Sunday: Reactions to Jesus
Read the Gospels; read the New Testament. All through these books incredible claims are made about not only what Jesus did but, even more important, about who Jesus was. (Of course, what Jesus did powerfully attested to who He was.)
Image © Marcus Mashburn from GoodSalt.com
These claims-that He is God, that He is our Redeemer, that He alone is the way to eternal life-demand our attention because they are full of implications that have eternal consequences for every human being.
Read Luke 4:16-30. What caused the people to react as they did? See also John 3:19.
His hometown audience was at first thrilled to see Jesus, who, after performing many miracles and wonders, returned to Nazareth, and they marveled at the gracious words
He spoke (Luke 4:22, NKJV). But their reaction to His rebuke showed what spirit truly animated them.
Read Luke 7:17-22. What was John’s question about Jesus, and why would he have asked it?
Even John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus and the one who announced Jesus as the Lamb of God,
had doubts creeping into the depths of his soul. He wanted to know: Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?
(Luke 7:19, NKJV).
Notice, too, that Jesus does not answer John’s question directly; instead, He points to acts that cry out in witness: the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them
(Luke 7:22, NKJV). One could argue that Jesus didn’t need to answer John’s question directly; His deeds and actions gave ample testimony of who He was.
In a sense, the answer that Jesus gave might have caused John even a bit more consternation. After all, if Jesus has the power to do all these incredible things, why am I languishing here in jail? Who hasn’t, amid their own personal tragedies, wondered something similar: if God has all this power, why is this happening to me? Why is the Cross, and all it represents and promises, our only answer?
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I love and enjoy Sabbath School Quarterly Lesson,s I really have learned from these studies. God bless.
They threw Him out of town bcoz they were seeing a fellow man claiming 2 be God. They thought the messiah would come in glory, not as a carpenter's son. When a believer faces challenges and questions God's providence, it shows little faith and lack of trust. Inspite of everything he has to remember that there is no peace in these last days. And Romans 8:28.
Kidaaga, I think what you say in the first sentence answers a lot of the question. I think we can also take what you say a little further. They all saw Jesus grow up in Nazareth so to them he was just like any of the other boys that grew up in that town. On top of that there were no less than a half dozen other people during that time that were claiming to be the Messiah who turned out to be frauds. Besides, wasn't the Messiah supposed to come from Bethlehem according to Micah 5:2?
He was also contrary to all they believed to the extent that when He read in the synagogue that part out of Isaiah that was so proudly read every sabbatical year He very obviously left out the best part in their view, the part about the vengeance of God. They simply couldn't see beyond their own noses and discern the moving of the Holy Spirit. Because of all of that it was rather difficult for them to see Him as the Messiah, to them He was just an ordinary person that looked like all the rest of the other peasants in the area except that He seemed to disregard them and that angered their sensitive pride.
Kidaaga Joan,
Yes, if we were in their place and believed that our leaders were always right, and someone comes along and claim otherwise we would honestly believe that he is a heretic or a deceiver. But the text in the lesson from John 3:19 shows us that we react negatively to those things that stand against the things that we love. The things we set our hopes on. Or the bible interpretations that appeals to our pride.
Sister White wrote:
"If they accepted His teachings, their practices must be changed, and their cherished hopes relinquished...If they obeyed the words of this new rabbi, they must go contrary to the opinions of the great thinkers and teachers of the time." {DA 241.4}
Isaiah wrote the condition of Israel saying, "Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment." Isaiah 1:4-6 (KJV)
God said that the 'head' and the 'heart' is sick. We know that out of every illnesses that when this two organs are affected then poor judgment and death is expected.
Jesus has just read the scripture that promises healing and liberation from bondage (Luke 4:18,19) but like someone who is addicted to drugs they would easily kill when we try to snatch away their cherished indulgence. The only hope of the sick nation is to receive the heaven sent prescription for their healing, but instead they judged it unworthy because they saw that it was wrapped up with a package unlike what they had been expecting. The contrast Jesus drew before the hearers of how Elijah and Elisha worked miracles for two heathens instead of their own people aroused their 'national pride' and were more willing to break the 6th commandment then to repent and in faith accept the promised Messiah.
May God anoint our spiritual eyes so we don't make the same mistake. (Revelation 3:18)
(Read Desire of Ages chapter 24)
God Bless
That has explained to me even better the reactions of the people that were in the synagogue. What amazes me the most is the quick change and revealing of the inner persons in them. One minute they were religious and respected people and the next; a mob of angry murderers. The hatred for truth and submission led them to extremes......It would be well with us not to follow suit.
I cannot deny this, amid my personal tragedies, I even ask this question, by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, light from His words and the wonders I see everyday is a live witness of the Jesus I am serving and worship. Jesus Is God.
When i finally achieved an intimate relationship with God, i was blessed with the knowledge and understanding of who God is, glimpses of truths enough to amazingly convinced me of a Loving God we have, gracious, merciful, forbearing and long-suffering towards all His Creatures, all knowing and perfect in all His ways. With this knowledge of God in mind, i can boldly without a doubt say, there is no failure with God. So when God launched out His Plan of Salvation of mankind, it would never be discouraged or fail, and that's how exactly it played out, and we are beyond fortunate to have such a God His is. When the Father offered His Son and the Son agreed to take up the tasks in defeating sin and evil to free mankind from the bondage it brings and the penalty demanded by God's Law, it would never be discouraged.
When we dwell on the details of the Plan of Salvation, trying to find out the significances of the little details, of who Jesus really is and why this person was chosen by God for a certain part in the Plan Of Salvation, there is an open door of doubts and perplexities that will present itself to the mind and we must be mindful and be always guided by the Holy Spirit on every thoughts. JESUS IS GOD THE SON! God said it, and i believed it, and that settled it for me. Every other interesting details in the Plan Of Salvation only proved how infinitely wise God is and i can only humble in awe with my finite mind of his wisdom and omnipotency.
You know I have read and reread this text, heard sermon after sermon on it, there has been thought provoking questions, and the answer is the same John doubted. I propose a different point of view to the question "Are you the One or do we look for another" was for the benefit of those he sent. John was a Nazarite from birth, he has listend to God speak to him though the Holy Spirit, he heard the Father say this is my beloved Son in who I am well pleased. He saw the Holy Spirit descend like a dove upon Jesus. He understood his mission, he knew that in his decreasing, death would soon take place and he wanted those that he had nurtured to see for themselves what the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world was capable of doing.
Did Jesus used His divinity to escape from the cliff?
Mr Joseph Walcott,
You asked, "Did Jesus used His divinity to escape from the cliff?"
I believe that He didn't because if He did then it would be like turning the stone Satan offered into bread to satisfy his hunger.
I believe that HE was being delivered.
"The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them." Psalms 34:7 (KJV)
"For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone." Psalms 91:11-12 (KJV). The same verse that Satan used from Psalms is here rightly applied when our Lord was being dragged onto the cliff to be cast down.
Sister White stated: "Some were casting stones at Him, when suddenly He disappeared from among them. The heavenly messengers who had been by His side in the synagogue were with Him in the midst of that maddened throng. They shut Him in from His enemies, and conducted Him to a place of safety." {DA 240.1}
Remember Jesus was our example. He must not use His divine power to save Himself but to rely upon heaven's promised protection to those who fear God.
You asked a good question sir, and i hope that this answer would give us hope and peace that just as Christ was being delivered by the angels from His enemies, we would be delivered if God still has work for us to do in His great plan of salvation.
Thank you Paul. Perfect.
Our faith doesn't come from what we know to be truth (Nazareth had seen Jesus grow up as a human boy) but from accepting God's word. We accept God's word because we believe God is who He says He is. We are saved because we humbly receive His grace.
Perhaps the most fascinating of events in this event was Jesus' rescue from that angry throng. He had come fully human and fully God; yet the path of righteousness he trod as fully man. When the angered crowd led Him out to the edge of the cliff; "...He suddenly disappeared from among them. The heavenly messengers who had been by His side in the synagogue were with Him in the midst of that maddened throng. They shut Him in from His enemies, and conducted Him to a place of safety. " The Desire of Ages 240.1
He proved to us that He depended daily upon the Father; even in that hour of a near-death experience He left it up to the Father to take care of Him. The Lord proved His promise that He wouldn't let His foot dash on the ground. I learn here that God just wants us to trust Him in the manner that His own Son did; to experience His promises fulfilled in our lives; even in the hours of darkness. Jesus did not resort to His divinity because he was nearing the edge of a cliff....He still put His hope in the Father. To follow after this manner would be wisdom for us.
If we could deviate a bit and ask again! Who are you!? or who am I? Many of us answer not with what we have done but rather by extrapolating our abilities in a bid to impress others! We ought to learn. from our Lord!
Jesus is my everthing. He is my Lord and Savior. He is the Son of Almighty God. He loves me and ensures me daily that He is always with me. He is my everything.
Did John the Baptist really doubt Christ as the Messiah? I am not quite sure. John had the Spirit that was in Elijah. This very John was perplexed when Jesus came to him for baptism, he felt unworthy to baptize his creator and his maker. This very John saw the Spirit of God descending upon Christ in the form of dove. This very John heard the voice from heaven confirming that Jesus was the beloved Son of God. How then could he still doubt Christ as the Messiah?
John had disciples just as Jesus had His. At one point, when his disciples told him of the fame Jesus was gathering, he said something similar to this, "I must decrease and He must increase". Also in one occasion when he saw Christ passing by, he told his disciples who were with him something similar to this, " Behold the lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world". The two disciples hearing this left and followed Christ.
I believe John knew who Christ was, but it might have troubled him that some of his own disciples were still clinging to him even when the Messiah had come.
I also think that he wanted his disciples to have a first had experience of who really Christ was, and the only way was to sent them to Christ with a question, " Are you really the One who was to come or should we expect another?". I think this question was meant to benefit John's disciples and not John per-say.
Christ deliberately lingered with an answer to give this followers of John an occasion to witness for themselves who really was in relation to the teachings they had received from their Master (John) regarding Christ.
Christ knowing that this loyal disciples were to give John a feedback, He comforted and encouraged John whom He knew was in prison, "Blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me". John needed these words of hope and comfort from the Lord.
I stand to be corrected when I say that John was not in doubt of Christ even when in prison and in pain.
Yes, Victor, I think you have a valid question concerning John the Baptist but I also think we need to remember that Elijah, as great as he was, after seeing the miracle on Mount Carmel and executing the 400 prophets of Baal ran like a scared rabbit at the threat of one woman who later would meet her own execution. Just because one is called by God and stands as a pillar of faithfulness doesn't mean that they don't have weaknesses and doubts - all do. Even Jesus under the strain of Gethsemane asked to be released from the sacrifice that lay ahead; and that was the perfect Lord of the universe who created everything.
All in all Jesus was concerned with men beleiving by faith, rather than knowing. That is why He didnt give a straight answer to John's disciples. So this teaches us that our relationship with Jesus should be based on nothing else but trust and faith in him.