“The Truth Is Never Easy”

Scripture: Luke 4:14-22

Much of Jesus’ life was spent in Galilee. He was raised in Nazareth and would spend much of his adult life in that town. This small village wasn’t any great shakes as far as metropolises were concerned, but it would be home. Think about it – aren’t we most comfortable in the area we are most familiar with? When Diane and I first moved to Western New York, we lived in the town of Clarence. It was a very nice community, but there was just something about it that wasn’t quite what we were used to. Later we would realize that it was because the area was flat – we had both grown up living in the hills, and Clarence just wasn’t hilly.
Nazareth was a village of only about 150 people in those days, but it was home. But I’m certain that you’ve heard the old saying “You can never go home again!”? When we eventually moved back to Apalachin, I naturally re-joined the fire department. I was coming home, in every way! But I quickly discovered that over half of the members had joined the department after we move away, and they didn’t know me. My home coming was hardly glorious! But that’s another story.

How about Jesus’ home coming? Would it be any more magnanimous than mine would one day be?

Read Luke 4:14-16

Jesus had already become a recognized name in Israel. Within the past two months, he had been baptized, and had been in the wilderness for his 40 days of fasting and temptations by the Satan, and ministry was now beginning in earnest. But he was being seen as the “home town boy made good” - the returning rabbi, the boy who everyone remembered, the man who everyone liked. And the news of his arrival to the region spread like wildfire.
He would be invited to teach in the region’s synagogues, which was a distinct honor. It is comparable to a member of our congregation who left to study at a Bible College or Seminary, and when he came home for a visit, we might invite him to preach a message, or to lead a Bible study on a topic that he was well versed in. In several of the gospel accounts, we read that the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority. (Matthew 7:28-29, Matthew 9:8, Mark 1:22-27, Luke 4:32-36) The people wanted to hear more of what he had to say –and it was to be a teaching unlike anything they had heard before.

And then he arrived in Nazareth, to a similar outpouring of welcome and admiration.

Read Luke 4:17-22

He didn’t get to choose which scroll to read from, but he does choose the passage. And when he finishes, every eye in the room is on him. The men were enthralled with his approach to the scriptures, and they didn’t quite know what to make of this. “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.” He obviously had been anointed to preach – no one would doubt that one bit – but to the poor? Everyone knew that God’s good news was for the righteous, the learned, the holy men, the leaders of Israel. The poor had no sense whatsoever of good news for their lives. They were used by the upper classes of Judah, they were abused by the Romans, they could barely scrape out a living for themselves and their families, and much of what they did have would be taken for taxes. The only good news would be if they died young, and avoided much of the misery that life held for them.
But then, maybe this Jesus knew something that really could benefit their lives! How was he anointed by the Spirit? They may have heard of his baptism by John, and his trials in the wilderness. Could this baptism have lead to his anointing? Could it have been the anointing? And maybe he had been anointed to be more than just a rabbi – maybe God had spoken a Divine message to him, and the prophecy would bring a blessing to their lives. It had been 400 years since the nation had received a prophet – maybe the time had come for a new one! But what could God’s message be for them?

“He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind”. They were prisoners, all right! They were confined in a society that held them captive to a singular way of life. Could Isaiah have been speaking about this man? Might Jesus be speaking about them? Would he be the means for freedom from the oppressive Romans? Was God about to free them from the miserable existence that they called “life”? And recovery of sight? Was this Jesus a healer, too?

“to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” The year of the Lord’s favor? They had waited for that day – the day when they would know the goodwill and kindness of Jehovah once more. Unfortunately, most, if not all of those present that day missed the fact that Jesus left out the last few words of the passage – “and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn.” He was also sent to proclaim the day of vengeance, of judgment, but the people weren’t to hear that message yet. And he sat down with the words “Today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Isaiah 61:1-2)

The people didn’t realize it yet, but Jesus wasn’t simply reiterating the words and thoughts that the people had clung to for centuries. They thought that this passage meant that everything was about to change in their lives, that the oppressive weight of life was going to be lifted from their shoulders, that their nation would once again be a power in the world, and that they, too, would be able to know God in an intimate way. They thought that finally, there would be no doubt that God truly loved them.

But that wasn’t to be the type of “fulfillment” that Jesus was bringing. The Spirit hadn’t come on him in the conventional sense that it had to Isaiah, or Elijah, or Jeremiah, or any of the other prophets. It was on him, not by a “bestowing”, but by inheritance. This was no ordinary son of man – he was the Son of God. His authority was not granted to him for a period of time – it was ingrained in his Being from before the beginning of time! And the good news that he was bringing to the poor? It wouldn’t necessarily make their lives in this realm any easier – as a matter of fact, it would make them more difficult. But rather, it was about a newness of life that would fill them now as well as in that future life with Jesus.
When he spoke of freedom for the prisoners, it wasn’t earthly oppression that he was referring to. He was talking about the prison of eternal darkness, the prison of ceaseless condemnation, the prison of everlasting death. And he was to be the source of this freedom.
When he spoke of the recovery of sight for the blind, it wasn’t physical sight that he was referring to, even though he would restore sight to many. He was speaking of their vision of truth that would be made clear once more. It would be a vision of Jesus, not as a child of Nazareth, not as a man of earth, not even as a gifted and anointed prophet, but as the Redeemer and Savior of the world. Humanity’s vision has always been clouded when it comes to seeing the truth of God, and we are no different. The power of the Lord’s mind, the depth of his words, the grace in his soul, the mercy in his heart, and the promise of his resurrection is all so far beyond us that we can never fully comprehend it all.
But the truth of Christ is such that we don’t have to understand it – we simply need to claim it and live it. And when he uttered the words “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing”, they were being given the first inkling that this Messenger had a whole new promise for their lives. It wasn’t easy then, and it isn’t easy today. Those men who were gathered in the Nazarean synagogue were trying to hear Jesus’ words in a context that they could feel comfortable with. Their vision was still clouded by the influence of a thousand years of “religion”, and so is ours. Theologians, from the Pharisees of Jesus’ day to the scholars of our day, try to make it far too complicated.
They want to try to put God into a context that fits with human thought, and it will never happen! They want to explain how and what the “good news” is for us, when all we really have to do is rejoice in his “gospel”. They want to dig into the depth of humanity that has created spiritual “prisons” in this life, to explain how they have come to be, to discover ways that good works can help us to dig our way out of our “pits”, to “help” God along with the process of release. They debate ad infinitum as to what the “Lord’s favor” is all about, what it means for us, who it is for and who it isn’t for, how it is received, and even if it is a real thing. And they are all missing out on the truth of Jesus.

The truth of Christ is hard enough to understand without the learned of our land making it all the more complicated. And that that includes the sermons that you hear from this pulpit. My logical mind wants to understand the depth of faith, while my spirit wants to just enjoy it. My mind wants to delve into the complexities of the Lord’s Being and Purpose, while my soul just wants to love and rejoice in the Lord’s Being and Purpose. And my advice to you today is this – read and hear the Good News of Jesus Christ and all that it says for our lives, and then simply live it out in the presence and to the benefit of earth’s people. And if I seem to make it too involved or complicated or detailed some days, I encourage you to remind me of my own words – “read and hear … and simply live.”

I will continue to challenge you to hear his call, to live his ways, to love his commands, and rejoice in his promise, but I will also try to not make it too difficult to claim.