A Sermon that Created a Fury

I was reading this morning from Luke 4:14-30, the account of the very first synagogue teaching of Jesus. According to Luke's chronology, this was the very first public action of Jesus following His baptism and the temptation in the wilderness. The location was Nazareth, a sparsely settled village in Galilee - the town in which Jesus grew up.

Picture the setting. It is the evening of Shabbat (Friday night for us). A small group of men walk silently toward the small synagogue. They enter and sit on stone benches that lined the walls. From the Ark, a leather-bound scroll was handed to Jesus for He was to be the designated reader of the Scriptures that day. The scroll was of the prophet Isaiah. Carefully Jesus unrolled the scroll until He came to Isaiah 61:1-2 (you must remember there were no chapter or verse divisions in Jesus' day). Jesus read the text, gave it back to the one attending the Ark, and sat down. Then Jesus uttered a one sentence commentary: Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. Luke tells us the people were amazed.

Perhaps, encouraged by those in attendance, Jesus elaborated upon a quote He may have heard upon His return to Nazareth. You can read this in verses 23-27. Drawing upon two familiar stories from the Old Testament, Jesus reminds His listeners that the Sidonian widow and the Syrian captain had experienced the grace of God...not the people living within Israel.

Suddenly the amazement turned to fury. Compliments became complaints. Acceptance became rejection even to the point of plotting Jesus' death. Why this change in attitude? The words Jesus read were what people wanted to hear - God would do something for them. The commentary of Jesus was not what they wanted to hear - God would also do something for the Gentiles. That synagogue audience is not unlike many church congregations today. Congregants clamor for what they want to hear. They want God to do something for them but at no costs to themselves. But, when the subject turns to what God really wants them to hear...rejection is the only alternative.

The prophet is without honor in his own town. The validity of that truth lies not with the prophet, but with the people of the town. To be cast out of Nazareth - and to our knowledge Jesus never returned there - did not diminish the ministry of Jesus, but the people of Nazareth certainly missed out on what God might have done through them.