And he walked away

“…But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.” (Luke 4:30)

Luke 4:21-30 (Year C: Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany / Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, 3^rd February, 2019)

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A NOTE ABOUT TODAY’S READINGS

In addition to this coming Sunday’s Gospel reading which is common to most Western Christian churches, the other readings from scripture found in the ‘paired’ Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) of the Church of Ireland for this Sunday are: Jeremiah 1:1-19,  Psalm 48, and  1 Corinthians 13:1-13.  Directly parallel Gospel readings to this particular Gospel reading from Luke may be found in Matthew 13:54-58, Mark 6:1-5 and John 4:44.

In the liturgical cycle of the Roman Catholic Church, for this coming Sunday, the choice of readings is the same as above except for the Psalm where Psalm 71(70) is used instead of 48.

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SERMON NOTES (911 words)

Last Sunday we heard how Jesus stood up in his local Synagogue and surprised everyone with an impromptu reading from the prophet Isaiah. The initial very positive reception of Jesus followed by a complete rejection by the local community reminds us, perhaps, of those regular opinion polls and election swingometers: public opinion can shift very rapidly especially in ‘marginal’ constituencies.  The history of the 20^th century continues to demonstrate this. One moment Jesus is a popular sensation; the next moment people are trying to literally kill him.  What was it that triggered such anger and so quickly?

Jesus seems to have touched a very raw nerve. It looks as if what he said and how he said cut deeply into those listening. Somehow, Jesus response to the question ‘Is not this Joseph’s son’ got in under a deep insecurity in those listening.  They had built their lives, their families, their hopes, their little statuses, their self-identity and their righteousness on particular beliefs, assumptions, codes and perceptions. Jesus seems to threaten and undermine this in his provocative series of statements imitating his audience (at least some of them): “Doctor, cure yourself!” and “Do here also in your home town the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.”

Popular acclaim turns to rage…

Jesus goes on to cite two stories from the Hebrew scriptures where two prophets, Elijah and Elisha, were sent to foreigners (respectively to a foreign widow in Sidon which lies in modern day Lebanon and, ironically for us in 2019, a foreigner from Syria who had a disease). This was much too far for super confident leading persons in the village of Nazareth.  Enough was enough for them. This would be akin, in some modern day circles, to allowing lower breeds of Christian disciples to share in our table of the eucharist because they do not share our theological system or have not signed up to a list of very selective ethical behaviours we have set for outsiders and insiders.

And to really rub it in, Jesus says: ‘Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s home town.’ This hurt and suddenly the rabbinic prophet pop idol becomes public enemy number one. There follows a dramatic scene in which Luke pictures Jesus being forcibly taken to the top of the hill for the purposes of the administration of justice (no need here for Roman guards, trials and hearings – the Nazareth kangaroo court knows what it is doing). That his captors meant serious business is clear because, according to some translations of the Bible, the crowd’s plan was to ‘cast him down headlong’. In other words the plan was not for a soft landing with heads up.

And then like an episode from a James Bond film the hero – our hero – just ‘passed through the midst of them and went on his way’. Cool.

Why didn’t Jesus stay and fight? Why didn’t he argue it out with his captors? Where was Mary and all of Jesus’ brethren when all of this was happening? Couldn’t someone have done something?

The point is that Jesus was in Nazareth for a reason: to announce his mission and purpose and move on.  Clearly, he was breaking with his local community.  Apart from the call to travel further afield he had no business staying with a community that simply could not or would not accept Jesus as he really was and as he was becoming in terms of his public ministry which was starting. The die was cast and the hand had been laid to the plough (Luke 9:62) and there was no going back now. But, there is a particular point to the story of what happened in Nazareth. Jesus was indicating very clearly that he was not going to remain stuck in a relationship with his local community where there was no acceptance of the message he was relaying.  Rejection of a person is one thing; rejection of his/her message is another.

Time for Jesus to break free…

And, so, there are times when we have to move on from a particular relationship or situation. This in no way takes from the call to honour our commitments including our solemn ones. Neither is it being suggested that we flee from conflict or trouble or adversity. Rather, it means that there will be times, places, occasions and persons where for the sake of a greater good for all concerned that we walk away with our peace, our integrity and our dignity intact. This takes courage and trust. Luke does not tell us who went with Jesus when he ‘passed through the midst of them and went on his way’.  It is possible that he was not accompanied on this occasion in which case he walked alone as he walked away.  It is possible that he went away to the hills to be on his own and to pray (a very Lucan type of scenario). We don’t know. What we do know is that Jesus was not going to engage further with those folk. In any case, there was little choice because it was wholly destructive to the point of involving death.

There are times – hopefully very rare – when we have to walk away for God’s sake and everyone else’s sake. As it is written in the opening chapter of the prophet Jeremiah (1:19):

they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, says the Lord, to deliver you.

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SOME IDEAS FOR INTERCESSIONS

Lord of Love we thank you for calling us and enabling us. You have sent us into a troubled world where you call on us to be courageous witnesses to your compassion and justice. May we be missionaries of your Life within us and among us as we pray, together, for:

• Communities riven apart by strife and war…
• A generous welcome of the victims of human trafficking, of enforced prostitution, and of violence in all of its forms..
• The people of Venezuela at this time …
• The communities in which we live and work…may we welcome and listen to each one who arrives here….
• The Christian churches … that we may move forward according to your plans and not ours…
• One another….
• Other named persons ….
• Remembering with thanks those who have gone before us….
• … praying in silence….

Lord of love may we know you more and more day by day and may your grace continue to guide us and protect us today and in the coming week. We make this prayer in Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. Amen.

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A PRAYERFUL WALK THROUGH LUKE 4:14-21

Preliminaries

We are back in Jesus’ home town.  This passage picks up on a story from last Sunday. Jesus stirs things up in the local synagogue by announcing from the prophet Isaiah that freedom is on its way.  In this Sunday’s reading the situation rapidly deteriorates to a point where Jesus is faced with a premature near-death encounter as the local mob (his very own village neighbours and possibly his extended family too) try to throw him ‘headlong’ from the top of the local hill top which was by a cliff.

It would be easy to dismiss the highly aggressive and hostile response of the local community where Jesus grew up as indicative of a completely different culture, times and circumstances.  But, is the story of the violent reaction to Jesus’ teaching and behaviour that out of line with the lived reality in ordinary communities, workplaces and families today? (and even churches?). Violence and exclusion can take many forms.

v. 21-22   Rejection at the very outset

Then he began to say to them, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’ 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?’

At verse 21 we pick up from where we finished off last Sunday. Having declared a gospel of liberation to the poor and those outside the circles of respectability Jesus walks into big trouble in, of all places, his home village.  The fulfilling of scripture is happening before our eyes in the story recounted but, also, in our hearing of this story again today. Like the fickle townspeople of Nazareth we may marvel at the ‘gracious words that came from his mouth’ but we must be warned that even now as Jesus begins his public ministry in his home village some of the inhabitants attempt to kill him. Rejection beginning in one’s own home village is the mark of Jesus’s ministry. Should it be any different for those of us who follow in his steps? Heavenly Father, be with us as we walk the way of your Son.

v.23-27   Jesus brings it on

He said to them, ‘Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, “Doctor, cure yourself!” And you will say, “Do here also in your home town the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.”’ And he said, ‘Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s home town. But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up for three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.’

It is as if Jesus seeks to provoke a confrontation with the people of his village. Having, according to Luke, won considerable acclaim and admiration, he launches into a sharp rebuke of those hearing him. There is no soft introduction. Rather, Jesus switches tone from his abrupt proclamation in the Synagogue to what seems like an abrupt and without-warning salvo to those around him. This was not according to the rules of ‘how to win friends and influence people’. Jesus knew what was in the hearts of those around him. After all, he grew up with them and knew them only too well. Perhaps, he was giving vent to a lifetime’s experience of distrust, suspicion and hypocrisy around him? Some scripture scholars speculate that the seeming abruptness in Jesus’ discourse reflects a passage of time and occurrence of two separate visits to Nazareth. It is hard to tell. We will have to take his word for it regardless of the details and timing.

A key point to be considered, here, is that the Good News is for everyone not just the select few. This is the point of Jesus’ quotation of the story of Elijah and Elisha. It underlines that salvation is as much for the foreigner as it is for the natives and the first chosen or called. This also echoes in the experience of the community (probably mostly gentile) for whom Luke wrote in the 80’s.

v.28-30   A close encounter

When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. 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. But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.

This was a near fatal experience for Jesus. Yet, he shook himself down and walked away – almost or actually miraculously. His time was not yet. He could have reflected on the experience in Nazareth and decided to call of his mission. Could there not be better, more efficient, less confrontational ways of spreading the Good News and influencing others? If he played his cards right, Jesus could have lived another 20 years or more preaching in some quiet place and avoiding any kingdom talk or any criticism of the religious authorities. The periodic miracle and ‘gracious words’ would have worked wonders and maintained interest. Perhaps money could have flowed in and Jesus, with his disciples, could have built a special Synagogue or Temple offering a type of charismatic Judaism out in the desert?

Jesus chose another path. He could apply to himself the words to Jeremiah:

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.