knew the answer, since he knew who Jesus was.  

This is a question we all have to answer, once we meet Jesus. And after we answer this question, an even harder question waits to be answered….

“What have I to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth?”

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

Nazareth: Part 5

Luke 4: 28-30

“28 When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. 29 They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. 30 But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.”

Jesus told the people of Nazareth, who were in the synagogue, that God had favored the gentiles over the Jews at different times in their history.  They reacted to this with rage and violence, even though Jesus was quoting stories from their own scriptures.

The words of Jesus are often hard to hear and harder to bear.  They make us look at ourselves in the light of God’s perfect love, His truth, mercy and forgiveness and we fall short.  Our need for a savior is laid bare.

It is at this point that we either fall weeping before Christ or we attempt to rid ourselves of Christ.   

The people of Nazareth attempted to throw Christ over a cliff.  But this is not how Christ would be lifted up.  

God had another plan.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

Nazareth: Part 4

Luke 4: 25-27

“25 But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; 26 yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. 27 There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”

The Jews in Jesus day had a dim view of the gentiles.  They believed that the gentiles were unclean and any association with them made Jews unclean.  Gentiles were regarded as unclean because of their lifestyle and eating habits.  Their lifestyle and eating habits also caused them to be sinners, and since they were sinners they had no hope of knowing the one, true God.

Yet, here was Jesus in the synagogue  preaching that, at different times in the history of Israel, God had favored the “unclean” gentiles over the Jews. 

The Jews of Nazareth thought they had God figured out.  Yet, Jesus used their own scriptures to show them that they did not know God.  

Jesus’ message was that God was willing to speak with and guide the Gentiles just as he did the Jews….

and that God’s love is for all people.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

Nazareth: Part 3

Luke 4:22-24

“22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.  They said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?”  23 He said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, “Doctor, cure yourself!” And you will say, “Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.  24 And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown.”

Although his words are impressive, the people of Nazareth refused to believe that Jesus was who he said he was. To many Jews, the Christ would mysteriously appear and would be a man of power, education and credentials; not the boy who grew up down the street; not the son of a carpenter.

The people of Nazareth had a vision of who and what Christ would be and Jesus did not fit that vision.  Jesus read their doubts and knew they would ask him to perform miracles like he did in Capernaum, in order to prove that he was the Messiah.

The people of Nazareth were, in effect, asking the same thing of Jesus that Satan asked in order to tempt Jesus in the wilderness: “If you are the Son of God …” (Luke 4:3).

In our relationship with Christ, the conditional “if” is a sign of our unbelief.  

Let us approach Him in faith, without conditions… praying, “Your will be done.”

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

Nazareth: Part 2

Luke 4: 16b-19, 21

“16b 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: 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free,19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” …21 Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Scholars tell us that there were no professional clergy in Jewish synagogues back then. Apparently, the leader of the synagogue had the authority to invite a competent worshiper or guest to read and comment on the Scriptures.

Jesus stood to read and by chance or by God’s providence, He was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah.  He read what is referenced in our Bibles today as Isaiah 61:1-2a.  

Christ’s message that day was not really what he had read, but the fact that He was the fulfillment of what he had read.  

Through Him, the good news of salvation and eternal life would be brought to the world.

Through Him, all who were bound and oppressed by sin would be set free; 

Through Him, all who were blind to God’s presence in the world would see God.

The people did not know it, but the hope of the world stood before them that Sabbath day in Nazareth.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

Nazareth: Part 1

Luke 4:16a

“16 When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. 

Have you ever returned to the place where you were raised and found that no one there knew you?  I mean, they knew the person you were before you left, but they did not know the person that you became after you left?  That can be a strange feeling.

Jesus returned to his hometown and, while there on the Sabbath, he went to the synagogue. Bible scholars tell us that the population of Nazareth back then was probably about 500. 

Everyone there in the synagogue that day probably knew Him as the carpenter’s son; the one who used to carry hammers and hold boards for His father.  No one knew Him as a teacher, a Rabi, and certainly not as the Messiah. 

But they were about to be surprised.  

God was going to introduce His Son to Nazareth.

“Then the Lord said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle.” (1 Samuel 3:11)

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

The Wilderness Part 6

Luke 4:14-15

“14 Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country.  15 He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.”

Jesus emerged from the wilderness focused and on fire with the Spirit. The suffering and pain he experienced in the wilderness was used by God to strengthen Him.

In our lives, the wilderness is a time of suffering and pain.  It can be a time when we lose sight of what’s important; a time when we feel lost and alone (Jesus, being human as well as divine, may have felt all of these things, as well).

The wilderness of suffering and pain can also be a time that God uses to change and strengthen us, a time that God uses to draw us closer to him.   We may not understand this until we look back on the experience years later.

It is then that we will see our wilderness was filled with God’s love.

“The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom;” (Isaiah 35:1)

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

The Wilderness, part 5

Luke 4:14-15

“14 Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country.  15 He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.”

Jesus emerged from the wilderness focused and on fire with the Spirit. The suffering and pain he experienced in the wilderness was used by God to strengthen Him.

In our lives, the wilderness is a time of suffering and pain.  It can be a time when we lose sight of what’s important; a time when we feel lost and alone (Jesus, being human as well as divine, may have felt all of these things, as well).

The wilderness of suffering and pain can also be a time that God uses to change and strengthen us, a time that God uses to draw us closer to him.   We may not understand this until we look back on the experience years later.

It is then that we will see our wilderness was filled with God’s love.

“The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom;” (Isaiah 35:1)

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)