Yesterday, Pastor Josh put us in the synagogue in Nazareth, where Jesus spoke to his hometown words the townsfolk at first found gracious and praiseworthy ... until they abruptly changed their minds.
Something made them decide to stop praising him and try to throw him off a cliff instead.
In Luke 4, Jesus begins his teaching by opening up the scroll that contained the words of the prophet Isaiah. But he improvised. He paraphrased a bit.
WHAT JESUS SAID TO THEM
The scroll said:
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn ... (Isaiah 61:1-2)
But Jesus read it this way, with a couple notable changes:
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18-19)
Afterward, he sat down to speak, as was customary. He began by stating, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." (verse 21)
He had the full attention of the men in the room. (There were no women in this part of the synagogue.)
We get a subtle indication that some thought he was, as we might say today, "getting too big for his britches." When we say that about someone who has left their hometown and become famous, we are taking a little dig at them. Trying to knock them down a peg. Bringing them back down to our level.
"Isn't this Joseph's son?" they said (verse 22). Everywhere else, Jesus was referred to as "Joseph and Mary's son." Josh explained this indicated others had heard the story of the virgin birth and believed. In Nazareth, however, it seems they believed it was by Joseph's seed Mary was made pregnant out of wedlock, not by divine conception.
You're not so great, they were saying. We know your dirty little secret.
Jesus goes on to talk about the major prophets of the Hebrew bible (the Old Testament), Elijah and Elisha. He says they were not accepted in their hometown, so God sent them outside of Israel where he could accomplish great works through the faith of foreigners.
What Jesus was saying to them was starting to sink in, and they became furious.
WHAT JESUS WAS REALLY SAYING
First, he translated the meaning of Isaiah's words about releasing prisoners from darkness to "recovery of sight for the blind." Surely they had heard of Jesus literally restoring sight to the blind. And he stopped short of the next line about God's vengeance.
As Josh explained, while there was a place and time for God to exact vengeance on the oppressors of his people, Jesus' mission was to receive the penalty of their sin on the cross. What he did not speak about, he would soon demonstrate.
Next, he declared the scripture was fulfilled. Leaving them to wonder, Is this son of Joseph saying what it sounds like he's saying? That this Jesus we all watched grow up is a great prophet who is going to save the world? Or still more provocative, the M-
Finally, before they had time to fully formulate the M word in their minds, he spoke of the lack of faith in the "hometowns" of Elijah and Elisha - in all of Israel - that essentially drove them away to restore sight to the blind and heal people with leprosy outside of Israel.
It was a harsh rebuke of Israel. More than that, it was beginning to sink in that Jesus' words were also an insult to the men in the room. Like the Jewish leaders before them, their lack of faith was denying the Lord's work among their own people.
But Jesus was saying their sin was far worse, because it wasn't only Elijah and Elisha they were driving away. It was the Messiah himself.
Yes, I am the Messiah, the Son of God, Jesus was saying. And you, just like your fathers before you, deny yourselves the Lord's favor by denying me.
THEIR RESPONSE, AND OURS
All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way. (verses 28-30)
Jesus wasn't just being poetic when he said he came to heal people and free prisoners. He was engaging in that work both spiritually and physically. He first healed many in human form, and later his Holy Spirit would set prisoners free time and again (Acts 5, 12, 16).
He also meant it when he said he had come to "proclaim the year of the Lord's favor," which in biblical terms means the cancelling of debts. He meant it both spiritually and financially. His parables (such as in Matthew 18) make it clear you cannot be serving God if you are prioritizing money over the wellbeing of others.
He wasn't exaggerating when he said unbelief prevents this work to be done in your midst. To look down on those God has anointed to do great work - because you know better, because you are wealthy, because you are better educated, because you are white, perhaps - is to ask God to move along and bless others who are not in your midst.
There is no one kinder, more compassionate, more full of love than Jesus Christ. There is also no one who sees your heart more clearly, no one more correct in their criticism.
Is Jesus convicting you of denying his work?
Is Jesus asking you to trust him as he anoints someone you don't think is capable to lead?
Is Jesus challenging you to side with the sick, the poor, the prisoner, the oppressed in a way that puts your social status or even your financial security at risk?
If so, you have two options. You can take offense to his criticism, assume that the voice you are hearing is not really of God, and attack whomever it is speaking these words to you. You can deny the truth as the people of Nazareth did. You can drive it out of town.
Or, you can let the truth change you.
Just be warned ... to accept the truth Jesus speaks often changes everything.