Former First Lady Barbara Bush is quoted as saying, “If human beings are perceived as potentials rather than problems, as possessing strengths instead of weaknesses, as unlimited rather than dull and unresponsive, then they thrive and grow to their capabilities. (Online: https://borgenproject.org/10-quotes-poverty/)
I
think that is a good foundation to understand what is going on in our gospel
reading when Jesus returns to his hometown of Nazareth and speaks in the
synagogue. As we dig into that let’s note
something peculiar that our gospel writer Luke does as he tells the story. In Matthew’s gospel and Mark’s gospel Jesus
begins his public ministry in the region of Galilee. There are preaching tours and some
miracles. As Luke tells it, however, the
Nazareth story is the first scene of Jesus’ ministry.
We
do learn at the beginning of the story that Jesus has indeed been doing
ministry in Galilee. Verse 14 and 15
read, “Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee,
and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was
praised by everyone.”
Let’s
also note something here. There were
several Jewish factions or parties in those days: Pharisees, Sadducees,
Herodians, Zealots, and Essenes. Of all
those groups only the Pharisees had synagogues.
Synagogues were places of worship and learning. (It’s suggested that the idea of current day
churches originates with the synagogues.
Many Jewish communities had synagogues.)
Whereas there was only one temple in Jerusalem. That was a place for ceremonies and
sacrifices. The fact that Jesus uses the
synagogue communities as the center of his mission work strongly suggests that
Jesus himself would have been considered a Pharisee.
So, we know that Jesus has been
touring the synagogues and apparently making quite a name for himself. But what has been the content of his
message? For almost certain Jesus did not
create a different message each week. He
had one message at this point and he used it everywhere he went. Luke is about to tell us what that message
is. I believe he decides to tell us -the
readers- the content of this message in context of his hometown synagogue in
order to heighten its universality; and perhaps its boldness.
Jesus reads from the scroll of the
prophet Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor. He has
sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18-19, loosely citing Isaiah 61:1-2,
58:6) He then goes on to say that he is
the fulfillment of that prophesy.
This is exciting news for the
hometown crowd! He’s one of their
own. They are seeing amazing things
happening right before their eyes!
But what does Jesus actually mean?
After
reading from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah Jesus gives it back to the
attendant and sits down. Remember, in
synagogues those days you stood to read from scripture and then sat down in a
chair up front to preach or teach. So
Jesus sits down in the chair for teaching.
The excitement builds as he says, “Today this scripture has been
fulfilled in your hearing.” I’m sure
that in their minds this meant a privileged place in God’s work. This meant superiority, prestige, greatness
and the like for them. After all,
they did help to raise this up and coming man. They say, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” He is one of their own. But we the readers get the joke. In fact, no, this is not Joseph’s son. This is God’s son. He is not necessarily one of their own, or at
least the folks in Nazareth aren’t going to be getting any special status from God.
Jesus points out two famous stories
where God did not give the Israelites special treatment when in a crisis. He cites stories of Elijah and Elisha where
their ministry did not favor insiders. Their ministry favored outsiders. When Jesus says he is bringing good news to
the poor it means the widow, the unclean, the religious outsiders, those of low
status. In other words, Jesus’ ministry
is for all. That then especially
raises up those who can make no legitimate claim to having God’s favor.
This doesn’t surprise us as the
readers. It’s not just because we know
the whole story. We heard this earlier
in the gospel. At Jesus’ birth the
angels said they brought good news of great joy for all people. That means not good news of great joy for
just Jews. And, the hometown folks,
feeling special because Jesus is one of their own, aren’t going to be getting
anything special from God. They aren’t
too pleased with that!
The age that Jesus ushers in is one
of equality. I think Jesus’ ministry was
quite in line with the quote I stared with, ““If human beings are perceived as
potentials rather than problems, as possessing strengths instead of weaknesses,
as unlimited rather than dull and unresponsive, then they thrive and grow to
their capabilities.”
Jesus’ ministry is not about quick
fixes, even though he does heal many people miraculously. It is about wholeness of life. We’re going to look at that more next week. For today we stay with the folks of Nazareth.
Apparently they get more than just a
little mad at Jesus when they discover he’s not going to do them any favors. They aren’t going to get special status when
his ministry is all about no one having special status. They decide to kill him.
It is a foreshadowing of Jesus’
eventual execution that they try to throw him off a cliff. Remember last week when the devil tempted
Jesus to do things the world’s way? He
said, “If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” The very next scene is Jesus being rejected
by his own people. He is clearly not
playing by the world’s rules.
If the point of Jesus’ ministry was
to simply die unjustly then the gospel of Luke could end right here. The people of Nazareth would have killed
him. But by some means we are not told
Jesus passes through the midst of them as they try to throw him off a
cliff. And it ends with an important
line, “…and went on his way.”
You’ll remember that when Jesus was
a baby he went where his parents took him. When he was an adolescent in Jerusalem he
stayed behind in the temple. But then he
decided to submit to his parents and willingly go their way. Now as an adult he goes on his way. Not his parents, not the hometown crowd, not
even the devil is going to deter Jesus from going his way. “His way” does not mean he will be a lone
wolf. His way means God’s way. His way means the way of his ministry doing
what he just said, “…bringing good news to the poor… release to the captives…
recovery of sight to the blind… letting the oppressed go free… proclaiming the
year of the Lord’s favor.”
God’s favor for everyone sounds
great
… until you think about it.
God’s favor for everyone means that
you can’t get ahead by exploiting others.
God’s favor for everyone means that everyone has inherent dignity and
worth simply because they exist. God’s
favor for everyone means no one can claim special status. Ultimately God’s favor for everyone ends up
seeming unfair, especially if you are someone who strives to do everything
right.
If you are someone who strives to do
everything right the question becomes what motivates you? Are you doing everything right because of the
favor it gets you? Or are you doing
everything right because it is the most constructive and loving way to live for
everyone around you? That is a subtle
difference but it makes all the difference in the world.
When you know you have God’s favor,
and that you have it securely, fears and worries of other people getting
special treatment, or getting ahead instead of you, or catching breaks in life
that you don’t catch, cease to matter.
You are God’s. Your wholeness
rests in God.
Next week we’ll see more of what
Jesus’ ministry means. We’ll see some
principles about what fully integrated whole life looks like. I don’t think it’s possible to get there
completely in this life, but it is a wonderful place to be. It is where Jesus’ teachings take his
followers when they trust in him. If the
crowd in Nazareth could have listened to the whole truth of his message they
would have been deeply blessed indeed.
May we learn from their mistakes and then be able to receive such
blessing.
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