Why Is It So Hard For Those Who Are Lost To See The Truth?
Good Morning Friends,
Many people during the time of Paul’s letters to the Corinthians thought they were wise and that the things of this Christian God he wrote about were ridiculous. They saw the preaching of the cross as foolishness. As Christians however, we know that preaching about the work of the Holy Spirit is often the bridge to the path to eternal life as we are helped to accept the forgiveness of our sins through Jesus’ sacrifice as the path to eternal life. We see the challenge of people being receptive to the Spirit in today’s text about Jesus’ teaching and preaching in Nazareth where he was met with distain. Not much has changed since then. Still, we ask, Why Is It So Hard For Those Who Are Lost To See The Truth?
Scripture: When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.
1 Corinthians 2:1-5 (NRSV)
Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
Luke 3:21-22 (NRSV)
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished.
Luke 4:1-2 (NRSV)
Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 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?” He said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ And you will say, ‘Do here also in your hometown 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 hometown. But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up 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.” 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.
Luke 4:14-30 (NRSV)
My heart overflows with a goodly theme; I address my verses to the king; my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe. You are the most handsome of men; grace is poured upon your lips; therefore God has blessed you forever. Gird your sword on your thigh, O mighty one, in your glory and majesty. In your majesty ride on victoriously for the cause of truth and to defend the right; let your right hand teach you dread deeds. Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies; the peoples fall under you. Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever. Your royal scepter is a scepter of equity; you love righteousness and hate wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions; your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia. From ivory palaces stringed instruments make you glad; daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor; at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir. Hear, O daughter, consider and incline your ear; forget your people and your father’s house, and the king will desire your beauty. Since he is your lord, bow to him; the people of Tyre will seek your favor with gifts, the richest of the people with all kinds of wealth. The princess is decked in her chamber with gold-woven robes; in many-colored robes she is led to the king; behind her the virgins, her companions, follow. With joy and gladness they are led along as they enter the palace of the king. In the place of ancestors you, O king, shall have sons; you will make them princes in all the earth. I will cause your name to be celebrated in all generations; therefore the peoples will praise you forever and ever.
Message: Luke grouped together reports of three manifestations of the Spirit’s work in Jesus’ life. The first is the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus at His baptism, that wonderful moment of Trinitarian confirmation of His Messiahship. The second speaks of Jesus being full of the Holy Spirit and being led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. The third is found in the passage before us, in which Jesus returns from that ordeal in the power of the Spirit to commence His ministry. And here we have an early record of a synagogue service. And it seems that many of the men might be asked to read and preach and that is what happens in today’s text. Jesus seems to have quite deliberately sought out the reading from the scroll of Isaiah. It has been conjectured that this service took place in the year of Jubilee. Each fiftieth year was supposed to be a year of release, when indentured servants were restored to their inheritance, families were reunited, and an opportunity was given to start again. But I doubt that celebration was going to happen given the Roman occupation. Perhaps Jesus deliberately chose where to end the reading for he stops short of the day of vengeance of our God that appears in Isaiah. Now we might think this political correctness but for the Pharisees and scribes it was the exact opposite. What they failed to recognize was that the Lord had not come in this moment to fulfil that part of the Messianic agenda. There was a misunderstanding of Spirit that was leading Jesus the man for he had not come to destroy but to save. The glad tidings and anointing he was preaching was more along the lines of a wedding than a war. You can read in Psalms 45 for the image I think he is presenting. But the people were confounded. The Scripture being fulfilled in their ears is cut short either by Jesus intentionally or by the ensuing animosity of the listeners. Jesus quoted time and time again from prophecy to alert us and wake us up to the reality of our time as it relates to God’s timetable. But like today, the people did not have ears to hear the wisdom of God’s word. Preaching in Nazareth was difficult for Jesus. We really should not be surprised that it is difficult for ministers today. Maybe people are still spiritually blind. Maybe people are so caught up in own what they think is right that they refuse to accept a transformation that is better. The gift of Christ is both beautiful and challenging requiring us to change our thinking with a different kind of logic. And so again today I have asked a question and not fully answered it. I guess I will leave that to the teaching of the Holy Spirit.
Pray we have a marriage of our minds with the Messiah. Pray
we realize that scripture informs scripture and that one way or another God’s Word will be fulfilled. Pray we rejoice in the glad tidings that Jesus brings. Pray we too are anointed with the Spirit. Pray we preach the power of the cross and that Jesus came not to condemn but to save. Pray the name of Jesus is honored for all time in all nations. Pray we appreciate the fulfillment of prophecy and the wisdom of God’s word for those of us living now in a time preparing for Jesus’ second coming.
Blessings,
John Lawson
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