Reception Uncovered

Rejection, Redemption, & Striving for Maturity

1.23.22 [Luke 4:16-31] River of Life (3rd Sunday after Epiphany)

Phil was the man. 30 years ago, Phil was the star quarterback, team captain, and homecoming king. The big man on this campus. 30 years ago, this field was his stage. 30 years ago, everyone knew his name and watched his every move. 30 years ago, he led his team to the state championship. Even though his friends teased him about still wearing his class ring and his kids had heard more than enough stories about those games, those days were still special to Phil.

When Phil returned to his old stomping grounds for homecoming, everything was different. The campus was almost unrecognizable. The old wooden bleachers had been torn out and replaced. They had lights on the field and a new color scheme and logo. None of the faculty or staff or coaches were the same. He had expected things to look different. But it was more than that. The whole thing was surreal. Foreign. Strange. More than that, Phil was a stranger. He was no longer the man. Even though he stayed for all four quarters, there was no one who even recognized him, much less celebrated him. As the game came to an end, he scuffled back to his car, took off his class ring and put it in the center console, and drove home. Dejected. Phil was the man. Now it seemed like no one cared.

Phil is fictitious. But you can imagine his disappointment, can’t you? Even if you weren’t ever the big man on campus, it would sting to make a trip back home, to a place where everyone should remember you and your accomplishments, and get snubbed like that, wouldn’t it? You would likely write off that place and never go back again, right? It hurts to be rejected when you go home.

That’s a sliver of what happens to Jesus in our Gospel text. Worse, really. What I read for our Gospel reading was the first part of Jesus’ return to Nazareth. (Lk. 4:16) He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath like he always did. At that time, they didn’t have full-time worship leaders or preachers or teachers for each local synagogue that were the familiar face and voice each week. That’s why Jesus was able to teach in the synagogues in and around the Sea of Galilee.

On that day, the synagogue attendant selected the scroll of the prophet Isaiah and handed it to Jesus. He found the 61st chapter of Isaiah and read those beautiful, comforting, Gospel-shouting words. (Lk. 4:18-19) The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” These were the words that announced that the Messiah, the One the Lord would anoint to be Israel’s redeemer, was coming.

We are not told everything Jesus said about this text. Luke just gives us Jesus’ opening line: (Lk. 4:21) Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. To anyone listening—and we’re told (Lk. 4:20) everyone’s eyes were fastened on Jesus—his message was clear. The Anointed One is here. (Lk. 4:19) The year of the Lord’s favor is now!

Initially, the response is great. Or so it seems. (Lk. 4:22) Everyone spoke well of Jesus. They were all amazed at his gracious words. But then they seemed to start connecting the dots between who Jesus was claiming to be and who they already knew him to be. (Lk. 4:22) How could Joseph’s Son also be the Lord’s Anointed?

Jesus presses on this point, as only he can. In John’s Gospel, we are told that (Jn. 2:25) Jesus did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person. And he knew what was in the hearts and minds of the people of his hometown.

He knew that part of why they were so fixated on him is because of what they had heard he had done in Capernaum. They had heard about the healings and the miracles. They wanted to see some of that in their own town. But Jesus refused. And he explains why. (Lk. 4:24) No prophet is accepted in his hometown. He points out how this played out in the ministries of Elijah and Elisha.

Elijah was the great prophet during the days of King Ahab. Because of Ahab’s incredible wickedness and idolatry, God sent a three year drought and a subsequent famine. In those days, Elijah was a wanted man. King Ahab called him (1 Kg. 18:17) the troubler of Israel and Israel, as a nation, turned their back on Elijah. So God sent him to a widow in the home country of Jezebel, Sidon, to miraculously provide a widow and her son what they needed to survive.

Elisha wasn’t quite so hated or hunted, but there were plenty of lepers in Israel who didn’t go to the Lord’s prophet for healing. Just a foreign general named Naaman. Jesus’ point was that when you reject the Lord’s prophet, you will not receive the Lord’s miraculous blessings. And the people of Nazareth got that point. That’s why they got up and tried (Lk. 4:29) to throw him off a cliff.

Today it’s easy for us to sit in judgment on this group. How could they make such a colossal mistake? How could they try to throw Jesus off a cliff? But, we’re better served by understanding why. They were furious with Jesus because he didn’t give them what they expected. They were looking for a show. He showed them that their hearts were as idolatrous as the 10 tribes of Israel that were no more.

So we ought not take comfort in the fact that we’ve never tried to throw Jesus off a cliff. We ought not think we’re good because we could never imagine reacting so violently to anyone or anything. We ought to take a hard look at how we respond and react when God doesn’t meet our expectations.

How do we respond when it seems like we have more troubles and hardships than the unbelievers around us? How do we react when after a bunch of fervent prayers it seems like God isn’t answering or even listening? How do we conduct ourselves after doing the right thing produces all the wrong results?

Far too often, when we are frustrated or disappointed, we act as if the Scripture cannot give us any real comfort. When hardship comes our way we rely upon our own inner strength rather than the indwelling Spirit of God. We may forgive someone sinning against us once, but we dismiss seventy seven times as utter foolishness. We may pray for something or someone for a little while, but we quickly give up when it seem to us as if it’s not doing anything. When serving the Lord brings us more trouble than it seems worth, or just not the credit and praise we were hoping for, we give up. Just like the people of Nazareth, our sinful nature lashes out at God when we don’t get what we expect or what we think we deserve.

Time and again we demonstrate our spiritual immaturity when God doesn’t do for us what we think he ought to do. So seeing the people of Nazareth do the same—albeit in a more violent way—shouldn’t be surprising. What is surprising is Jesus’ words and actions. He knew what the people were looking for. He knew how their amazement would shift quickly to animosity. He wasn’t surprised when they tried to assassinate him. But he still came to their synagogue. He still preached beautiful, comforting, Gospel-shouting words. He still held his gracious hands out to a people who wanted to throw him off a cliff. He was willing and eager to be their spiritually mature Savior.

He is still willing and eager to be your spiritually-mature Savior, too. Time and again in the Gospels we see Jesus demonstrate his maturity—his ability to accept not getting what he wanted, expected, or deserved from God or God’s people. This text is a prime example. He preached in Nazareth even when they didn’t really respect him or accept him as their Messiah. When they tried to kill him, he simply went to the next place. Don’t fly by that fact.

If you’ve ever had to change churches—whether because you moved or because something bad happened at the old place, you know how hesitant you were to get back into church. You were reluctant to get involved. You maybe stopped going entirely. You told yourself you still loved God but you weren’t so sure about the church. Look at Jesus. A synagogue tried to kill him. And what does he do the next Sabbath? He’s back at it. Teaching, no less. Jesus is your spiritually-mature Substitute and Savior.

Just before this, Jesus had a showdown with the devil in the desert. Three times, Satan tempted Jesus to use his divine power and position to serve himself. Three times, he denied the devil and rejected those temptations because the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. Jesus was tough-minded even when temptation came knocking.

The most striking example of this might be in the Garden of Gethsemane. The night before he died, Jesus is praying earnestly for his Heavenly Father to find another way to save sinners. Three times he prays in this way: (Lk. 22:42) Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” And after praying, he wakes us his disciples and tells them (Mt. 26:46) Rise, here comes my betrayer. Jesus not only accepted things not going his way, he embraced it because he trusted that his Heavenly Father’s will and plan was best.

By God’s grace, you can and should, too. You have seen God’s will and plan in action. You know of the gracious words and redeeming love of Jesus Christ. You know the Son of God has fulfilled the Law and the Prophets and is your Savior. The time of the Lord’s favor has come. And this favor changes us—inside out. Now that we have received the riches of Christ’s righteousness, we can handle material poverty. We know that God loves us and has promised to take care of us. Now that our eyes have been opened and we see and know the freedom we have in Christ, we can handle hardship and troubles. God only allows these because they are a part of his eternal plan. Now that we know the Lord’s favor, we can strive to live a spiritually mature children of God. There is no better time or place to do so than in moments when we aren’t getting our way. Spiritually mature people not only accept when things don’t go their way, they celebrate it. We celebrate it because we know that God is doing what is better for us. We may not always understand or agree with the Lord. But we trust in him because we have seen his love. We trust in the Lord even when he contradicts our understanding or complicates our plans. We trust in the Lord even when we are poor, because we know his Anointed One. We trust in the Lord even when we are feeling oppressed or confined, because we know that he is always with us, even to the very end of the age. We trust in the Lord even when we are brokenhearted, or blind to what he has planned for us, because we know how tenderly God deals with the brokenhearted, how powerfully he heals the blind. We trust in the Lord even when we are overwhelmed by lack of support from those we thought had our back or because of the troubles we are dealing with. We trust in the Lord because we know his Son has secured his eternal favor. Amen.