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Daily Devotion

Without Honor in His Own Country

Created: Monday, 15 January 2018 08:02
Hits: 866
Luke 4:16-30  --
 
One of Jesus' early visits was to Nazareth, his hometown. Nazareth was not a village. It is called a polis which means a town or city, and it may have had as many as 20,000 inhabitants. It stood in a little hollow in the hills on the lower slopes of Galilee near the Plain of Jezreel. But a boy had only to climb to the hilltop above town, and he could see an amazing panorama for miles around.
 
The history of Israel stretched out before the watcher's eye. There was the plain of Esdraelon where Deborah and Barak had fought; where Gideon had won his victories; where Saul had crashed to disaster, and Josiah had been killed in battle; there was Naboth's vineyard, and the place where Jehu slaughtered Jezebel; there was Shumen where Elisha had lived; there was Carmel where Elijah had fought his epic battle with the prophets of Baal, and in the distance, there was the blue Mediterranean, and the islands of the sea.
 
Not only the history of Israel was there; the world unfolded itself from the hilltop above Nazareth. Three great roads went around it. There was the road from the south caring pilgrims to Jerusalem. There was the great Way from the Sea that led from Egypt to Damascus with caravans moving along it. Then, there was the great road to the east bearing caravans from Arabia, and Roman legions marching to the eastern frontiers of the Empire. It is wrong to think of Jesus being brought up in a town that had no exposure to the world.
 
Jesus was in Nazareth on the Sabbath. He went to the Temple and stood as a sign that He would read. The Chazzan, the official of the Temple, gave him the sacred roll of scripture to read. Verse 20, says that He then sat down. This doesn't mean He was finished; it really points to His beginning. What angered the people was the apparent compliment that Jesus paid to Gentiles. The Jews were so sure that they were God's people that they utterly despised all others. And here was this young Jesus, whom they all knew, preaching as if the Gentiles were favored by God.
 
Life Application: How would you have reacted if you were one of the Jews, and you heard this young man speak favorably about Gentiles? Remember, the Temple Chazzan had been his school teacher, and some in the Temple had been His classmates.
 
Praise/Prayer: Dear Father, it is so exciting to read about Jesus, and how He shook up some of the Jewish leaders. The Jewish people just didn't know that You loved all of creation, even the Gentiles. I am so thankful that You loved me before I knew about loving You, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. What an amazing place Heaven will be with people from all over the world. I can hardly wait for the rapture to take place. Amen!
 
 
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