His Way or Our Way?

 

And he [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. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, “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, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 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. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 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?” (Luke 4:16-22 ESV).

 

I was born in Galveston, Texas. In fact, I spent most of my early childhood on the island. Since I was born into an Italian Catholic family, I also received most of my early education in parochial schools. Of course, I was expected to be an altar boy and did. I assisted in the Mass at Sacred Heart Church (pictured here much as it was then). In those days the Bishop’s Home (now a historical site) across the street was open to me especially if I was on an errand for one of the parish priests. We lived nearby and often rode our bikes to the playground for neighborhood games or baseball with other kids. Seems rather incredible now; though, it was quite common then. That way of life was not to be my way of life as I grew into adulthood.

 

This is the background of our reading today. Jesus returns to His childhood home of Nazareth at the beginning of His ministry. Looking around the synagogue, we can see the neighbor who looked after Jesus when he was a little boy. And over there are some of Joseph's old customers, people who had hired Joseph and Jesus to do some carpentry work long ago. And there are some of the other kids from earlier days, all grown up now with families of their own. Gathered into the synagogue, they hear Jesus read from Isaiah about a servant of God who would bring restoration and peace. Then they hear him say that Isaiah's prophecy is being fulfilled before their very eyes. Jesus is the servant whom Isaiah was talking about. Everyone is amazed at the hometown boy who will do great things.

 

But in a flash they turn against him and try to kill him. The people become furious as Jesus reminds them of an old story about the prophet Elijah, who was not welcome in Israel for a time and had to work among foreigners. The people hear Jesus saying that he will have to work among other peoples too, so they protest, "We are God's people, not the Gentiles! If you are a true servant of God, then you must be for us!" He was… they weren’t for Him. I wonder how often we have made that same mistake. Jesus can’t be forced into our desires; we must take on His desires for us.