Today’s reading is from Luke 4:16-30. Jesus is in his hometown, and he picks an ordinary Sabbath morning to announce his ministry in the synagogue to a group of people who have known he and his family all his life.
He asks, or is asked to read, and it’s the scroll of Isaiah that he receives. He reads from Isaiah 61, which speaks of the Lord’s anointed one who will come to…
- Proclaim good news to the poor
- Proclaim freedom for the prisoners
- Proclaim the recovery of sight for the blind
- Set the oppressed free
- Proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
He stands, reads, then hands the scroll back and sits down. Luke says that the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him.
So he says one more thing…
“Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21).
If that’s not a mic drop I don’t know what is.
What is their response?
They are amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips.
He’s one of their own, and they’re no doubt proud of him. They’re also perhaps a bit perplexed by this last statement. What does it mean that it’s been fulfilled today? Oh well…they’re gracious words.
But then one asks, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” Maybe Joseph’s son shouldn’t be pointing to himself as the Lord’s anointed one.
So Jesus starts speaking again, and just like in yesterday’s story, if I’m the campaign manager I’m asking him to stop. It seems like he wants to offend them.
He tells them that no prophet is accepted in his hometown. He then reminds them of a story they all know. It’s about Elijah. It was a time of severe famine. God could have sent Elijah to a nice Israelite family, but instead he sent him to a Gentile widow. And then he tells them about Elisha. There were many in Israel who had leprosy, yet God told Elisha to go heal a leper who lived in Syria.
You may hear this story and have no idea what Jesus is talking about. But those in the synagogue knew exactly what he is implying, and Luke says that they were furious with Jesus for saying these things. How furious were they? Well, they decided to try to kill him. That’s pretty furious. They drove him to the edge of the hill that the town was built on. They were going to push him off. We’re not exactly sure what exactly took place, but he walked through the crowd.
Again, I as the campaign manager want Jesus to stop saying these offensive things, but he needed to uncover their true hearts. Everything was great until he began reminding them that God’s plan includes people who don’t look like them. They didn’t like this. This too will be a theme woven through the stories ahead.
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