He Went Away (Luke 4:16-30)
Posted: August 21, 2011 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a comment »The people of Jesus’ hometown think they know him. He is a respected teacher and leader. They enjoy hearing from “the local boy” and maybe even remember all the times they played with him as a child. He’s the hometown hero, famous across the land. Nazareth’s favorite son.
But in reality, they know nothing at all. When He reveals Himself as the Messiah of which Isaiah spoke, they lash out in incredulity. “Is this not Joseph’s son?” What’s more, when Jesus calls them out on their lack of faith, they get angry and seek to toss Him off a cliff. In a moment, they went from giddy fans to a murderous mob- all because Jesus revealed the truth to them- the truth about who He was and the truth about their own hearts. And Jesus then responds to their anger by simply going away. He leaves them in their own sin and they are left to seethe by themselves apart from the presence of the Savior.
Most of the times, I think we think we know who Jesus is. We spend so much time in church doing things, singing songs and praying prayers. But it really isn’t relationship most of the time, it’s lip service. And just like the people of Jesus hometown, we revel in Christ as our “hero” because He makes us feel good about ourselves. We enjoy Christ as long as we feel good, but the real test is when Jesus Himself comes forward and reveals our sin in the deepest part of our hearts. When Jesus calls us out saying “you don’t really know who I am! You don’t even know who you are yourself! Let me show you!” He does this so that we can be saved, that we might know “the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death” (Rom 8:2), and that “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).
So the real question is what our response will be. Will we in humility and faith throw ourselves at the feet of the Savior who we thought we knew, but was far greater than we could ever have imagined? Or will we, in anger and rage, seek to stuff Jesus back into the little box of selfish imagination where we think he belongs? If we fight back against His truth, we will only succeed in doing what the people of Nazareth did- chasing away the Son of God.
