Fulfilled in Your Hearing
01/24/10
Luke 4:14-21
Pastor Greg Smith
In Valley Grace worship services, we stand when we read the main scripture of the day. This is not an empty ritual: it’s like standing when an elder comes into the room: we show respect and honor because they deserve it.
Today’s Bible readings have the reading of scripture at their heart.
So turn to Luke 4 beginning with verse 14.
14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. 15 He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.
16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom.
The atmosphere was electric when Jesus' visited to his hometown of Nazareth. They had heard great things about Jesus, their “native son.” So the people of the village went to the synagogue with great expectation and hope to hear from Jesus.
Jesus was invited to read from the scriptures.
He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Powerful words of hope! But what really got hearts pumping in the synagogue that Sabbath was what Jesus added:
20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
What did he say? What did he mean? The end of spiritual drought has come. God was finally going to act! It was time for freedom! What a thrilling word that must have been!
Jesus honored scripture by finding his ministry agenda there. He heard God’s voice in the scripture. Jesus found a picture of the reign of God: this is what it is like! This is what we pray for the in the Lord’s Prayer.
Of course, the difference with Jesus’ reading: today this scripture is fulfilled. Why? Because the reign of God was present in Jesus. When Jesus is present, God is present in power.
In these verses we find a five-fold mission statement:
God 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,
• to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.
Jesus finds his mission in scripture. What is your life mission and purpose? Where does that come from?
What does God want?
God wants us to take time to discover God's word.
• The word has to be searched out. It has to be listened to attentively.
• God wants us to put in the effort to understand God's word.
• God's word is not easily understood. It requires effort to plumb the depths.
Finally, God wants us to honestly apply God’s word.
• Don’t just learn— live God’s word!
Another lectionary reading for this Sunday illustrates this: Nehemiah 8:1-12, page 724.
The setting: the Jewish people have returned from exile.. After a period of rebuilding, the people finally gather to learn from God’s word.
When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns, 1 all the people assembled with one accord in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the teacher of the Law to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded for Israel.
2 So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. 3 He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.
4 Ezra the teacher of the Law stood on a high wooden platform built for the occasion.
Look at verse 5.
5 Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up. 6 Ezra praised the LORD, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.
7 The Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan and Pelaiah—instructed the people in the Law while the people were standing there. 8 They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it cleara and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read.
9 Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and teacher of the Law, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, “This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.
10 Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”
11 The Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be still, for this is a holy day. Do not grieve.”
12 Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them.
• Who asks for the Book of the Law of Moses to be read? What is the make-up of this large Bible study group?
• It had been many hundreds of years since Moses’ time, most had never heard the Law read before, and after living for decades in Babylon, many no longer even understood Hebrew. What was done so that the people would understand God’s word?
• Why do you imagine people were “weeping as they listened to the words of the Law”? Was it guilt? Regret that they hadn’t heard this before?
• We live in a time of abundant resources for understanding the Bible and ample opportunities to have the Bible explained. How can you express your thanks to God today for these gifts?
God wants us to take time to discover God's word.
• The word has to be searched out. It has to be listened to attentively.
• God wants us to put in the effort to understand God's word.
• God's word is not easily understood. It requires effort to plumb the depths.
• More than just learning: God’s word require humility.
Finally, God wants us to honestly apply God’s word.
• Don’t just learn— live God’s word!
Now I want us to look at a story that shows the opposite attitude: Jeremiah 36. Page 1190.
The story in Jeremiah 36 contains a dramatic story about a very different attitude towards God's word. This story takes place in Jerusalem about ten years before the city would fall to Babylon in punishment for ignoring God’s word in the Law and the prophets that the Lord has sent.
After many years of ministry, God told Jeremiah that he should write down his message.
There were no computers, not even pencil and paper. Instead there were scrolls made out of parchment, the skin of a lamb or goat prepared for writing on. Writing was a great skill and “scribes” were few. Jeremiah had his friend Baruch write while Jeremiah dictated.
It must have been a big effort! But now the the scroll was done. But because Jeremiah was under house arrest and was confined to a room in the king’s headquarters, he had Baruch go to the temple on a day when there would be a good crowd and there Baruch give the scroll a public reading.
This was dangerous business because Jeremiah’s message was never sweet and light. It was always confrontational and tough. Jeremiah was especially hard on the king and other leaders. The leaders never took kindly to Jeremiah. So Jeremiah and Baruch were taking the message to the people themselves, hoping they would responds. Look at Jeremiah 36:5-7:
5 Then Jeremiah told Baruch, “I am restricted; I am not allowed to go to the LORD’s temple. 6 So you go to the house of the LORD on a day of fasting and read to the people from the scroll the words of the LORD that you wrote as I dictated. Read them to all the people of Judah who come in from their towns. 7 Perhaps they will bring their petition before the LORD, and will all turn from their wicked ways, for the anger and wrath pronounced against this people by the LORD are great.”
Some of the king’s officials were there in the crowd and they heard the reading of the scroll. They were alarmed by the message and believed it was something that the king needed to hear. Look at verses 16-19.
16 When they heard all the messages, they looked at one another in alarm. “We must tell the king what we have heard,” they said to Baruch. 17 “But first, tell us how you got these messages. Did they come directly from Jeremiah?”
18 So Baruch explained, “Jeremiah dictated them, and I wrote them down in ink, word for word, on this scroll.”
19 “You and Jeremiah should both hide,” the officials told Baruch. “Don’t tell anyone where you are!”
That took a lot of courage! It also took lots of courage for the officials to take the scroll to the one person who would be most offended by it’s message— but also the one who could do the most about it: King Jehoiakim.
It was a cold December night in 604 BC. I'll read beginning in verse 20.
20 After they put the scroll in the room of Elishama the secretary, they went to the king in the courtyard and reported everything to him. 21 The king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and Jehudi brought it from the room of Elishama the secretary and read it to the king and all the officials standing beside him. 22 It was the ninth month and the king was sitting in the winter apartment, with a fire burning in the firepot in front of him. 23 Whenever Jehudi had read three or four columns of the scroll, the king cut them off with a scribe’s knife and threw them into the firepot, until the entire scroll was burned in the fire. 24 The king and all his attendants who heard all these words showed no fear, nor did they tear their clothes. 25 Even though Elnathan, Delaiah and Gemariah urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them. 26 Instead, the king commanded Jerahmeel, a son of the king, Seraiah son of Azriel and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to arrest Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet. But the LORD had hidden them.
Can you imagine? Some of the scroll is read. That section is cut off. It’s like tearing pages out of the Bible!
Was that the end of God's word that had been spoken through Jeremiah? Hardly! God's reaction came quickly.
27 After the king burned the scroll containing the words that Baruch had written at Jeremiah’s dictation, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: 28 “Take another scroll and write on it all the words that were on the first scroll, which Jehoiakim king of Judah burned up. 29 Also tell Jehoiakim king of Judah, ‘This is what the LORD says: You burned that scroll and said, “Why did you write on it that the king of Babylon would certainly come and destroy this land and wipe from it both people and animals?” 30 Therefore, this is what the LORD says about Jehoiakim king of Judah: He will have no one to sit on the throne of David; his body will be thrown out and exposed to the heat by day and the frost by night. 31 I will punish him and his children and his attendants for their wickedness; I will bring on them and those living in Jerusalem and the people of Judah every disaster I pronounced against them, because they have not listened.’”
32 So Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to the scribe Baruch son of Neriah, and as Jeremiah dictated, Baruch wrote on it all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And many similar words were added to them.
This story illustrates several important truths.
Rejecting God’s word is the ultimate arrogance. It's rejecting God!
Neglecting God’s word is like tearing out sheets of the Bible.
That doesn't mean that we can't have questions. There will always be much that puzzles. 2 Peter 3,
15 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
We all come to the Bible with preconceptions and ideas that distort our reception of the Bible's message. Be ready to learn, to be challenged, to be open to a fresh truth from God.
God’s word cannot be destroyed— his message will triumph!
The king had no respect at all for God's word. He thought he could destroy the word by burning it up! He was contemptuous and full of pride.
But God overruled the king! No doubt, Joihoiakim had hope to silence God's word and annul its power. Instead he only registered his rejection of God's word and sealed the God's judgment on his reign as king.
We don't judge the Bible. The Bible— because it is God's word— judges us!
What does God want?
God wants us to take time to discover God's word.
• The word has to be searched out. It has to be listened to attentively.
• God wants us to put in the effort to understand God's word.
• God's word is not easily understood. It requires effort to plumb the depths.
Finally, God wants us to honestly apply God’s word.
• Don’t just learn— live God’s word!
Pastor Greg Smith
In Valley Grace worship services, we stand when we read the main scripture of the day. This is not an empty ritual: it’s like standing when an elder comes into the room: we show respect and honor because they deserve it.
Today’s Bible readings have the reading of scripture at their heart.
So turn to Luke 4 beginning with verse 14.
14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. 15 He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.
16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom.
The atmosphere was electric when Jesus' visited to his hometown of Nazareth. They had heard great things about Jesus, their “native son.” So the people of the village went to the synagogue with great expectation and hope to hear from Jesus.
Jesus was invited to read from the scriptures.
He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Powerful words of hope! But what really got hearts pumping in the synagogue that Sabbath was what Jesus added:
20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
What did he say? What did he mean? The end of spiritual drought has come. God was finally going to act! It was time for freedom! What a thrilling word that must have been!
Jesus honored scripture by finding his ministry agenda there. He heard God’s voice in the scripture. Jesus found a picture of the reign of God: this is what it is like! This is what we pray for the in the Lord’s Prayer.
Of course, the difference with Jesus’ reading: today this scripture is fulfilled. Why? Because the reign of God was present in Jesus. When Jesus is present, God is present in power.
In these verses we find a five-fold mission statement:
God 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,
• to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.
Jesus finds his mission in scripture. What is your life mission and purpose? Where does that come from?
What does God want?
God wants us to take time to discover God's word.
• The word has to be searched out. It has to be listened to attentively.
• God wants us to put in the effort to understand God's word.
• God's word is not easily understood. It requires effort to plumb the depths.
Finally, God wants us to honestly apply God’s word.
• Don’t just learn— live God’s word!
Another lectionary reading for this Sunday illustrates this: Nehemiah 8:1-12, page 724.
The setting: the Jewish people have returned from exile.. After a period of rebuilding, the people finally gather to learn from God’s word.
When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns, 1 all the people assembled with one accord in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the teacher of the Law to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded for Israel.
2 So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. 3 He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.
4 Ezra the teacher of the Law stood on a high wooden platform built for the occasion.
Look at verse 5.
5 Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up. 6 Ezra praised the LORD, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.
7 The Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan and Pelaiah—instructed the people in the Law while the people were standing there. 8 They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it cleara and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read.
9 Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and teacher of the Law, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, “This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.
10 Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”
11 The Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be still, for this is a holy day. Do not grieve.”
12 Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them.
• Who asks for the Book of the Law of Moses to be read? What is the make-up of this large Bible study group?
• It had been many hundreds of years since Moses’ time, most had never heard the Law read before, and after living for decades in Babylon, many no longer even understood Hebrew. What was done so that the people would understand God’s word?
• Why do you imagine people were “weeping as they listened to the words of the Law”? Was it guilt? Regret that they hadn’t heard this before?
• We live in a time of abundant resources for understanding the Bible and ample opportunities to have the Bible explained. How can you express your thanks to God today for these gifts?
God wants us to take time to discover God's word.
• The word has to be searched out. It has to be listened to attentively.
• God wants us to put in the effort to understand God's word.
• God's word is not easily understood. It requires effort to plumb the depths.
• More than just learning: God’s word require humility.
Finally, God wants us to honestly apply God’s word.
• Don’t just learn— live God’s word!
Now I want us to look at a story that shows the opposite attitude: Jeremiah 36. Page 1190.
The story in Jeremiah 36 contains a dramatic story about a very different attitude towards God's word. This story takes place in Jerusalem about ten years before the city would fall to Babylon in punishment for ignoring God’s word in the Law and the prophets that the Lord has sent.
After many years of ministry, God told Jeremiah that he should write down his message.
There were no computers, not even pencil and paper. Instead there were scrolls made out of parchment, the skin of a lamb or goat prepared for writing on. Writing was a great skill and “scribes” were few. Jeremiah had his friend Baruch write while Jeremiah dictated.
It must have been a big effort! But now the the scroll was done. But because Jeremiah was under house arrest and was confined to a room in the king’s headquarters, he had Baruch go to the temple on a day when there would be a good crowd and there Baruch give the scroll a public reading.
This was dangerous business because Jeremiah’s message was never sweet and light. It was always confrontational and tough. Jeremiah was especially hard on the king and other leaders. The leaders never took kindly to Jeremiah. So Jeremiah and Baruch were taking the message to the people themselves, hoping they would responds. Look at Jeremiah 36:5-7:
5 Then Jeremiah told Baruch, “I am restricted; I am not allowed to go to the LORD’s temple. 6 So you go to the house of the LORD on a day of fasting and read to the people from the scroll the words of the LORD that you wrote as I dictated. Read them to all the people of Judah who come in from their towns. 7 Perhaps they will bring their petition before the LORD, and will all turn from their wicked ways, for the anger and wrath pronounced against this people by the LORD are great.”
Some of the king’s officials were there in the crowd and they heard the reading of the scroll. They were alarmed by the message and believed it was something that the king needed to hear. Look at verses 16-19.
16 When they heard all the messages, they looked at one another in alarm. “We must tell the king what we have heard,” they said to Baruch. 17 “But first, tell us how you got these messages. Did they come directly from Jeremiah?”
18 So Baruch explained, “Jeremiah dictated them, and I wrote them down in ink, word for word, on this scroll.”
19 “You and Jeremiah should both hide,” the officials told Baruch. “Don’t tell anyone where you are!”
That took a lot of courage! It also took lots of courage for the officials to take the scroll to the one person who would be most offended by it’s message— but also the one who could do the most about it: King Jehoiakim.
It was a cold December night in 604 BC. I'll read beginning in verse 20.
20 After they put the scroll in the room of Elishama the secretary, they went to the king in the courtyard and reported everything to him. 21 The king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and Jehudi brought it from the room of Elishama the secretary and read it to the king and all the officials standing beside him. 22 It was the ninth month and the king was sitting in the winter apartment, with a fire burning in the firepot in front of him. 23 Whenever Jehudi had read three or four columns of the scroll, the king cut them off with a scribe’s knife and threw them into the firepot, until the entire scroll was burned in the fire. 24 The king and all his attendants who heard all these words showed no fear, nor did they tear their clothes. 25 Even though Elnathan, Delaiah and Gemariah urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them. 26 Instead, the king commanded Jerahmeel, a son of the king, Seraiah son of Azriel and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to arrest Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet. But the LORD had hidden them.
Can you imagine? Some of the scroll is read. That section is cut off. It’s like tearing pages out of the Bible!
Was that the end of God's word that had been spoken through Jeremiah? Hardly! God's reaction came quickly.
27 After the king burned the scroll containing the words that Baruch had written at Jeremiah’s dictation, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: 28 “Take another scroll and write on it all the words that were on the first scroll, which Jehoiakim king of Judah burned up. 29 Also tell Jehoiakim king of Judah, ‘This is what the LORD says: You burned that scroll and said, “Why did you write on it that the king of Babylon would certainly come and destroy this land and wipe from it both people and animals?” 30 Therefore, this is what the LORD says about Jehoiakim king of Judah: He will have no one to sit on the throne of David; his body will be thrown out and exposed to the heat by day and the frost by night. 31 I will punish him and his children and his attendants for their wickedness; I will bring on them and those living in Jerusalem and the people of Judah every disaster I pronounced against them, because they have not listened.’”
32 So Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to the scribe Baruch son of Neriah, and as Jeremiah dictated, Baruch wrote on it all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And many similar words were added to them.
This story illustrates several important truths.
Rejecting God’s word is the ultimate arrogance. It's rejecting God!
Neglecting God’s word is like tearing out sheets of the Bible.
That doesn't mean that we can't have questions. There will always be much that puzzles. 2 Peter 3,
15 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
We all come to the Bible with preconceptions and ideas that distort our reception of the Bible's message. Be ready to learn, to be challenged, to be open to a fresh truth from God.
God’s word cannot be destroyed— his message will triumph!
The king had no respect at all for God's word. He thought he could destroy the word by burning it up! He was contemptuous and full of pride.
But God overruled the king! No doubt, Joihoiakim had hope to silence God's word and annul its power. Instead he only registered his rejection of God's word and sealed the God's judgment on his reign as king.
We don't judge the Bible. The Bible— because it is God's word— judges us!
What does God want?
God wants us to take time to discover God's word.
• The word has to be searched out. It has to be listened to attentively.
• God wants us to put in the effort to understand God's word.
• God's word is not easily understood. It requires effort to plumb the depths.
Finally, God wants us to honestly apply God’s word.
• Don’t just learn— live God’s word!