On this episode of Classic Christianity Radio, Bob George reflects on Jesus’ rejection in His hometown of Nazareth and what it means to remain faithful to truth in a world that often resists it. Through Scripture and personal insight, Bob explores the importance of faithfulness to God, to one another, and to the message of grace. It’s a thoughtful reminder that God’s truth does not change, even when culture, tradition, or public opinion do.
Welcome to Classic Christianity Radio with Bob George. Bob’s clear, timeless teachings on the complete forgiveness and unconditional love of Jesus Christ will transform your life as you learn about God’s amazing grace. Let’s join Bob as he teaches us from God’s Word.
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If you look at the city of Nazareth back in Jesus’ day, it was a city that many people say maybe had 200 families in it. And that was about it. It was just a tiny little village. Today it’s a large city and quite a large city and quite an advanced city for that part of the country. But Jesus, that’s where he gave his first sermon, and then he gave his last sermon to Nazareth. And we’re going to deal with those two today because it’s applicable today as much as it was back then. We’re told in Luke 4 that he went to Nazareth where he had been brought up. That’s where he was raised. And on the Sabbath day, he went into the synagogue as was his custom. So again, we know that Jesus, we’ve talked about this before, was born of a virgin under the law and therefore kept the law. As a matter of fact, he’s the only one who ever kept the law. And the way he kept the law was by walking in perfect love, and love is the fulfillment of the law. The only person who ever fulfilled the law that God gave to us is the Lord Jesus Christ. We could not. Paul identified himself as, as far as he was concerned, he was literally almost to the point of being blameless in regard to obedience to the law. But what did he say about it? He said, there’s nothing wrong with the law. It’s good and it’s holy. But when it flows through me, it kills me. I found that the things that I want to do, I don’t do. And the things that I don’t want to do, I do them anyway. And so he saw where the problem was. And it’s not with the law. It was with us. And so his custom was to go to the synagogue. On the Sabbath, which is Friday night till Saturday night. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Now, guys, back in those days, when you saw a scroll, you saw a scroll that was probably at least that high and that big around where the scriptures was written on it. A scroll was one book of the Bible. Isaiah would have been a pretty large scroll, as a matter of fact. But it was given to him, and unrolling it, which he would have unrolled the scroll, he found the place where it is written, The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. And after he said that, he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. Now, normally in the synagogue, you would have had a long reading of the scriptures. He only read those few verses and then sat down. The eyes of everyone on the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. They said, Isn’t this Joseph’s son? Jesus said to them, Surely you will quote this proverb to me. Physician, heal yourself. Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum. I tell you the truth, he continued. No prophet is accepted in his hometown. That is true today. No prophet or teacher is accepted in his hometown, it seems. I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. And yet Elijah was not sent to any of them. but to a widow in Zephath, the region of Sidon. Now that’s in Phoenicia. That’s what the old, in the days of Jesus, that was in Phoenicia on the coast, on the Mediterranean coast, not in Israel. And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elijah, the prophet, and yet not one of them was cleansed, only Naaman the Syrian. Again, not in Israel, but in another country. All these people in the synagogue became furious. And when they heard this, they got up and they drove him out of the town and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built in order to throw him off the cliff. In love, of course. But Jesus walked through the crowd and went on his way. Now, guys, did Jesus teach in this particular lesson, did he teach anything that was not true? No, these things were true. They knew that. They studied the scriptures. They knew the history. They knew that what he was saying is true. Then why would you get angry? Because you don’t want to hear it. It’s the same thing. Something may be true, but you don’t want to hear it. And people, many times, don’t want anything negative said about themselves. Why? Pride. Our pride, isn’t it? In other words, we’ll see that sometimes with families. where don’t say anything about my family. It’s okay to say something about yours, but don’t say anything about mine because this is my family. This is my church. This is my city. These are my cowboys. These are my mavericks. And we gain ownership to these things, and we don’t want anyone to say anything about it. Well, the same thing was true here. This was history. He wasn’t saying anything new. But what he did say is that this prophecy in Isaiah was fulfilled in himself. That was something that they were not prepared to hear. They did not know. They knew the scripture, but they did not have a clue that Jesus was going to claim to himself that this is who it is talking about. I am who this prophecy is talking about. And then went ahead to say that in due time, you’re going to be saying to me, Because a prophet has no honor in his own home, you’re going to be saying to me, physician, heal yourself. Now, they hadn’t said that yet, but he was just telling them in advance what they’re going to be saying. Come to here and do what you did in Capernaum. Let’s see your miracles, big guy. In essence, this is what you’re going to be saying. And he said that no prophet is accepted in his hometown. And so that was his first sermon. And The result of that was great applause from the crowd, wasn’t it? Not very well received. That was his first sermon in his hometown of Nazareth. And the response to that was, tried to kick him out of the city. His last message in Nazareth was similar. Jesus left to where he was and he went to his hometown accompanied by his disciples, probably needed some help. When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. And they asked this question, where did this man get these things? What’s this wisdom that has been given him that he even does miracles? Folks, remember when Jesus was just 12 years old, he was in the temple praying. talking to the scholars, wasn’t he? Amazing people with his wisdom. We believe as we traveled over there and we went to a place called Sapphoris, that’s our pronunciation of it, a city across, only a four-mile trip across from Nazareth, where traditionally That’s where a man named Heli was the head of the Jewish school at that time. We believe, don’t know that 100% sure, that there were only two schools for the rabbinical training, one in Jerusalem and one there in Sapphoris. And that was Mary’s father. And so there is some talk that has not been confirmed, but at least in the diggings and all the type of things that are taking place, it’s becoming more evident that this would certainly have been a place where Jesus and his father, being carpenters, would have been. This was a city of huge proportion, Sapphoris, a huge city for Israel. A lot of construction going on, both commercial as well as residential. And so for a carpenter four miles away from your hometown, it would have been the most logical place to go and look for work, wouldn’t it? And also with the fact that that was Mary’s home, and that would have been where her father and mother were, and so it would have been visiting the grandparents. But also, if this indeed was a place of higher learning, then it very well could have been that that is where Jesus went to rabbinical school during the silent years that we know of that are the exact years that are connected with the length of time that it takes to go through rabbinical school. I had a man write me one day and say, that’s the dumbest thing I ever heard of. Why would Jesus need to go to rabbinical school? And I wrote back and told him to drive the professors crazy. That’s the reason he was there, was to drive them nuts. They were trying to figure out what the Bible meant, and he was telling them what it meant. No question about it. Jesus did not need their instruction on the meaning of the Word of God. They needed instruction from God as to what it meant. And I’m sure that it was not received much better than it was with his message in Nazareth. But at any rate… Whether that’s true or not, we don’t know, but we think it is. They asked the question, where did this man get his wisdom that he even does miracles? Isn’t this the carpenter? So Jesus, obviously, was a carpenter with his father. Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James? of Joseph, of Judas, of Simon, and aren’t his sisters here with us? And so again, guys, the teaching that is basically in Catholicism that Mary was a virgin throughout her life is nonsense. It says in the scripture that she was not with man until after Jesus was born. And after that, they had children. Some people come along who want to rationalize scripture and say, well, no, that probably Joseph was married before and those were his kids. Well, he sure had a bunch of them before he married Mary. That probably wouldn’t even be up for grabs in Israel. Those were their children. So Mary was certainly not a virgin until after the birth of Christ Jesus. And so those kind of teachings are what is called traditional teachings. They’ve added to what the scripture says and to what the scripture means. And we’ll hear something about that in a moment. Aren’t his sisters with us? And they took offense at him. And Jesus said to them, only in his hometown, among his relatives, and in his own house is a prophet without honor. And he could not do any miracles there except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their lack of faith. And then Jesus went around teaching from village to village.
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Classic Christianity Radio thanks you for your support of our online and radio ministry. Make sure to visit bobgeorge.net to order a copy of the Closer Look Bible Study Series. A Closer Look Bible Studies features eight in-depth study guides that detail hundreds of Bible verses to help you deepen your understanding of the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. A Closer Look Bible Study Guides are an excellent tool for both individuals and larger Bible study groups. Now, he’s saying here that only…
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In your hometown, in other words, where people know you, and among your relatives many times, and even in your own home, a prophet is without honor. In other words, they’re not recognized as who God made them into. You’re looked at as your dad or your mom or your brother or whoever it might be, but you don’t realize that if a person has been called to be a prophet… or in the scripture where he said he gave some to be an evangelist a pastor teacher those kind of assignments were those were men who were gifts to the body of christ pastor teachers evangelists prophet they were gifts to the church they were gifts to the body of christ Now, the people that know you don’t look at that is maybe you’re a gift to the body of Christ by God, that God called you aside to be a gift to the body of Christ. Your family doesn’t recognize you necessarily as that. And the people who know you don’t necessarily recognize you as that, they recognize you as being a carpenter or just being somebody else. But folks, the truth is that if God has sent somebody and given them the gift of being a pastor teacher, them being a gift of an evangelist such as a Billy Graham, an evangelist, a pastor teacher, then those are gifts to the body of Christ. And again, many times recognized as such by people except the ones who are the closest to you. And they have difficulty recognizing that because to them it’s just mom or dad or brother, whoever it might be. And so I think what Jesus was saying here is very true. He also said he was amazed at their lack of faith. Well, what does this mean, their lack of faith? Well, the lack of faith in the fact that God can do things that mom and dad can’t. And so, again, we have to realize, and I think people close to you have to recognize the fact that if indeed, even to this day, that someone has been sent to do something by God, then you acknowledge that and you thank God for it. It’s not to build the man, but to recognize that the man has been given a special amount, possibly, of wisdom to communicate the truth of the Word of God. the ability to communicate the gospel so the people will come to Christ, and to have faith to recognize the truth of that, even though they may be your brother or your sister or whoever it might be, but to recognize those truths. When you look at the word faith, you also have to look at the word faithful. We sang the song about the faithfulness of God. We have the great tune, Great is Thy Faithfulness, O God thy Father. And we know that God is faithful to us. The issue is how faithful are we? I think sometimes, guys, that the word faithful and the ability to be faithful is a lost thing in many people’s lives today. It’s just kind of get what you can. Do unto others before they do unto you. And that’s the golden rule. It’s to be faithful to one another, to be faithful to your family. Your family is one of the first places where faithfulness, I think, has to come in. Your family should be a place that if anything ever goes wrong, they’re there. Faithfulness means you can count on me. You can count on me. I’ll always be there for you. And that is basically the case of a family, isn’t it? You can fall on your face. I’ll be there for you. You can get divorced. I’ll be there for you. Your family is always there and faithful to the children, and the children should have the same faithfulness to their parents. It is something that is many times a lost art. It’s a lost credibility that we have. But it is absolutely something that we need to think through. How faithful are we? Faithful to our family? Faithful to our church? Faithful to where we gather to study the Word of God. Are we faithful to one another? Do we serve one another in love? You know why the Jewish people are so successful? You know why? They serve one another. You know how they do that? They buy from one another. They sell to one another. Now, they may sound like they’re killing each other before that gets done. But it’s faithful. We are faithful to our own people. We are faithful to the people who are our own. And that’s why they have grown through this world. That’s why they have become successful financially is because they feed on one another. Do we have that kind of faithfulness? We are a body here. Are we faithful to this body? In other words, do we try to look around to say, I got a plumbing problem. Do we have a plumber? If there is, use him. Do I have a real estate agent? If you got one, use them. That’s how we support each other. That’s how we build one another in the faith. That’s how we build this body. If a member in your own family was a plumber, would you go to somebody else? Would you? Not unless he is a lousy plumber. Now, if I was a plumber, I could understand if you went to somebody else. But again, that’s what faithfulness is. I’m faithful to these people that God has called to be together. Those are decision-making processes. What does faithfulness do? Faithfulness to this body. Faithfulness to your family. Faithfulness to one another. And so… When the Lord, at the end of time, is going to make words to us in Matthew 25, 21, well done, good and faithful servant. You were good and you were faithful. The fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness. It’s one of the things that comes from the fruit of the Spirit of being faithful to one another. Do you understand what I’m saying, guys? In other words, there should be an idea of sticking together. We’re there for you. I can’t be there for someone down at First Baptist. I don’t know them or somebody over here or somebody doesn’t know the Lord from a spook. I can’t. I don’t know that. But we do know that we as a group here is a group. You’re not forced to be a group. No one holds your hand to the fire to be a group. You’ve chosen to be a part of this body. So if you’re here and you’ve chosen to be a part of it, let’s be faithful to one another. And let’s help each other to grow. And let’s let this body grow financially and every other way as a result of our faithfulness to one another. If every person in this room decided to do that, you’d be amazed what would take place in the body. And so faithfulness is a great attribute in regard to the Christian faith. In the fourth chapter of 1 Corinthians, Paul makes this statement. Men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God. Now, it is required that those who have been given faith A trust must prove faithful. If God has given me, Bob, Christopher, Richard, the people, Bud, the people in this people called people to people. If they’ve given us a message, then he said that we must prove to be faithful to that message. And folks, I want to say this. that we have tried to remain faithful to the message. We have not tried to add to the message. We have not tried to subtract from the message. And we’ve been criticized in many instances by outside the body for being as dogmatic as we are in regard to what truth is. You see, we’ve come down to the point where just a little bit of leaven won’t hurt anybody. The Bible says a little bit of leaven will spoil the whole loaf, and we say, ah, it doesn’t hurt a little bit. What’s a little legalism going to do? You know, what’s a little bit of legalism? Now, you guys know what legalism is, don’t you? You know what it is. A speck of the law will spoil the whole thing. We’re told that. And so how easy would it be to compromise on a few specks? You can get more people that way. We’d be on probably 50 more radio stations if we just quit teaching that tithing is not in the new covenant. I mean, how easy would that be to do? Come on, Bob, just a little tithing isn’t going to hurt you. In fact, it might build your body. It might make this place richer. Why don’t you just do it? Do you think that those things haven’t entered into my mind? Satan is sure to enter that in your mind. But I tell you guys, if you’re going to remain faithful to the message, you cannot do it. It isn’t a case that you won’t do it. You can’t do it. You don’t have it in you. We’ve made a big issue and a lot of enemies over teaching that 1 John 1.9 is not to a believer. How easy would it be to just go back to teaching the old spiritual breathing concept? I mean, just one little concept out of the whole gamut of truth. So what’s it going to hurt? What’s it going to hurt? I did it for a lot of years. Our family did it for a lot of years. We spiritually breathed. until we became spiritually panting and spiritually hyperventilating. In other words, the spiritual breathing concept was keep short accounts with God, and every time you sin, you’ve got to exhale, confess your sin to God and get your sin forgiven, and then inhale, appropriate the power of the Holy Spirit. So that was spiritual breathing. Sounded good, sounding nice concept, but it’s not true. And there is no such thing in the Bible as bouncing in and out of fellowship. And yet, are we taught that if you sin, you’re out of fellowship? How many have been taught? How many have been taught, if you sin, you’re out of fellowship? Now, come on. How many of you have been taught that? If there’s no hands up, you haven’t been taught anything. Because that is what everyone teaches. You’re out of fellowship. Now, if you’re a part of people who think you can lose your salvation, a lot of denominations that think you can lose your salvation, why then, if you sin, you could lose your salvation. But then the ones who say, no, you can’t lose your salvation, then when you sin, you’re just out of fellowship. But you’ve got to be something if you sin. Be easy, easy to just go ahead and follow that along. I told you in the church that I was in before, the pastor called me in, marvelous man of God, said, Bob, If I were you, I’d quit teaching that. I would just not teach anything. Because that’s what he’s been doing for 20 years. Just don’t teach it. What you’re teaching is 100% correct. That passage is not a believer’s passage. It’s a lost person’s passage. Great salvation passage. That the church of Jesus Christ is pulled over into Christians like it’s talking to Christians. But it’s not true. What you’re teaching is 100% true. But I started teaching a long time ago that that wasn’t true and almost got ran out of the convention. So what my advice to you is, because you’ve got so many other good things to teach, is just lay off of that and just ignore it. And my comment to him was, sir, I appreciate that, but I can’t do it. I said, you’re in the pulpit and I’m in the pew. And that is absolutely paralyzing Christians from understanding the finality of the cross and to be able to be faithful to what God said that it is finished. See, that’s a part of faithfulness.
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Until next time, walk in faith, be good to one another, and praise the Lord. Amen.
