Nazareth Manifesto

Epiphany 3 year C Sermon 13 

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 Jesus’ baptism in the river Jordon. Stories about how the spirit had led Jesus into the wilderness...

Stories of his teaching in synagogues... all over Galilee...
and how everyone praised him. 

And now in the midst ofall  this growing fame…
Jesus came home... to Nazareth...to the people he’d
grown up with...to his neighbours and friends.

People who knew him as Joseph’s boy, Mary’s oldest son, friends who’d watched him at his work as a carpenter ...who’d 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 skeptical and slightly cynical
… of what Joseph’s son…would say…
did their eyes glistened in anticipation…

as they waited… in silence… for Jesus interpretation…

of his chosen text. [pause]

And standing there before them…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 rolls up the scroll,
and hands it back to the attendant... and the eyes and ears of everyone are fastened on him... as he sits down to speak...

You could have heard a pin drop…when Jesus says

‘Today…in your hearing…this scripture has been fulfilled.’

By this shattering assertion…Jesus could only mean…
the spirit of God is actually on him…that he’s been anointed
that he’s the one… the prophet is writing about…

The congregation are stunned…I imagine. Nothing his mother told them over the years…has prepared them for this.

Mary and Joseph’s son has become either a madman, or a
con man. Or incredibly…what he says is true… God’s purposes are being unveiled for them… right there in their hearing.

If Jesus is crazy…if his mind is sick and filled with grandiose fantasies and delusions…of course his words can be
easily dismissed… as the ravings of a deranged man

…they can feel sorry for his family…
whisper… what a shame it must be his mother and father.

If Jesus is conning them… lying to them…
claiming he’s got God’s support claim the throne of Herod… or even more daring…lead an armed revolt against Rome

then Jesus certainly can’t be dismissed…or ignored …because he’s actually dangerous…
In that case…Jesus needs to be got rid of…

If the Jewish or Roman authorities get wind of this…
they’d be down on our 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. [pause]

If what Jesus says is true… and he really is the promised one …the anointed one of God…we can expect some
special razzle dazzle…for the old home town…

something more… than this young man they’d known since childhood…just sitting there…
calmly claiming to be the Messiah. [pause]

So what conclusion do the people of Nazareth come to …those who knew Jesus… the best and the longest?

Do they raise him on their shoulders and spill out into the street… in joyous relief …
that the saviour of the world is one of their community?

Or do they laugh out loud… and roll their eyes…
and say yeah right Jesus…looks like you've been out in the wilderness sun… just a bit too long [pause]

Actually…I find what Luke says happens truly confusing …because right after this in verse 22 Luke tells us.

 ‘All spoke well of him... and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips.

Excuse me? I think much later on…some well-meaning scribe must have slipped a little political correctness
into Luke’s account of what happened that day.
Because the story does says…‘All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips.’

And this is really weird because up to this point in the story...
the only thing Jesus has said in his own words… is
‘Today… in your hearing…this scripture has been fulfilled.’

And that declaration… would certainly have branded Jesus...
as mad...or bad… or the actual Messiah.

I’m sorry, but ‘All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips.’ seems like a very strange response to mad or bad... and a ridiculously polite response... to well…‘I am the anointed one of God’.

Because right after this difficult verse... we’re confronted by what sounds like Jesus reacting to skeptics
asking for miracles...and proof of identity…

Right after ‘All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips.’

Jesus says ‘Oh now I suppose you’re gonna say. Go ahead Doctor…heal yourself! Don’t try to dazzle us here in your home town like you did in Capernaum. But I’m telling you no prophet’s ever been accepted in his home town...

not even the great Elijah...’

[gently] I don’t need to prove anything to you.  [pause]

And bang…that snaps it for the congregation...and they react. And it’s clear from their reaction…they don’t think Jesus is crazy...They’ve decided he’s dangerous…and they’re not going to allow him…to hang around Nazareth

Luke tells us ‘all the people in the synagogue were furious. And they got up and drove Jesus out of town, and took him to the brow of a hill, to throw him off the cliff.’

But again Jesus’ time has not yet come...

and he just walks straight through the crowd...

and right on back to Capernaum.

This won’t be... his last rejection.... [pause]

Throughout his ministry…Jesus’ teaching interprets Jewish tradition...in a way which shocks...and angers
and scares a lot of people.

But why...were they so upset when his saving message was just about the fulfillment of their dreams…and God’s desire for the wellbeing of all people…for a just and equitable peace for all humankind. [pause]

Well…part of the reason Jesus was rejected then…
and continues to be rejected today... is because of his teaching in the synagogue that day in Nazareth...what we call his Nazareth Manifesto…and because of his claim
to be the actual fulfillment of Israel’s prophets words…

And for us just as for the congregation in Nazareth…
If Jesus wasn’t crazy or lying...then he really is the anointed one of God... Immanuel...God with us…
in time and space...and if that’s true...

then we have to take him seriously...

we have to take his teaching to heart...And if we take his teaching to heart…well we might have to sacrifice something ourselves…maybe even our safety…
the powers that be… might not like it...

The powers that be… might not like us. [pause]

It’s the same in Wanaka or Hawea today as it was in the synagogue in Nazareth…our response to Jesus’ own understanding… of his identity...of who he was…is critical.

We have three choices…One…either he was mad along with all who followed him and recorded his life and teaching...
or two…he was a liar and a conman

Or three…we can choose to believe that in him...through the very person of Jesus...God’s purposes of peace and well-being were to be fulfilled… for all creation. [pause]

Like those who sat in the synagogue in Nazareth…we’re free to choose what we believe about Jesus and what we do about him. We’re free to reject him and his gospel message
or free to follow him and his teaching...at school in our family our community and in our politics.

And mark my words… if we follow him… it will be good news to the poor…and it will mean freedom for those in oppressive relationships…it will mean sight to those who are blind to God’s love… for all creation.