Why Christ Jesus Came (Luke 4:14-30)
Sermon Summary
Pastor David Yan
2 August 2026
Why did Jesus come? It was to bless people. This is clear as we read Luke 4:18-19. Jesus is the same today. He is here to do you good.
Jesus came in the power of the Holy Spirit. He preached good news to the poor. He forgave people. He liberated people. He gave sight to the blind. He did these wonderful things in Capernaum. It was by the power of the Holy Spirit that he could do so.
From Capernaum Jesus came to his home town of Nazareth. In the synagogue he read from Isaiah 61 which spoke of someone coming who would bless people. The people were amazed at the gracious things that Jesus said. But they were shocked and offended when he said, “Today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
By saying this he declared his coming was foretold and that it was also the fulfillment of messianic prophecy. He was the Messiah. It was because of this claim that he was rejected.
His own people did not recognize his claims. They knew he was a local person and they could not understand how he could work miracles. Familiarity brings contempt. This was the case with Jesus in his home town.
All this led to the persecution of Jesus.
Jesus remarked that no prophet is accepted in his own country. He highlights the sin of the people by recounting two incidents. First, there were many widows in Israel but only to one was Elijah sent — the woman in Zarephath. There were many lepers in Israel but only one man, Naaman the Syrian, was healed. Both the woman in Zarephath and Naaman were Gentiles.
The people in the synagogue were filled with wrath knowing that Jesus was speaking about them. They led Jesus to the brow of a hill that they might throw him over. But Jesus eluded them. Jesus would not die by their hands. He would die on a cross. His body would be nailed to a cross not thrown from the top of hill.
Jesus is teaching that those who reject him will find he will turn away and go to others. In the Christian age, Paul, anointed by the Holy Spirit, took the gospel beyond Israel to the Gentile world.
Jesus came to his own to do them good. But is own did not receive him. But those who receive him become the children of God. Today, Jew and Gentile may become children of God. Jesus came to bless people—people from all over the world.
Have you received the Holy One who came to preach good tidings to the poor? Do not reject him; receive him.