Leaning into Luke

 

²⁰ And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. ²¹ Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” ²² All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” ²³ He said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ And you will say, ‘Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.’” ²⁴ And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown. ²⁵ But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; ²⁶ yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. ²⁷ There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.” ²⁸ When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. ²⁹ They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. ³⁰ But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.

Well, that went south in a hurry.  Talk about a story taking an unexpected twist and turn that can cause your head to spin!  To recap here, yesterday we heard how Jesus fame was spreading.  People were liking his posts on Facebook, his LinkedIn profile was getting lots of attention, and the speaking requests were pouring into his agent.  While we who are convinced that Jesus is someone who follow, who captures our hearts and sings to our souls, lets step back for just a moment – pause – and ask: why? 

“Well,” you reason, “He is Jesus.”

Got it.  But wait, we are saying that after reading and hearing the whole story about the angels at his birth and healing and teaching and death and resurrection.  But much of that hadn’t happened yet.  We don’t know if his neighbors knew about the manger or shepherds.  Maybe they just knew that he was healing and could give a good talk.  So, why again is a carpenter whose childhood, at least within the gospels didn’t seem to deserve much reflection upon, suddenly start gaining attention and affirmation? 

Um, maybe his halo started shining brighter? 

Here is what we do know.  Jesus went down to the river to pray with John.  He waded in the water.  The Spirit blessed him and affirmed his belovedness.  Note that the Gospels are unclear if anyone overheard any of the Spirit’s words.  Then, right after that, Jesus goes off the gird.  He doesn’t post his morning meditations while being tempted in the wilderness.  For forty days no one hears from him.  Then, Jesus comes back and starts a speaking tour in Galilee that gets attention.  We don’t know what he said in those initial sermons, we don’t have the transcriptions.  Luke calls us to a moment when he had returned home, goes to the Sabbath service, reads scripture about God’s liberating love.  And people respond by saying, “Amen.”  And then, Jesus appears to get angry? 

Why?  What in the name of the good news is going on here?

Maybe there was a history here between Jesus and his hometown congregation.  Maybe when they referred to him as, “Joseph’s son” it tweaked something in him.  Jesus wanted them to see him as sent by God, not just the neighbor next door.  Maybe Jesus felt disrespected or discounted?

We don’t know.  There are countless untold stories in-between each word of Scripture.

I do, however, find it fascinating that the crowd is about to toss and throw Jesus off a cliff and he parts the mob like Moses before the Red Sea.  This is a beautifully strange story that should cause us to pause.

Pause to ponder our own relationships with our hometowns.  When was the last time you were back to the place you grew up?  Or maybe you never left.  When was the last time you were frustrated because people saw you one way and you saw yourself another?  When was the last time you found a situation being escalated and grow out-of-control – not just on the news – but something you were a part of?

To let these words sing and settle in your heart this day and come back to it each time you pause today.

Prayer: Pausing and pondering God, help me step into this story in ways that speak and sing to my story today.  Amen.