By Derl G. Keefer
Luke 4:21-30
Christ’s passion from the outset of His ministry
was for God’s people to know and accept God. There were no imitation
gods allowed. Jesus preached the message that came directly from the
heart of His Father. Christ was asked to share at His hometown
synagogue, and for the moment he held celebrity status. The people
heard about His preaching, teaching and healing ministry so old
neighbors and friends wanted to hear what their “home town boy” had
to say that was impacting lives around Israel.
At the time of Jesus’ ministry the synagogue
system was concerned about the cultivation of the mind and the soul
through study, discussion and praise, then with the spiritual needs
of the people. It teemed with tradition and had lost its relevancy to
everyday life. Jesus stood up in the synagogue and talked about God in
the present tense, not the God of irrelevant tradition. But tradition
made people feel comfortable, and Jesus bringing God in to the
present tense made everyone uncomfortable!
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Bruce Larson comments, “It is much riskier to open
your heart to God each day to listen and to ask, ‘Lord, what are you
telling me today?’ That plunges us into the now, which is the
dimension Jesus introduces here. If God is not here and now, there is
no God. If we have only the God of history, the God of the apocalypse,
and the God of eschatology, we have no God. Jesus said today this
Scripture is fulfilled. The Bible is full of ‘nows.’ Now is the
acceptable hour. This is the day the Lord hath made.”2
Because of their discomfort, the people rejected
both Jesus as a person and His teaching. Their rejection became an
uncontrollable anger that ignited a fury from the crowd, which led to
their attempt to kill their one-time neighbor!
Rejection has the potential to damage the
emotions, the mind, relationships, the body, and the spirit. What
caused the rejection of Jesus by His neighbors — and what causes
people today to reject Him?
We reject Jesus when He doesn’t match our expectations.
During the time of Jesus there was a heightened
awareness of the coming of the Messiah. The Romans had a strangle
hold on the people in Israel, from unwanted taxation to military
occupation. They were hated and despised by the Israeli people. The
popular idea of the Messiah was the destruction of the occupying forces
and the liberation of Palestine giving them the superior position.
Their expectations were fueled when John the
Baptist came center stage and seemingly feared no one, not even King
Herod. He told the crowds that he was not the Messiah, but one was
coming whose sandals he was not even worthy to unlatch. The
anticipation was that when the Messiah came he would come in riding a
white horse, leading an impregnable army, defeat the hated Romans and
restore Israel to its rightful and powerful place.