besquared.org Blog

Today’s Text
This is an amazing story. The heart of the story is radical enough, but the frame is so unsettling that I find myself still a little stunned by it.

I’ll start by summarizing the center of the text, and then we will look at the frame and then we will come back to the heart of the text.

The center of the text is Jesus’ teaching in the synagogue. As the famous visiting Rabbi it was natural for him to be invited to teach. He chooses a beloved text. This should have been an easy sermon, and it is. Go back and read Is 61. Really, I mean it. Okay, here are the first few verses since I worry that you won’t go read it.

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 LORD’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,

and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of his splendor.

They will rebuild the ancient ruins
and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
that have been devastated for generations.

Now you see what I mean. They would have all loved this text and when he pulled it out they would have all settled in for a great happy day at the synagogue. Of course Jesus stopped before the part about “provide for those who grieve in Zion” (not to mention the part bout vengeance) but that would not have mattered, they would have known the whole text.

And then he rolls up the scroll and every eye is fastened on him, the teenage boys are hushed and you could have heard a mustard seed drop. And he tells them exactly what they have been longing to hear. This miracle-working, authoritative-preaching, local-boy-done-good preaches the very midrash on Isaiah 61 that all of them were longing to hear.

They had heard too many sermons on this texts that began, “Someday, this text ….” but this was brand new. Jesus – who spoke with a new authority – said, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Can you imagine the joy in that room. We don’t have to guess at their reaction. They loved what they were hearing. (As a side note the word in NIV “gracious” sound very bland because we use the word to mean polite. they did not mean that his words were polite, they meant they were grace filled – and in a big way. ) They couldn’t have been more excited. I need you to pause for a second and contemplate what this oppressed Jewish community would have thought if their hometown hero had arrived and told them that he was about to bring the great restoration that they had always wanted. [I remember when Bill Frist became senate majority leader (thanks Alex for the correction), everyone in Tenn. was excited about all the good things that would come to us because he was in that position of power.] Certainly among other things, when they remind each other that this was Joseph’s son they are anticipating all the wonderful things that are coming for Israel and for them especially.

And then things get crazy. But wait let’s see the frame before we move on.

The frame is very simple, He arrives a home town hero and leaves a rejected and despised prophet. This town that had “brought him up” now tries to “throw him down.” In Luke’s understated artistry he closes the frame by telling us that Jesus is now going his own way.

What could have happened? Let’s go back to the center. Just when he has them in the palm of his hand he suggests to them, “I suppose that you want all this to start here.” And then he tells them a few stories. Stories they did not want to hear. Stories that tell them all the same thing. Jesus is telling them, “Don’t think that this good news is just for God’s special people.” In fact he leaves them wondering if it is even for them at all.

When Jesus comes to the people who most expected to hear good news, instead they hear bad news. They hear that his decision to focus on the poor and oppressed and the imprisoned means that he will not focus on everyones needs. Liberation theologians call this Christ’s preferential option for the poor.

We often marvel at how few of the Jewish people accepted Jesus. We sometimes even mock them. How could they miss it? I think we can only do that if we have not studied the gospels very carefully and have not studied ourselves very well. This sermon which lifts up their hopes so high, then crashes them on the ground. I suppose thier desire to do the same to Jesus is only natural.

I am not entirely sure what to make of this story. Two things are clear to me, one is less so.

1. It is clear that this story is pivotal to the narrative of Luke. It is explains Jesus transition to a homeless, anti-establishment, fringe figure who worked on the edges of established institutions. He is naming himself as not the man they expected. It also explains Jesus priorities for the rest of the gospel. Jesus is the man to fulfill the song of his mother.

2. It is clear that the church needs to always check it priorities against the priorities of this sermon. Are we still partners with Jesus in this ministry? I must confess that the priorities of my life line up with much that Jesus has taught but do little to reflect this passage.

3.Here is what is fuzzy to me.  In my life, I know that I have more in common with the people of Nazareth then with the demoniac by the sea.  If Jesus has a preferential option for those who are poor and far from knowing God, then as a middle class boy who grew up in the church, I wonder what that means.  Now I know that theologically I am plenty sinful and lost and am certainly evil enough but so were those in the synagogue of Nazareth. When Jesus effectively tells them, “I didn’t some for you,” what good news is left?  I certainly don’t believe for a minute that Jesus ministry is only good news for some.  I have some ideas, but I want to withhold judgment and see if Luke gives us any more insight.  What good news is their for these people like me, the people of Nazareth, who are so sure that they will get the first prize?

-Ethan