The most uncomfortable I have ever been in a pulpit was when I preached at Grace Lutheran Church in Durand Michigan. Grace Lutheran Church in Durand Michigan is not unlike many churches in our church body. On any given Sunday, when she was in her prime, a couple hundred people would gather to worship at Grace. Grace had a vibrant and active Christian grade school that enrolled over 100 students. The members of Grace were kind simple Christians who loved the Lord and each other. Most preachers found the pulpit at Grace to be warm and welcoming. But not for me. You see I grew up at Grace Lutheran Church in Durand Michigan. I attended the grade school at Grace, I was confirmed at Grace, the pastor at Grace preached at my wedding. The people at Grace Lutheran Church in Durand Michigan were very familiar with Harmon Lewis.
Years after I left Grace I was invited back to preach. As I stood behind the pulpit at Grace, I could tell by the looks in their eyes and the smirks on their faces that they remembered me. I saw the raised eyebrows of former teachers, I made note of the crossed arms of the old councilmen and elders, and, though I tried my hardest not to notice, an ex-girlfriend was sitting on the left side of the church three rows from the front, and this thing was just glaring at me with an animosity that had apparently grown in intensity over the years (I used to have that effect on a lot of women). As I looked at the kind and loving faces of the members of Grace all I could see was the reflection of the sins of my youth. I don’t remember what I preached to the dear saints of Grace Lutheran Church in Durand Michigan, I just remember how utterly (and deservedly) uncomfortable I was standing in the pulpit of my childhood church.
That uncomfortable memory came back to me this week as I studied our gospel lesson for today. In Luke 4:14-30 we find Jesus standing behind the pulpit of His childhood church. And, as we are about to see, the pulpit in Nazareth was an uncomfortable place for Jesus to be. Not because of the sins of His youth. Jesus didn’t have any sins of His youth. There were no raised eyebrows, no crossed arms, no glaring girlfriends. As we will see, it wasn’t Jesus’ sin that made preaching from the pulpit in Nazareth so uncomfortable.
I imagine the village of Nazareth was buzzing with excitement. Luke tells us “14… news about him [Jesus] spread through the whole countryside.” As Jesus taught in their synagogues Luke tells us “15… everyone praised him.” No doubt Jesus was a source of pride for the villagers of Nazareth. Nazareth was nothing more than an exit ramp along one of Rome’s trade routes[1]. Nazareth was known for nothing and no one of importance was known to have come from Nazareth. So, imagine the excitement among the villagers when they learn that not only had one of their own had become the talk of the entire region of Galilee, but that He was coming home to preach in the synagogue in which He had been brought up.
It is likely that the synagogue was packed that Sabbath. No doubt Jesus’ family was there, His childhood friends were there, His neighbors were there, I wouldn’t be surprised if His former Rabbis was there. It is likely that the synagogue was full of familiar faces; people who had watched Jesus grow up, people who saw Him laugh and play with the other children, people who taught Him the Ten Commandments and the rest of the Torah, people who watched Him learn Joseph’s trade and it appears provide for His mother Mary after Joseph’s death.[2] The people of Nazareth, who gathered in the synagogue that sabbath, were familiar with Jesus.
Thanks to the inspired writing of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John the people who have gathered here at Messiah Johns Creek are also familiar with Jesus. We know about the scandal that surrounded His conception. We know about His humble birth in one of Bethlehem’s barns. We know about His harrowing flight to Egypt in order to escape massacre at the hands of Herod. We know about that time that Mary and Joseph lost Jesus in Jerusalem only to find Him hanging out with the Rabbis in the temple. We know about the time His mom meddled in his ministry and tried to make Him turn water into wine. Thanks to the gospel writers we also are rather familiar with Jesus.
Which is why it is so easy for us to imagine the anticipation among the people who sat in the synagogue when Jesus stood up to read. Luke tells us, “17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Jesus read to them our Old Testament lesson for today. As Jesus read these words from the prophet Isaiah the people would have recognized them as an ancient promise from the LORD God to deliver His people not only from captivity in Babylon but from their captivity to sin and death. They understood that Jesus was reading about freedom from sin and salvation for the oppressed. More than anything else the people looked forward to the year of the Lord’s favor when these ancient promises would be fulfilled. The people understood the gospel message Jesus was reading to them. Which is why when Jesus finished reading Luke tells us, “20… The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him’[Jesus], 21 and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
As you might imagine the people were thrilled to hear what Jesus had to say. Jesus had just told them that the year of the Lord’s favor had come; He told them that He was the anointed servant the prophet Isaiah had promised would come to set them free from sin and deliver them from damnation. Luke tells us, “22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips.”
We often have a similar reaction to gracious words such as these. Who among us doesn’t like hearing that “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”[3]? Who gets tired of hearing how “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”[4]? Who gets upset when they are told “because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”[5]? We love hearing gracious words, such as these, spoken to us from the pages of scripture.
It is not difficult to imagine that the faces of the people who gathered in Nazareth’s synagogue were beaming as much as ours do when we hear about the great love and rich mercy God has for us. However, it should be difficult for us to imagine how quickly those expressions change when they hear what Jesus has to say next. 23 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.’ ” 24 “I tell you the truth,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown. 25 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. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. 27 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.” The people of Nazareth understood better than we what Jesus was insinuating with these words. They knew that Jesus was preaching the law to them. They knew He was condemning them for demanding proof of His power. They knew He was comparing them to the Israelites who did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than those before them.
It is enough for us to understand that Jesus was pointing out to the people who gathered in Nazareth’s synagogue that they were the poor, the enslaved, and the blind that Isaiah was talking about. The people who gathered in Nazareth’s synagogue understood what Jesus was saying to them, and they did not like it, not one bit. In fact, Luke tells us, “28 All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this.” And when Luke says they were furious he means furious. So furious that they threw Jesus out of the synagogue, ran Him out of his hometown, and tried to throw Him off a cliff.
It is hard to believe that they would do this to one of their own; to someone they were so very familiar with. One could ask, how could faces that beamed at the comfort of the gospel so quickly sneer at the conviction of the law? You could ask that question, but I know that you won’t, because you know how quickly one’s countenance can change. Our faces beam when we hear about God’s great love and rich mercy, but as soon as God starts saying things we don’t like, our expressions quickly change. When God commands us to go to church and tells us when we don’t, we are despising the means of grace the smiles fade from our faces. When God calls us arrogant for failing to listen to or show respect to a parent, a pastor, a politician or any other authority God has established over us our eyes grow cold. When God tells us having sex outside of marriage, watching sex on T.V., or harboring sexy thoughts in our hearts is adultery we grind our teeth. When God calls us self-righteous for “venting our frustrations” about people or posting passive aggressive comments about them on Facebook our fist clench in rage. When God calls us ungrateful and greedy for worrying that we don’t have enough and wanting for more we lung for His throat. So don’t you dare ask what kind of a person would try to throw Jesus off a cliff. You do it all the time. Every time you arrogantly refuse to bow your head and bend your knee before God’s law, every time you do what you want to do regardless of what God says you should do, you are in effect throwing Jesus out of your heart, driving him from your life, and trying to throw Him off a cliff. In fact, the only reason you have not succeeded in throwing Jesus from a cliff is because He has ascended out of your reach, but, admit it, you would if you could. So, don’t you dare ask, how could people who were so familiar with Jesus do such a thing. You do it all the time… I know you do because I do it too.
I wonder if perhaps the people who gathered in Nazareth’s synagogue and the people who have gathered here at Messiah have become too familiar with Jesus. I wonder if it is because we think we know Him so well that we feel don’t really have to listen to Him, at least not when He talks to us about things we don’t want to hear. I wonder if at times we forget that the reason Jesus came to Nazareth and the reason Jesus comes to us is to tell the poor, the enslaved, and the blind to repent.
The people of Nazareth tried to throw Jesus off a cliff. But Jesus wouldn’t let them. Luke tells us Jesus “30… walked right through the crowd and went on his way.” Think about that, even after Jesus suffered such a painful rejection from His friends, family, and neighbors, He went on His way. He went first to Capernaum, then to the other villages and cities and towns in Galilee and Judea. Eventually He made His way to Jerusalem. There He was condemned and crucified, died and was buried. Jesus went on His way so that He could forgive the people of Nazareth for throwing Him out of the synagogue, driving Him out of His hometown, and trying to throw Him off a cliff. Jesus went on His way to do the same for you and for me. Jesus was condemned and crucified, died and was buried so that you could be forgiven for the times you have arrogantly refused to bow your head and bend your knee before God’s law. Jesus went on His way because He loved the people of Nazareth so much that He couldn’t allow them to throw Him off a cliff. Jesus loves you so much that He went on His way. Jesus went on His way so that He could pay for the sins of all the people who had become too familiar with Him.
I believe there were people in Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth that eventually came to believe in Jesus as their savior. After all Jesus’ mother Mary lived there and scripture tells us after Jesus’ resurrection at least one of His brothers believed. I bet those people felt horrible about the way they treated Jesus. I say that because I know I do, and I know you do too. That is why it is so very comforting to hear that despite the rejection Jesus faced in His hometown of Nazareth and despite the rejection He so often faces from you and me, Jesus did not reject them, and He does not reject us. Instead, Jesus went on His way. Amen.
[1] Via Maris
[2] The last reference we have of Joseph is when Jesus is 12 years old. This causes many scholars to assume that by the time Jesus begins His earthly ministry Joseph has died.
[3] John 3:16
[4] 2 Corinthians 5:21
[5] Ephesians 2:4-5