Sermon snippet – The Power of Jesus or the Power of Man
INTRODUCTION – Luke 4:14-30 takes place early in the ministry of Jesus. This passage is both exhilarating and exhausting, for it reveals the vast difference between the power of Jesus and the power of man.
- THE POWER OF JESUS IS POSITIVE
In verses 18-19, Jesus claims to be the promised Messiah. He quotes from Isaiah 61:1-2a. Two things jump out to me. First, the teaching of that passage is explicitly Trinitarian. We worship One God in Three Persons. God must be distinct from us; otherwise, He is not God. As the Messiah, Jesus is fully God and thus possesses the complete power of God to save. Note that this power is especially at work in the lives of the powerless – the “poor,” the “brokenhearted,” the “captives,” the “blind,” the “bruised.” There is no greater manifestation of might than the transformation of the lives of those that are unwanted, particularly since it is an eternal transformation. Second, Jesus did not read all of Isaiah 61:2. The second part of that verse speaks of the “day of vengeance of our God,” which will be fulfilled at the return of Jesus Christ. For millennia, Jesus has withheld this power of judgment. Man’s tendency is to immediately employ his dominion over others. The longsuffering restraint of Jesus stands in stark contrast. Of course, when His final justice is dispensed, we will observe a mastery that no man can withstand.
- THE POWER OF MAN IS NEGATIVE
If we exercise authority in the manner of Jesus, then we can do a good work. However, on our own, mankind’s power tends to be harmful and hurtful. First, verses 22-28 reveal the power of prejudice. The Jewish listeners “were filled with wrath” that Jesus used old Testament history to show that God has always cared about all people. As soon as we reject the Biblical teaching that all of us are created in God’s image (Genesis 1:27), we are headed down the pernicious path of prejudice. These people in Nazareth should have been thrilled that the Messiah was with them, and they should have rejoiced that His salvation was available to all. Instead, because they disliked other people simply because they were different, the neighbors of Jesus also rejected Him. Second, the power of violence is a sadly logical outcome of prejudice. In verses 29-30, these prejudiced people sought to kill Jesus, but it was not yet time for Him to die. As we have discussed recently, Christians have the right to self-defense because our lives are valuable, and we must defend the defenseless (like the people in verse 18) and overthrow oppressors (what theologians call a just war). We must not use these exceptions to condone or promote violence. We remember the riots of last summer, and we are perhaps on the precipice of another round of that evil behavior. There is nothing new under the sun: if Jesus’ unneighborly townmates sought to kill Him because He wanted to help everyone, we should not be surprised when similar violence is directed to others. We should not, however, be partakers of this sin of violence.
CONCLUSION – The people wanted to cast Jesus to His death; Jesus responded by casting out a demon from an afflicted man (verses 31-35). This juxtaposition reminds us that Jesus exercises power differently. Each one of us needs His power to save us from our sins, including the sins of prejudice and violence. Then, each one of us must desire that His power work in and through us to bring about the positive changes that we desperately need.