The Gospel of Luke 4:30-31 When God Says...I Say, AMEN!

When God Says …

“But he passing through the midst of them went his way, and came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days.” (Luke 4:30-31 KJV).

When the Lord Jesus confronts the rejection of His hometown folks in Nazareth by recalling how prophets were often rejected by their own people, the synagogue crowd were enraged. Especially, when He told them that the cost of rejection will cause blessings to go beyond them into the gentile world. This, He illustrated using the historical incidents of a widow in Sidon blessed through the prophet Elijah and a Syrian general cleanse from leprosy through the prophet Elisha, despite many widows and lepers in Israel. Neither of the widows and lepers in Israel then were blessed nor cleansed. God chose to bless and cleanse gentiles instead. Hearing these stories drove them to wrath. They attempt to kill and throw Him off a cliff. People’s rejection of the Lord (both in the synagogue of Nazareth and today) is not due to a lack of evidence. Rather, it is due to the condition of their hearts, which demands to control how and when God should reveal Himself over their lives.

But the Lord Jesus miraculously escaped passing through the midst of the Nazareth crowd to go His way to the city of Capernaum. His escape reflects divine authority and God’s sovereignty. The Lord was not seized nor harmed because “His hour had not yet come” (John 7:30). Capernaum (which means village of comfort) was a key Jewish city in the district of Galilee. It was situated along the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. It was a town that prospered from fishing. As home to many of the Lord’s first disciples, it served as base of His ministry, where He regularly taught during Sabbath days in the synagogue.

The Lord Jesus taught much to His disciples while they were gathered in Capernaum. Several teachings that we ought to reflect on include:

“Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”” (Mark 9:35 NIV);

““Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes not only me but also my Father who sent me.”” (Mark 9:37 NLT);

“For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward.” (Mark 9:41 ESV).

And I say, AMEN!

Daily reflections by:
F. A. Frias
PFC Ministries

When God says... I say, AMEN! is a provocative reflection of the Lord's holy Word. It intends to challenge every seeker of truth to dig deep into the core of the Word of Life to point every being to Christ Jesus - the author and finisher of our faith, and to draw revelations for change, for nourishment and for strength of every soul.

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