Jesus' Sermon in his hometown synagogue in Nazereth:
The Spirit of the Lord had come upon Jesus at his baptism.
The voice from heaven confirmed that Jesus was the Son of God. Jesus had
returned from overcoming devil’s temptations and from doing miracles in
Capernaum (Lk 4:23). News about Jesus is spreading and people are praising him
for his teachings. In his hometown synagogue, he reads scripture and claims
that they are fulfilled in their hearing (Lk 4:21). Isaiah 61 was familiar to
his hearers, but for them but his interpretation and application was
unacceptable. They run him out of town and try to throw him over a cliff. Why
were they so disturbed?
The devil had tempted Jesus to throw himself down from the
temple to prove his ‘sonship’. The devil wanted Jesus to provoke Jesus to prove
that he was trusting God to rescue him. But, Jesus refused to put the Lord his
God to the test. Now before his home synagogue, Jesus launches his public
ministry. However, what he proclaimed didn’t conform to their expectation of
what Messiah should do! Luke makes it
clear at the beginning of his gospel that the rejection of Jesus is all part of
God’s plan. In this story God validates Jesus’ identity by rescuing Jesus from
the angry mob. They sought to throw Jesus from a cliff to his death, but Jesus
walks unharmed through the angry crowd to continues on his way (Lk 4:10-12, Ps.
91:11-12).
God validates Jesus’ public ministry by rescuing him from
the angry mod. But did they have such an angry violent reaction? Jesus’ hearers
listen while he read Isaiah 61 and were amazed by his words. Some said of
Jesus, ‘isn’t this Joseph’s son?’ Jesus reacts by telling them they’ll say,
‘physician heal yourself’. Then Jesus claims that a prophet is not welcome in
his hometown (Lk 4:24) and illustrates his point with references to Elijah and
Elisha. God sent Elijah to a widow from Sidon and Elisha cleansed Naaman, a
Syrian General (1 Kgs.17, 2 Kgs 5). These two outsiders, a Sidonian widow and a
leader of Israel’s enemies receive God’s favor while Israelites are overlooked!
Many in Jesus’ day understood Isaiah 61 as a text that promised
that God would liberate Israel from their pagan enemies. They expected God to
rescue Israel and condemn their gentile oppressors. Yet, Jesus left out the
part of Isaiah 61 which talks about ‘the day of vengeance of our God’. The
passage also speaks of Israel feeding ‘on the wealth of nations’ (Isaiah 61:2,
6). Moreover, Jesus references God sending Elijah and Elisha to bless those
outside of Israel. Jesus indicated that God would suspend his vengeance and
extend his grace even to Israel’s enemies. Evidently, they were so offended by
the idea of God’s grace for outsiders that they ran Jesus out of the synagogue
and even sought to kill him!
By saying that he was fulfilling Isaiah 61, Jesus meant that
he was the Messiah and that he was bringing liberation for the poor, for
prisoners, for the blind, for the oppressed and that he was ushering in God’s
ultimate ‘Jubilee’! They expected grace for Israel and judgment on their
oppressors, but Jesus’ reading of Isaiah 61 meant mercy even to Israel’s
enemies. Jesus as a prophet was not accepted in his hometown and they even
sought to kill him. Jesus stated that Elijah had passed by many widows in
Israel to provide for widow in Sidon. Jesus also said that Elisha overlooked
many lepers in Israel while cleansing Naaman the Syrian. They were furious
and they drove Jesus out of town. They drove him up the hill to throw him down
to his death. God enabled Jesus to walk right through the crowd on his way (4:27-30).
The Spirit of the Lord ‘anointed’ Jesus at his baptism and
the heavenly voice identified Jesus as Isaiah’s prophesied coming Messiah.
Jesus identified with John’s baptism and was led by the Spirit into the
wilderness to overcome the devil’s temptations. Afterwards, in Nazareth Jesus
goes public but was opposed because he said the opposite of what they were
expected the Messiah to do. They kick Jesus out of the synagogue, run him out
of town, and try to throw him off a cliff! Jesus identified with Elijah being
sent to help a singular gentile widow—and with Elisha cleansing one solitary
gentile leper. In their minds Jesus was portraying Israel’s God as rescuing the
wrong people. They wanted God to pour out His wrath on their enemies, so they
were astonished at Jesus’ words of grace. What they wanted was grace for Israel
and judgment for everyone else. According to Jesus, Messiah had come not to
inflict punishment on gentiles. Jesus was extending God’s love and mercy to all
who were poor and in need of liberation. We must be careful for Jesus may not
validate our expectations because God rescues all outsiders who come to Jesus
in need of God’s amazing grace.
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