Sunday
Morning Bible Study
November 21, 2004
:1-6 Faithless in Nazareth
:1 …came into his own country…
He’s gone home to Nazareth.
This isn’t the first time Jesus has done any ministry in Nazareth.
Luke records that the first time Jesus spoke publicly after having been
baptized and having been tested in the wilderness was at Nazareth (Luke
4:16-30). It went about as good then as it will this time. This time He’s not
alone, He’s got His disciples with Him.
:2 …many hearing him were astonished, saying, From
whence hath this man these things? …even such mighty works …
were astonished – ekplesso – to strike out, totally shocked,
flabbergasted.
This makes me think that when Jesus grew up in Nazareth,
He had not taught or performed miracles because now the people are so shocked
at what Jesus is doing. It seems out of place for Jesus to be doing these
things.
:3 Is not this the carpenter…the brother of James…and
of Juda
the carpenter – tekton – a worker in wood, craftsman, or workman
Mat. 13:55 tells us that Jesus
was the son of a carpenter (Joseph). Now we are told that Jesus was also a
carpenter.
Justin Martyr, who lived about a hundred years after Jesus, writes about
ploughs and yokes that Jesus made as a carpenter.
Mary’s husband Joseph isn’t mentioned. Perhaps he’s dead by this time.
We don’t know much about Joses, Simon, or the
sisters, but we do know about James and Jude.
James was the brother that wrote the epistle of James and was a leader,
perhaps considered the “pastor” of the church Jerusalem
(Acts 15).
Jude is the brother that wrote the little epistle of Jude.
:4 A prophet is not without honour, but in his own
country…
without honor – atimos – without value
If you’ve ever felt like the people closest to you didn’t understand what
God has done in your life, you’re not alone. Jesus wasn’t understood by those in
His hometown and in his own family. We believe that at this time His family
didn’t believe in Him (except possibly Mary).
:5 And he could there do no mighty work…
Faith is an important part of our relationship with God.
(Heb 11:6 KJV) But without faith it is impossible to please him:
for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and
that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek
him.
It’s not that Jesus was somehow stripped of His power because of their
unbelief, but that He was grieved because of their unbelief and would not do
any miracles there.
:6 And he marvelled because of their unbelief.
he marvelled – thaumazo – to wonder, marvel, to be amazed. Imperfect
tense.
The Scripture only records two times when Jesus “marvelled” (there’s lots
of times that everybody marvels at Jesus). I guess there aren’t a lot of things
that cause Jesus to be surprised.
The first time was with a Gentile centurion:
(Mat 8:5-13 KJV) And
when Jesus was entered into Capernaum,
there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, {6} And
saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.
{7} And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. {8} The
centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come
under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. {9} For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me:
and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh;
and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. {10} When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that
followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. {11} And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit
down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. {12} But the
children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be
weeping and gnashing of teeth. {13} And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy
way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was
healed in the selfsame hour.
It reminds me of some of the stories we looked at last week. The woman with
the hemorrhage believed enough to push her way through the crowd.
Jairus needed to keep believing in Jesus, even though the folks at home had
nothing but bad news for him.
The second time Jesus marvels is here in Nazareth,
His home town. Jesus is marveling at unbelief
People who had been strangers to Him were able to believe.
But those that ought to have known Him best struggled. But perhaps He was
just too “ordinary” for them.
Has Jesus become to “ordinary” for you? Do you expect Him to work for you? Do
you expect Him to answer your prayers? Can you push through to believe?
God is looking for those who are going to trust Him.
:7-13 Training Mission
for Twelve
:7 …began to send them forth by two and two
to send – apostello –this is where the word “apostle” comes from.
Lesson
Teamwork in ministry
Ministry is best when you aren’t alone.
We see it in the New Testament with Peter and John, Paul and Barnabas, Paul
and Silas
It makes for a better testimony –
Having two or more witnesses was a principle established by God as a way of
getting at the truth:
(Deu 19:15 KJV) One witness shall not rise up
against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at
the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the
matter be established.
The truth comes through clearer from two people than just
coming from one.
It’s simply easier when you’re not alone.
(Eccl 4:9-12 KJV) Two are better than one; because they have a good
reward for their labour. {10} For if they fall, the
one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for
he hath not another to help him up. {11} Again, if two
lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? {12} And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and
a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
Encouragement. Support.
Warfare.
Years ago when I was a part of Campus Crusade for Christ,
we were taught to go witnessing on campus on twos. While one person shared, the
other person prayed.
Who’s on your team?
:8 … take nothing for their journey, save a staff
only; no scrip, no bread, no money in their purse:
a staff – rhabdos – a walking stick
scrip – pera – a leather sack, almost like a backpack.
This word was also used to describe a “beggar’s collecting bag”. There were
“beggar priests” who would travel around collecting money for their “gods”. Perhaps
Jesus is saying that He doesn’t want the fellows going around begging for money
either to support Jesus or for themselves.
purse – zone
– a girdle, it not only functioned as a belt to keep your robes tied up,
but since it was hollow, it was used to carry money.
money – chalkos – brass; coins of brass. It’s interesting that Jesus doesn’t say
to take gold or silver. That was probably a given because the only money the
disciples would have on them was the cheap brass stuff.
:9 …and not put on two coats.
coats – chiton – a tunic, an undergarment, usually worn next to the skin
In other words, they went with just the clothes on their back.
The beginnings of
ministry.
This is the first time Jesus is going to send these guys out to do ministry
by themselves.
Later when Jesus would send out a group of seventy for
the first time, and He’d give them much the same kind of instruction (Luke
10:1-7).
Yet at the end of His ministry, Jesus’ instructions would change a bit:
(Luke 22:35-38 KJV) And he said unto them, When
I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing? And they
said, Nothing. {36} Then said
he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his
scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one…
For now, it’s sort of a training mission. I think that some of the
instructions are about learning the basics about what ministry is all about.
The point is not that these are hard fast rules that always need to be
followed, but these perhaps the lessons that need to be learned at the
beginning of ministry.
Lesson
Travel light.
Ministry doesn’t really need lots of whizbang
gadgets. It’s not wrong to have things like sound systems, cool instruments,
and guitar amps, but it’s good to learn first that ministry is dependant on God
being at work, not our gadgets.
Illustration
When we go to Russia, we have a weight limit of forty-five pounds. That
means that everything you take for two weeks has to be under
forty-five pounds. That’s tough! Before you leave, you’re panicking about how
you’re going to survive without all the things you want to take.
But when you get there, you find out that it doesn’t take a lot to go out
and be used by the Lord.
:10 …In what place soever ye enter into an house,
there abide …
Accept the hospitality of the first place that invites you to stay. Don’t
go shopping around for a better deal.
:11 shake off the dust under your feet for a
testimony against them…
shake off – The Jews hated Gentiles
so much that when they walked through Gentile territory, they would shake the
dust off their feet lest they take it into Jewish territory. If the apostles
were mistreated by a host or hostess, they were to be treated as if they were
Gentiles.
Lesson
Sometimes you need to drop it and move on.
The apostles Paul and Barnabas give us an example of doing this when they
visited Antioch in Pisidia. Paul
had preached a wonderful message on the first Sabbath day after they had just
arrived …
(Acts 13:44-52 KJV) And the next sabbath
day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God. {45} But when
the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against
those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. {46}
Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was
necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing
ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we
turn to the Gentiles. {47} For so hath the Lord
commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou
shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. {48} And
when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the
Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. {49} And the word of the Lord was published throughout all the
region. {50} But the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women, and the
chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and
expelled them out of their coasts. {51} But they shook off the dust of their
feet against them, and came unto Iconium. {52} And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy
Ghost.
We need to be sure to hear from God about this.
Sometimes God wants you to keep doing what you’re doing.
But sometimes you need to let go.
Illustration
A little old lady answered a knock on the door one day, only to be
confronted by a well-dressed young man carrying a vacuum cleaner. “Good
morning,” said the young man. “If I could take a couple of minutes of your
time, I would like to demonstrate the very latest in high-powered vacuum
cleaners. “Go away!” said the old lady. “I haven’t got any money!” and she
proceeded to close the door. Quick as a flash, the young man wedged his foot in
the door and pushed it wide open. “Don’t be too hasty!” he said. “Not until you
have at least seen my demonstration.” And with that, he emptied a bucket of
horse manure onto her hallway carpet. “If this vacuum cleaner does not remove
all traces of this horse manure from your carpet, Madam, I will personally eat
the remainder.” The old lady stepped back and said, “Well I hope you’ve got a
very good appetite, because the electricity was cut off this morning.”
There can be a place where a person simply is not open to what God wants to
do in their life, you and the gospel, and you shake off whatever dirt they've
splattered you with, and move on.
Let God handle it from there.
:12 …preached that men should repent.
men should repent – metanoeo – to change one’s mind about one’s previous
life and course of action.
It means that you realize that your life has been going in the wrong
direction and you make a choice to turn around.
Is this what you need to do?