MAIN IDEA
There is a treatment available for the sinful condition of mankind but many refuse to accept the treatment because they can’t believe that it is true.

BACKGROUND OF TEXT
After Jesus faces and overcomes three attempts of temptation from the Devil, He preaches in Galilee and is well received by the people. He then makes his way towards His hometown of Nazareth. He enters a synagogue to preach the Old Testament prophecies of the coming Messiah. After He finishes reading from the prophet Isaiah, Jesus says the prophecies are fulfilled today.

THE DEMAND FOR HIS CREDENTIALS
As Jesus preaches in the synagogue in His hometown, the people at first are astonished and amazed at what He was preaching. However they began to notice who was preaching to them. It was Jesus, the son of Joseph. Jesus notices the vibe in the room change. After gauging the shift in the audience’s responses, He makes a statement on behalf of the people. He says “Physician, heal thyself” which essentially means “if you are the One that You claim to be, then prove it.” He then says that no prophet would be accepted in His hometown. His own hometown did not accept who He is.

“Familiarity breeds contempt” is a phrase to describe how one loses respect for an individual through getting to know the person over time. The people of Nazareth were familiar with Jesus and therefore it made it harder for them to accept Him as the promised Messiah. There are many today that find it difficult to accept Christ for they are “familiar” with Christianity already.

On the flip side, some of us may have this “familiarity” complex where we are not as accepting towards our fellow brothers and sisters when the Holy Spirit moves their heart. We must not have this attitude just as the people of Jesus’ hometown had towards Him.

THE DISTRIBUTION OF HIS CARE
Upon responding to the people, Jesus gives two specific examples of how God was rejected therefore He sends the prophet to non-Jews. At this period of time, there was an immense amount of discrimination towards the gentiles, who were the non-Jews. Gentiles had the stereotype of worshiping pagan gods, being unclean, and being mixed.

The first example is given about how Israel was in sin and facing judgment from God. The judgment is a major famine that results in the death of many, leaving many widows especially. God sends His prophet Elijah to the city of Zarephath to a gentile widow. The second example given is about how God sends Elisha to reach out to a Syrian commander, also a Gentile, who was suffering with leprosy. These two examples of how God reaches the pagan gentiles over the Jews first, stirs anger and fury within the hearts of the Jewish audience.

The gospel of Christ is for all people regardless of their ethnic background. It is to the Jews and the Gentiles alike. The gospel will attract people from all different walks of life and we must not be furious or angered when God saves the lives of others that we may not particularly like.

THE DETERMINATION OF HIS COMMITMENT
The people were furious at Jesus’ statement of claiming to be the prophet and for stating that God did not send Him to reach the Jews but to the gentiles and all others. They began to drag and push Jesus towards the top of the hill on the outskirts of Nazareth. This was done in preparation to throw Jesus off a cliff and to stone Him. Stoning was a practice observed through Levitical law as a mode of capital punishment for serious crimes, including blasphemy. Yet the passage here ends with Jesus simply stopping the crowd, walking through them, and going on to His next location. It was not Jesus’ time to be killed and this was not the method He would die. Jesus goes into the next city and performs many miracles.

When we share the knowledge about this treatment available for all of mankind, many times we may be rejected whether it is by the world or even those close to us. We must accept that rejection happens and we must continue to the next “city” in preaching the gospel.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. With the available treatment that has treated and saved us, are we doing our best to let the world know about this treatment?

2. Are we holding back the knowledge about this treatment from certain people because we don’t like them?

3. Does the familiarity we have with certain brothers and sisters cloud our judgment when the Holy Spirit is moving their hearts?