TEXT: LUKE 4:21-32
THEME: Jesus: The Great Disturber
DATE: 02/01/04
Pastor Bruce Skelton
There is a tendency to think of Jesus only as a kind, tender and gentle man. And certainly that is the case, our Lord held little babies and let little children come to him and he blessed them. He also showed great compassion for the afflicted comforting them and healing their illnesses, and casting out evil spirits. But it is imperative that we see the other side of this preacher from Nazareth. The side that we in our text for today, for Jesus the gentleman is also Jesus the great disturber.
That day in his hometown of Nazareth, he preached to those who knew him from the time he was a boy. St. Luke refers to what he said as, “gracious words which proceeded from his mouth” here they are from the prophet Isaiah:
The spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because he has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has 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 favor.
Then he said to them simply today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. Just as an aside, you should know that there are some people who say that Jesus never directly says that he is the Messiah. They are wrong because that is exactly what he is doing here.
He is proclaiming to them the good news in all of its strength and power, to disturb the secure, to unsettle those running from God, to put back together lives shattered by disobedience, to restore the joy that comes only through faith in the Savior who is none other than Jesus of Nazareth.
We would like to believe that his friends and neighbors would have responded to his message and embraced it with open hearts and ears. But that’s not the way it worked in the synagogue that day, nor is it significantly different today. In every age the Gospel is met with skepticism and disbelief, because those who are yet in their sins-alone, blind, and separated from God-perceive it as a big joke, too good to be true, or too far out to be taken seriously.
Luke calls attention to the skeptical response of those who crowded the synagogue.
And 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.
Here is a strange irony in the text, for even though Jesus taught as one who had authority, there was from the first moment a mood of suspicion, disbelief, and even hostility among them. Their astonishment is grudging and dour in the face of the very truth that could save their souls. With the question: “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they are attempting to cut him down to size. They are in essence saying: “Who does he think he is? We knew him when he was a punk kid. He is no better than we are.”
Jesus, the great disturber, understood and still understands what is behind the world’s skepticism. It is more than an honest question about the gospel and its power to free those held hostage by their sins. It is even more that a personal struggle to understand the truth about Him being the Messiah. It is unbelief in its rawest and crassest form, the stubborn refusal to believe that he Jesus is the Christ and that His message of the grace and love of God is true.
And now we see why Jesus is the great disturber, it is not because he is insensitive or because he is not a gentle man, but it is because His word touches the sensitive nerves of our stubbornness and pride. He exposes us for what we are as we flee from God, he reveals the brokenness that rebellion against our heavenly Fathers’ will always brings. He disturbs us because he always puts the finger on our skepticism and tells it the way it is. Just as he did then when he pointed out to his people how they, the Jewish people, had always missed the point and how God gave the blessing to someone else.
There is no backing away from the truth or the tragedy of what took place in that synagogue in Nazareth 2000 years ago and even though time separates us from that event it is really no different today. There is a remarkable consistency to sinful human behavior. Jesus Christ comes to hometowns all over the world through the preaching of the Gospel, by which the Holy Spirit calls to those who live in darkness and the shadow of death. But still many stubbornly refuse to accept it as the truth, just as they refuse to accept and persecute those who bring it.
And the sad fact of the matter is that even as Christians we sometimes refuse to believe it. We get ticked off at the Lord and ask as the people did in Nazareth: “Who do you think you are Jesus?” Who do you think you are to ask me not to fornicate or commit adultery? Who do you think you are to tell me not to be greedy? Who do you think you are to ask me not to lie when it suits me? Who do you think you are to criticize my language? Who do you think you are to ask me to attend worship on a regular basis of study the Bible? Who do you think you are Jesus anyway?
And if we were back then I am sure we would have ushered him to the edge of the cliff with the rest of the hometown crowd that day, ready to throw him off. But, of course, he didn’t die that day though many wanted him to. No that would come later, when he the messiah would fulfill the Scriptures by placing himself into the hands of sinful men to become the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all people on a cross on Calvary just outside Jerusalem. That was why he came, that is where he paid for all our skepticism and arrogance and pride and unbelief, so that we would not reside in hell as we all deserve, but enter heaven and have eternal life with him.
Jesus has indeed freed us, we who were prisoners of sin. He has released us from the oppression of the evil one. By his Holy Spirit given us in our baptism, we have been un-blinded, given the spiritual sight of faith in him and in his atoning death and resurrection. We now do indeed have the year of the Lord’s favor.
That reference of Isaiah, which Jesus read is pointing to what was called the year of Jubilee proscribed by God in the Torah our books of Exodus and Leviticus.
The jubilee year was supposed to be observed every 50 years. And it was a time of joyful celebration, when everything was essentially turned back to zero or restored to its original place. All debts were forgiven. Slaves were to be freed. Everyone who had an inheritance in the promised land was given it back. The whole year was a Sabbath to the Lord, a year of rest for the land and the people a year, but more importantly a whole year to celebrate and feast and give thanks to God for all he had done for His people.
In Jesus death and resurrection we New Testament believers have our Jubilee. Which is why we may jubilantly come to the Lord’s Table this “feast of victory for our God, for the Lamb who was slain has begun His reign Alleluia.” We give to give thanks and to praise God for what he has given us through his Son Jesus Christ, who given us his body to eat and his blood to drink under the forms of bread and wine for the forgiveness of all our sins. And not only do we receive that wonderful gift for ourselves, but we proclaim it to others as St. Paul points out in his first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 11:
For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes again.
Holy communion then is a visible manifestation of our jubilee. Where Jesus, the great disturber, sets our hearts at rest and keeps us steadfast in the one true faith to life everlasting.
What more could anyone ever want than that? So to him be all glory honor power and might, now and forever. Amen.
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05/06/2004