January 27, 2013 at Calvary
Evangelical Lutheran Church – Mechanicsburg, PA
“And [Jesus] 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. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to Him.”
The Gospel Writer tells us that
Jesus had a custom. Maybe it wasn’t the only one that He had, but we are told: “As was His custom, [Jesus] went into the
synagogue on the Sabbath day.” Jesus performs an action that was done by
countless others. Gathering to hear what the Lord
had said through Moses and the Prophets was the custom of Israel. It was not
just something they thought might be good to do, it is what the Lord had commanded them.
There is a reason for that
command: the gathering to hear what the Lord
had said is how the people of Israel learned about their identity. For it is in
the Scriptures that the Lord
reveals His identity, as the One who had made Abraham into a great nation and
delivered the Hebrews from Egypt, the One who made a Covenant full of promises.
Israel was to gladly hear and learn this testimony about the Lord and themselves. These Scriptures
taught them the way of life that the Lord
had bestowed to them, a way of life that led not only to temporal benefits, but
eternal ones as well.
Hearing
the Lord’s words and receiving
what they convey is what led the Psalmist to testify about them: “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the
Lord is sure, making wise the
simple; the precepts of the Lord
are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the just decrees of
the Lord are true, and righteous
altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter
also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is Your
servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.” This is what drove the custom of
Jesus, the same custom that was held by His ancestors, even those in Nazareth,
where He had been brought up.
But there is an underlying truth
concerning the Lord’s words that
leads them to do what the Psalmist says. Why do they revive the soul, make wise
the simple, rejoice the heart, enlighten the eyes, endure forever, stand
righteous altogether? Because these words testify to what the Lord does for His people. They make
known the salvation that He had brought them, was bringing them, and would
bring them. Hearing and receiving that witness is what brings joy to the hearts
of those who are troubled by sin, guilt, the burdens of life, all the negative
events they endure. The Lord says
concerning Himself: “I am the One who removes this from you. I am the One who
brings you deliverance. I am the One who answers your troubles.”
This is what the people in
Jerusalem heard as they gathered and listened to Ezra read the Lord’s words to them: “All the people gathered as one man into the
square before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book
of the Law of Moses that the Lord
had commanded Israel…. And he read from it facing the square before the Water
Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women
and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive
to the Book of the Law.” Having returned from their exile in Babylon and
Persia, these Israelites were back in their homeland. These returned exiles got
to hear again—and for some, the first time—what the Lord had said concerning Himself and them: how He had delivered
them and promised salvation for them.
So how did the people react to
hearing this? “Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people
answered, ‘Amen, Amen,’ lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and
worshiped the Lord with their faces
to the ground.” We also hear the description of their touched hearts: “All the people wept as they heard the words
of the Law.” Nehemiah’s statement points the people to what the Lord had done for them: “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink the
sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is
holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” The people find
joy because the Lord had
graciously answered them. He had exalted them from their low estate. He had put
their shame and disgrace to flight.
But what happens in Nazareth, when
Jesus reads the Lord’s words and
gives the sense of them to the people in the synagogue? What happens when He
reveals the Lord’s identity and
the Lord’s actions for the people?
That is what the Gospel Writer also records for us. Jesus reads from Isaiah’s
prophecy: “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 the recovering of sight to the
blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the
Lord’s favor.” And then Jesus tells the people what those words of the Lord mean: “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Jesus is
telling them that the Scriptures testified about Him, that He is the One who
has come to bring joy to the hearts of those who are troubled by sin, guilt,
the burdens of life, all the negative events they endure.
After Jesus gives the sense of the
Scripture to the people, there is utter rejection of Him. You heard that read
this way: “And all spoke well of Him and
marveled at the gracious words that were coming from His mouth. And they said, ‘Is
not this Joseph’s son?’” But they weren’t really speaking well of Jesus.
No, the Gospel Writer’s words are better put: “And they all were testifying [bearing witness] about Him and wondered
at the gracious words coming from His mouth.” There is no positive witness given
about Jesus, only a negative one. And there is no amazement at what Jesus says,
only shock. The people start saying: “How can this guy tell us that He’s been anointed
by anyone, let alone the Spirit of the Lord? Who made Him the preacher of
liberty? How is Joseph’s son going to give sight to the blind? And what’s this talk
about freeing anybody? What is Jesus going to free us from? What are we blind
to? Do we need to be freed from anything? Isaiah was talking about the Messiah,
and you aren’t it!”
Then when Jesus answers them,
giving a statement about being rejected and how the people of Nazareth are no different
than the Israelites who rejected Elijah and Elisha, they blow up completely.
They reject Jesus as a false prophet, a teacher of blasphemy: “When they heard these things, all in the
synagogue were filled with wrath. 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.” They will not have Jesus as the
supplier of life to them. They will not have Him as the Messiah. But this means
that they will not receive what the Scriptures actually led up to, what the
entirety of Moses and the Prophets had actually foretold.
And this is the problem not just
for Nazareth but for Mechanicsburg, Carlisle, Dillsburg, Camp Hill, Harrisburg,
Hershey, and Lebanon also. All those positive things spoken of the Scriptures
is true: they revive the soul, make wise the simple, rejoice the heart,
enlighten the eyes, endure forever, and stand righteous altogether. Not only
that, there is a promise concerning an outcome: “Moreover, by them is Your servant warned; in keeping them there is
great reward.” They spell out a way of living that you are to follow. But
we see how that way of living is being rejected over and over again. The
morality spelled out in the Scriptures is dismissed. The righteousness
described is tossed over the cliff, just like the Nazareth people wanted to do
with Jesus. And there is the popular custom of not hearing one bit of the Lord’s words at all.
But there is one more thing to
note—not just an add-on; it’s the real heart of the matter. The Psalmist
alludes to it: “Who can discern his
errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. Keep back Your servant also
from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be
blameless, and innocent of great transgression.” That matter is the salvation
that comes from the forgiveness of sins, the proclaiming of liberty to those
who are ensnared by their faults, the removal of blindness from those who know
nothing of the Lord’s ways. And
the Psalmist declares where that salvation comes from: “Let the words of my mouth and the mediation of my heart be acceptable
in Your sight, O Lord, my rock and
my redeemer.” The deliverance does not come by setting yourself free, but
from having the Lord as your
redeemer.
That needed thing—having the Lord as your redeemer—is what the
Scriptures testify to. But their testimony is clear: Jesus is the Lord incarnate who has come to be that
redeemer. This is what Moses and the Prophets foretold. What Jesus says in the
synagogue of Nazareth is true. All those things that Isaiah said would take
place by the One anointed with the Spirit of the Lord, they are done by Jesus because He is the Christ, the
Messiah. His testimony is also true: “Today
this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” It is fulfilled for
you, as the same Jesus who died to atone for your sins and rose again to open
Paradise to you has also spoken His words of forgiveness in your ears. He has
spoken the words that proclaim liberty to you, setting you free from the
slavery of sin and the dungeon of death. He takes you from blindness to seeing
Him and the way of life that He has laid out for you. That is the heart of the
Scriptures: Moses, the Prophets, even the Psalms all testify about Him.
For you who receive this, you have
the joy that the Scriptures bring. You are like the people who gathered to hear
Ezra read the Torah and were commanded to be festive and celebrate because of
the Lord’s actions described by
His words. But all who will not receive this—all those who will not recognize
that they are actually in need of divine aid and those who will not have Jesus
be their redeemer—then they are like the people of Nazareth. They have the
salvation right in front of them, but they go home empty-handed, having it pass
through their midst as Jesus and His testimony go away.
That is what these two instances
in the Old and New Testaments bring to light on this day. Hearing them read, an
exhortation is made. You are again called to gladly hear and learn what the Lord speaks concerning Himself and you
in the Scriptures. You are called to have your soul revived, to be made wise,
to have rejoicing hearts, to be given enlightenment, to endure forever and
stand righteous in the Lord’s
sight. That is what will take place for you, but only as you receive what is
said concerning Jesus: that He is the only-begotten Son of God, the One
conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, the One who has come
for us men and for our salvation, the redeemer who proclaims the Lord’s favor. Toss that over the cliff,
and all is lost. Receive it and its fulfillment in your midst, and you shall
not be grieved, but will have the joy of the Lord
as your strength.
+ In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit.
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