Luke 4:21-30
Then he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, "Is not this Joseph's son?" He said to them, "Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, 'Doctor, cure yourself!' And you will say, 'Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.'" And he said, "Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet's hometown.
But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian." When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.
Today’s reading picks up right where last week’s ended. The two readings constitute one story, but each half has a message that is important enough to spend some time looking at it separately.
Last Sunday we talked about the absence of information at our disposal about the years and months before Jesus began his public ministry. When our reading began last week, Jesus had come out of nowhere to be baptized by John, then gone into the wilderness alone for forty days of prayer, and then apparently come out and gone straight to work traveling from village to village - reading and teaching in the local synagogues. While we are given no details, we do know that he impressed his hearers sufficiently that he was beginning to gain a reputation as a teacher and people were actually coming specifically to hear him when they heard he would be in their area. And so one day he arrived in Nazareth, his home village, and read from the scroll of Isaiah, the part that reads:
Last Sunday we talked about the absence of information at our disposal about the years and months before Jesus began his public ministry. When our reading began last week, Jesus had come out of nowhere to be baptized by John, then gone into the wilderness alone for forty days of prayer, and then apparently come out and gone straight to work traveling from village to village - reading and teaching in the local synagogues. While we are given no details, we do know that he impressed his hearers sufficiently that he was beginning to gain a reputation as a teacher and people were actually coming specifically to hear him when they heard he would be in their area. And so one day he arrived in Nazareth, his home village, and read from the scroll of Isaiah, the part that reads:
"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."
These are beautiful promises from God, given through Isaiah, but Jesus apparently did some editing and left out the part that may have been a big favorite with the locals - the part about revenge against ones enemies.
And this is where we pick up the story today. Everything Jesus said that day sounded really good to his listeners – at first. They were impressed with his words - until they really thought about what he was saying – then, in what appears tp be the length of a couple of deep breaths, the crowd shifted from praising Jesus to trying to toss him off a cliff. Let’s look at what happened here.
First, as I just implied, Jesus, in quoting Isaiah, left out the vengeance-against-those-who’ve-done-us-wrong part – and we humans really tend to like that part. For a people who had been oppressed as often and as long as the Hebrews, vengeance can become a very sweet dream. For the powerless it is often the only dream – the one that keeps you going. One day I’ll be on top and you’ll be on the bottom and we’ll see how much you like it then! It is a sad thing about us human types that hatred and a vision of vengeance can be used to drive us much more than promises of hope.
Just look at our current political circus. Most of what we hear lately seems to come from a place of rage at those who have something we don’t have – fury at those who have “taken” something from us. We are the most blessed nation on earth, and yet, to listen to the news, we are all furious because things are being taken from us -- we don't have enough things to go around! And the irony is that those who have the most are the ones yelling the loudest. We apparently love to see ourselves as victims -- especially when we are not. I saw a facebook meme recently that says: Thinking is hard, that why people prefer to judge. Jesus always demands that we think. We'd prefer to just react. Jesus offers the people of Nazareth a lot of really good promises – but not vengeance – and they don’t buy it.
This is when they begin to remember that they knew this guy when he was a snot-nosed kid, and suddenly it’s “Who does he think he is, preaching to us like this? He’s no better than we are!” But Jesus isn’t finished yet. He goes on to remind them that prophets are almost never listened to in their own home territory – reminding them that both Elijah and Elisha - the two most important prophets ever – were sent to “foreigners” – Phoenicians and Syrians – because their fellow Hebrews would not listen to them when they came bearing God’s message. That didn’t sit well, either.
Another common trait of oppressed people is a bone-deep belief that “God loves us best” – we may be down now but we will rise because God loves us best. Those gathered in Nazareth that day were not at all pleased to be reminded that God had tried to save the Hebrews many times before - sending the prophets to them first - but that they had been the ones who refused to listen and thereby brought much of their misery on themselves.
Add into this already toxic mix that fact that Jesus here is making claims for himself – that God’s promises are happening right here and now in the person of Jesus himself – claims that are not only shocking but borderline blasphemous – and the crowd erupts with a determination to execute him on the spot. How very quickly praise can turn to hatred.
Jesus made a claim for himself. He tells the people that the Spirit of God is in and on him and that he, himself, is here to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor - or Jubilee. These are people who have known Jesus for most of his life - they know what his place in the world is – they know his class, his status – how dare he try to step outside his allotted space? How dare he think to raise himself above them?
The theological issued raised here are weighty, but I don’t really believe that is what their rage is all about. First Jesus wants to deny them their vengeance and hatred – we all hate to be called on our b.s. – we always have really good important reasons to defend our hatreds. We know, in our hearts, that those reasons are wobbly and we really hate to be challenged on them.
These hearers, like many modern day Christians know their scripture – they know the promises of love and forgiveness and hope – they just prefer to focus on the punishment and condemnation and hellfire verses.
And don’t ever, ever make a claim for yourself that raises you up so that you appear to be higher than me. Don’t ever aspire to be more. Don’t ever actually lay claim to God’s promises of love and forgiveness because so much of broken humanity will never forgive you for it. So many people will want to toss you off a cliff for making a claim like that.
What claim have you ever made for yourself that had someone rising up to tell you you couldn’t do it – you weren’t good enough – you didn’t deserve to have that claim in your life? How many times have you accepted that appraisal and given up on hope and dreams? How many times have you stood firm in your claim and achieved it?
Jesus knew God had a mission for him and he claimed it for himself and for each one of us, as well. Jesus believed in what God wanted him to be – and calls us to join him – do we believe in that claim? Do we believe we have it in us to build the reign of God right here on earth?
And this is where we pick up the story today. Everything Jesus said that day sounded really good to his listeners – at first. They were impressed with his words - until they really thought about what he was saying – then, in what appears tp be the length of a couple of deep breaths, the crowd shifted from praising Jesus to trying to toss him off a cliff. Let’s look at what happened here.
First, as I just implied, Jesus, in quoting Isaiah, left out the vengeance-against-those-who’ve-done-us-wrong part – and we humans really tend to like that part. For a people who had been oppressed as often and as long as the Hebrews, vengeance can become a very sweet dream. For the powerless it is often the only dream – the one that keeps you going. One day I’ll be on top and you’ll be on the bottom and we’ll see how much you like it then! It is a sad thing about us human types that hatred and a vision of vengeance can be used to drive us much more than promises of hope.
Just look at our current political circus. Most of what we hear lately seems to come from a place of rage at those who have something we don’t have – fury at those who have “taken” something from us. We are the most blessed nation on earth, and yet, to listen to the news, we are all furious because things are being taken from us -- we don't have enough things to go around! And the irony is that those who have the most are the ones yelling the loudest. We apparently love to see ourselves as victims -- especially when we are not. I saw a facebook meme recently that says: Thinking is hard, that why people prefer to judge. Jesus always demands that we think. We'd prefer to just react. Jesus offers the people of Nazareth a lot of really good promises – but not vengeance – and they don’t buy it.
This is when they begin to remember that they knew this guy when he was a snot-nosed kid, and suddenly it’s “Who does he think he is, preaching to us like this? He’s no better than we are!” But Jesus isn’t finished yet. He goes on to remind them that prophets are almost never listened to in their own home territory – reminding them that both Elijah and Elisha - the two most important prophets ever – were sent to “foreigners” – Phoenicians and Syrians – because their fellow Hebrews would not listen to them when they came bearing God’s message. That didn’t sit well, either.
Another common trait of oppressed people is a bone-deep belief that “God loves us best” – we may be down now but we will rise because God loves us best. Those gathered in Nazareth that day were not at all pleased to be reminded that God had tried to save the Hebrews many times before - sending the prophets to them first - but that they had been the ones who refused to listen and thereby brought much of their misery on themselves.
Add into this already toxic mix that fact that Jesus here is making claims for himself – that God’s promises are happening right here and now in the person of Jesus himself – claims that are not only shocking but borderline blasphemous – and the crowd erupts with a determination to execute him on the spot. How very quickly praise can turn to hatred.
Jesus made a claim for himself. He tells the people that the Spirit of God is in and on him and that he, himself, is here to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor - or Jubilee. These are people who have known Jesus for most of his life - they know what his place in the world is – they know his class, his status – how dare he try to step outside his allotted space? How dare he think to raise himself above them?
The theological issued raised here are weighty, but I don’t really believe that is what their rage is all about. First Jesus wants to deny them their vengeance and hatred – we all hate to be called on our b.s. – we always have really good important reasons to defend our hatreds. We know, in our hearts, that those reasons are wobbly and we really hate to be challenged on them.
These hearers, like many modern day Christians know their scripture – they know the promises of love and forgiveness and hope – they just prefer to focus on the punishment and condemnation and hellfire verses.
And don’t ever, ever make a claim for yourself that raises you up so that you appear to be higher than me. Don’t ever aspire to be more. Don’t ever actually lay claim to God’s promises of love and forgiveness because so much of broken humanity will never forgive you for it. So many people will want to toss you off a cliff for making a claim like that.
What claim have you ever made for yourself that had someone rising up to tell you you couldn’t do it – you weren’t good enough – you didn’t deserve to have that claim in your life? How many times have you accepted that appraisal and given up on hope and dreams? How many times have you stood firm in your claim and achieved it?
Jesus knew God had a mission for him and he claimed it for himself and for each one of us, as well. Jesus believed in what God wanted him to be – and calls us to join him – do we believe in that claim? Do we believe we have it in us to build the reign of God right here on earth?
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