Have you ever felt as though you had made some important self discovery? Perhaps you felt God had given you a clarity of purpose and direction. Then you went to share this with someone close to you and in the process of sharing your soul, you felt rejected by whoever you were sharing it with. Perhaps they questioned the reality of what you were sharing. You realized that they were skeptical of this new found discovery you had made about yourself. Perhaps they had their own agenda for the direction they thought your life should take. If you've ever felt that way, the good news is that Jesus can relate. Let's look at how this is the case as we consider this passage in Luke 4.
Our scripture this week picks up the story after Jesus had been tempted in the wilderness by the devil. Luke 4:14-15 perhaps is one of those scriptures that moves the story along but suggests that a lot had already been happening in Jesus' ministry. Yet Luke skips over some details to get to the juicy stuff. It says Jesus had "returned to Galilee," his neck of the woods, if you will, and word was spreading of his ministry. If we overlap the Gospels, it's likely that this is the time when Jesus turned the water into wine at the wedding at Cana as told in John. This might be part of the buzz that had been circulating about him. Perhaps word of this miracle had gone "viral" via word of mouth from person to person, village to village, etc.. He was also teaching in the synagogue and was being praised for his insights into the scripture. You might say he was "trending" in the region of Galilee.
This is the context in which we find Jesus going to his home town synagogue in Nazareth. Perhaps Mary and his siblings were there to greet him outside before services. Imagine the scene. Everyone glad to see Jesus, the upstart itinerant Rabbi that everyone seemed to be talking about. His mother and siblings gleaming with pride. Old friends welcomed him and gave him updates and asked how he was doing wanting to hear about his ministry.
After all the glad handing those who could would enter the synagogue and services would begin. According to Barclay, the Sabbath service at the synagogue would happen in three parts. The first part was a time of prayer. During the second part seven various scriptures would be read and translated, and finally various people would teach on the scriptures followed by discussion with the teacher and amongst the people. Typically the synagogue would have a president but no paid clergy such as we might expect. Again, according to Barclay "The president would invite any distinguished person present to speak." On this day Jesus was recognized as that person. (The Daily Study Bible Series - Luke Volume by William Barclay, pg.46) Apparently Jesus transitioned the Sabbath service from the 2nd part to the 3rd part. Notice he was handed the scroll of Isaiah but he was allowed to choose the scripture. You might think that by him sitting down as it says in Luke 4:20, that he was finished. Yet in reality he was beginning, as tradition was for the teacher to sit down to teach.
Then Jesus gives the proclamation "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." In essence Jesus is proclaiming what he intends to do with his ministry. He has set forth his purpose statement. Jesus shares via Isaiah that he's come to do five things. I believe he means these literally and figuratively. The first is to "preach good news to the poor." No matter how wealthy we are, we are all poor in something. Whether we are financially poor, spiritually poor, morally poor, emotionally poor, physically poor, it doesn't matter. Christ is bringing Good News to us. The Good News comes in the form of his life, death and ressurection. Second, he has come "to set the prisoners free." Prisoners are not always behind literal bars but are trapped by many a figurative prison. In that day, it was the prison of Roman rule, poverty, the legalism of the sanhedrin, not to mention any personal prison a person might be facing. Third, he will "give sight to the blind." Not only did Jesus literally do this, but also Jesus gave sight to those who had been blind to a truth they needed to realize. He gave clarity of vision to those who had misunderstood what God really looked like. The Sanhedrin view of God had clouded the vision the people had for Him. Fourth, he came to release the oppressed. According to dictionary.com to be oppressed means "to be burdened with cruel or unjust impositions or restraints; subject to a burdensome or harsh exercise of authority or power." Clearly, the Jews were an oppressed people. (See my comments above on setting the prisoners free.) Finally, Jesus "proclaims the year of the Lord's favor." Jesus is claiming that all of the hopes that God's people had been waiting for had arrived, and they had arrived in him, Jesus Christ. These are Jesus' claims. He has set forth his purpose, a purpose he fulfilled then and continues to be fulfilling today.
It's easy to mistakenly think that what caused Jesus' hometown to be upset was that he was claiming to be the Messiah, but if we look closely this isn't what was upsetting to them. We must realize that the Jewish nation was anticipating the Messiah, hoping for the Messiah. Barclay goes as far as to say that Galilee was a very progressive area in terms of innovations, politics, etc.. Barclay quotes the historian Josephus saying that Galilee was "ever ready to follow a leader who would begin an insurrection." (The Daily Study Bible Series - Luke Volume by William Barclay, pg.45) So Jesus chose this passage that likely everyone knew was considered a passage that was linked to their long awaited Messiah. Rumors of who Jesus was had likely already begun to spread and with them an undercurrent of "maybe Jesus is the one we've been waiting for."
The passage says everyone was fixed on him and when he gave his proclamation from Isaiah. The very next verse (4:22) says "All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips." They weren't upset. They were hopeful and impressed. Then some who hadn't yet connected the dots realized this was a local boy, "Joseph's son." There was likely a buzz around the synagogue. The discussion part of the service was taking place. Just picture some old codgers back in the corner piecing together what they knew. "He's Joseph's boy" says one. "Well, I don't know about that but the word is he's been performing miracles, healings and has been teaching all over Galilee." says another. "Well, if he's from here and he's possibly the Messiah and can perform miracles, how about giving us a sign? Why doesn't he spread some miracles and wonders our way?"
All of this gives Jesus an opportunity to respond. He answered the questions before they were asked of him. The question he anticipated was basically "why don't you use your miraculous gifts for your own benefit and ours?" It's ironic that what Nazareth wanted is similar to the temptations that Satan put before Jesus. "Save yourself" and "Show us a sign" are themes that rear their ugly head throughout the Gospels and are they not familiar to cries we still hear and make today?
Jesus response to these murmurings is what sets off the crowd. We must remember that the nation of Israel was longing for a Messiah who would give them not only spiritual power but political and military power over their enemies. Yet, Jesus points to two examples of the great prophets where God rescues foreigners, not Israelites. According to N.T. Wright for those in the synagogue this would be "like someone in Brittain or France during WW II speaking of healing and restoration for Adolf Hitler." (Luke for Everyone, N.T. Wright pg. 48) If this is really the case, no wonder they were mad. This man with local connections was speaking traitorous words in their mind. Yet when Jesus shared these words full of grace and truth he was not suprised his hometown wasn't ready to accept them. Jesus knew they wouldn't before he spoke them. He begins his answer to their perceived question with "no prophet is accepted in his hometown." He knows he's about to stir up a hornet's nest.
I had the opportunity out of college to apply to be the part time youth minister at my home church, Franklin FBC. There had been times prior to that when I thought that working at my home church would've been awesome. But at the time when the pastor asked me if I was interested, my respnse was to quote Jesus saying "no prophet is accepted in his hometown." At the time I knew I was likely going to become the Associate Pastor at Peru FBC, but really couldn't tell the pastor that yet. As I look back at it though, I know it would've been very hard to feel comfortable working alongside the many people who had seen me grow up in the church. If things hadn't gone well, it wouldn't have been good for my parents either.
This leads me to our application as parents and leaders. We may have preachers and prophets in our congregation. My hope and prayer (and I hope yours too) is that our children catch a vision from God for their future whatever form that takes. We must be careful how we lead them. We might be tempted to steer them towards a safer direction, a more practical direction and in so doing we could hinder God's calling on their life. Just like the town of Nazareth, we do this for selfish reasons to a certain extent because they are our children. We want to be protectors and security blankets for our kids, but sometimes they need the exact opposite to truly follow God's leading. Hopefully, if a young person has a true calling, nothing or no one will stand in the way of that. Even if that's the case, would you rather be a help or a hindrance to a child's calling? I think this applies to the big picture of kid's lives, as well as the smaller snap shots as well. How often do we try to fix problems for our children when it might be the case that the current problem or struggle is an opportunity to help them solve their own problem in a way that will help them have a deeper and more trusting faith? Do we help them fight their battles or do we fight their battles for them,? I know I am as guilty as the next, but my hope is we are more purposeful with our opportunities to help our children grow a more trusting faith in Jesus.
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