[S] If someone asked you to tell them about the Jesus you know, what would you tell them? And would what you tell them resemble the Jesus revealed in the gospels or would Jesus resemble someone else? We’re in the third week of a series entitled “Jesus as They Knew Him.” A series designed to help us rediscover and know the real Jesus. The idea is to ask the four gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, to tell us about the Jesus they knew by asking each one of them to answer the following question, “If you could tell this church one thing about the Jesus you knew, what would you want us to know?” So far Matthew wanted us to know that the Jesus he knew was without a doubt the Messiah. Mark wanted us to know that Jesus was not Mary’s little lamb but the roaring Lion of Judah full of power and might.
How would Luke answer that question? Let’s find out by reading from Luke 4.14-30. (Use slides or video clip from my Israel trip)
[S] “He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. 17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
Lk 4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news
to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, Lk 4:19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Lk 4:20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, 21 and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Lk 4:22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked. Lk 4:23 Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself! Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’ ” Lk 4:24 “I tell you the truth,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown. 25 I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. 27 And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.”
Lk 4:28 All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. 29 They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff. 30 But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.”
[S] The reference to the Elijah ministering to Zarephath in Sidon and Elisha to Naaman the Syrian is intentional. Neither of these two persons were Jewish or people of the promise. They were gentiles, people outside the Abrahamic covenant of God. And yet God sent these two prophets to care for them in their need bypassing the people of the covenant who were also in need. Most Jews believed that God was more concerned about “his people” and “his faithful flock” more than those outside the invisible fence line that has been set up by the people of the covenant. Some Judeans believed that the Gentiles were to be fuel for the fires of hell.” And here this young Jesus dares to tell them that the gentiles were favoured by God over the Jews. And they couldn’t hardly believe it nor could they stand it. It bothered them so much that some of them contemplated about throwing him off the top of the hill.
[S] I’ve been on that hill. It stands hundreds of feet above the valley floor. It’s like standing on the brow of Petit Jean, Mount Nebo or Mount Magazine without the trees and shrubs. Straight out due west in a great valley where Gideon won his victories, where Saul lost his life, where Deborah and Barak fought, where Jehu slaughtered Jezebel. The hills rising on the other side was the foothill of Mount Carmel where Elijah battled the prophets of Ba’al. The valley lying between Nazareth and Mount Carmel is known as the Jezreel Valley, also known as Megiddo, better known as Armageddon.
[S] I believe this passage captures the essence of what Luke would want us to know about the Jesus he knew. Luke wants us to know that Jesus is the LORD, and that the least, the last and the lost have a special place in his heart. The Jesus he knew showed a love for those outside the religious establishment. He wanted people to know that those outside of the religious circle were just as important to him as those who were faithful to the covenant. The Jesus Luke knew wanted the religious people to know that it wasn’t all about them. It’s also about them, the gentiles, those who aren’t part of the body of Christ, as much as it those who think “I’m in.” The Jesus Luke knew had great compassion for those outside the status quo. As Luke reveals, the Jesus he knew placed a high value on intentionally seeking out those who didn’t know God or who were being kept from knowing God, in order to make the redeeming love of God available to them.
A case in point is the story reported in Luke 19.1-10. [S] “Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a ‘sinner…Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” (19.1-8, 10, NIV).
[S] It’s not that Jesus didn’t love those who had repented and were involved the religious life of the Jewish community. He did. And very much so. But they weren’t the only one’s God had his eye on. We can’t ignore the fact that Jesus had a special place in his heart for those who did not know God or who had not experienced God’s blessing.
Luke chapter 15 captures this as well as any portion of the entire bible with three quick and potent stories.
[S] The first story Jesus said, “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and somewhere along the way you discover one is missing. Would you not leave the 99 in the open country to go after the one that wandered away? It was a rhetorical question. They looked at each other silently saying, “Sure we would. Who wouldn’t?” And then once you found it would you not rejoice, put it on your shoulder, bring it home, and tell all your friends and neighbors that the lost lamb had been found? Again, they probably looked at each other knowing they would and indeed that some of them probably had. Closing out the story Jesus said, “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who do not need to repent.”
[S] The second story is about a woman who misplaces all her cash for the month and can’t find it. She’s so worried she confides in her friends. Later she turns her house upside down looking for her money. Finally she finds it and is so relieved and happy that she twitters her friends and on her face book status reads, “Praise the Lord!” Jesus ends the story saying, “I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
[S] And the third and most familiar of the stories is the one about the young son who was eager to leave his boyhood home and live on his own. Even though the Father didn’t think the son was ready to do so he gave him the trust fund he had been keeping for him and let him go. And just like the father feared the son mismanaged and misappropriated the funds and ended up on the street. Pride kept him from calling on his father for help. But it finally so bad he didn’t have much of a choice. And much to his surprise his dad opened up his arms and his home and restored him to the status he had before any of this happened. He even threw him a huge welcome home bash. And did that ever make his older brother angry.
The responded, “My son…you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” (15.31-32, NIV)
In each of these stories something of great value was missing and there was yearning that it would be found or restored. And in each case that which was lost was found and there was great rejoicing as a result.
The Jesus Luke knew had a heart for those who were not part of the synagogue or the life of the church. Jesus wanted them to know that God loves them and wants them to be people of the covenant as well. The Jesus Luke new had a heart and passion for those outside the religious establishment.
This is good news for anyone here who is not a Christ follower or who is far from God. Christ wants to bless you with the love of God. God is looking for you, not to punish you, but to bless you. Let yourself be found.
And for those of us who are disciples of Jesus I have a question for you. Is your perspective towards those outside the church more like Jesus’ or more like the religious people who attended the synagogue in Nazareth or like those in Jericho who kept Zacchaeus at arm’s length or more like the older brother? Or is it somewhere in between. And what do you think Jesus would want you to do about that?
[S] I’d like you to consider doing something in light of this. Take your bulletin or news brief and draw a line. On the side write “Nazareth” and at the right side write “Jesus”. During our time of prayer and commitment place “x” where you are on that continuum when it comes to valuing and loving those outside the church. And then ask yourself, in light of who Jesus is and who I am to be, one action or step I’ll take is….
It might be to acknowledge you don’t care as much about them as you think you do. In that case seek forgiveness and tell God you’d like to. It might the next step is to ask the Holy Spirit to give you the heart of Jesus so that you could care about them as much as Jesus does. Or it may be taking the step to establish contact someone outside the church with the hope that you’ll be able to make God’s covenant blessing known to them. Or, maybe the next step is to get involved in an existing missions ministry or the evangelism team or some other ministry that would equip and enable you to make God’s blessings available to someone outside of the church. What’s your next step going to be and when are you going to do it?
