January
28, 2001
Luke 4:21-30
Then [Jesus] started in, "You've just heard Scripture make
history. It came true just now in this place."
All who were there, watching and listening, were surprised at
how well he spoke. But they also said, "Isn't this Joseph's
son, the one we've known since he was a youngster?"
He answered, "I suppose you're going to quote the proverb,
'"Doctor, go heal yourself." Do here in your hometown
what we heard you did in Capernaum.' Well, let me tell you something.
No prophet is ever welcomed in his hometown. Isn't it a fact that
there were many widows in Israel at the time of Elijah during
that three and a half years of drought when famine devastated
the land, but the only widow to whom Elijah was sent was in Sarepta
in Sidon? And there were many lepers in Israel at the time of
the prophet Elisha but the only one cleansed was Naaman the Syrian."
That set everyone in the meeting place seething with anger. They
threw him out, banishing him from the village, then took him to
a mountain cliff at the edge of the village to throw him to his
doom, but he gave them the slip and was on his way.
<The Message>
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1.
Ah, yes. We hear scripture making history in our time, in our
place, in our life. What do we do? We discount it, we excuse it,
we deny it, we try to push it back between the covers of the Bible.
This is worse than a separation between church and state -- it
is a separation between our faith and our life.
2.
Quoting Isaiah, referring to Elijah and Elisha. That is quite
a tradition. Who do you quote these days? Which of your mentors
do you refer to these days? It is out of our experience base that
we bring dusty old things like the Jubilee to life. (reference
previous week's comments)
3.
Now to practice being ready to have scripture come true in your
life. From the Spiritual Formation Bible comes this exercise.
Picture yourself with Jesus in the hometown synagogue he attended
"as was his custom." Listen as Jesus stands up to read
the words of Isaiah 61:1-2 (Luke 4:18-19). Notice how the people
become angry when Jesus highlights God's love for the Gentiles
(Luke 4:25-27). Go along as the outraged people drive him out
of town and try to hurl him from a cliff. Now picture yourself
in a conflict in which you take an unpopular stand on someone's
behalf. Enjoy the sense of security you feel as Jesus walks with
you in the midst of a crowd of irate people. What is Jesus saying
to you?