As we stand, let’s pray. Father, we praise you, that indeed all praise and power, glory and wisdom belongs to you. And so we ask now that you might be pleased, you might be gracious to share that with us now as we open your word together, please speak to us in the power of your spirit, for Jesus sake. Amen. Please do be seated. Well, good morning, everyone. Please do keep Luke chapter four open in your bibles. We’re going to be looking at that together this morning and looking at some early chapters of Luke’s gospel in the weeks ahead. Now, earlier this year, Ian Hirsi Ali announced that she’d become a Christian, quite the claim for the author and speaker who had once been a central figure of the new atheist movement. Her friend, one Richard Dawkins, has since written publicly to her and debated with her, claiming that her new faith is only a tool to fight against what he refers to. And I should point out, these are his words, putinism, islamism and postmodernish wokery pokery, whatever that means. Now, I’m not sure Dawkins critique of Ali is entirely fair, and subsequent interviews have revealed a greater depth of faith and a genuine spirit of inquiry on the part of iron. However, I think we’re seeing this a lot at the moment. The west, whatever that means, as we know it, is under all sorts of attack. And in many ways, some see is in decline now as some trace the roots of the west back to Christianity, to the movement that Jesus gave birth to. They see Jesus as a tool for national revival. We can use Jesus to revive the west, and increasingly you will see the Bible held up in the context of politics. You will see and hear the name of Jesus proclaimed, not as a personal saviour for sins, but as the one who might be able to save culture, to save the west. You see, there are many who want Jesus not on the terms that he comes, but for how they hope his reputation, his name, might revive a nation. Some things never change, and we’re going to see a little of that this morning in Luke chapter four, as Jesus comes to his hometown of Nazareth. Well, welcome to Doctor Luke’s gospel. And we’re thinking about Jesus as the universal Christ in this little series of sermons. Now, we don’t know exactly who Theophilus was, that’s who Luke is writing this gospel to, except that he loved God and had embraced the good news of Jesus. Now, unlike most doctors, Luke was adamant that when he wrote something down, you would be able to understand it, you’d be able to read it and you’d actually be able to understand what it says. He wants to be clear, and especially he wants to be clear about Jesus, who he is and what he’s done. That’s what Luke wants us to know above anything else. And his gospel begins with an invitation. An invitation? An invitation to take all those things you’ve heard about Jesus and find them to be true and trustworthy. He invites us to come to know Jesus as the true saviour. If you just flick back to Luke, chapter one with me, let’s just see that. In introduction, Luke writes, many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things. And this is a key phrase that have been fulfilled among us just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things that you have been taught. Now, Luke’s up front. He says, well, I didn’t meet Jesus myself, but what I’ve done is I’ve gone back to the beginning, spoke to the eyewitnesses, those who talked with Jesus, those who saw those first miracles. And I’ve written it down because I want you to know these things and believe them too. Now, perhaps that’s where you’re at this morning. Perhaps you’ve heard lots of things about Jesus, but you’re not sure what to make of them. Or perhaps you have come to believe some of these things about Jesus, but you’re not really sure what difference it’s supposed to make to your life. Over the coming weeks, we’re going to be exploring Doctor Luke’s carefully investigated account of Jesus and our prayer is that you would become increasingly assured of who Jesus is and what he’s done for you. And that’s as much our prayer if this is your first Sunday in church or if you’ve been following the Lord Jesus for the last 50, 60 years, because that’s what Luke wants. He wants us to be more and more assured of who Jesus is and what he’s done for us. Now, this morning, as we look at that first bit of Luke, chapter four, just love you to see briefly two contrasting ways in which Luke begins to present Jesus in his gospel. Now here’s the first contrasting way. He is praised. Jesus is praised. Our account from the gospel today comes from Nazareth, Jesus hometown. And it starts with his arrival and it ends with his departure. This little section it’s all in Nazareth. Did you notice the difference between the way in which he came and he left? Look at how he arrives. Verse 14, we’re told news is spreading about Jesus across the whole region. And verse 15, it says everyone praised him. Jesus is exciting and engaging. He’s the talk of the town and the buzz of the crowds. Everyone wants to be close to Jesus. They’re hanging on his every word. And yet look how this section ends. This is the contrast. Jesus is both praised and rejected. How does it end? Verse 28, all the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. Verse 29 says they got up and drove him out of town. In the space of a short sermon, Jesus turns from hero to villain. At one point he’s delighted in, but very quickly he’s driven out. And we’ll see in a moment why that sudden change. But as we begin looking afresh at Jesus in Luke’s gospel, it’s worth remembering the way in which Jesus divides. He divides opinions. If we just think of Jesus in terms of safe, vanilla ideas about him, you know, he’s the wise man, he’s the good teacher, he’s the compassionate healer. Well, he’s all those things. But we’ve missed the point, haven’t we? We’ve missed the reality. Even in his hometown, he is both praised and rejected, the town divided. He doesn’t come here to bring peace. He causes a riot. His school friends wanted to kill him. Jesus divides opinion. He divides history. And so Luke, I think, is inviting us all to consider Jesus afreshenhe. What will you make of this Jesus if he doesn’t divide opinion? Even in this room, we’ve not understood him. Praised and rejected. Let’s take a fresh look at who this Jesus is. And to do that, I think Luke then presents another, a bigger contrast. Here’s the first idea I think we see. We see that Jesus is the fulfilment for Israel. The fulfilment for Israel. Did you notice how this passage, this little section, is very focused on the faith of Israel? There’s just some little details you see there. These events are taking place on the Sabbath day, a special day for the jewish people. And Jesus is teaching in the synagogue, in their church, effectively. And he reads from one of the greatest old Testament prophets, perhaps the greatest of them all, the prophet Isaiah. That’s the scroll that he’s given to read. When Luke opened his gospel, as we just read, he wrote, I want to make an account of all the things that have been fulfilled among us. And here now, Jesus speaks, saying of what he’s fulfilled. You notice as he sat down after reading that scroll, verse 21, he said, today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. He wants to let them know that what he’s just read is about to or is in the Lord Jesus coming true. It’s reached its fulfilment. The promise has been kept. And so here we see Jesus is declaring himself to be the fulfilment, particularly of the promises in Isaiah, chapter 61. That’s where these words most clearly come from. And in Isaiah 61, we see a spirit filled servante coming to proclaim God’s good news. And the bigger, wider theme of Isaiah, chapter 61, is all about restoration, about the renewal that would come to God’s people. And it summed up so well, isn’t it? In these verses, he quotes from good news for the poor, freedom for the prisoners, sight for the blind, the oppressed set free. It’s a wonderful picture of God’s people being restored, of being made new. But these Israelites in Nazareth aren’t entirely convinced by Jesus message, are they? You notice there’s a shift in the mood in verse 22. They’ve heard what Jesus has said, and in some ways they’re amazed by strangers. All spoke well of him and were amazed at his gracious words that came from his lips. But then look at what they say next. Isn’t this Joseph’s son? Isn’t this Joseph’s son? It’s really a question of disbelief. Surely this carpenter’s son, this Nazareth boy, surely he can’t be a prophet. Surely he can’t be the redeemer, the restorer of Isaiah’s prophecy. They’re in disbelief. Surely not him, but it’s Jesus who speaks next to reveal their hearts. You see that in verse 23. Now, this idea of revealing the hearts of people has already been told about Jesus. Perhaps you remember when Jesus presented to Simeon in the temple. Simeon prophesies about Jesus, and he says, this child, amongst other things, will reveal the hearts of many. We’ll get to see what people are really thinking. And Jesus does that just here. He puts the words of a proverb and a sentiment onto the lips of the people, says, I know what you’re thinking. You don’t need to say anything. I know exactly what you’re thinking. You’re thinking about this proverb, aren’t you? Physician, heal yourself. And the next thing you’re probably going to say is do here in your hometown what we’ve heard you did in Capernaum. Now, both of these sayings are in effect saying, jesus, come and bring your glory to us first. We’re not really sure who you are, but we know you come from Nazareth. So let’s have your healing, let’s have those miracles like we heard about in Capernaum. Let’s have your rescue. Because actually we quite like the idea of the restoration promised in Isaiah. So they’re saying, Nazareth boy, us first. Let’s make Nazareth great again. Since you’re here now, we’re told about, we’re not told about those first miracles in Capernaum that they’d heard about. But Luke does record two of them later in the chapter as he returns to Capernaum. Both times he’s casting out demonstration and perhaps ironically, the demons know exactly who Jesus is. Not the carpenter son, not the Nazareth boy, not a prophet, but the son of God. You see, Jesus miracles that he did in Capernaum and other places, they weren’t about making the nation great again. They weren’t about putting Nazareth or any other place on the map. They were getting to the root of the kind of restoration that God’s people needed, a restoration of the heart. People be set free from oppression and given a hope of restored relationship and new life with God. You see, Jesus has come, as Luke presents, as the fulfilment for Israel. But that is immediately contrasted with something else. Not only for the fulfilment of Israel, but Jesus comes to give freedom for the world, freedom for the whole world. You see, when Jesus speaks here, or at least as Luke records his words, there’s something missing and something added from the words of Isaiah 61. Firstly, there’s something added. Jesus adds in an extra line at the end of verse 18, he says, to set the oppressed free. And that’s almost like an addition to Isaiah’s original words. It’s as though he’s giving added emphasis. If you hadn’t got the message already, he’s saying again and again, I’ve come to bring freedom. I’ve come to set people free. Even those who are oppressed have come to set them free. It’s like he adds something in for added emphasis. But then he also stops short of what Isaiah’s prophecy continues to say. So in the end it says verse 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favourite. If you know Isaiah 61, the verse continues. There’s an and there and it says, and the day of vengeance of our God, Jesus deliberately, perhaps stopped short. Now Jesus will go on to speak more boldly than anyone else about the very real and certain judgement to come in the future, a great and terrible day. But for now, as Jesus speaks, he comes only to offer God’s favour, his kindness, his mercy, his compassion, his grace, his love which frees, which releases, which rescues and saves. Here’s the switch that’s going on in the passage here. The crowds think Jesus is here for them. They think, yeah, Jesus could be good news for Nazareth. Jesus could restore us, revive us, he could bring us freedom. But Jesus has got a much bigger vision than Nazareth. He goes on in verse 24. This is the section where he says, truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in his hometown. That’s how it’s always been. Israel have always rejected the prophets in one way or another. But Jesus comes just like Elijah and Elisha, true prophets from goddess, rejected like them. And like them, God’s grace goes much further than we expect. He says, let me tell you about Elijah. Where did he end up? He ended up with a widow, not from Israel, but from Zarephath in Lebanon. Well, let me tell you about Elisha. He did all sorts of miracles, but where did he end up? He ended up healing Naaman the Syrian. And so too in the pattern of those prophets, Jesus has come to bring good news to the poor, release for the prisoners, sight for the blind, freedom for the oppressed, not only in his hometown but for the whole world. Jesus is a bigger saviour than Nazareth. He’s a wider rescuer than Israel and he’s a more comprehensive redeemer than the west. And as they try to kill him, he walks right through them. Because his time hasn’t come yet. His mission isn’t complete. He’s not just come for Nazareth, he’s come for the whole world. But the people of Nazareth should have known this. As Jesus stands up and quotes from the prophet Isaiah, he saw throughout Isaiah, the nations, theyre all there. Isaiah says that Israel would be a lie to the nations, that the nations would see Israel as God and theyd want to come to know about their God. It says as well that the saviour would come to lift that veil, that veil of death that covers all nations, not just for Israel, but for the whole world. Sure he’s from Nazareth, but he’s going to the whole world. I’ve been enjoying a book recently called prisoners of geography. It’s all about geopolitics and geography and the way in which mountains and rivers shape the world in which we live. And one of the conclusions as the book goes on is in some ways that the destiny of people seems quite tied. You know, some nations are destined to prosper because of the wealth of their resources. Other nations are destined to always be fighting because they butt up against each other. And perhaps that is the way of the world. As we look out, as it seems, we seems that some nations are destined to be prisoners by their geography. But Jesus here says he has come to set prisoners free. He has come for the whole world. He has come to restore not just Israel, but the whole world. And so when we look out in the world, we might think that people are tied by their history and culture. We might think that of course these first century Israelites, well of course they should follow Jesus, shouldn’t they? Or we might think that contemporary Arabs, well of course they should follow Muhammad, shouldn’t they? Because that’s just where they’re born and that’s their culture. We might think that modern westerners should just be atheists because that’s the world in which we inhabit. But friends, Jesus is bigger than borders, he transcends traditions, he truly is the saviour. The whole world. Jesus isn’t just for Christians in Linfield, Jesus is good news for the whole world, even those who don’t think he is, he’s especially good news for them. Well, I wonder, as Jesus begins his ministry, as he launches his manifesto to the people of Nazareth, isn’t this the kind of hope we’re all longing for? Isn’t this the kind of world we want to live in? One where justice is done, where wrongs are put right, where the lowly are lifted up, where prisoners are set free, a world filled with God’s favourite. Thats the world we all want. I think at heart thats the world to which Isaiahs prophecy points, thats the world which Jesus says he has come to fulfil, he has come to bring about its completion. And he does it as he dies on the cross, as he takes the prisons, the prisons of sin and death that hold people captive. And he dies, dies to pay the penalty for sin. He dies to defeat death so that prisoners can be set free in him. I spoke at a funeral service last week and the family had asked if we would read and reflect on revelation, chapter 21, that picture of the great city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from heaven. I asked the folk there, I said, well, what is the future like and what future do you want? And we looked at this and said, well, this is what the world is going to be like. It’s going to be restored, it’s going to be made perfect, all those things that we’re going to be made free. We’re going to be rescued. All those things that Jesus says he’s come to fulfil. Do you know what I said to them? That’s the best bit. What really makes this world perfect and wonderful and a glorious hope is that Jesus is there. It’s not because it’s shiny. It’s not because there’s jewels. It’s not because there’s no tears, although it’s really nice. It’s because Jesus is there. And so, friends, as we spend the next few weeks looking afresh at Jesus in Luke’s gospel, that’s our prayer, that we’d know him more, we’d love him more, we’d be assured of what he’s done for us. Because this future that he promises, this future he comes to fulfil, this perfect future, it’s perfect because Jesus is there. Amen.