Luke 4:16-30
Summary
Jesus arrives in His home town, Nazareth, and went to the synagogue on the Sabbath. While there, He stood up and read from Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” He then took His seat and said, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Wow. What Prophet is THIS?! All in the crowd were fixing their eyes on Him, speaking well of Him and marveling at the gracious words He spoke. Jesus then reminded them of how the other prophets had been rejected by Jewish people, and He stated that they would reject Him in the same way. Jesus had spoken blessings over them. Everyone likes blessings. But there’s more to a true prophet than nice words about a better life now. Jesus has come for the poor, the captives, the blind and the oppressed. These are not merely physical conditions. In fact, Jesus is speaking directly to the heart of the matter. Because of sin, even the most pious person is poor in spirit, captive, blinded and helplessly oppressed. This is not a flattering message. Jesus sees all the way into our hearts and He sees how wrecked we really are. Jesus is agitating. Jesus is saying we can’t get to God through our efforts, our many sacrifices or our piety. This assertion aggravated the congregation into a murderous frenzy. Jesus has come to save sinners. This made the shepherds & Simeon very happy. This made some good, churchy people very angry. Jesus is always agitating. He agitates praise from some, and wrath from others. Some knew they were sinners, and they rejoiced in the Savior. Others considered themselves pretty good already, and Jesus’ assertions that they were in fact destitute and helplessly oppressed evoked their anger. Interestingly, Luke doesn’t show anyone reacting to Jesus in a “ho-hum” way. He always agitates - either great joy or angry rejection.
Discussion
- Is Jesus still agitating to you, or has the good news become “ho-hum?” Does your joyfulness tell of the good news? How? If not, why?
- We see very different, unanimous responses to Jesus - by the same group in the very same setting. The whole crowd goes from speaking well of Him and marveling at His words to being full of wrath and trying to throw Him over a cliff. What is the key element of the Gospel that instantly turns Jesus from a beloved celebrity to a hated heretic? What can we learn of this when sharing the Gospel with our friends, or even our children? Are we essentially marketing Him so He’s quickly accepted, or presenting Him so that He’s rightly understood?
- Jesus came to save sinners. Meditate for a moment on the passage from Isaiah. What stands out to you, personally, from the descriptions of those to whom the Savior has come? He is here for you. These words are fulfilled in your hearing. Consider how Christ has come to specifically meet your greatest need. Spend some time offering “freshly agitated” thanks to Him.
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