NL 322: Sermon at Nazareth - Luke 4:14-30
image: “Jesus Unrolls the Book in the Synagogue” James Tissot, Public domain, via wikimedia
January 17, 2021
Luke 4:14-30
Luke 4:14-21
Initial Thoughts
God love the Narrative Lectionary, putting this story together as one, like it belongs. With the added bonus that the Isaiah text Luke quoted was an Advent reading just a few weeks ago - so it is possible this will be an effective recall to your folks who have been listening for a little while
Bible Study
Literary context.
Immediately after baptism and temptation. Last week was Baptism of the Lord Sunday, this is his first public appearance.
Skips over 4:1-12, which is temptation
Kind of a mixed quote of Isaiah 58:6 and Isaiah 61:1-2.
These texts are post-exilic, second or possibly third Isaiah.
After this he is run out of town, and heads to Capernaum.
Within this story: Things are going well.
On his way back home from being baptized
News about him spread throughout the whole countryside
He was praised by everyone
In this one story, Jesus affirms Judaism - Scripture, Synagogue, and Sabbath are all honored.
Canonical context
Mark 6:1-6 and Matthew 13:54-58
Mark emphasizes Jesus’ ordinariness. Names his family, and people wonder how he got such power. The people are repulsed, and Jesus “can’t perform miracles “except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them.” He was appalled by their disbelief.
Placed after several healings, where response of the people is amazement. Right before death of John the Baptist.
Matthew uses Mark story, nearly verbatim. Matthew infers that loss of power came from their disbelief. Places it in different context.
Comes right after a series of confrontational parables and right before death of JBap.
“The changes convert a short story of confrontation into a programmatic announcement that concerns both the nature of Jesus’ ministry and the character of the church that will follow from that ministry” (Texts for Preaching, Year C, p. 119)
Places a prophetic, missional edge onto Jesus’ ministry, and places a strong and powerful confrontation at the forefront - at the very root - of Jesus’ life and ministry.
For many, especially in progressive churches with a keener eye toward social justice, point to this as Jesus mission statement - and hence the church’s mission - over and above the Great Commission.
United Methodist Church mission statement is an intentional blending of the two. “To make disciples of Christ for the transformation of the world.”
What is Jesus calling for, exactly? Or is it just a nice flowery speech?
Parallels between Jesus’ first sermon and Mary’s Song.
“At the risk of over-psychologizing or perhaps, psychologizing in general because it’s the Bible, what if Jesus first learned what it means to bring good news to the poor from the stories that his mother told him? “ (Karoline Lewis, Working Preacher)
“Jesus’ sermon in his hometown of Nazareth is not only a life-changing sermon, it is a life-changing act. God has now entered the world as flesh so that no human can be overlooked. No one can be left in a place of oppression. No one is unworthy of God’s good news.” (Karoline Lewis, Working Preacher)
Liberation can be a hard message to hear in a comfortable congregation.
Preach good news to the poor.
Proclaim release to the prisoners.
Do we really want this?
Is prison system as we know it just?
“What if we just freed all the prisoners?” (Lauren Winner, The Hardest Question)
“The United States has less than 5 percent of the world’s population. But it has almost a quarter of the world’s prisoners.
Recovery of sight to the blind.
Liberate the oppressed.
Proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.
Jubilee Year - the year all debts are forgiven.
Thoughts and Questions
Liberation can be a hard message to hear in a comfortable congregation. Economic justice doesn’t sound like good news if you are upper-middle class. What may be the prophetic word from this passage that people can hear? People think churches “only want their money.” Luke especially wants your money. Luke wants you to think about your money. Your possessions, and your relationship with them tell a huge part of the story about your relationship with God.
This passage is strong antidote to those that claim, “Jesus was born to die on the cross.” According to Jesus’ own words, he was not born to die. He was born to save, free, and liberate. Especially heading into Lent, this could be a good chance to insert some ways of thinking of Jesus’ ministry beyond simply going to the cross. This text, and the people’s response next week especially, reveal some reasons why Jesus was led to the cross beyond simple blood atonement.
Paired with Nehemiah - What is the power in public reading of the text? What role does the Bible play in our prophetic work? How can the Bible bring life and power to our prophetic work for social justice? How can we use the Bible in places, or with people, who place no authority in it?
Luke 4:22-30
Initial Thoughts
Any preachers out there preach at their home church - where they grew up? Isn’t this the kid that was playing D and D in the youth room? Isn’t this somebody’s son who was kind of a screw up?
Continuation of last week’s message
How much does the response affect the efficacy of the sermon?
Bible Study
What angers the crowd?
Not his sermon, but his announcement that the good news is for the Gentiles as well as the Israelites
“spoke well of him”
“amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth”
Is this not Joseph’s son - not said in a bad way, but in amazement that God chose Joseph’s son
Universal Salvation in Luke emphasized
John’s message in Luke 3
Message of the birth narrative
Elijah and Elisha specifically seeking out Gentiles with whom to share God’s grace and power
Rage is sparked by Jesus’ proclamation that God’s message is for Gentiles and not the “chosen ones”
God continues to reach out - “unfairly” - to those whom we least expect: widows, orphans, Gentiles
Jesus’ message is much more consistent with scripture (in the OT) than the desire for one group to be considered special or privileged above others (cf. “Blessed to be a blessing” Gen 12:3)
“none of them” is repeated twice- is Jesus denying his hometown the opportunity to participate in God’s Kingdom?
Barbara Brown Taylor’s new book Holy Envy is not yet out, but includes a short study on this passage.
“[The people there] were not furious because Jesus had made special claims of himself. They were furious because he had taken a swing at their sense of divine privilege - and he had used their own scriptures to do it…. Once, in a minor attempt to preach it straight, I suggested that Christians who wanted to take Jesus’ sermon to heart might start by donating some of their outreach funds to a local Muslim community that was trying to buy land for a cemetery… Luckily, I was preaching in a town with no cliffs.”
Awkward difficulty of the text
“The response to Jesus is mixed: admiration, wondering, doubt. At verse 23, the narrative takes such a negative turn that some scholars have wondered whether Luke has joined two visits of Jesus to Nazareth, one in which he was favorably received and one in which he was rejected, this second one being reported in Mark 6:1-6.” (Fred Craddock, Interpretation, p. 62)
Both claims, Doctor heal yourself and Do here as in Capernaum are out of place
No stories about Capernaum yet
No charge of hypocrisy against Jesus
Why wouldn’t they want Jesus to do in Nazareth what he did in Capernaum- imagine if you were the parent of child hoping for healing or blind and hoping for sight?
Jesus throws their rejection in their faces while they are still basking in the amazed and gracious glow of his sermon.
He pre-empts their complaints and rejection
Interesting parallel with the passage which follows (but we skip to Luke 5:1-11 next week)
A.' Capernaum
B.' Sabbath-Synagogue
C.' Amazement
D.' Speaks with Authority
E.' Questioning
F. ' Leaves (but people don’t want him to)
Luke 4:16-30
A. Nazareth
B. Sabbath-Synagogue
C. Amazement
D. Gracious Words
E. Questioning
F. Leaves (because they force him to)
Thoughts and Questions
Connection to current immigration controversy: We have all heard the argument, “We need to take care of our own before we let others in and take care of them.” Well, that is exactly the argument of the people who want to throw Jesus off the cliff. Jesus’ sermon and subsequent interpretation flies in the face of those who wonder why we care about foreign refugees when we need to focus on what is happening “here at home”
Connection to the Black Lives Matter movement - why are so many people upset by Black Lives Matters? Could it be that the very nature of the movement highlights both the radical nature and need for the declaration “Black Lives Matter” and the complicit active or passive support for the oppressive system which necessitates the need to proclaim “Black Lives Matter”
Jesus is not saying “Gentile/Widow/Leper Lives Matter More”, but is highlighting both the need for that implicit declaration and how the Jewish authorities have created an oppressive system which has isolated and marginalized gentiles, widows and lepers.
Why does Luke tell this story so differently than Mark? In Mark, the details of what Jesus taught are not there. Look what Luke adds - the mission statement, and the fact that the good news is coming to all. The explanation of the Good News is celebrated, the universal nature of it is what causes disruption.
How have Christians taken this passage and done exactly with it what was done to Jesus the first time? Traditional reading of this text is to point to how this is the beginning of Jesus’ rejection. Jesus was rejected in his hometown, and this is programmatic of how the Jews rejected him. But they did not reject Jesus, instead they were clinging to an exclusivist understanding of their place in God’s plan. They were rejecting inclusivity, not Jesus. How many Christians have now taken this story and said, “we are the ones who are given this gift,” and reject any notion of the good news that does not demand exclusivity?
Opening music: Misirlou, One Man 90 Instruments by Joe Penna/MysteryGuitarMan at MIM
Closing Song by Bryan Odeen