i've not seen what the worst could be
but the hurt can't be this much
Today’s passage begins with so much promise. BUT in the space of a few short verses, it all ends so poorly. And here’s the thing, what sends the folks at Jesus’ home synagogue chasing him out of town is the very same thing that tempts us to try and push Jesus out of our own lives, too.
…Jesus is well-received at his home synagogue. Everyone’s amazed at his gracious words. Yet, at the same time, they're also a little put off by them.
The crowd voices their misgivings by asking about Jesus’ parentage. “Is not this Joseph’s son,” they ask. An irony, since we know, he is the son of God.
With that, you begin to see the issue take shape. But only subtly so. This is why the stakes are raised so dramatically with Jesus' little Bible-study…
Musing aloud, Jesus predicts the crowd is about to assume they have some sort of special benefits for themselves. After all, Jesus concludes, they’ll reason he should do at least as much for them, his own, as he did for some strangers in Capernaum.
To which, Jesus cites two passages of Scripture. Two well enough known passages, too. We know them. Although their finer point may be lost on a bunch of Gentiles like us. You see, Sidon and Syria were not home territory. Jesus alludes to this when he notes there were plenty of Israelites within the fold who could have used Elijah and Elisha’s help when they were sent to those foreigners out there in Sidon and Syria.
With that, Jesus’ prophecy comes to pass. The crowd reacts immediately, and viscerally. They get up, drive Jesus out of town to a cliff, where they try and hurl him off the edge.
…The question, of course, is what is it that works the crowd up into such a frenzy? After all, it can’t be the passages. As we said, those were familiar.
Obviously, there’s plenty going on. Today, though, I want to focus on the heart of the matter. Especially because it’s so easy to miss: The real battle is an interpretive one.
And in another unexpected twist, it’s not Scripture that’s so hard to understand. It’s ourselves.
In his home synagogue, for his first sermon, Jesus says he’s come for the poor, captive, blind, and oppressed.
Which sounds good. The trouble, though, is that’s not how the hometown crowd sees themselves. When Jesus quotes from Isaiah, they don’t think he’s talking about them. No, they see themselves as mostly having it together, not the ones who need help but the ones who are needed to help.
This is why the crowd immediately begins asking about Jesus’ heritage. After all, isn’t he one of them? And therefore, shouldn’t he also have something to offer his own?
The crowd can’t understand who Jesus is because they don’t understand who they are! When Jesus talks about coming for the least, lost, little, and last, they think he’s talking about someone else!
…And we make that same mistake all the time, too. Don’t we? We think we’re the ones who have our act together. Yes, we agree it’s wonderful Jesus has compassion for the poor. We just don’t think that means us.
We may be more amicable about it, but the outcome is the very same. We too try and drive Jesus out of our midst with our high estimations of ourselves. What’s more, all those folks Jesus insists he’s come for, those whose lives are a wreck, always look like outsiders to us.
…What we’re dealing with here is anthropology—your view of humanity. And the trick of it is, the higher you view our own capacities, the lower you will view Jesus’. After all, if you mostly have it together, all Jesus needs to be is a life-coach. At best.
It turns out, the real question today is, what does it take for us to interpret ourselves through Jesus’ words, rather than the other way ‘round?
Well, for one thing, life can help with that. If you’re anything like me, you’ve spent the week having all your grand ambitions for yourself fall flat.
Some call this having a low anthropology. A low estimation of humanity.
That’s a little pejorative, though. Because it can also be considered honest, realistic, and even free. Instead of pretending you’ve measured up to some bar you’ve continually failed to, you can be real.
That’s a frightening prospect, I know. We worry if we can’t trust ourselves to pull it together, we’ll lose all hope. What will really happen, though, is the exact opposite! Life will become more hopeful, happier, and freer, too!
You’ll finally be able to give up that delusion of self-sufficiency and place your hope in the wounded hands of the one who is the fullness of God, Jesus Christ! Jesus, who only comes for those of us you wouldn’t put your hope in if you had to!
And blessedly, you don’t.
When that finally happens, three more blessed things will follow in its wake!
First, you will see Jesus as he really is, high and lifted up!
Second, you will see yourself as you really are, in need of grace. And when that happens, you won’t try and push Jesus out of your life anymore. No, you’ll run to the one whose words are full of grace! And Jesus, for his part, won’t hold back on you! This is what Jesus’ glory looks like, his stooping down to raise you and me up!
And finally, all those old divisions between you and everyone else will fall away, too! You’ll be able to see our common humanity, with all its foibles, not as one more threat, but the greatest promise stemming up in the very last place you ever expected!
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