Familiarity Breeds Contempt
Part of Spirit Empowered Christianity—The Gospel of Luke
February 7, 2021

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Luke 4:14-30 (New Living Translation)
14 Then Jesus returned to Galilee, filled with the Holy Spirit’s power. Reports about him spread quickly through the whole region. 15 He taught regularly in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.

16 When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures. 17 The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written:

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released,that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, 19 and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.”

20 He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently. 21 Then he began to speak to them. “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!”

22 Everyone spoke well of him and was amazed by the gracious words that came from his lips. “How can this be?” they asked. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”

23 Then he said, “You will undoubtedly quote me this proverb: ‘Physician, heal yourself’—meaning, ‘Do miracles here in your hometown like those you did in Capernaum.’ 24 But I tell you the truth, no prophet is accepted in his own hometown.

25 “Certainly there were many needy widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the heavens were closed for three and a half years, and a severe famine devastated the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them. He was sent instead to a foreigner—a widow of Zarephath in the land of Sidon. 27 And many in Israel had leprosy in the time of the prophet Elisha, but the only one healed was Naaman, a Syrian.”

28 When they heard this, the people in the synagogue were furious. 29 Jumping up, they mobbed him and forced him to the edge of the hill on which the town was built. They intended to push him over the cliff, 30 but he passed right through the crowd and went on his way.

I. The nurturing nature of familiarity (vv. 14-17)
• Baptism means to be

in something.
• Discipleship is the practice of being a of our priority.
• Healthy familiarity detects when it is time to with more information or experience.
• Faith in God is nurtured by spiritual and at church.
II. The danger of familiarity (vv. 18-24)
• Familiarity with God’s word is the way we hear God’s voice.
• Healthy familiarity grows past hearing and into the of listening.
• Devoted familiarity grows past hearing and into the loving of listening.
• Attraction without breeds unfamiliarity.
• Attraction without breeds contempt.
III. The resentment of familiarity (vv. 25-30)
• Familiarity breeds contempt because of selfish .
• Contempt turns to resentment when familiarity is not .
• Impersonal familiarity becomes resentful when of love are expressed.
• The safest place in the world to be is the center of for your life.

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1. Read Luke 4:14-16. What words in these verses and what habits of Jesus show that his relationship with God is a priority? How does being immersed in the Spirit help Jesus as he begins his ministry? What habits do you regularly engage in that foster devotion to God?
2. Read Luke 4:17-24. Compare and contrast verses 18 and 19 with Isaiah 61:1-2. What is the focus of verses 18 and 19 and what does Jesus omit from Isaiah 61:2? Even though the people were amazed, they still rejected Jesus. How can familiarity lead to not being able to see the truth?
3. Read Luke 4:25-30. Why were the people in the synagogue furious with Jesus? When can familiarity with people like us, even within the church, lead to rejection of others? What are examples of how this can look for Christians today and how can we prevent treating others with contempt?
4. Did anything else stand out to you from the sermon that you have questions about in this passage of Scripture?