This week’s passage from Luke’s gospel begins mid-story. Last week, we read of Jesus going to the Synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth (after his 40 days of wresting with temptation and Satan in the wilderness) and choosing a passage from Isaiah to read – a passage that lays out his mission to bring good news to the poor, release to the captive, recovery of sight to the blind, freedom for the oppressed and the “year of the Lord’s favor.” This is Jesus’ mission statement, declared in a familiar place with familiar (and familial) people. At first, they respond well. But then Jesus keeps talking.
The folks in the synagogue were amazed at Jesus’ “gracious words” and speak well of him. Wasn’t this the local boy who grew up in their neighborhood, who has begun to gain some attention in nearby Capernaum? Perhaps they felt impressed, connected to his notoriety, and a little bit proud. But as Jesus continues, he pushes them, and it is hard for them to hear what he has to say. Jesus points out times that God (working through the prophets Elijah and Elisha) did great deeds in the lives of outsiders: Bringing a gentile widow’s dead son back to life and healing an enemy general from leprosy. Jesus points out that God could have easily done these things for some of their own people, but instead, God helped outsiders who then bore testimony to the grace and power of God. God’s might and God’s blessings are not just for one group of people, but for all humanity. The crowd at the synagogue do not like this line of thought. They are so angry, they take Jesus out of the synagogue and up to a hill so they can throw him off the cliff. Fortunately, Jesus walked through the crowd and left.
The expansive vision Jesus makes clear in this week’s expansion of his mission statement so infuriates his neighbors that they are ready to throw Jesus off the cliff. Outsiders are not welcome in their eyes, but God has no such restrictions. When the neighbors hear Jesus talk about good news for their poor, release for their captives, recovery of sight for their blind, they are all for it. When Jesus expands freedom for the oppressed to include the people they have excluded as outsiders and enemies, he has gone too far.
It may be tempting to judge the neighbors at the synagogue, but we are all like them. We are stingy with God’s good news. We are clan-ish and want to hoard benefits from God for the people we feel are worthy. Of course, we want freedom and healing and all the benefits of the Lord’s favor, but mostly for groups we are in and are connected to. We want to make restrictions on how God blesses the world and just who God blesses.
Well, that is not how God works. Jesus spends his time dismantling the boundaries and restrictions that we try and create. Jesus reaches beyond limits we fashion because of our selfishness or our bias or our fear. God is not restricted by the limits of our worldview. No matter how we feel about it, God’s generosity spills over to flood the whole world.
Peace,
Weekly Prayer | Jesus at the synagogue in Nazareth from Luke 4