Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen
The text for this meditation is written in the 4th Chapter of the Gospel according to St Luke: Verses 14 – 30:
And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. 15 And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.
16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. 17 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”
20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 And all spoke well of him and marvelled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph's son?” 23 And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘“Physician, heal yourself.” What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’” 24 And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. 25 But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, 26 and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27 And there were many lepers[a] in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” 28 When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. 29 And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. 30 But passing through their midst, he went away.
So far, it has been a happy Epiphany season. The magi worshiped the Christ-child. John the Baptist and his followers witnessed an epiphany of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit at Jesus’ baptism with the Son in the water, the Spirit descended as a dove, and the Father proclaimed Jesus as His Beloved Son. Jesus revealed Himself as He transformed water into wine. So far, Epiphany has been about worshippers, followers, and believers.
Today is different. Today, we hear that Jesus’ Epiphany angered the people of Nazareth so much that they tried to throw Him over a cliff to His death. We learn that while some people rejoice in God’s epiphany, others react in anger and extreme prejudice.
Jesus began teaching in the synagogues of Galilee and the quality of His teaching caused the report of His teaching to spread. Naturally, when He returned to His hometown of Nazareth, the people expected Him to teach in their synagogue as well.
The message began well enough. As Jesus rose to read, the attendant handed Him the roll of Isaiah. It was open to the reading for the day. This reading was a Gospel message based on the Year of the Lord which was also known as the Year of Jubilee.
The Year of Jubilee was a financial reset that God commanded every fifty years. (Leviticus 25:10, 13, 39-41) “10And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property and each of you shall return to his clan. 13“In this year of jubilee each of you shall return to his property. 39 “If your brother becomes poor beside you and sells himself to you, you shall not make him serve as a slave: 40 he shall be with you as a hired worker and as a sojourner. He shall serve with you until the year of the jubilee. 41 Then he shall go out from you, he and his children with him, and go back to his own clan and return to the possession of his fathers”. This was a big deal. All the land reverted to its original owners and all the Hebrew slaves went free.
Isaiah stated that God was preparing a Year of the Lord that would be like the Year of Jubilee. In this case, the Lord would free people from sin.
If you examine the context of these words in Isaiah, you will notice that even though Isaiah ministered over 700 years before Jesus was even born, He still followed Jesus’ instructions to preach repentance and the forgiveness of sins. Isaiah gave an account of the many sins of Israel, and he called them to repent. Then, in chapter 60, Isaiah began a proclamation of forgiveness. The captives and the prisoners in this prophecy are not just the captives and prisoners of the political enemies of Israel, but they are also the captives and prisoners of sin. So the words that Jesus read that day were from the middle of that great proclamation of the forgiveness of sin that Isaiah proclaimed to all of Israel.
(Luke 4:20–21) “[Jesus] rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Basically, Jesus pointed to Himself as the fulfillment of this prophecy of forgiveness. Jesus is the bearer of good news. Jesus is the binder of the broken heart. Jesus is the liberator of the captive. Jesus is the opener of the prison. Jesus is the bringer of the Year of Jubilee. Jesus identified Himself as the forgiveness that Isaiah, by the power of the Holy Spirit, spoke of in his message to Israel. Jesus identified Himself as the Kingdom of God come down to earth to save people from sin.
Those who heard these words responded in amazed confusion. (Luke 4:22) “All spoke well of him and marvelled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth”. All their lives they had heard rabbis speak of the one who would come and set the captives free. Now, this Jesus fellow walks in and says, “I am the fulfillment of this prophecy. I am here to set you free.” The crowd is in shock. At first, Jesus’ teaching style impressed them, but then they became suspicious.
And they said, (Luke 4:22) “Is not this Joseph’s son?” Can’t you just imagine someone saying, “My wife used to babysit him.” OR “I remember when he and his father Joseph used to build houses together.” “He’s just a local kid. Who does he think he is saying that he is the fulfillment of prophecy?”
Jesus knew what they were thinking and He called them on it. He said, (Luke 4:24) “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown.” He then gave them the examples of Elijah and Elisha. Elijah stayed with a Gentile widow during a great famine. Elisha healed a general of the Gentile Syrians who were the sworn enemies of Israel. In both cases Israel rejected the prophets of God, and in both cases God sent His prophets to bless Gentiles.
The men of Nazareth very quickly followed the examples of their ancestors. Instead of recognising their own hardness of heart and repenting, they acted to kill Jesus. That is when they tried to throw Him from the cliff.
While Jesus came into this world to die, He came to die at a specific time and a specific place. Nazareth was not the place, nor was this the time. (Luke 4:30) “But passing through their midst, he went away”.
Those last three words, he went away, are very sad. Jesus had given an epiphany to the people of Nazareth and they rejected it. He offered salvation and freedom from sin to them and they tried to throw Him over a cliff.
Humanity has a sad, sad history of rebellion against God’s grace. The Old Testament is full of rebellion … some of which was utterly obscene.
One of the saddest passages of the Old Testament involves the prophet Ezekiel. The Lord allowed the Babylonians to carry him into exile, but then the Holy Spirit gave him a vision of the temple. In this vision, God Himself gave Ezekiel a tour of the abominations that Israel practiced within the very temple courts … worship of animals, the sun, the return of spring, and so forth for chapter after chapter.
Eventually, God stood on the threshold to the temple. Then God left the temple and ascended to the mountains surrounding Jerusalem. Then the Lord left Jerusalem altogether. The people had rejected God’s care for them. Therefore, God left. Jerusalem was without protection. It would not be long until Babylon would return once again to destroy Jerusalem and the temple.
In more modern times, we have Dr Martin Luther’s warning to the councilmen of the cities of Germany. “You should know that God’s word and grace is like a passing shower of rain which does not return where it has once been. It has been with the Jews, but when it’s gone it’s gone, and now they have nothing. Paul brought it to the Greeks; but again when it’s gone it’s gone, and now they have the Turk. Rome and the Latins also had it; but when it’s gone it’s gone, and now they have the pope. And you Germans need not think that you will have it forever, for ingratitude and contempt will not make it stay. Therefore, seize it and hold it fast, whoever can; for lazy hands are bound to have a lean year”.
The most destructive theme in history is the theme of the rejection of God’s salvation. For after a time of rejection, God will leave. Will you reject His gifts until He leaves you? May this never be!
The Year of Jubilee is an object lesson in the history of the nation of Israel. The prophet Isaiah used it to point to Jesus. Just as Israel was to free the slaves during the Jubilee, so also Jesus came to free the slaves. In His case, He came to free those who were slaves to sin. He did this by letting Roman soldiers nail Him to a cross. As He hung on that cross, He earned the freedom of the Jubilee Year for the sins of all mankind.
Jesus wants to give us the gifts that He purchased for us with His holy life, His suffering, and His death. He wants to give the gifts that He authenticated with His resurrection from the dead. He wants to tell us how His death on the cross has freed us from our captivity, opened our eyes to His salvation, and liberated us from sin’s oppression.
Jesus truly is the fulfillment of God’s promises. He is the Anointed One, the Christ, the Messiah. He has preached the Good News of the Kingdom of God. He has shown us the light of His salvation. With His life, suffering, and death on the cross, He has freed those oppressed by sin. With His resurrection, He offers the Lord’s favour to us. He gives these things to us through the Holy Spirit’s gift of faith. God has promised all these things to us and today they are fulfilled in your hearing. Amen.
The love and peace of our Great Triune God that is beyond all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen
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