Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news about Him spread throughout the whole countryside. He taught in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. Jesus went to Nazareth, where He had been raised. On the Sabbath He went to the synagogue as He normally did and stood up to read. The synagogue assistant gave Him the scroll from the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to liberate the oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the synagogue assistant, and sat down. Every eye in the synagogue was fixed on Him. He began to explain to them, “Today, this scripture has been fulfilled just as you heard it.” Everyone was raving about Jesus, so impressed were they by the gracious words flowing from His lips. They said, “This is Joseph’s son, isn’t it?” Then Jesus said to them, “Undoubtedly, you will quote this saying to Me: ‘Doctor, heal yourself. Do here in your hometown what we’ve heard you did in Capernaum.’” He said, “I assure you that no prophet is welcome in the prophet’s hometown. And I can assure you that there were many widows in Israel during Elijah’s time, when it didn’t rain for three and a half years and there was a great food shortage in the land. Yet Elijah was sent to none of them but only to a widow in the city of Zarephath in the region of Sidon. There were also many persons with skin diseases in Israel during the time of the prophet Elisha, but none of them were cleansed. Instead, Naaman the Syrian was cleansed.” When they heard this, everyone in the synagogue was filled with anger. They rose up and ran Him out of town. They led Him to the crest of the hill on which their town had been built so that they could throw Him off the cliff. But He passed through the crowd and went on His way. (Luke 4:14-30)
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“When they heard this, everyone in the synagogue was filled with anger. They rose up and ran Him out of town. They led Him to the crest of the hill on which their town had been built so that they could throw Him off the cliff.” That seems a little excessive, don’t you think - and not an especially friendly way to welcome Jesus back home. Jesus was from Galilee, and the synagogue he spoke in front of on that particular day was apparently his home synagogue - the people among whom He had been raised; the people who had been influential in teaching Him about faith; the people who had nurtured Him from the time He was a boy. And now they wanted to throw him off a cliff? That would be like Victoria Park United Church in Scarborough - my home church that nurtured my faith and sent me off into the world of ministry - asking me to come home to preach and then, because they didn’t like my message, pushing me into the middle of the traffic on Victoria Park Avenue. It wouldn’t be very nice. Actually, this passage makes me think back to the first sermon I ever preached here at Central - more than 8 years ago. Those of you who were here undoubtedly remember what I said, but for those who’ve joined the congregation since, on that auspicious occasion I said something along the lines of wanting my preaching to honour Jesus, but not expecting to draw forth the same extreme reactions that Jesus caused in people. So far, although from time to time some of you may not have agreed with me 100%, no one has tried to drive me off a cliff - which could, I suppose, be simply the result of there being no cliff particularly handy! Nevertheless, the reaction of the folks in the synagogue on that day seems a little bit excessive. What was it that Jesus had said that got them so riled up - to the point at which they were prepared to kill him?
So, obviously the first question before us as we contemplate this passage is: what did Jesus do to provoke such an extreme reaction? What was the power of these words:
“And I can assure you that there were many widows in Israel during Elijah’s time, when it didn’t rain for three and a half years and there was a great food shortage in the land. Yet Elijah was sent to none of them but only to a widow in the city of Zarephath in the region of Sidon. There were also many persons with skin diseases in Israel during the time of the prophet Elisha, but none of them were cleansed. Instead, Naaman the Syrian was cleansed.”
These are the words that transformed an otherwise peaceful synagogue crown into a murderous mob. The only possible answer is that the crowd was enraged when reminded that God’s love and power were extended to others, and not just to themselves or to their own co-religionists. It was a widow in Sidon who fed Elijah during a time of famine and it was a Syrian who was cleansed. The power of God was seen to be working in unexpected places and in unexpected people, and this rankled the crowd. First they were stunned, then they were angry and they they turned murderous! All because they were reminded that they couldn’t contain the love of God to just themselves or their own people; that they instead had to be willing to acknowledge that God was not just their God; that God was God - God of all the world and God of all people. God’s blessings would have to be shared; they couldn’t be hoarded. God’s love couldn’t be confined to a particular nation or a particular group of people. God’s love extended to humanity. There was no room for pride on the part of God’s people. They weren’t special - they were just loved, like everyone else. The only thing that was different was that God’s people had a responsibility to take the light of God’s love to the world.
That’s no different for God’s people today. We gather here as the people of God, and while we have been blessed by the realization that we are the people of God, we’ve not been given any place of pride - instead, we’ve been given the work of sharing the good news of God’s grace. Our congregation is not at all unlike that synagogue Jesus spoke in front of 2000 years ago. Christianity today has much in common with the Judaism of Jesus’ day. And if we have so much in common, then a troubling question gets raised in the light of this reading: what would it take to turn us into a frenzied mob today?
We may not ever try to drive someone off a cliff (to take their life) but I wonder. If Jesus were here and spoke from this pulpit and essentially said (as he said in Nazareth) “you’re nothing special,” how would we respond? We probably wouldn’t like it. We might not try to drive Jesus off a cliff (or off the edge of the Welland Canal) but we probably wouldn’t like it. Truth be told, don’t we like to believe that we’re special? Don’t we like to believe that as believers we have a special place in God’s heart, so to speak? And if someone were to challenge that (Jesus, me or anyone) then the congregation might be a little bit taken aback. We probably wouldn’t be turned into a bunch of homicidal maniacs, but we probably also wouldn’t be very happy. Because we want to be special. Deep down, buried, tucked away in our innermost fantasies is the desire to be special - but Jesus seemed to say that to God everyone is special. Syrians and Sidonians then. Perhaps Muslims and Hindus and Buddhists today And everyone else of course. And that rankles at least some people.
I want to say that we are special. We’re special to God. We’re “God’s own people,” 1 Peter says. But let’s understood what that means. We’re special not because we’re better or more loved by God than anyone else. We’re special because we’ve been entrusted with the gospel - and with the great responsibility of sharing the gospel. That’s our life’s work and that’s our faith’s work and that’s what makes us special. Having our “special status” with God challenged might sting (just as it stung the people of Nazareth long ago) and being told that our “special status” really means the call to be a servant may not sound like much fun. It may not be glamorous. But it’s the truth. And, in truth, it makes us special beyond belief. To be entrusted with the gospel; with the very word of God, and to be asked to share the news of God’s love with the world. What a privilege that is!
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