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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: 21-30)
It's hard to believe that in a worship service some people actually get mad. I'm kidding, of course, it happens all the time. The question is should it be happening all the time? Worship is all about God; Us worshiping God, not the church worshiping us and our needs and desires and wants. Here in this passage, Jesus has read the scripture about what God would be doing through the Anointed, and then Jesus claimed that title for Himself and here is where the questions and comments began to fly. "Wait. I saw this guy on the roof the other day, working!" "He and his dad made cabinets for our home!" "I hear tell that He can do some amazing things; let's ask Him to entertain us as well!" But then Jesus spoke the truth: "Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet's hometown." That and of itself would have sufficed, but Jesus really rubs it in; Jesus shares their history where during a drought and famine, it was the great prophet Elijah who fed only a widow not from Israel. And then a man suffering from leprosy, also not a Hebrew, was healed - and you all know how many lepers have been Jews... Enough was enough, and they drove Him out of the town and took Him to the brow of a hill in order to throw Him off the cliff and kill Him.
Something stopped them, and He "passed through the midst of them and went on His way." The lesson was to remember the poor, the captives, the blind, and the oppressed (Luke 4:18); and the lesson was that God does sometimes favor those in need over those who are well blessed. And if a lesson from scripture convicts us of where we are versus where we need to be, we don't kill the preacher! We should kill our sin, rather, let Jesus take our sin and have it nailed to the cross and let it die there. Then we leave the worship space and go a live worthy of that which God has already done for us, with a spirit of gratitude and thankfulness in the way we serve God.
PRAYER: Lord, many have been the times I have looked in the Bible and have found a mirror that has pointed out my blemishes and wrinkles and pimples. I ask that during those times I would seek You deeper and find You as the One who heals and makes new. This I pray in Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
