Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Luke 4:14-30 (The Message)
To Set the Burdened Free
14-15Jesus returned to Galilee powerful in the Spirit. News that he was back spread through the countryside. He taught in their meeting places to everyone's acclaim and pleasure.
16-21He came to Nazareth where he had been reared. As he always did on the Sabbath, he went to the meeting place. When he stood up to read, he was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written, God's Spirit is on me; he's chosen me to preach the Message of good news to the poor, Sent me to announce pardon to prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, To set the burdened and battered free, to announce, "This is God's year to act!"He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the assistant, and sat down. Every eye in the place was on him, intent. Then he started in, "You've just heard Scripture make history. It came true just now in this place."
22All who were there, watching and listening, were surprised at how well he spoke. But they also said, "Isn't this Joseph's son, the one we've known since he was a youngster?"
23-27He answered, "I suppose you're going to quote the proverb, 'Doctor, go heal yourself. Do here in your hometown what we heard you did in Capernaum.' Well, let me tell you something: No prophet is ever welcomed in his hometown. Isn't it a fact that there were many widows in Israel at the time of Elijah during that three and a half years of drought when famine devastated the land, but the only widow to whom Elijah was sent was in Sarepta in Sidon? And there were many lepers in Israel at the time of the prophet Elisha but the only one cleansed was Naaman the Syrian."
28-30That set everyone in the meeting place seething with anger. They threw him out, banishing him from the village, then took him to a mountain cliff at the edge of the village to throw him to his doom, but he gave them the slip and was on his way.

This passage from Luke’s Gospel is a really big deal. The scene is this: Jesus is well known as a teacher and has traveled to many places to teach. Jesus returns to his hometown of Nazareth and goes to teach in the meeting place there. He reads Scripture to the people, the Scripture written by the prophet Isaiah. The people had probably heard this passage many times, and many lessons to go a long with it. (Do we not have familiar passages that are preached in our churches, on which we have heard many different sermons?)

After Jesus reads the Scripture, he sits down. Teachers in his day did not stand at the front of a classroom but sat down. So we know from this detail that Jesus is about to start his teaching. And his whole lesson is this: "You've just heard Scripture make history. It came true just now in this place."

Now, we have the advantage of knowing all of Jesus’ story. We know he has given sight to blind people, preached to the poor, and gave people freedom from sin and illnesses. But the people to whom Jesus was teaching on that day had not seen him do all these things. To them Jesus was just another teacher. They even knew his parents and had seen him grow up. How could this man they had always know claim to be sent and chosen by God? So the people to whom Jesus is teaching are very skeptical of him and his message. What he says next sends them over the edge, makes them very, very angry.

He uses some examples of Old Testament heroes who were not welcomed in their hometowns. He tells them that just as Elijah and Elisha were sent to do God’s work in places other than where they were from, so also will he, Jesus, be sent to do God’s work in places outside his hometown. Jesus is comparing himself to Elijah and Elisha, two famous and great prophets.

This makes the people angry. How could Jesus, think he is as great and as famous and Elijah and Elisha. The people get so mad that they chase Jesus to a cliff and try to throw him off of it. They want to kill him! Fortunately, Jesus escapes.

The good news for us is that Jesus was and is who he claimed to be. He did give sight to blind people. He does set people free from what keeps them in bondage.

Pray a prayer of praise to God. Thank him for sending Jesus on a mission to heal and free people. Praise him for the ways he has healed you and set you free. Thank him for telling the truth, even when it made people angry.