Listen to this sermon HERE
REJECTION AT NAZARETH (Part 1)
Isaiah 61:1-2
Luke 4:14-21
January 24, 2010
In Luke’s Gospel the story of Jesus’ rejection at Nazareth takes place immediately after Jesus is tempted by Satan in the wilderness. Fortunately, because of the Gospel of John, we know that this actually occurs about 1 year after the temptations. Jesus has been down in the southern part of Israel, near the capital city of Jerusalem. He has been performing miracles. People have been flocking to him for supernatural healing, and then staying to listen to his teaching. Luke writes that, “news about him spread through the whole countryside”. The Greek word he uses there is phēmē, which is the basis of the English word famous. Luke says Jesus became famous in that year. What’s interesting is that his fame is not primarily for the miracles; his fame is related to his teaching about the Bible. That’s why people are asking each other, “Have you heard about this Rabbi Jesus?”
After a year of teaching in Judea Jesus and the Disciples head up north to Galilee. Matthew tells us that the impetus for this change of location is the arrest of John the Baptist (4:12). Both Jesus and John the Baptist have been preaching a message about the coming of the Kingdom of God. Herod will not tolerate any competition for the throne. His interpretation of this preaching is that someone is coming to usurp his position. He arrests, and eventually executes, John. If Jesus stays in the south he will almost certainly be arrested and executed as well. Jesus is not opposed to dieing for this message, but the timing has to be right. The Christian movement is not far enough along that it can survive the assassination of its’ leader; so Jesus and the Disciples travel north to Galilee – which is under a different jurisdiction. Herod has no authority there.
Now, to the skeptical reader it might sound like Jesus is a scardy cat that runs away. But, if you look carefully, you will notice that Jesus is led to Galilee by the Holy Spirit. The reality is that Jesus isn’t running away from a man, he is running to a ministry. The Holy Spirit leads him back to his childhood home of Nazareth. And, when we find Jesus, he is in the synagogue where he grew up as a boy. Luke tells us that Jesus is welcomed in the synagogue as a Rabbi – a highly skilled teacher. That position comes with a lot of respect.
In later years the religious authorities will insult him, and speak derogatorily about Christ. Fifty years after the crucifixion Rabbi Simeon Ben Azzai called Jesus, “The useless bastard son of an adulteress.” That would end up being one of the kinder references to Jesus. After Christianity began to spread, the Rabbis vilified Jesus and wrote very harshly about him. But, at the time that he walked among them, they thought he was an exceptionally wise and discerning teacher (John 3:1-2).
There is something else about Jesus that I want you to notice. Going to church was his habit. He wasn’t a hit or miss attendee, he was consistently present at worship. This is the Son of God; the creator of the universe, the inspiration for the Holy Bible. If anyone can get away skipping church now and then, it should be Jesus. And yet, he feels the need to be in church every Sabbath. Well, if it’s good enough for him, it’s good enough for us.
Church was a little bit different for Jesus than it is for us. First of all, anytime a visiting Rabbi attended worship he was offered the opportunity to preach and teach. Guest Rabbi’s got first shot at the pulpit. People were always excited to hear what someone else thought about the Bible, and so they opened their pulpits up to visitors. There was a very specific order of worship. They began by reciting the Shema Yisrael in unison (this comes from the book of Deuteronomy (6:4-9), “Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord alone.” Then, there was a prayer time. There might be a few joys and concerns, but most of the prayers were memorized and repeated in unison – as we do with the Lord’s Prayer.
Next, and attendant would go to the replica of the Ark of the Covenant, and take out a scroll from the Law. They were not working from a paged Bible, this was not a codex. The first five books of the Bible were all on one long page. Now, you didn’t rewind the scroll each week, you left it at the place where you finished. One of the men would stand and read out loud from the Law; starting where they had left off last week. The readings were small, only one to three verses; and there appears to have been a lectionary in place so that in every synagogue they would be reading the same Scriptures each week. The reader would then hand the scroll back to the attendant, who would place it back in the ark.
Then, the attendant would get a scroll from the prophets. Now, any man in the church could choose to stand and be the Maphtir, who reads from the Haftarah. Luke tells us that Jesus assumed this role when he stood up that morning. By the way, all of the worship service was seated, except for the reading of the Scripture – when the reader would stand out of respect for God, and God’s word. The scroll would be returned to the Ark, and the reader would sit back down and begin to teach about the reading. After the lesson there was a short benediction, and then everyone went home.
Jesus is the Maphtir that morning, and he reads from the prophet Isaiah; chapter 61 verses one and two. A couple of things jump out at us. First, Luke tells us that Jesus unrolled the scroll and found the place he wanted. He skipped the regular reading of the day so he could read and teach on another topic. We’re not going to finish the entire pericope today; next week we will get to what happens after Jesus finishes teaching. But, there shouldn’t be any doubt that Jesus knew exactly what he was doing, and exactly what the consequences would be.
The second thing that jumps out at us is that Jesus altered the Scripture. If you paid attention during our reading today you noticed that what Isaiah wrote, and what Jesus said, were different. He skips the part about being sent to bind up the brokenhearted. Instead, he inserts Isaiah 58:6 in the middle of the reading, about giving recovery of sight to the blind. And, he completely leaves off the ending, about the day of God’s vengeance. Now, from a purely academic standpoint God wrote the Bible; and if God wants to change the Bible he jolly well can. But, in a minute we will look at the purpose for those changes.
Jesus gives the scroll back to the attendant, who puts it back in the Ark, then sits to teach. Luke tells us that every eye in the place was on Jesus, and their focus was intense. That shows us another big difference between Jewish worship and our own. When they came into the synagogue each week they fully expected to be changed by hearing the word of God explained. There was no doubt in their minds that you cannot know God, unless you know God’s word. The better you know God’s word, especially by having someone learned explain it to you, the more powerful your relationship with God will become. I highly doubt that very many (if any) of us walk into church each Sunday expecting to be changed by an encounter with God through his Holy Word. That’s a shame.
Jesus speaks, and Luke tells us he said, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Now, I want you to know this was not a one sentence sermon. It is clear from the verses that follow that Jesus went on to preach and teach a full lesson. I’m sorry that the message has been lost; all Luke preserves for us is the opening line – but what a doozy it is! Jesus teaches on the topic of eschatology; the end times, the last days. You’ve seen men with sandwich boards that read ‘the end is near’; well Jesus sits down that day and says, “No, the end is here.”
Of course, that message means different things to different people. To the Jews of Jesus’ day it meant that God with coming with vengeance to destroy the nation of Rome, and all the other Gentiles, and leave Israel to live in the world by themselves. But, that’s not what Jesus meant. Our clue comes from the way he modified the Scriptural reading. He left off the part of God’s vengeance – on purpose. This is not a message about smiting your enemies and crushing them beneath your feet. This has nothing to do with setting up a military Messiah who will turn the tables on anyone who has every made Israel angry.
What is Jesus talking about? Remember he included a stray verse about bringing sight to the blind. Of course, he’s speaking spiritually not physically. Jesus’ message is that the Kingdom of God has arrived, today, in your presence; but not everyone will get it. Everyone starts out blind; then some have their eyes opened. Some people will be able to see it, and some won’t. Next week we’ll look at the conclusion of this story and see that a great number of them didn’t get it. The Kingdom of God has come! Jesus brings the truth about God and salvation; and either you see it or you don’t.
We are living in the Eschaton – the last days. The end began when Jesus was born; and the end will end when Jesus returns. During these end times the wrath of God, and his vengeance against the unrighteous and the unbelieving, is being held at bay. We are not in the time of Judgment – that comes after the end. And, God is patiently waiting for every last soul to repent and be saved. But, the end won’t last forever. Eventually, the end will end. And then comes Judgment.
Judgment is too late to get it. Judgment is too late to suddenly see what Jesus was telling us. Jesus said he came to preach good news to the poor; that is to tell us how to be saved. If you don’t have salvation your money will not do you any good. The good news is that eternal salvation has come! He came to proclaim freedom for the prisoners. We are not owned by our sins. They do not define us, and they do not control us. Jesus has unlocked the dungeon of sin’s prison and set us free to be the children of God we were born to be.
Now, either you get that; and you put your entire faith in Jesus. Or, you don’t. Please, please – get it.
R. C. Sproul, General editor, New Geneva Study Bible (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publisher, 1995), 1610.