Lesson 2 The Challenge of Jesus to the people of Nazareth as the people of Israel to be the light and a witness of God to the Gentile nations

The Challenge of Jesus to the people of Nazareth as the people of Israel

 to be the light and a witness of God to the Gentile nations

or to put it another way

Why did the people of Nazareth react so angrily to His Comments

About God sending help through His prophets to the Gentiles rather than Israelites?

Part One
Setting the scene, Taken from Luke chapters 1-4

• Jesus had returned to His home village of Nazareth where He had grown from boyhood to manhood.
•  He had lived in as one of them in an ordinary house.
•  He had half brothers and sisters.
•  He learned the trade of being a carpenter from his foster father Joseph. 
•  When Joseph died He took on the role of looking after His widowed mother and siblings through earning a living as a carpenter and possibly helping out in the fields by tending sheep or sowing seed or watched others do so hence the topics for His parables.
• He looked after His family until one of the others could be old enough to do so and when this occurred.
• Jesus was released by God to go forth and be baptized by John at the age of about 30 years of age.
• So that He could be empowered by God His Father who sent the Holy Spirit as a sign from Heaven that He is the One Israel is looking for through water baptism.  
• From there He was compelled by the Holy Spirit to go into the desert to be tempted by satan.
• When He passed these tests He came in the power of the Holy Spirit to Capernaum to begin His public ministry. First of all changing water into wine at Cana and the healing, casting out demons and teaching with authority in the synagogue in Capernaum and other areas. 
• Though Mary was among the women that did follow Jesus on his journeying from place to place in Israel and when He was dying on the cross, He gave the care of Mary over to John His beloved apostle in John 19.
• Finally it was time for Him to go and visit His home town and to them He gave them the honor of being told that He is the longed for Messiah.  The One that the prophets spoke of that God will send to the House of Israel as the descendant from the line of David.
• When they handed Jesus the scroll of the book of Isaiah which would have been the Half Torah reading during the Synagogue service.
•  Jesus located the place in Isaiah that spoke of the ministry of the servant of God to Israel which is Himself.

Luke 4:16-29
 16 So He came to Nazareth, [that Nazareth] where He had been brought up, and He entered the synagogue, as was His custom on the Sabbath day. And He stood up to read.
17 And there was handed to Him [the roll of] the book of the prophet Isaiah. He opened (unrolled) the book and found the place where it was written,
18 The Spirit of the Lord upon Me, because He has anointed Me [the Anointed One, the Messiah] to preach the good news (the Gospel) to the poor; He has sent Me to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed [who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity],
19 To proclaim the accepted and acceptable year of the Lord [the day when salvation and the free favors of God profusely abound].
20 Then He rolled up the book and gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were gazing [attentively] at Him.
21 And He began to speak to them: Today this Scripture has been fulfilled while you are present and hearing.
22 And all spoke well of Him and marveled at the words of grace that came forth from His mouth; and they said, Is not this Joseph’s Son?
23 So He said to them, You will doubtless quote to Me this proverb: Physician, heal Yourself! What we have learned by hearsay that You did in Capernaum, do here also in Your [own] town.
24 Then He said, Solemnly I say to you, no prophet is acceptable and welcome in his [own] town (country).
25 But in truth I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were closed up for three years and six months, so that there came a great famine over all the land;
26 And yet Elijah was not sent to a single one of them, but only to Zarephath in the country of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.
27 And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and yet not one of them was cleansed [by being healed]—but only Naaman the Syrian.
28 When they heard these things, all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage.
29 And rising up, they pushed and drove Him out of the town, and [laying hold of Him] they led Him to the [projecting] upper part of the hill on which their town was built, that they might hurl Him headlong down [over the cliff].
But passing through their midst, He went on His way.

• So we have set the scene, but why did the people react so angrily to what Jesus said about God sending help through the two of the greatest prophets who lived in Israel to Gentiles?
• Well let’s look at the following verses from Isaiah to get a bit of a clue.

Isaiah 42:6
6 I the Lord have called You [the Messiah] for a righteous purpose and in righteousness; I will take You by the hand and will keep You; I will give You for a covenant to the people [Israel], for a light to the nations [Gentiles],
Isaiah 49:3,6
 3 And [the Lord] said to me, You are My servant, Israel [you who strive with God and with men and prevail], in whom I will be glorified.
6 He says, It is too light a thing that you should be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors [of the judgments] of Israel; I will also give you for a light to the nations, that My salvation may extend to the end of the earth.

Israel was meant by God to be a nation that was to be a light to the Gentiles

• God had always intended the nation and people of Israel to be a light among the Gentile nations. 
•  He wanted them to shine forth His light into the nations of the known world around Israel. 
•  Israel was to be God’s kingdom of heaven on earth for He was their King and they were His subjects.  
• How they were they to be such an example to the heathen nations around them?  
• By this I mean God wanted them to be an example of Godly living through the way they lived pure, moral lives, how they dealt with the poor, the widows, the orphans, the stranglers, to show justice, mercy, compassion and kindness.  
• To show by their lives how they could live by walking uprightly by following the laws God gave them through Moses such laws were way different to the kind of laws the nations had that surrounded Israel. Deuteronomy 7.
• They were not to be like the nations following dumb idols which are in reality demons for behind every idol is a demon.  
• They were not to sacrifice their children to the fire or to follow fertility gods.
• For God Himself was to be their provider by bringing rain in its due season so that harvest will be plentiful through their obedience to God and serving and following Him. 
• They would live in good health and wealth their land will be prosperous and at peace because their God will be their protector and shelter.  
• They were to shine forth these things to the nations so that people will be drawn to God through their lives and when asked by the nations why are you so different to us?
• They were also to testify of God and His ways to be His witnesses to the nations in word and deeds.

Deuteronomy 4:1-8
 1 Now listen and give heed, O Israel, to the statutes and ordinances which I teach you, and do them, that you may live and go in and possess the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, gives you.
2 You shall not add to the word which I command you, neither shall you diminish it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.
3 Your eyes still see what the Lord did because of Baal-peor; for all the men who followed the Baal of Peor the Lord your God has destroyed from among you,
4 But you who clung fast to the Lord your God are alive, every one of you, this day.
5 Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land which you are entering to possess.
6 So keep them and do them, for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.
7 For what great nation is there who has a god so near to them as the Lord our God is to us in all things for which we call upon Him?
8 And what large and important nation has statutes and ordinances so upright and just as all this law which I set before you today?
Isaiah 43:9-12
9 Let all the nations be gathered together and let the peoples be assembled. Who among [the idolaters] could predict this [that Cyrus would be the deliverer of Israel] and show us the former things? Let them bring their witnesses, that they may be justified, or let them hear and acknowledge, It is the truth.
10 You are My witnesses, says the Lord, and My servant whom I have chosen, that you may know Me, believe Me and remain steadfast to Me, and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after Me.
11 I, even I, am the Lord, and besides Me there is no Savior.
12 I have declared [the future] and have saved [the nation in times of danger], and I have shown [that I am God]—when there was no strange and alien god among you; therefore you are My witnesses, says the Lord, that I am God.

Part Two

• So let us now turn our attention to the two prophets Elijah and Elisha and why did God use them to help two Gentile people?
• Let’s look at the meaning of their names and see if the meaning of their names may have a relationship to why God used them to help two Gentile people
• Elijah means My God is Yahweh or God the Lord, the strong Lord
• Elisha means My God is salvation

• Now keeping this in mind lets look at the two different accounts of these two prophets that Jesus used as an example to the synagogue in Nazareth.

Elijah God is Yahweh, God the Lord the strong Lord
1 Kings 17:7-24
7 After a while the brook dried up because there was no rain in the land.
8 And the word of the Lord came to him:
9 Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.
10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her, Bring me a little water in a vessel that I may drink.
11 As she was going to get it, he called to her and said, Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.
12 And she said, As the Lord your God lives, I have not a loaf baked but only a handful of meal in the jar and a little oil in the bottle. See, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and bake it for me and my son, that we may eat it—and die.
13 Elijah said to her, Fear not; go and do as you have said. But make me a little cake of [it] first and bring it to me, and afterward prepare some for yourself and your son.
14 For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: The jar of meal shall not waste away or the bottle of oil fail until the day that the Lord sends rain on the earth.
15 She did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days.
16 The jar of meal was not spent nor did the bottle of oil fail, according to the word which the Lord spoke through Elijah.
17 After these things, the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became sick; and his sickness was so severe that there was no breath left in him.
18 And she said to Elijah, What have you against me, O man of God? Have you come to me to call my sin to remembrance and to slay my son?
19 He said to her, Give me your son. And he took him from her bosom and carried him up into the chamber where he stayed and laid him upon his own bed.
20 And Elijah cried to the Lord and said, O Lord my God, have You brought further calamity upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?
21 And he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the Lord and said, O Lord my God, I pray You, let this child’s soul come back into him.
22 And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah, and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.
23 And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the [lower part of the] house and gave him to his mother; and Elijah said, See, your son is alive!
24 And the woman said to Elijah, By this I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.

Elijah and the widow

• In this account Elijah went to a widow in a town in the heart of Gentile territory because God wanted to hide him away from the wrath of Jezebel and Ahab because God in response to Elijah’s prayer sent a famine on the land for three years and there was no rain. 
• In other words they were in the midst of a three year drought.
• God had apparently spoken to a widow of the town of Zarephath. Whom He had appointed  to look after Elijah and to feed him.  
• Before she could do this Elijah asked her to feed him first by doing this she was giving unto the Lord as the prophet represented God, as He was anointed with the Spirit of God and spoke from the Lord to those around him.
• In other words Elijah was the light of God to this gentile woman a widow, 
• God does care for the widows and He instructed His people in the law of Moses to care for widows, orphans and strangers - see Deuteronomy 10:12 -13,17-18, Deuteronomy 14:29, Deuteronomy 24:17, 20-21. 
• The Apostle Paul was thinking of this law of God when he instructs about doing good to those in the Household of God - Galatians 6:9-10 and instructions on taking care of widows 1 Timothy 5:3-16.
• In Micah 6:8 God tells the people what does the Lord require of you but to do justly and walk humbly with your God.  
• Jesus through His various sermons and teaching also gave examples of how the people were to live He gave the spiritual understanding to the law the heart of the law.

Elijah as a type of Christ

• Elijah was showing the strength and protection of God to this Gentile widow, she regarded God as being his God not her God.  
• She was not even thinking about God when she was gathering sticks to make a fire for her last meal, yet when Elijah came upon the scene, she recognized him as a man of God or perhaps she had heard of him as being a prophet of God in Israel.  
• Elijah gave her instructions on what he wanted her to do as a test perhaps and she rose to the challenge because of her obedience in feeding him first.
• God spoke through him to her saying that the jar of meal and oil will not run out during the time of famine but she will be provided for while Elijah lived under her roof.  
• In a way it was like having God in your house for the Spirit of God was on Elijah and He carried the presence of the Lord with him where ever he went. 
•  While she looked after Elijah God took care of her and her son by bringing her under His sheltering wings.
• However the presence of God also brings conviction of sin for when the widow’s son got ill and died she asked Elijah what she had done to him to cause her sin to come up in remembrance before God and to slay her son.
• Elijah took her son and prayed for him and after a while he brought him back alive to his mother and she responded by saying that she knows he is a man of God and that the word of the Lord in his mouth is truth.  
• You would think by having feed her and her son for many days and the jar not going empty that she would know that this man was indeed a true prophet.  
• Yet it was only when Elijah had prayed for her son bringing him back to life did she perceive him to be a man of God who speaks truth.
• God brings conviction of sin but in this conviction if we turn to Him, He brings life from death.  For the wages of sin is death, the widow saw firsthand how God can bring life by giving life to her son and brought him back to life from death.
• In his witness to this woman Elijah was the light of God to her, he did this:
• By feeding her.
• By providing for her.
• By speaking the truth about the God of Israel.
• He also was a living example of God the God of Israel and he was able to pray for the widow’s son for him to be brought back to life from death.
• His presence as God's prophet brought conviction of sin as well.

Jesus as God's son also brings God's strength and protection.

• In Jesus too we find life. 
• For He is life.
• In Him we have provision, protection, and in some cases healing as we put our trust in Him and take shelter under His wings.  
• We find out that Jesus is indeed Yahweh, the God of Israel the strong Lord.
• That He is indeed the El Shaddai the Mighty One as He is the Son of Yahweh the God of Israel.  
• Jesus wanted the people of Nazareth to come to this realization too but they were not able to receive this truth.

2. Now lets look at Elisha
Elisha God is salvation
2 Kings 6:1-20
 1 Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, accepted [and acceptable], because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was also a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.
2 The Syrians had gone out in bands and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid, and she waited on Naaman’s wife.
3 She said to her mistress, Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! For he would heal him of his leprosy.
4 [Naaman] went in and told his king, Thus and thus said the maid from Israel.
5 And the king of Syria said, Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel. And he departed and took with him ten talents of silver, 6,000 shekels of gold, and ten changes of raiment.
6 And he brought the letter to the king of Israel. It said, When this letter comes to you, I will with it have sent to you my servant Naaman, that you may cure him of leprosy.
7 When the king of Israel read the letter, he rent his clothes and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends to me to heal a man of his leprosy? Just consider and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me.
8 When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, he sent to the king, asking, Why have you rent your clothes? Let Naaman come now to me and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.
9 So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stopped at Elisha’s door.
10 Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean.
11 But Naaman was angry and went away and said, Behold, I thought he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and heal the leper.
12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? May I not wash in them and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage.
13 And his servants came near and said to him, My father, if the prophet had bid you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much rather, then, when he says to you, Wash and be clean?
14 Then he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, as the man of God had said, and his flesh was restored like that of a little child, and he was clean.
15 Then Naaman returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and stood before him. He said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel. So now accept a gift from your servant.
16 Elisha said, As the Lord lives, before Whom I stand, I will accept none. He urged him to take it, but Elisha refused.
17 Naaman said, Then, I pray you, let there be given to me, your servant, two mules’ burden of earth. For your servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice to other gods, but only to the Lord.
18 In this thing may the Lord pardon your servant: when my master [the king] goes into the house of [his god] Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my hand and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow down myself in the house of Rimmon, may the Lord pardon your servant in this thing.
19 Elisha said to him, Go in peace. So Naaman departed from him a little way.

• In this account of Elisha and Naaman the general from Syria, God used a captured Israelite maid to speak about the prophet in Israel. 
• So out of the mouth of the young girl God spoke to the wife of this general and she must have told him about this prophet who could heal him.  
• The maid didn’t know the name of the prophet but she knew about him or God put it into her mind to tell her mistress and she told her husband.
• Naturally Naaman spoke to his king and his king though it was necessary to write to the king of Israel re Naaman’s needs.
• Also Naaman couldn’t rock up into Israel without a letter from one king to another for up until then he was Israel’s enemy having raided their land and taken people captive along with other things for booty. 
•  So he would need a letter giving reason why he was there of course this letter sent the unbelieving king of Samaria the capital of Israel into a panic thinking that this guy was looking for a fight if he couldn’t heal Naaman.  
• Either God or someone told Elisha what was going on and he sent a message to the king of Israel not to get into a panic but to send Naaman to him.
• So Naaman came to Elisha but Elisha didn’t heal Naaman by waving a hand over him or speaking a word he told him to go and wash seven times in the Jordan river then he will be healed.  
• This required an act of obedience and humility on Naaman’s part but at first he was angry.
• However some very brave servants dared to approach him and say if the man of God told him to do some great act wouldn’t he do it?  So why not do this bathe in the River Jordan?  So Naaman did and received his healing.
• Naaman came back and thanked Elisha even wanting to pay him for his services but Elisha refused to take money for his service as it was an act from the Spirit of God.  
• Let this be a lesson to us as well, as Elisha was unwilling to take a fee for his services then neither should we take money either but freely we have received and freely we shall give as Jesus instructs to do this in Matthew 10:8.

Matthew 10:8
8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.

• Instead Naaman asked to take some soil back to his land so that he could make an altar to the true God of Israel to worship Him as he now knows that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel.  
• This is important to note as this man was a gentile and worshipped other gods but through this act of healing from leprosy.   God revealed Himself to this man as being the only true God in all the earth.
• Leprosy in the bible is a symbol of sin and Naaman was a sinner who needed to be cleansed.  He was cleansed by washing in the river Jordan a form of baptism from life to death and seven times this is the perfect number representing God as being perfect. 
•  Elisha didn’t need to see him but spoke a word a bit like the Centurion who required Jesus to come and heal his servant but sent others to speak to Jesus, 
• Jesus would have gone into his house but the Centurion was willing to accept a word from Jesus for his servant to be healed and Jesus spoke the word and the boy was healed.
•  Jesus marveled at the faith of this man a gentile and that such faith was not found in the house of Israel to whom He was sent.

Matthew 8:5-13

5 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.

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.

• Getting back to Naaman, what does Naaman’s name mean?  It means pleasant, pleasantness, beautiful, agreeable delightful.
• In the end Naaman lived up to his name by being pleasant, beautiful, agreeable and delightful to the Lord, for he became a believer in the one true God of Israel.  To gain this knowledge of God and salvation God used a captive Israelite maid to be a witness to the greatness of God, by telling her mistress about a prophet in Israel who could help her master and through this prophet Naaman found healing and salvation.  
• So Elisha was able to help this man come to faith in God through sending him to be cleansed of leprosy by baptizing himself in the Jordan river.
•  Naaman had to be humbled first before he could do this and because he was humble enough to listen to his servants when they spoke to him about doing what the man of God told him to do.  
• He was able to receive his healing, if he didn’t obey the directions and was too proud to do so he would have missed out on two very key things in his life.  
• He would have not received his healing nor would he have come to the knowledge of the truth that the God of Israel is the only true God in all the earth and be saved through following Him.
• This applies to us today we too need to be humble enough to be obedient to do what God tells us to do in order to receive from Him whatever we may be seeking Him for.

In summation Elijah as an Israelite was a light representing Israel’s God to a widow in need.

• Elisha was able to bring salvation and healing to a man who was Israel’s enemy from Syria a gentile nation but this man was directed to go to the prophet in Israel. Through the witness of a child an Hebrew / Israelite slave taken into captivity by Naaman himself through one of his raids into Israel.
• Jesus Himself is also our witness; He is the witness in visible form of His Father see Hebrews chapter 1.  

Hebrews 1:1-10

1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high:

4 Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

5 For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?

6 And again, when he bringeth in the first begotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.

7 And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.

8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.

9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

10 And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands:

• Not only that He is God’s answer to the leprosy of sin in mankind, 
• He is God’s way of salvation and healing in that through Christ we can have healing from sin and be reconciled back to God.

 2 Corinthians 5:17-21

17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;

19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.

21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

 Jesus is our salvation and healing and one day we will receive that healing and salvation in full when He returns Hebrews 9:28.
28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

Part Three

• Let us now return to Jesus speaking in the synagogue in his hometown in Nazareth and how he was referring to these two examples of how God ministered His mercy to two gentiles showing forth, His love, care, protection, provision, healing and salvation. 
•  How God used Elijah to be His light to a gentile widow and how God used a maid to be a witness.  
• By speaking about the prophet in Israel to her mistress who spoke to her husband about the prophet in Israel who heals. 
• Thereby she was used by God to direct her master to go to a prophet in Israel his enemy to receive healing, and forgiveness of sins through cleansing of leprosy.
• Through his obedience to the command of Elisha to wash in the river Jordan Naaman thereby received his healing and salvation by believing in the one true God of Israel.
• Through giving these two examples of what was required by God of Israel to be a light to nations and a witness of God for them to know God and to come to Him for salvation.  
• Jesus struck a raw nerve as the people of Israel / Judah had long forgotten that this is what God wanted them to be among the nations who were not of the land of Canaan.
• The people had become insular and thereby they had become full of pride and self righteousness.
• Yes they became even smug in thinking that they were better and more superior to the nations around them because they were the chosen people.  
• God wanted them to be a chosen people for the Messiah to come from among them. To teach them how to worship Him. To teach them how to live as a nation in doing good and justice to live rightly with their God so that they can draw others unto Him.  God taught Israel these things through His righteous laws, statutes and commandments.
• Even within their society the religious leaders had become proud looking down on the common man caught in their sin and trespasses.
• They had the keys of the kingdom but kept the sinners out thinking that they were too good for them and more righteous than they.
• This same kind of thinking of pride and elitism has also affected many orthodox and ultra orthodox Israelis today. 
• They are sinners trapped in their sin but they are too proud to humble themselves to reach out to their own God.  To admit to Him that they are sinners in need of salvation to call upon God to save them through His Son.  
• He is a stumble stone over which they must stumble otherwise if they don’t do this He as that chief cornerstone will fall upon these people and crush and pulverize them to pieces. 1 Peter 2:3-8, Isaiah 8:13-15, Isaiah 28:16, Matthew 21:42-46.

1 Peter 2:3-8

3 If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

4 To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,

5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

6 Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.

7 Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,

8 And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.

Isaiah 8:13-15.

13 Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.

14 And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

15 And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.

Isaiah 28:16

16 Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.

Matthew 21:42-46
42 Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?

43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.

44 And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

45 And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them.

46 But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet.

• So when the people in Nazareth heard what Jesus had to say.  The truth He spoke hit a raw nerve in their religious self righteousness.
• They got offended at His message and they all rose up as one to try and put him to death by stoning and pushing him off a cliff on which their village was situated.  
• However Jesus being God could not be done away with like this and it was not yet His time to go so He simply walked out from among them and went on His way. 
•  Their pride, lack of faith in Him because they thought they knew Him as a mere man stopped Him from doing any miracles among them other than laying hands on a few sick people to heal them.
• It is not that Jesus couldn't heal or do great miracles among them.  He could it is just He chose not to heal or do great miracles among them as a form of judgment because of their unbelief in Him.  
• They were offended that he a mere man in their view should make out that he is the Messiah of Israel and tell them that God sent the two greatest prophets to the Gentiles to show them His mercy and love.  
• For they took umbrage at him by saying isn't he Joseph the carpenter's son and they named his brothers and said also that his sisters were among them.  
• Of the three gospel accounts of Jesus speaking in His hometown Synagogue only Luke gives more details about what Jesus spoke about and about how He read from the prophet Isaiah and gave a sermon about God how He used His two greatest prophets to help two Gentile people.

Luke 4:16-29
16 So He came to Nazareth, [that Nazareth] where He had been brought up, and He entered the synagogue, as was His custom on the Sabbath day. And He stood up to read.
17 And there was handed to Him [the roll of] the book of the prophet Isaiah. He opened (unrolled) the book and found the place where it was written,
18 The Spirit of the Lord upon Me, because He has anointed Me [the Anointed One, the Messiah] to preach the good news (the Gospel) to the poor; He has sent Me to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed [who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity],
19 To proclaim the accepted and acceptable year of the Lord [the day when salvation and the free favors of God profusely abound].
20 Then He rolled up the book and gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were gazing [attentively] at Him.
21 And He began to speak to them: Today this Scripture has been fulfilled while you are present and hearing.
22 And all spoke well of Him and marveled at the words of grace that came forth from His mouth; and they said, Is not this Joseph’s Son?
Matthew 13:54-58

54 And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works?

55 Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?

56 And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?

57 And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house.

58 And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

Mark 6:1-6

1 And he went out from thence, and came into his own country; and his disciples follow him.

2 And when the sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands?

3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.

4 But Jesus, said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.

5 And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them.

6 And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching.

• So who was he to make out he is the messiah. They allowed their knowledge of Him growing up among them to blind them to the truth of who He really was and likewise today the Jewish people are blinded to who Jesus really is as the Son their God and their Messiah.
• The people of Nazareth would not have known the unusual circumstances of His birth. Other than Mary and Joseph's immediate families and even then maybe not many would have known other than the ones Mary and Joseph would have told and could trust with the knowledge of the conception and birth of Jesus.  Also Luke was told about the circumstances of the birth of Jesus when he was writing the gospel but that was years later.  
• People may have spoken about the birth of Jesus in His village but perhaps not in glowing terms possibly thinking that he was born out of wedlock and Joseph took Mary in so as not to shame her.  
• So He probably grew up with people calling Him names because they assumed He was born in formincation.
• Mark's account mentions only Jesus being the carpenter the son of Mary no mention of His being the son of Joseph.  So in this account it shows forth what the people were thinking by saying how did He get this wisdom and who is this person who is illegitimate teaching us?  
• It must have been common knowledge for even in John 8 the people accused Him of being born in formication this was in Jerusalem when He was teaching in the temple.

Mark 3:1-3

1 And he went out from thence, and came into his own country; and his disciples follow him.

2 And when the sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands?

3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.

John 8:41

41 Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.

• The people of His home village didn't understand that Jesus was not born out of wedlock that He indeed was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit when He came upon Mary.  
• Jesus was the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy within their midst.   God chose their humble village to have His Son grow up in. So that He could live a normal life like everyone else except for one thing.  He was and is God who was born in a human body.
• So that He could experience what it is like to be human to be the sin bearer to take the sins of humankind upon Himself when He finally did go to the cross as the peace offering for sin to God His Father.
• He was known as the Nazarene because of the place village He grew up in but also it means one who takes a vow unto God not to drink alcohol or to cut their hair until the vow is complete. 

Nazarite vow the requirements of the vow.  

Numbers 6:1-21

1 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the Lord:

3 He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried.

4 All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk.

5 All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth himself unto the Lord, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow.

6 All the days that he separateth himself unto the Lord he shall come at no dead body.

7 He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die: because the consecration of his God is upon his head.

8 All the days of his separation he is holy unto the Lord.

9 And if any man die very suddenly by him, and he hath defiled the head of his consecration; then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing, on the seventh day shall he shave it.

10 And on the eighth day he shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons, to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation:

11 And the priest shall offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, and make an atonement for him, for that he sinned by the dead, and shall hallow his head that same day.

12 And he shall consecrate unto the Lord the days of his separation, and shall bring a lamb of the first year for a trespass offering: but the days that were before shall be lost, because his separation was defiled.

13 And this is the law of the Nazarite, when the days of his separation are fulfilled: he shall be brought unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation:

14 And he shall offer his offering unto the Lord, one he lamb of the first year without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish for a sin offering, and one ram without blemish for peace offerings,

15 And a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, and wafers of unleavened bread anointed with oil, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings.

16 And the priest shall bring them before the Lord, and shall offer his sin offering, and his burnt offering:

17 And he shall offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the Lord, with the basket of unleavened bread: the priest shall offer also his meat offering, and his drink offering.

18 And the Nazarite shall shave the head of his separation at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall take the hair of the head of his separation, and put it in the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace offerings.

19 And the priest shall take the sodden shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them upon the hands of the Nazarite, after the hair of his separation is shaven:

20 And the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord: this is holy for the priest, with the wave breast and heave shoulder: and after that the Nazarite may drink wine.

21 This is the law of the Nazarite who hath vowed, and of his offering unto the Lord for his separation, beside that that his hand shall get: according to the vow which he vowed, so he must do after the law of his separation.

• In the case of Jesus Nazarene also means root or branch.  I will also include scriptures from the Old Testament and Revelation that refer prophetically to Jesus as the branch or root of David.  Or what Jesus Himself says in Revelation concerning Himself being the root of David.

Matthew 2:23 KJV
23 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.
Matthew 2:23 Amplified Bible
23 He went and dwelt in a town called Nazareth, so that what was spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled: He shall be called a Nazarene [Branch, Separated One].
Isaiah 11:1-5

1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:

2 And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord;

3 And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:

4 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth: with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.

5 And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.

Isaiah 53:1-8

1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?

2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

Jeremiah 23:5-6

5 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.

6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, The Lord Our Righteousness

Zechariah 3:8-9

8 Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the Branch.

9 For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.

Zechariah 6:11-13

11 Then take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest;

12 And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The Branch; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord:

13 Even he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.

Revelation 5:1-10

1 And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.

2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?

3 And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.

4 And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.

5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

7 And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.

8 And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.

9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;

10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

Revelation 22:16
16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.

• Yet they were unwilling to receive Him so He had to leave them and make His headquarters for ministry in another place more receptive but that place too would receive criticism from God on the Day of judgment.

 Matthew 11:20-24
20 Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not:

21 Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

22 But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you.

23 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.

24 But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.

 Luke 10:13-15

Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.

14 But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment, than for you.

15 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be thrust down to hell.

• Jesus even said that we are not to be offended by Him  

Matthew 11:6 
6 And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.

• Yet we do get offended by Him from time to time because we don’t understand Him for He is God and cannot be boxed in or be made to do what we want Him to do. 
• We are to be His servants, He is not our servant in that we cannot manipulate Him and tell Him what to do. 
•  God is sovereign, Jesus being the Son of God and God the Son is as sovereign as His Father and likewise the Holy Spirit too being God is sovereign and cannot be manipulated to suit our whims.
• In the end Israel failed to be the light and witness for God.
•  God then raised up a body we call the church made up of both believing Jews and Gentiles to be His light and witness.
• For we are to carry the truth of who Jesus is as our salvation through His death on the cross that His blood cleanses us from all sin and unrighteousness.  
• That He gives us His righteousness in exchange for our filthy rags and He is alive for He is risen from the grave, He is in heaven waiting to come forth from God.
• To redeem Israel as a nation when they call for Him and enroute to redeem Israel.  When He comes from heaven He will be catching those who are alive and belong to Him up to Himself in the clouds as well as raising the righteous dead in the first resurrection.  Matthew 24:29-31, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17, Acts 1:11, Zechariah 14:3-4. Revelation 20:1-10.

Matthew 24:29-31

29  Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-17

13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Acts 1:9-11

9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.

10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;

11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

Zechariah 14:3-4

3 Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.

4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.

Revelation 20:1-10

1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,

3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,

8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog, and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

• Jesus is the light to the gentiles and the New Covenant for the Jews. 
•  We are to tell the Jews that God has made a New Covenant with them through Jesus and to tell the people of the nations that Jesus is the light of truth in their darkness.  For He is the Son of the One True God of Israel and Jesus is God as well.
• Though He came the first time to bring peace and salvation to declare the year of favor of the Lord.  
• Jesus is coming back the second time as a warrior King with a sword, which is His word coming out of His mouth to deal in judgment with those who refuse to be obedient to the gospel. 
• This is becoming more and more common nowadays as  the church is becoming apostate and pagan and the world is becoming more and more rebellious towards God as well turning back to the darkness of paganism.  
• Scoffers are on the rise within the church and in the world and Israel is now back in her land being attacked by her enemies on all sides.  
• Yet God is bringing this age to a close by allowing these things to take place for His kingdom to come to earth through the return of His Son to Jerusalem and Israel. 2 Thessalonians 1 & 2, 2 Peter 3, Psalm 83, Revelation 19:11-21.
• So there you have it why the people of Nazareth got angry with Jesus.
• When He spoke about God sending two of Israel’s greatest prophets to bring healing, salvation, provision and life to gentiles.
• For this is what God wants us all to do now as His witnesses whether we be Jewish or Gentile. 
•  We must proclaim the gospel to all men to bring them out of satan’s kingdom into God’s kingdom of light through His Son.

 Colossians 1:13-14

13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:

14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:

1 Peter 2:9 
9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;

• For one day soon God’s kingdom will come upon the earth through Jesus to restore all things to Israel.
• Also to fulfill the prophecies concerning Israel and Jerusalem, in the not too distant future this will come about. 
• Praise His name, Glory to our Great God for He will have His way and triumph over all of His enemies.

This leads us onto lesson 3: 
Jesus the suffering servant who washed His disciples' feet