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LUKE’S GOSPEL…NAZARETH – 7a

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“Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭4‬:‭14‬-‭17‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus’ resolve to live by the words of His Father was quickly put to the test in His hometown, Nazareth. What better place to begin, where He had grown up under scrutiny, where He was best known by the community, so they thought. 

Once again, come Sabbath, Jesus took His place in the synagogue, however, not as a regular worshipper but as a recognised “rabbi”, a teacher of the law. He has become well-known in the region for His teaching and authority. 

Jesus stood up to read the Scripture for that day. He deliberately selected a passage that formed part of Isaiah’s prophetic picture of the Messiah. How fitting that Isaiah prophesied about the Messiah’s ministry of deliverance and healing for His broken people, an exact description of His mission which had already begun in nearby Capernaum. 

“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.” …He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.””

‭‭Luke‬ ‭4‬:‭18‬-‭19‬, ‭21‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Well, that set the cat among the pigeons! Imagine the audacity of the man! One of their own villagers, a young upstart who grew up in front of them, claiming to be the fulfilment of their great prophet Isaiah’s immortal words!Who did He think He was? 

Jesus’ next words struck a raw spot. He made it clear that He already knew that He would be rejected. 

“Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’ ” “Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭4‬:‭23‬-‭24‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Using two stories from Israel’s own history, Elijah’s miracle for a Gentile widow in Zarephath and Elisha’s healing of Naaman, the Syrian, as illustrations, He foretold that His own people would reject Him because of His ministry to Gentiles! Well, that did it!

Before He even said any more, a heated debate broke out. Some were impressed…others were incensed. The mention of the Gentiles made their blood boil. Without giving any consideration to His message of hope, or His mission of mercy to all people, they unceremoniously threw Him out and even tried to eliminate Him. 

However, this was Jesus…and their murderous rage didn’t work. At least not this time. 

One thing was clear…little by little, Jesus began to determine who were willing to listen to His message and who were not. By rejecting Him, they were rejecting the Father who sent Him, and His gracious message of deliverance and redemption. 

This brings us to an important consideration at this point…

To be continued…

THE GOSPEL OF MARK – FAMILIARITY BREEDS CONTEMPT

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CHAPTER 6

FAMILIARITY BREEDS CONTEMPT

​1 Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. 2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.

“Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? 3 Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

4 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” 5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 He was amazed at their lack of faith. Mark 6:1-6

Where was Jesus’ hometown? I assume it was Nazareth where He was raised from childhood. He was a familiar figure to the people, a young child, a teenager, a young adult. There was nothing unusual about that. However, He was an unusual boy, gentle, loving, well-mannered, a good student, hard-working and responsible. People must have envied Joseph and Mary for the son they had, in so many ways different from the other village children but…they thought no more about it.

At the age of 30 He laid down His tools and left home. He had brothers who could take care of His mother. He had a calling to fulfill. He was an educated man, a rabbi with authority. It was time for Him to become an itinerant teacher, moving around the country to instruct the common people in the Law of God. There was nothing unusual about that. The Beth Talmud was constantly turning out young rabbis, few with authority, but many disciples of those whose authority had been authenticated by at least two witnesses.

He did not often preach and teach in His home town but, on this occasion, He visited the synagogue on the Sabbath and was naturally invited to teach. The people were astonished. He spoke with such wisdom that they were overawed. His reputation for doing miracles together with His inspired teaching took their breath away. Where did He get all this knowledge?

Their familiarity with His growing-up years, His family, His belonging to this community dulled their amazement at His teaching and they took offense at Him. How true that “familiarity breeds contempt”! The entire community shut their hearts to Him and threw away the most amazing opportunity to embrace their Messiah.

Once again, this same capacity of human beings to be so bogged down in the present that they cannot take the long look lost them the chance to be written into God’s big story.

The Cost Of Unbelief!

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THE COST OF UNBELIEF!

Jesus left there and went to His hometown, accompanied by His disciples. When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard Him were amazed. ‘Where did this man get these things?’ they asked. ‘What’s this wisdom that’s been given to Him? What are these remarkable miracles He is performing? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t His sisters here with us?’ And they took offense at Him.  

Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is not without honour except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.’ He could not do any miracles there, except lay His hands on He was amazed at their lack of faith. Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village (Mark. 6: 1-6).   

Two things amazed Jesus – great faith and no faith! Two remarkable miracles had just happened. Jairus’ daughter had been raised from the dead, and the woman with chronic bleed had been healed. Surely the news had got around. They didn’t need Facebook to publish what had happened!

Then Jesus went to Nazareth! Their homeboy had come home. Come Sabbath and He was in His place in the synagogue as usual. How many times had He been in that place as a child and a young boy growing up among them? It was nice to have Him home, but then they began to chat among themselves. ‘We know this guy,’ they muttered. ‘What’s it with Him? We know His parents. His brothers and sisters are right here in Nazareth. Who does He think He is? Where does He get all this stuff He’s telling us?’

They were non-plussed. Nothing about Jesus made sense to them. They could not shake Him loose from His small-town origins – so they thought. How could He be so different from the rest of His family? They were just ordinary folks like the rest of the people in the village, but this Jesus? They could not figure Him out. He was saying things and making claims by insinuation that were just too much for them to swallow.

How would you have reacted to a man who grew up in front of you, goes off for a while and then comes back, teaches in the synagogue like a professor and says things that, by implication, claim that He is God! Wouldn’t you think He was crazy? Wouldn’t you want to lock Him up before He did something really dangerous?

We would, except for one thing. The things they were puzzled about – His teaching, His wisdom, His remarkable miracles – were the very evidence that He was very different from the ordinary people in Nazareth. They judged Him and dismissed Him by His family; His mother was Mary, a local girl; His brothers and sisters all lived among them and they didn’t speak or act like He did. So He must be crazy!

They were faced with a decision – just as every other person who met Him was faced with a decision. They either believed what He said and did and accepted the evidence that He was the Son of God, or they ignored the evidence and wrote Him off, just as the people of Nazareth did.

Jesus spent time with His disciples – three and half years, to be exact – painstakingly teaching them and showing them, incident by incident, miracle by miracle and explanation by explanation, who He was. Their reaction, in the beginning, was like the reaction of His own people – amazement, puzzlement, and even fear. But slowly their truth began to dawn on them. He was no ordinary man. He was a man alright. They lived in such intimate connection with Him that they could not help but realise that He was human, but at the same time, He was much more than a man. What other man, even the most godly prophet in their history, came anywhere near Him in His really knew God. “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” declared Peter, their spokesman.

If only His own townsfolk had properly read the evidence and made an honest judgement instead of taking offence! They missed a never-to-be-repeated opportunity. No faith, no miracles, no change of heart, no new life.

What about you? Who do you say Jesus is? Faced with the evidence, you have to make a decision.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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