I Was Rejected in My Home Town

The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ

(Seed Sowers Christian Book Publishing House. http://www.seedsowers.com/)

November 1, 2012   I Was Rejected in My Home Town

Page 71        Luke 4:14b-30

I remembered the old church expression, “You’ve gone from preaching to meddling” after reading today’s passage. As the great preacher Fred Craddock noted, there are two kinds of preaching people won’t listen to: bad preaching and good preaching. Bad preaching wasn’t the issue in Nazareth.

History reveals that the Jewish people were longing for God to rescue Israel from the oppression of their enemies. Jesus announced he is the Messiah, the One whom God has sent to save Israel. What was so offensive about Jesus’ claim to be the Messiah? It’s all about control. Jesus was saying the Messiah was coming to proclaim God’s grace for all people, including the Romans, the enemy of Israel. The people very much wanted God’s grace, but just for Israel, not for other nations. The people wanted to control God’s agenda, to be the ones who determined which nations were redeemed and which were not.

The people in Nazareth wanted to be like God. That’s a familiar theme, not just for first century Jews. In our world today, we still suffer from the sin of wanting to control God’s agenda. The foundation of the Christian faith rests on two imperatives: “Love God with all that we are, and love our neighbor as much as we love ourselves.” Yet we struggle as much as the Nazarenes with wanting to determine who our neighbor is.

In the process of loving God and our neighbors, we are transformed to become like Jesus. In today’s reading, Jesus demonstrated he clearly understood God’s mission, God’s purpose for his life: “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!” (Luke 4:21b). One of the most accurate measures of our maturity in Christ is in the clarity with which we can articulate God’s mission, God’s purpose for our life.

Sē’lah

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What word or phrase in today’s reading attracts your attention?

Reflect on that word or phrase.

What insights come to you?

How does this passage touch your life today?

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

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The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ

(Seed Sowers Christian Book Publishing House. http://www.seedsowers.com/)

November 2, 2012   I Called Fisherman to Fish for People & News about Me Spread         

Page 71-72   Matthew 4:18-22; Mark 1:16-20; Matthew 4:23-25