GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
LUKE 4:23-24
In honor of this 500th Anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation, a complete set of devotions on Martin Luther’s 95 Theses, posted on this day, October 31st, 1517, is available. If you would like a free PDF copy of these devotions, email me or St. Paul’s church and just ask.
23 He said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me, ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ Do here in your hometown everything we heard you did in Capernaum.” 24 And he added, “Amen, I tell you: ‘No prophet is accepted in his hometown.’”
Jesus had healed the son of a royal official in Capernaum (John 4:50). Besides this, he had performed other miracles, mentioned by Nicodemus (John 3:2), and of course, his first miracle had been changing water into wine over in Cana. Perhaps all of these things were on the minds of the people. But Jesus knew that they doubted whether he, the boy they had seen grow up, could really be doing these things. And for this reason, they doubted his message.
The proverb Jesus quotes is similar to something in the Apocrypha: “Before you fall ill, take care of your health. Before judgment, examine yourself, and in the hour of visitation, you will find forgiveness” (Sirach 18:19-20). In other words, a physician proves his worth by staying healthy himself. Jesus was being asked to prove he was the Messiah by doing something the Messiah would do. The problem with this is that the Messiah did not only come to offer forgiveness, but also to bring judgment on those who doubted. “For with fire and with his sword the LORD will execute judgment upon all men, and many will be those slain by the LORD” (Isaiah 66:16).
The second statement is also a proverb: “No prophet is accepted in his hometown.” This isn’t from the Old Testament, and it isn’t from the Apocrypha, either. It’s Jesus’ own proverb, and everyone who hears it understands it immediately. What was usually true for the Old Testament prophets was absolutely true for Jesus.
The lesson here is clear: doubting that Jesus is the Messiah is the same as unbelief. He holds out his hand to us, and our only response is to let him grab hold of us and hang on. We are saved through him; rescued by him. Don’t turn away from him. Don’t quote the Apocrypha as if God is answerable to it. Trust only in our Lord, our Savior, Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Archives by Wisconsin Lutheran Chapel: http://www.wlchapel.org/worship/daily-devotion/
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota