Immanuel Sermon Audio
Luke 4:14-30
You can find your outline in the bulletin if you have your Bible or you pick up one in front of you. Find Luke chapter 4. We've spent a month talking about our church mission statement. This morning we're jumping back into our regular routine of just sort of plunging through the gospel of Luke. We find ourselves in Luke chapter 4 beginning in verse 14. It's been a few weeks so I will remind you as I have every week before this that the theme verse of the gospel of Luke is Luke 19 - 10 and it's on the top of your outline. It's on the screens. The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. And when we look at this passage this morning of a story that may or may not be familiar to you depending on how much time you've spent reading the gospels we're going to see that this statement is very impactful and very important to understand that this idea covers everything in Luke. Jesus came, the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. When you look at the gospel of Luke chapters 1, 2, and 3 talk about the idea that the Son of Man came. You see the stories about Jesus and John the Baptist and the first Christmas story and all of this about Jesus coming. And when you get to chapter 4 it starts to talk about who the Son of Man is. Who is the Son of Man who came to seek and to save the lost. And so we looked about a month ago at the first part of Luke 4 verse 1 down to 13 the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. And we talked about who is the Son of Man. Well Jesus is the second Adam who's come to do battle with the serpent in the wilderness. That was about a month ago. This morning we're looking at Luke 4 14 to 30 and we're talking about Jesus as the ultimate fulfillment of Old Testament scripture. That's the big idea on your outline and we'll put it up on the screen. The big idea is that Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. This comes straight out of Jesus' mouth in the verses that we're about to read. He is the ultimate, the final, the complete, the perfect fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. Now we're going to read in just a minute these 15 or so verses. Before we read them step back with me. It's been a few weeks since we were in Luke and I want you to think about geography of where Jesus is at. And I want you to think about the timeline of his life. That may sound really boring to some of you. Geography and dates. But let's just think about what's going on in Luke chapter 4. And so I'll put this picture up on the screen. This is a map of Palestine in Jesus' day with not very much stuff on it. A lot of the clutter removed. In red you can see three regions or three states or three areas. Judea in the south, Samaria in the middle, and Galilee up in the north. And you see a few cities that I put on here Bethlehem. Obviously Jesus born in Bethlehem. Right south of Jerusalem. That's in Judea. You see the city of Sichar. They're in the middle in Samaria. And then you see Kaina and Nazareth and Capernaum up in the top by Galilee. Here's why I put this up here. And I want to talk to you about timeline. When you read the gospel of Luke you go straight from Jesus being tempted in the wilderness. To all of a sudden he's preaching in his hometown in Nazareth. He gets baptized. He is tempted by Satan in the wilderness. And immediately he's preaching in his hometown. It's helpful to understand and to realize that all of the gospel writers don't tell everything about Jesus' life. Matthew doesn't, Mark doesn't, Luke doesn't, John doesn't. And Luke has left some stuff out here. He's sort of skipped over stuff. He's telling you the parts that he wants to tell in his story. But between Jesus being tempted in the wilderness and our passage this morning where he's preaching in his hometown a lot of stuff happened. And it happened in this area. And so let me just tell you some of the things that have happened that Luke doesn't include. John the Baptist you remember is out baptizing and the leaders down in Jerusalem send a group of priests and Levites to John the Baptist to say look who are you? What are you doing out here? What is exactly is happening? And these guys come out and they ask John all these questions and he's already baptized Jesus and he saw the spirit descend on him. And so John the Baptist tell these guys look the Messiah is here. The one greater than I whose sandals I'm not worthy to untie. He has come and he's come to baptize with fire. And so John the Baptist tells these people who Jesus is. Jesus met his first disciples. This happened around Jerusalem. He met four people that he called to follow him. Andrew, Peter, Philip, and Nathaniel. And he called these men to follow him and to walk around with him and to learn from him and they begun doing that. Jesus up in the north he went to a wedding in cana. You see that up in Galilee. He went to a wedding in cana and you remember they ran out of wine and so they came to Jesus and Jesus turned these large barrels of water into wine at that wedding that took place up in cana. Jesus went back down to Jerusalem and for the first time he does it again later but for the first time in his life he clears out the temple. Runs everybody out of the temple. Flips the tables over. He's mad that they're not doing what God expected to happen in the temple area and the precincts and so he cleared that out. Obviously that happened down in Jerusalem. And while he was down there he had a conversation with a man named Nicodemus. Nicodemus came to him at night and had some questions for him and you remember Jesus I'm summarizing said to Nicodemus you need to be born again. Right not physically but you need to be spiritually born again from above Nicodemus and in the very next chapter Jesus is traveling from Judea up through Samaria back to Galilee and he stops in Sicar actually right outside of Sicar and he talks with a Samaritan woman at Jacob's well right outside of this town and he says to this woman if you had any clue who I was you would be asking me and I would give you living water and you would never be thirsty again. So that happened. Jesus travels back up to the area of Galilee he goes to Capernaum and in Capernaum he performs some miracles and one of the miracles he performs in Capernaum is that an important man's son was dying on the verge of death and Jesus brought that child back to life brought that child back to health. All of those things have happened between Jesus being tempted in the wilderness and the verses that we're about to read. And here's what I'm saying to you we're about to read about Jesus preaching in his hometown. They didn't have Facebook back then disciples weren't posting status updates oh you can't believe what's happening in Sicar. Jesus is talking to this Samaritan woman this is the greatest. They didn't have Twitter they didn't have any of this stuff you know that but listen word got around just fine. People talk then just like they talk today and when you look at the geography of this area this is not a huge spread of land this is Jesus and his disciples sort of walking back and forth up in this area. People talked rumor spread and so when Jesus walks back into his hometown all of those things I just shared with you are running through people's heads. They've heard about it. They're saying look Jesus is back. Do you hear about him flipping the tables over in the temple? Yeah I heard about that. Do you hear about he? I heard he healed a guy's son in Capernaum. Did you hear that? I did hear that. You know what else I heard? I heard he he talked with these important people. He talked with Nicodemus the chief teacher the teacher and all of Israel. He taught him Jesus taught Nicodemus. Can you believe that? Little Jesus from Nazareth he had the audacity to straighten out Nicodemus. All of these things are swirling around. I heard that just down the road in Kana he turned a bunch of water into wine. How do you do that? I don't know how you do that. There's a buzz beginning to build about Jesus and he walks into his hometown and this is what Luke tells us happened. Follow along Luke 4 beginning in verse 14 it says Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee and here you go a report about him went out throughout all the surrounding country and he taught in their synagogues being glorified by all and he came to Nazareth which is where he had been brought up and as was his custom he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day and he stood up to read and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him and he unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written quote the Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor he has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind to set at liberty those who are oppressed to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him and he began to say to them today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing and all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth and they said is this not Joseph's son and he said to them doubtless you will quote me this proverb physician heal yourself what we have heard you did in Capernaum do here in your hometown as well and he said truly I say to you no prophet is acceptable in his hometown but in truth I tell you there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah when the heavens were shut up three years and six months and a great famine came over the land and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to zerafat in the land of Sidon to a woman who was a widow and there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha and none of them was cleansed but only name in the Syrian when they heard these things all in the synagogue were filled with wrath and they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built so that they could throw him down the cliff but passing through their midst he went away let's pray father we're grateful for your word we believe that it is true we pray this morning that you would give us eyes to see the truth that you would give us hearts to receive it that the same spirit that inspired Luke to write these words would illuminate them to our hearts and to our minds as we look at scripture this morning we pray that we would be changed when we leave this place and we pray in Jesus name amen first section of Luke one two and three the son of man comes the second section chapter four up through about nine is who is the son of man so a couple of weeks ago he's doing battle with the serpent he's the second Adam this morning he's the ultimate fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy Old Testament scripture let me give you a few thoughts about that and what that means and how we flesh that out into everyday life the first idea I want you to see is this Jesus spiritual life was marked by structure and routine as well as sensitivity to the Holy Spirit his personal spiritual life and his ministry to other people it was marked by structure and routine so at the on the one hand you think he's a type A personality and at the same time he is sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit in his life and we call those people more free-spirited folks both of those things are true of Jesus look with me at the text verse 14 it says he returned to Galilee in the power of the Holy Spirit remember it was the spirit that had led him out into the wilderness to be tempted that had driven him out into the wilderness to be tempted he's still being sensitive he's still being led by the spirit now he's being led by the spirit to Galilee look at verse 18 Jesus himself says the spirit is upon me to preach in other words the words that are about to come out of my mouth they're not just my words but they're God's words the Holy Spirit is speaking through me that's something I don't say when I stand up on Sunday mornings my words are not God's words this is God's word but Jesus looks at his audience and he says the spirit of God is on me pay attention because what I'm about to say is actually God speaking to you directly word for word listen up Jesus is saying I am sensitive to the spirit at the same time there's structure and there's routine look at verse 15 it says he taught in the synagogues and that word taught is in the imperfect tense meaning literally he was teaching it was an ongoing thing it was a regular thing it was a consistent thing in his life that makes sense because look at verse 16 it says it was his custom to go to the synagogues it was his habit it was his routine he was disciplined in it he didn't miss going he was regular in that look at verse 17 they give him the scroll of Isaiah and he unrolls it to a certain passage question for you do you think Jesus did the old pray and flip method here okay there's a big sermon hometown got to impress these folks God I know you're leading me with your spirit give me a good verse here we go this one or do you think it was intentional I think it was intentional and what he opened to was Isaiah 61 1 and 58 6 and some of you say well big whoop who cares if he used the pray in the flip or if he turned to Isaiah 61 58 have you been to a one-on Wednesday night those kids are rock stars they're finding verses left and right they're memorizing passages Old Testament New Testament they got it all figured out what's so impressive about this here's what the scroll looked like that Jesus was working off of no verses no chapters no subheadings in the Hebrew no punctuation and no vowels just consonant after consonant after consonant no paragraph breaks just letter after letter after letter all the way from the beginning of Isaiah to the end and if you're Jewish and you know how to read it then it makes perfect sense to you what I'm saying to you is you can't whip out your concordance on this scroll and say I think Isaiah 61 sounds like a nice one you've got to know it you've got to unroll this thing to the right section in the right spot and you've got to look and you got to find it and Jesus unrolls it to this exact spot not because he's doing the the roll and pray and flip and whatever method it's because he knows it how does he know it did God just download it to his brain no he'd studied it he'd read it he poured over it he'd memorized it he'd hidden it in his heart he knew exactly the passage he want to turn to and he whips out this scroll filled with consonant after consonant after consonant no breaks no punctuation no vowels and he finds the exact spot that he wants to open to and he says to these people this is being fulfilled in me one last thought I don't want you to miss the idea that he's participating in the worship of the synagogue and we'll put a picture of an ancient synagogue that's about the best picture of a really old synagogue that I could find that some of it was still standing synagogue was just a building and they built these things when the Jewish people were scattered and the temple had been destroyed and they said we need a place to worship let's build a building where we can come together it's not all that different than what we're doing this morning so they had these churches synagogues buildings whatever and they would come together and listen it was not a fly by the seat of your pants kind of deal at the synagogue it wasn't like an old Quaker worship service where everybody walks in and you just sit around and stare at each other until the spirit moves you to do something it wasn't some kind of wildly Pentecostal charismatic service where anything goes and you have no idea what's coming next there was order and there was routine and every synagogue service went just like this you come in you sit down you sing a song then you recite the Shema Deuteronomy 6 right there is one God loving with all your heart soul mind and strength so everybody would say that then you would pray then somebody would read scripture read from the Torah the law and from the prophets and when they read they would stand up and so it says Jesus took the scroll of Isaiah and he stood up in front of them and he read when you're done reading you put the scroll down and you sit to preach the sermon this was a good gig for the preacher when you read this you think okay he reads the scripture and then he sits down does that mean he walks down to the front row and starts mumbling under his breath what in the world is going on here he reads the scripture then he sits down in front of everyone and all of the eyes are fixed on him and it's time for the sermon and so Jesus preaches the sermon and when you're done with that there's a blessing a ben addiction and everyone's dismissed that's how it happened Jesus doesn't come into this and say look I think the spirit wants us to change this up today let's just do things can we just be a little more flexible he just walks in and he says okay this is how we do it we sing a song we say the Shema we say some prayers we read the scriptures we do the sermon then we do the ben addiction then we all go home that's how it works and he operates within that now what in the world does this have to do with anything that Jesus uses structure and routine and at the same time he's led by the spirit well let's just think about what we do in this room I have friends good friends who lovingly and partly ingest ridicule me for always having everything planned and ordered and structured in this room you know what's coming how is the Holy Spirit going to work you've got it also planned out and detailed out and you've got an accountant preacher and you've got an engineer worship leader there are no surprises on Sunday morning we know what's happening and if something crazy happens our eyes are this big what's going on we didn't plan for this and so some people say look you're too routine you're too structured you're not sensitive to the spirit is that true I hope not and I think what Tyler and I would say is we believe the Holy Spirit can work on Tuesday just as much as he can on Sunday morning and when we sit down to plan a service and pray about a service it's not just a willy-nilly thing it's not just that we've always done it this way kind of thing but his Lord guide us give us wisdom give us direction to songs and passages and points and ideas guide us while we prepare so that there's some predictability in the worship and people aren't wondering what's coming next they're just focusing on you and so in this room maybe you feel like there's no there's no spontaneity the spirit never never nothing crazy ever happens and I'm saying to you that's okay the Holy Spirit can work on Tuesday just as powerfully as he can on Sunday morning now that's corporately what about you individually in your spiritual life as you think about structure and routine as you think about being guided and led by the Holy Spirit some of you would say if you were put on the spot do I have a regular time of prayer well you would try to be really spiritual and you would say I just kind of pray throughout the day as the Spirit leads me as I feel moved I just sort of pray is that a good thing to do absolutely it's a great thing to do can the Spirit prompt you in the middle of the day when you're driving down the road or working in the oil patch or cleaning up a mess at home to pray certainly he can but what I'm saying to you is you need the structure do you just didn't just walk into this synagogue and say well I don't know any old passage will do I'll just roll this thing open and will land on one and we'll make the best of it he had studied it he had memorized it he had internalized it he turned exactly to the passage that he wanted to turn to and the sermon that he delivered was well thought out reasoned clear structured and very deliberate he's not winging it in any of this sometimes we hear spirit led and we think oh that just means you kind of have to just go with the flow but what I'm saying is Jesus had a balance of both of those things and we need a balance of both of those things in our church and in our individual lives you need to be sensitive to the leading of the Spirit you need to be open to something that may not be part of your plan but there's nothing wrong with being disciplined and regular and consistent and having structure as you think about your spiritual life as an individual or us as a church Jesus models that and that brings us to the second idea because as Jesus is preaching and he says to these people this is all about me you need to see this truth being impressed with his teaching and his power is not the same as submitting to his authority there's a world of difference a world of difference these folks were impressed with what he had to say and they had heard the rumors the report of him had spread throughout the country they knew the things that had been happening they were impressed but they were unwilling to submit to his authority Jesus preaches he starts talking about stuff like I'm bringing good news to the poor to those who are spiritually bankrupt to those who acknowledge their debt before God I have good news for these people you look in verse 18 and 19 he uses words like freedom and recovery and release and liberty and then at the end in verse 19 he talks about I'm proclaiming the year of the Lord's favor you might just jot down Leviticus 25 and you can go read it later he's talking about the year of Jubilee every 50 years in Israel there was basically a giant economic reset at least in theory that's how God wanted it to work every 50 years on the year of Jubilee all of the slaves were set free all of the debts were canceled everything went back to zero when you knew it was coming every 50 years and Jesus says I have come to proclaim that Jubilee liberty and freedom and all debts have been erased now imagine you're a business owner some of you are business owners but imagine you're a business owner you're dutifully working at your business and somebody walks into your office and they look you in the eyeball and they say I am here to declare Jubilee after you call the cops what do you say to that person they walk into your business and they say hey I'm gonna need to see your book of accounts receivable because I'm gonna burn it all debts are paid we're going back to zero freedom release clear debts clear ledgers it's Jubilee what do you say to that person have you lost your mind are you insane who's gonna pay it if they're not gonna pay it someone else has got to pay it and Jesus stands up in front of people who are very familiar with him who know him and he says to them Jubilee is here debts are cleared we're hitting a reset slaves are free we're all going back to this level ground and they looked at Jesus exactly like you would look at that person who walked into your business said you must be crazy what authority do you have to do that aren't you Joseph's son the carpenter who do you think you are to walk in here and to proclaim that we're clearing all debts that aren't even yours to forgive in the first place have you lost your mind Jesus and these people did not yet understand Luke 19 10 they did not understand that Jesus had come to seek and to save the lost how by just showing up and snapping his fingers and it's over no he had come to give his life as a ransom for many to die and to pay the price to pay the amount that you and I owed before God when Jesus walks in it's unlike any other profit in the history of Israel when he starts talking about Jubilee because Jesus isn't just talking about clearing the books he's not talking about trick accounting he's not talking about funny math or rounding off numbers he's saying I have come to pay the debts he's saying to them look Jubilee it was never really about those slaves in your pocketbooks in the first place God's trying to teach you something and that something is standing right in front of you this is the year where the debts are paid not just swept under the rug and forgotten but completely paid and dealt with and the people listened to him and they're intrigued by him in fact at one point Luke tells us that they marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth and other folks said is this not Joseph's son can this really this is coming from Jesus now step out of the business owner shoes and put yourself into the shoes of a resident of first century Nazareth you're a grown-up an adult you're sitting in this synagogue you've lived in Nazareth all of your life you have watched Jesus grow up in this community you have heard about some amazing things that he has been teaching and doing in that part of the world now Jesus walks back into your home synagogue your home church and he has the nerve the gall to say to people Jubilee was not really about Jubilee it was about me had nothing to do with Jubilee and Isaiah he was not just writing to the kingdom of Judah he was writing about me all of it is about me Jesus looked his best friends and his family members in the eyeball and he said this is fulfilled today you're looking at it what do you think if you're in those shoes in the congregation and you're listening and you're trying to put all of this together and on the one hand you're marveling at the gracious words coming out of his mouth and at the same time you're saying but it's Joseph's kid it's just Joseph's son it's his oldest son how do you put these two things together how do you know what's right and what's wrong and the doubts and so Jesus knows exactly what swirling through their head what swirling through their head is we need proof we just need to see it for ourselves we've heard some amazing things out of your mouth and we have heard some amazing things about you and what they're thinking is we just need to see proof the water to wine you do that again we'll believe somebody son who's sick you raise them back up that'll do it we just need to see something that will make it certain for us we need proof Jesus says two things one he quotes a secular proverb he says before they can even say it as they're thinking it he says I know what's coming next you're gonna say to me physician heal yourself what does that mean well in the first century doctors were not very well respected members of the community most of them were thought to be quacks there wasn't as much science going into medical research back then as there was today and so a lot of the things that they prescribed were not helpful and people were skeptical and so it wasn't uncommon for someone to go to the doctor and the doctor to say you need to do A, B, and C and the person to say oh really why don't you do that first if it's so safe you do it and if you come through then I'll take the medicine physician heal yourself and Jesus says look I know you're skeptical and I know you're gonna say something like physician heal yourself and he goes on and he says I know what you want is for me to do a sign here like I've done all these other places he says I'll tell you what instead of a sign I'll give you a warning and a reminder and I'll remind you about Elijah and Elisha and he says don't forget about Elijah a prophet during the midst of apostasy in Israel and there was plenty of widows he could have taken care of in Israel and God sent him to one out of Israel he says don't forget about Elisha came after Elijah a prophet during apostasy in Israel there was all sorts of lepers in Israel that he could have healed God sent him Naaman Assyrian a non Jew to heal and Jesus is looking at his best friends and his family members and he's saying you need to be careful because if you reject this message and you're not interested in what God is setting before you God will offer it to someone else he did it during Elijah's days and he did it during Elisha's days and he will do it again now so he's warning them that this isn't gonna last forever he's also warning them about the danger of demanding proof you think about Elijah 1 Kings 17 the widow that was miraculously fed first had to feed Elijah with the last of what she had and she had to believe that God would provide for her and he did miraculously but the miracle came after her faith not before it and you think about Naaman the Syrian second Kings five there was an amazing miracle that bolstered his faith he was cleansed from leprosy by dipping in the Jordan River but first he had to humble himself and believe that dipping in that river would make a difference first he had to dip then he was healed the miracle did not come before faith and Jesus is saying to these people look not only will God take this somewhere else but you're treading on very dangerous waters by demanding proof and certainty and evidence before you put your faith in what God is doing right now be very careful Jesus says he understood that a miracle a sign may strengthen someone's faith but it would never convince a skeptic and so he warns them about Elijah and he warns them about Elisha and these people are very impressed up to that point they're impressed with the things that they've heard about him they're impressed with these gracious words coming out of his mouth but all of that changes when he warns them and here's the last truth you need to see responding to Jesus in faith in repentance or repentance and faith is a matter of supreme urgency is a matter of supreme urgency and this is fascinating they listen to Jesus as he sits and preaches this sermon and he says Isaiah in Jubilee and all of it is about me they listen politely and they're amazed at some of the gracious things pouring out of his mouth then they listen to Jesus warned them about the danger of demanding these signs and these proofs and they absolutely lose it they are furious they are outraged and Luke says in what I think is one of the most interesting stories in all of the gospels they're in the synagogue they rise up you talk about spontaneity in the worship service here it is they rise up grab Jesus haul him out of the synagogue through the streets to the edge of town we don't know exactly what hill it was but it might have been this hill we'll put a picture of it up might have been this hill that they take him to this hill on the edge of Nazareth and they are so furious that one of their own would have the gall to say the things that Jesus said they take him to this hill and they're just ready to toss him and it's exciting and it's intense and Luke says what and then Jesus just walked away why didn't he do that at the synagogue why didn't he do that on third street why didn't he do it when they got outside of town he waits till they get to the edge of the hill and then he just walks away and my mind is so curious I think how did it happen was it like like he used some sort of space age laser to freeze him in place and there they are getting ready to throw him and they're frozen and then he walks off was it like Sodom and Gomorrah where God struck those people with blindness and they're groping around and they can't was it like that he struck them with blindness and they're falling off the edge of the cliff and there's Jesus just walking away I want to know how did that happen they're ready to murder him to throw him off the edge and Luke just leaves us hanging Jesus just walked away and I thought about that all week how did it happen how did it happen what could have been going on and finally I realized the how is not important the why is important it doesn't matter how Jesus performed this little mini miracle on the edge of town here's why it happened Luke 19 10 the son of man had come to seek and to save the lost he was on a specific mission from God this was not willy-nilly make it up as you go type stuff Jesus had a definite purpose and a definite mission and a definite plan in his life and the plan was I'm going to cancel all debts by paying for them on the cross and you know what I'm gonna do it my way not your way so when Herod tries to kill the innocence and battle him that's not my way it's not gonna work and when these people in Nazareth try to toss me off the edge of the cliff that's not how it's going down it's gonna happen in my way in my time because it's my mission you see the same thing in Luke 4 in verse 21 when Jesus says the scripture is fulfilled in your hearing I am here to fulfill scripture I'm not making this stuff up as I go God has promised you these things for thousands and thousands of years and they're about to happen exactly how God wants them to happen so even though you're ready to kill me it's not gonna happen am I gonna die yes am I gonna die at the hands of an angry mob yes are Jewish people gonna be involved in it yes is it gonna be ridiculously violent and outrageous yes but this is not my time or my place or my way and it happens in my time in my place in my way and so Luke says he just walks away here's the frightening thing as you read through the gospel of Luke this is the last time Jesus went home to preach this is the last opportunity many of these people ever had to listen to Jesus the last time they ever looked truth incarnate in the eyeballs and heard him preach from the scriptures and say it's all about me you need to repent and believe the kingdom of God has come this was their last chance there's a lot of folks who are waiting to respond to Jesus and repentance and faith maybe you're waiting for a sign maybe you're waiting for proof maybe you're waiting for a person and something to happen in your life maybe you're waiting for a job or an educational milestone to be reached maybe you're waiting because you want to try to clean up some of the mess in your own life before you come to Jesus people wait for crazy reasons what I'm saying to you is don't wait do not wait these people were interested in Jesus they listened to him preach his sermon they questioned themselves and they tried to think it through and they tried to put all the pieces together they weren't initially hostile this was their last chance to repent of their sins and put their faith in Jesus he didn't come back to preach he didn't come back to heal he didn't come back to give them the proof that they desperately desperately wanted this was it and I don't want to be the preacher that stands up and tries to scare you into making a decision because that's a lousy reason to make a decision but I can't help but see in this story that responding to Jesus is not something you do tomorrow it's something you do today it is urgent it is supremely urgent Luke is telling us that Jesus came to fulfill scripture he came the son of man came to seek and to save you and his call on your life could not be more simple repent of your sins and believe in me that's the call in the invitation this morning let's pray Father when we read about Jesus and we think about Jesus we are amazed we're filled with awe and there's things we don't understand and there's details we don't know but we are grateful that in Luke 4 the truth is plain and it's obvious and it's staring us right in the face we're reminded that Jesus came to seek and to save the lost and that his call on our life is repentance and faith Father whether we have done that many many years ago or whether we have never done it that's a call on our life today to turn away from our sin and to believe in Jesus Father we need your grace to do that we need your spirit to work in our hearts for that to happen and so Father this morning we pray for grace we pray for your spirit we pray that these words would cut us to the heart Father I pray for the folks who may be here who have never turned away from their sin and trusted in Jesus and I pray that they would do it today they would do it as we sing they would do it before we leave they would do it right now Father as your people we want to continue in worship we want to sing about your grace and we want to sing about Jesus Father we believe that Jesus is better than anything that this world has to offer Father send your spirit to fill us and to convict us and to strengthen us as we worship we ask it in Jesus name amen. Stand up.