Epiphany 3 year C Sermon 07 Nazareth Manifesto
In only a short time Luke tells us... news about Jesus... had spread through the whole countryside. Stories of the voice saying ‘this is my beloved son’ and the dove at his baptism in the river Jordon. Stories about how the spirit had led Jesus into the wilderness...
Stories of his teaching in the synagogues... right throughout Galilee... and how everyone praised him. And now in the midst of it all he’d come home...
to Nazareth...to the people he’d grown up with...to his neighbours and friends.
People who knew him as Josephs boy, Mary’s oldest son, friends who’d watched him at his work as a carpenter...studied and argued with him... growing up in the synagogue... like all good Jewish boys.
Of course they’d ask him to speak… now he was back. Ask him to read and interpret the scriptures. So they could get a good look… at what all the fuss was about. [pause]
Was Jesus standing by a window in the sun’s morning rays … as they handed him the scroll of Isaiah …
or was it in the cool dusk of evening
as they gathered there?
Were his friends and neighbours in that little town… intrigued… or were they sceptical and slightly cynical in anticipation… of what Joseph’s son… the carpenter would say… did their eyes glistened with interest…
as they waited in silence… for Jesus interpretation…
of his chosen text. [pause]
Unrolling the scroll of Isaiah, Jesus finds the several texts he wants... and begins to read:
‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he’s anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He’s sent me...
to proclaim freedom for the prisoners... and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour.’
Then Luke tells us...Jesus rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant... and the eyes and ears of everyone were fastened on him... as he sat down to speak...
You could have heard a pin drop…
‘Today…in your hearing… this scripture has been fulfilled. ’
Jesus could only mean…the spirit of God is on him…he’s been anointed…he’s the one about whom the prophet wrote…
They are stunned I imagine… Nothing his mother had said had prepared them for this. Either Jesus has become a mad man, or a con man. Or …what he said what true… and God’s purposes were being unveiled for them… right there in their hearing.
If Jesus is crazy… if he is filled with grandiose
fantasies and delusions… of course his words could be easily dismissed as the ravings of the deranged…they could feel sorry for his family…maybe titter a bit behind their hands…
If Jesus is conning them… lying to them… trying to claim divine support to overthrow Herod’s throne…
or even more daring…an armed uprising against Rome…
then he certainly can’t be dismissed…
he’s actually dangerous… he needs to be got rid of…
if the Jewish or Roman authorities got wind of it…why they’d be down on their little town of Nazareth… like a ton of bricks.
It’s all very well for us to dream of God rescuing his people from domination, saving the oppressed from exploitation, liberating the captives…but don’t try to drag us in on it.
If what Jesus said was true and he really was the promised one…the anointed one of God…the Messiah well… they’d expect some special razzle dazzle… for the old home town…something more than the young man they’d always known since childhood just sitting there…calmly claiming to be the Messiah. [pause]
So what conclusion did they come to…those people who knew Jesus best and longest? Did they raise him on their shoulders and spill out into the streets in joyous relief that the saviour of the world had come? Did they laugh out loud and roll their eyes and say yeah sure Jesus you’ve been out in the wilderness sun just a little bit too long…
I find what happens next truly confusing… because our storyteller Luke reports in verse 22.
‘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.’
Excuse me? But this is where I think some well meaning person must have slipped a little political correctness into Luke’s account of what happened that day.
‘All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips.’
At this point in the story... Jesus has only said one sentence
in his own words. And that declaration would have branded him... as either mad... bad or the actual Messiah.
‘Today…in your hearing… this scripture has been fulfilled.’
Sorry but ‘All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips.’ seems like a very weird response to mad or bad... and is certainly a muted and sugary response... to ‘I’m the anointed one of God’.
But... if we leap over this difficult verse... we get right back into what sounds like Jesus addressing his skeptics asking for some razzle dazzle miracles...some proof of identity.
Because Jesus says...now I suppose you’re gonna say. 'Ok Doc, heal yourself! Do it here like you did in Capernaum. But no prophet’s ever been accepted in his home town...
not even the great Elijah...’ [gently] I don’t need to prove anything.
Well that snaps it for the congregation...it’s clear from their reaction they don’t think Jesus is crazy...
They think he’s dangerous and they’re not going to allow him to hang around... and Luke tells us
‘all the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. And they got up, drove him out of town, and took him to the brow of the hill, to throw him down the cliff.’
And yet again his time has not yet come...
and Jesus walks straight through the crowd...
and right on back to Capernaum.
This won’t be... his last rejection....
Jesus’ teaching unfolds an interpretation of Jewish tradition... which shocked... angered and scared a lot of people.
But why... when his saving message was one of Shalom...
the desire of God’s just peace for all humankind.
Part of the why he was rejected... and continues to be rejected today... is revealed in Jesus words in the synagogue that day in Nazareth...today the words of the prophet Isaiah are fulfilled right here right now in your hearing.
If he wasn’t crazy or lying...he really was the anointed one of God... Immanuel...God with us in time and space...and if that’s true...we have to take him seriously...we have to take his teaching to heart...
And if we take his teaching to heart we might have to sacrifice something ourselves and follow him and that could be scary...the powers that be might not like it...
The powers that be might not like it. [pause]
It’s the same today as it was in Nazareth. Our response to Jesus understanding of his identity... is critical...
Either he was mad along with all those who recorded his life and teaching...or he was a liar and a conman...
Or in him... in the very person of Jesus... God’s purposes of Shalom were to be fulfilled for all creation.
We are free to choose...what we believe. We are free to reject him or choose his way of peace with compassion and mercy and justice. His way of asserting God’s love for all creation...all people...his request to love our enemies, pray for those who hate us and above all love one another..
We are free to choose to love...how consistent that is with grace don’t you think?
In only a short time Luke tells us... news about Jesus... had spread through the whole countryside. Stories of the voice saying ‘this is my beloved son’ and the dove at his baptism in the river Jordon. Stories about how the spirit had led Jesus into the wilderness...
Stories of his teaching in the synagogues... right throughout Galilee... and how everyone praised him. And now in the midst of it all he’d come home...
to Nazareth...to the people he’d grown up with...to his neighbours and friends.
People who knew him as Josephs boy, Mary’s oldest son, friends who’d watched him at his work as a carpenter...studied and argued with him... growing up in the synagogue... like all good Jewish boys.
Of course they’d ask him to speak… now he was back. Ask him to read and interpret the scriptures. So they could get a good look… at what all the fuss was about. [pause]
Was Jesus standing by a window in the sun’s morning rays … as they handed him the scroll of Isaiah …
or was it in the cool dusk of evening
as they gathered there?
Were his friends and neighbours in that little town… intrigued… or were they sceptical and slightly cynical in anticipation… of what Joseph’s son… the carpenter would say… did their eyes glistened with interest…
as they waited in silence… for Jesus interpretation…
of his chosen text. [pause]
Unrolling the scroll of Isaiah, Jesus finds the several texts he wants... and begins to read:
‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he’s anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He’s sent me...
to proclaim freedom for the prisoners... and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour.’
Then Luke tells us...Jesus rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant... and the eyes and ears of everyone were fastened on him... as he sat down to speak...
You could have heard a pin drop…
‘Today…in your hearing… this scripture has been fulfilled. ’
Jesus could only mean…the spirit of God is on him…he’s been anointed…he’s the one about whom the prophet wrote…
They are stunned I imagine… Nothing his mother had said had prepared them for this. Either Jesus has become a mad man, or a con man. Or …what he said what true… and God’s purposes were being unveiled for them… right there in their hearing.
If Jesus is crazy… if he is filled with grandiose
fantasies and delusions… of course his words could be easily dismissed as the ravings of the deranged…they could feel sorry for his family…maybe titter a bit behind their hands…
If Jesus is conning them… lying to them… trying to claim divine support to overthrow Herod’s throne…
or even more daring…an armed uprising against Rome…
then he certainly can’t be dismissed…
he’s actually dangerous… he needs to be got rid of…
if the Jewish or Roman authorities got wind of it…why they’d be down on their little town of Nazareth… like a ton of bricks.
It’s all very well for us to dream of God rescuing his people from domination, saving the oppressed from exploitation, liberating the captives…but don’t try to drag us in on it.
If what Jesus said was true and he really was the promised one…the anointed one of God…the Messiah well… they’d expect some special razzle dazzle… for the old home town…something more than the young man they’d always known since childhood just sitting there…calmly claiming to be the Messiah. [pause]
So what conclusion did they come to…those people who knew Jesus best and longest? Did they raise him on their shoulders and spill out into the streets in joyous relief that the saviour of the world had come? Did they laugh out loud and roll their eyes and say yeah sure Jesus you’ve been out in the wilderness sun just a little bit too long…
I find what happens next truly confusing… because our storyteller Luke reports in verse 22.
‘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.’
Excuse me? But this is where I think some well meaning person must have slipped a little political correctness into Luke’s account of what happened that day.
‘All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips.’
At this point in the story... Jesus has only said one sentence
in his own words. And that declaration would have branded him... as either mad... bad or the actual Messiah.
‘Today…in your hearing… this scripture has been fulfilled.’
Sorry but ‘All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips.’ seems like a very weird response to mad or bad... and is certainly a muted and sugary response... to ‘I’m the anointed one of God’.
But... if we leap over this difficult verse... we get right back into what sounds like Jesus addressing his skeptics asking for some razzle dazzle miracles...some proof of identity.
Because Jesus says...now I suppose you’re gonna say. 'Ok Doc, heal yourself! Do it here like you did in Capernaum. But no prophet’s ever been accepted in his home town...
not even the great Elijah...’ [gently] I don’t need to prove anything.
Well that snaps it for the congregation...it’s clear from their reaction they don’t think Jesus is crazy...
They think he’s dangerous and they’re not going to allow him to hang around... and Luke tells us
‘all the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. And they got up, drove him out of town, and took him to the brow of the hill, to throw him down the cliff.’
And yet again his time has not yet come...
and Jesus walks straight through the crowd...
and right on back to Capernaum.
This won’t be... his last rejection....
Jesus’ teaching unfolds an interpretation of Jewish tradition... which shocked... angered and scared a lot of people.
But why... when his saving message was one of Shalom...
the desire of God’s just peace for all humankind.
Part of the why he was rejected... and continues to be rejected today... is revealed in Jesus words in the synagogue that day in Nazareth...today the words of the prophet Isaiah are fulfilled right here right now in your hearing.
If he wasn’t crazy or lying...he really was the anointed one of God... Immanuel...God with us in time and space...and if that’s true...we have to take him seriously...we have to take his teaching to heart...
And if we take his teaching to heart we might have to sacrifice something ourselves and follow him and that could be scary...the powers that be might not like it...
The powers that be might not like it. [pause]
It’s the same today as it was in Nazareth. Our response to Jesus understanding of his identity... is critical...
Either he was mad along with all those who recorded his life and teaching...or he was a liar and a conman...
Or in him... in the very person of Jesus... God’s purposes of Shalom were to be fulfilled for all creation.
We are free to choose...what we believe. We are free to reject him or choose his way of peace with compassion and mercy and justice. His way of asserting God’s love for all creation...all people...his request to love our enemies, pray for those who hate us and above all love one another..
We are free to choose to love...how consistent that is with grace don’t you think?
