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THE FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY FEBRUARY 1, 2004

How Do We React to Jesus?

Fr. John Spencer

“He began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."
All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. "Isn't this Joseph's son?" they asked.
Jesus said to them, "Surely you will quote this proverb to me: 'Physician, heal yourself! Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.' "
"I tell you the truth," he continued, "no prophet is accepted in his hometown. I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah's time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed--only Naaman the Syrian."
All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff. But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.

Jesus Drives Out an Evil Spirit

Then he went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath began to teach the people. They were amazed at his teaching, because his message had authority.

There is a popular image of Jesus as a warm, “fuzzy,” “Teddy bear” sort of person, someone who went around patting people on the back and making them feel good. He went around healing the sick, feeding the hungry and casting out demons. Everybody loved Him, right?

The setting of this passage in the Gospel according to Luke is Jesus’ first “trip home.” He had been teaching and preaching, and now He has returned to His hometown. This is the “hometown boy” who has succeeded. You’d think that here, with the people who knew Him best, He would get His best reception. They all knew “Joe’s boy,” the carpenter’s son. They’d watched Him grow up. He was one of their own.

On the Sabbath, Jesus went to the synagogue. (Not everyone could go to the temple in Jerusalem every week, so local synagogues were started, where people could get together and worship.) Jesus was given the Scripture to read, and He read from Isaiah; "The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lords favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn.” (Isaiah 61:1,2)

At first, “All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips.” Word had reached them about Jesus’ ministry in Galilee and they wanted to see what He would do at home. They were excited by His announcement, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."

What was Jesus telling them? This passage from Isaiah is a prophecy of the coming Messiah. Jesus is saying, in effect, “Hi, folks! This is about ME! I am the Messiah.” Jesus gauged the mood of His hearers. “Come on, Jesus, do a magic trick here. Show us the miracles that we've heard you did in Capernaum."

As Jesus goes on, the mood of the audience changes. His sermon didn't stop with the easy part. He went on to say, “No prophet is acceptable in His own country.” Familiarity breeds contempt. Jesus was telling them, "You aren't going to be able to hear what I'm telling you. You aren't going to be able to see who I am."

Then He makes two comparisons, both unpalatable to His hearers. Elijah prophesied a famine, and there was no rain for three and a half years. There were thousands starving in Israel. God’s people were starving to death in the famine; there were plenty of widows among them. But Elijah didn't feed any of them; he was sent (by God) to a widow in Zarephath, in Sidon, not in Israel at all!

Elijah’s successor, Elisha, healed a leper. (As far as we know, he healed only one leper.) There were plenty of lepers in Israel. But God sent Naaman, the Syrian captain, to Elisha to be healed. Again, the prophet’s ministry was to someone who was not of the house of Israel.

Jesus is telling us (and His contemporary audience), "I'm not just the Messiah to the Jews. I'm here in your midst, but I was not sent just for you. I am the Messiah FROM the Jews, not the Messiah TO the Jews.” “All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this.” They had eyes that were blinded to the person of Jesus and ears that were deaf to His words. His audience was so filled with rage that they chased Him to the edge of town, to the edge of a cliff, and tried to throw Him off the cliff.

Why did the audience in Nazareth react to Jesus this way? Jesus had been teaching and preaching in Galilee, and "everyone praised Him." (Luke 4:15) In Nazareth, however, He wasn't the "expert from afar," He was the "hometown boy." Familiarity breeds contempt. Because the people of Nazareth thought that they knew all about Jesus, their eyes were blind to Him and their ears were deaf to His teaching.

We aren't from Nazareth. We didn't watch Jesus grow up among us; we didn't know His mother and father, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles. But those of us who have been Christians for a long time need to guard against the same blindness and deafness. We have heard the gospel message many times – we start to "tune it out," because we think we know what it says, ALL that it says. We who have been around the longest may have the hardest time hearing the Gospel. Our ears get dull and plugged up, our sight begins to fail.

The Gospel that Jesus preached was good news, but it was first bad news. Before we can hear the good news of forgiveness and salvation, we have to hear the bad news that we are sinners and need forgiveness and salvation. The Gospel is "sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12) The Gospel goes to the heart of matters, opening up the secret thoughts and attitudes of our hearts. It is "bad news" before it becomes the "good news."

So, how do we react to Jesus? Are we willing to listen only as long as He speaks words of comfort and encouragement? Do we become deaf when He speaks words of rebuke or correction? Are we willing to react to Jesus in a way that will unstop our hearing and open our eyes – so that we can see and really perceive, we can hear and really understand?

Begin each worship service and each sermon with the prayer: "God help me to listen and hear You, help me to see and perceive You."

Open our eyes, Lord,

We want to see Jesus,

To reach out and touch Him,

And say that we love Him.

Open our ears, Lord,

And help us to listen,

Open our eyes, Lord,

We want to see Jesus.

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