Is Jesus Enough?
This morning our men continued our study of Luke 4 as we discussed Jesus returning to His hometown of Nazareth after His baptism. It was a lively discussion even though we meet so early. It is a great way to start off the work week.
Basically, the story is simple. Jesus went home to the synagogue in which He was raised. Since He was a grown man at this point, He could take His turn to read from God's Word, and He chose a passage from Isaiah 61:1,2. They knew these verses were foretelling the long-awaited Messiah. So, Jesus was very clear when He told them that this Scripture was fulfilled that day. He was telling His hometown folks that He was the Messiah.
This was done with no fanfare or sensationalism. There was no parade announcing Him to the world. It was a simple statement from God's Word and from God's Son to the people who knew Him only as Joseph, the carpenter's son. It seems to me that Jesus was following the lessons He learned from the trials of His baptism. He did not need to turn stones to bread, jump off the Temple, or seek fame. He needed to call people to realize that God the Father was fulfilling His plan to send a Redeemer, and Jesus was that special person.
Then, those people in attendance and all of us have to decide, if Jesus is enough. Do we have to have the sensationalism or all of the whoop-la? Can we just accept the Lord Jesus as the God-Man, who came to give His sinless life and blood for us? The answer is yes. Jesus is enough for anyone who trusts Him. They do not need anything else. He is totally sufficient. I think that is why His first big announcement of who He was came to the ones who knew Him as a boy, a teen, and a young man. He wanted them to know that even though he had not worked miracles up to this point, He was the Messiah they had awaited for hundreds of years. They should have rejoiced, but they balked. For them Jesus was not enough. They wanted more. The problem is there is nothing more than Jesus. He is all we need. He is enough. Anything else is hollow compared with the real Jesus.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Psalms 29-30 and Acts 23:1-15.
Basically, the story is simple. Jesus went home to the synagogue in which He was raised. Since He was a grown man at this point, He could take His turn to read from God's Word, and He chose a passage from Isaiah 61:1,2. They knew these verses were foretelling the long-awaited Messiah. So, Jesus was very clear when He told them that this Scripture was fulfilled that day. He was telling His hometown folks that He was the Messiah.
This was done with no fanfare or sensationalism. There was no parade announcing Him to the world. It was a simple statement from God's Word and from God's Son to the people who knew Him only as Joseph, the carpenter's son. It seems to me that Jesus was following the lessons He learned from the trials of His baptism. He did not need to turn stones to bread, jump off the Temple, or seek fame. He needed to call people to realize that God the Father was fulfilling His plan to send a Redeemer, and Jesus was that special person.
Then, those people in attendance and all of us have to decide, if Jesus is enough. Do we have to have the sensationalism or all of the whoop-la? Can we just accept the Lord Jesus as the God-Man, who came to give His sinless life and blood for us? The answer is yes. Jesus is enough for anyone who trusts Him. They do not need anything else. He is totally sufficient. I think that is why His first big announcement of who He was came to the ones who knew Him as a boy, a teen, and a young man. He wanted them to know that even though he had not worked miracles up to this point, He was the Messiah they had awaited for hundreds of years. They should have rejoiced, but they balked. For them Jesus was not enough. They wanted more. The problem is there is nothing more than Jesus. He is all we need. He is enough. Anything else is hollow compared with the real Jesus.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Psalms 29-30 and Acts 23:1-15.