Throwing Jesus Off the Cliff

Art by Craig Greenfield

One day Jesus was teaching in his home town synagogue of Nazareth. (The story can be found in Luke 4: 14-30 and Mark 1: 14-15).

It starts out pretty upbeat.

Jesus had just begun his ministry in Galilee and things were going well. In fact "reports about him spread quickly through the whole region." (Luke 4:14). He was filled with the Holy Spirit, taught regularly in synagogues and "was praised by everyone."

So, that Sabbath day in Nazareth, he went to the synagogue to pray. He was handed the scroll of Isaiah, unrolled it, and began to read: 

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord's favor has come."

Jesus was quoting from Isaiah 61: 1-2. 

After reading, Jesus rolled the scroll up, handed it back to the attendant and said to those assembled, "The Scripture you've just heard has been fulfilled this very day."

The curious thing is, that, at first, the congregation was "amazed by the gracious words that came from his lips. 'How can this be?' they asked. 'Isn't this Joseph's son?'"

Nazareth being a small town, most people in the congregation probably knew Jesus. Many of them had seen him working alongside his father Joseph, as a carpenter. Hence their question.

Instead of putting their minds at ease, Jesus directly addresses their hesitancy to fully accept him, "You will undoubtedly quote me this proverb: 'Physician heal yourself' - meaning 'Do miracles here in your hometown like those you did in Capernaum.' But I tell you the truth, no prophet is accepted in his own hometown..."

Jesus goes on to mention Elijah and Elisha and how they ministered to foreigners instead of God's chosen.

Of course, this has the net effect of turning the synagogue crowd against Jesus. To the point that "they were furious. Jumping up, they mobbed him and forced him to the edge of the hill on which the town was built. They intended to push him over the cliff, but he passed right through the crowd and went his way." (Luke 14: 28-30).

What caused this flip-flop? What caused the crowd to go against Jesus to the point that after announcing the Good News, they wanted to push him off a cliff?

Why were they so angry?

Was it because Jesus was radically inclusive in announcing that he had come to help the poor, the oppressed, the captive, the blind and set them all free? 

In pronouncing extreme blessing, the day of the Lord's favor, Jesus didn't discriminate between those who were chosen and those who weren't. The blessing that Jesus was giving was clearly intended for everyone. Most especially those on the margins. The very people that he had come to help. The very ones who weren't even allowed into the synagogue to hear him.

Because Jesus' reputation as a miracle-worker had preceded him, it was quite possible that those sitting in the synagogue were now expecting great things - including miracles in Nazareth. So they were initially pleased.

But rather than fulfill their short-sighted expectations, Jesus goes on to tell them not to expect such things, because they would ultimately reject him for his open-door, no borders policy when it came to blessing.

To put in simply, Jesus was addressing a group of people who were deeply steeped in their own world-view. And it was definitely a Make Nazareth Great Again type of crowd. 

Having the benefit of history, it's easy to look back and think the Nazareth folk had it coming to them. After all, couldn't they open their eyes and see that Jesus was willing to include them in the blessing? Their inability to see Jesus' world-view is crystal clear. 

But what about us? Living in the US in the 21st Century?

How do we respond to those who ask us to have a more open-minded approach to sharing our blessings? 

According to the Federal Reserve, the US net wealth hit the $100 trillion mark in early 2018. It comes out to an average household net worth of over $300,000.

Obviously, there are many households in the US who aren't anywhere near this watermark.

Mary Catherine's Musings

It's no secret that income inequality is growing in the US. And for the most part, this trend is seen worldwide. And it may surprise you to know that there are many countries that have a better index of income equality than the US.

But the fact is there's plenty of resources to go around. We're just reluctant to share them. 

The question remains: What would you do if Jesus showed up at your place of worship next Sunday and preached from Isaiah 61, announcing the Good News? That it was intended for everyone?

Would we insist that our own be served first?

Would we extend our hands to the poor only after they qualified to receive help?

Would we keep those waiting outside our church doors at the border until they were proven worthy to receive asylum?

Thankfully, Jesus wasn't concerned about the deserving poor. That classification was far from his frame of reference. Having fled with his family to Egypt when he was an infant, Jesus knew first-hand what it was like to be a refugee. He knew the plight of the outsider very well.

And he remained sympathetic to their cause throughout his ministry.

Time and time again he chastised the religious leaders of his day for their short-sighted self-righteousness. In fact, they were the only group that consistently rubbed Jesus the wrong way. To the extent that he told everyone else not to imitate them.

In the end, Jesus is trying to reach us with the same Good News as he did with the people gathered in his hometown synagogue in Nazareth two thousand years ago. 

Do we still want to throw him off a cliff?

As my brother recently noted: "God loves everyone, including you."

Bible quotes from New Living Translation