Mission Devotional Day 16
So that they might hurl him off the cliff
Mission Devotional Day 16
READ: Luke 4:16-30
Much of Jesus’ ministry took place in the region of Galilee in northern Israel not far from his boyhood home in Nazareth. Capernaum, which served as a kind of home base for the disciples after Jesus’ public ministry began, was only about 20 miles from Nazareth. Towns dotted the landscape and it is easy to see how word of his extraordinary teaching could quickly spread.
In today’s passage, Jesus returns to Nazareth on a Sabbath and is handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. One can imagine that the people had great expectations. The hometown boy has become a rabbi of some repute. We are more familiar with the text because Jesus reads it, from Isaiah 61.
“The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Jesus claims this mission as his own. The crowd seems content with this, even when he says,
“Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” They were amazed at his gracious words. But then something goes awry, and they are filled with rage. What was it that so upset the people who had welcomed Jesus approvingly?
I think that it was simply the fact that he projects a broader vision for God’s mission than was commonly accepted by the Jews. He reminds them of stories from their past in which God’s grace is shown to non-Jews, to the widow of Zarephath in Sidon, and to Naaman the Syrian. They cannot accept it, and they angrily seek to do him in.
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
Do you think that Jesus intentionally incites the worshippers? If so, what might he have sought to gain?
What do you think of the text from Isaiah serving as a description of Jesus’ ministry?
PRAYER
Dear God, it seems once again that your people are clinging to a vision of your mission that only includes people like themselves. Save us from the narrowness that comes when we seek to set the limits of your grace. Amen.