NOTES:
1] To make sense of the context, we need to read at least from v.16. 2] the 'spoke well of' in v.22 literally means 'bore witness to him' which implies a commending of him to others in the crowd. 3] v.23 refers to what's happened in Capernaum, but LK doesn't place Jesus in Capernaum till v.31 & again in ch.7. The proverb Jesus quotes is unknown. 4] Along with Isaiah whom he's just been quoting, the prophets Elijah (see 1KINGS 17) & Elisha (see 2KINGS 5) loom large for Jesus. He becomes a new & greater version of each & all of them.

WARMING UP: Can we think of someone we once thought was wonderful, but now can't stand?

TREASURES OLD & NEW: Afterthoughts from, follow-up to last week's Group, or since?

EXPLORING GOSPEL:

21-22    Have we ever had the experience of a passage of scripture being 'fulfilled in our hearing'? How so? What about the other end of the scale, hoping against hope for some passage to be fulfilled? Any particular passage?
             Are there times when we need to be on our guard when 'everyone speaks well' of us? Might this apply particularly to those in the public gaze (including lay & ordained church leaders)? When it comes to sermons, are we more likely to be too critical or too uncritical?
              How much does it matter to us whose son or daughter we are, or whose daughter or son someone else is?

23-27     Has it ever happened to us that we weren't 'respected' for something we said or did on our home turf? Have we ever dismissed what someone else has said or done because they came from our own patch, & we knew them & weren't impressed by them? What about those who come from some place we don't have much time for? Do we allow enough for people we grew up with to grow & change (for better or for worse?) Have people made enough allowance for change & growth in us? What about those who 'haven't changed a bit!'? Is that necessarily a good thing? Have we ourselves changed a bit, a lot more than a bit, or very little?
               Do we find it appealing or disturbing that Jesus is so inclusive in his approach to outsiders of other races & religions, & so critical of the religious establishment of his day & its 'insiders'? As a principle, do we find that helpful or scarey in our own religious setting today?

28-30     Have we ever been so angered by something said by a preacher that we've wanted to take some physical action against him / her? What about being moved in favour of a preacher? Why is it that we get stirred up when a preacher queries a government's policy, raises issues of social concern, that kind of thing? Does this kind of reaction mean that despite our supposed faith in God as revealed in Jesus & his attitudes, we haven't really improved on the performance of the congregation at Capernaum? What is it that we find so threatening about Jesus' teaching / attitudes? If we don't stand firm with Jesus & what he stands for, aren't we really, like those Capernaumites of old, trying to destroy him in our own way? Are we likely to have any more success than they did? So why bother? What's really behind our protests, complaints, etc.? How do we need to deal with them?