Sermon Feb. 1, 1998 Word of Authority based on Luke 4:20-32

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Word of Jesus has authority. His message carries power. Sometimes that message is accepted and other times it is rejected. Today, in our text, we hear of when Jesus' powerful words were rejected. This rejection of the Christ is a foreshadow, a looking-ahead to when the Christ would be rejected on the cross.

Our assigned Gospel text picks up the situation in the middle. It takes place in Nazareth, Jesus' home town. In the synagogue, Jesus had just finished reading from the Scriptures. Of course, in that time, the Old Testament was the extent of the Scriptures. So Jesus was reading from the scroll of Isaiah. And He read 61:1-2, which I read now:

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

Then Jesus rolled up the scroll and the eyes of everyone were fastened upon Him. This means they looked at Him intently. How much more colorful the picture, however, of people with their eyes fastened, glued, attached to the one who would now comment on what He had just read.

Jesus begins His comments by saying, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." In other words, as you were listening today, this statement of what was to come has been completed. It is happening now. Today is the day that Isaiah was writing about.

And Jesus certainly implies that He would bring what Isaiah wrote. He would preach good news to the poor, proclaim freedom for the prisoners, proclaim recovery of sight for the blind, release the oppressed and proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

Jesus would preach good news to the poor. The poor in spirit, those who are suffering with their burden of sins will hear good news from Jesus.

The prisoners, held by the chains of their sins will hear how they are set free. Those blinded by their original sin will receive their sight once again. The ones who are oppressed, beat down and burdened with a life of trying to be good enough to satisfy God, will learn of the release of Christ, the release which comes because He took our punishment and earned our salvation.

Christ comes to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. This means, the beginning of the time when the Lord looks on us favorably. When He forgives our sins and pardons our crimes.

This promise of these coming blessings, written by Isaiah about 700 years earlier, was now happening. This was the beginning of Jesus' message to the people in Nazareth. Undoubtedly there was more, since we are told that He only began by saying, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."

Now, how did they receive this Word from Christ? They heard Jesus speak and they were amazed. There amazement was mixed with confusion. They thought this was Joseph's kid speaking. They were confused about Jesus saying these things, for He was only Joseph's son. The son of a carpenter. An ordinary man…so they thought.

Yes, these people did have their eyes fixed on Jesus, but what did they see? We know eyes can see and not understand, and ears can hear and not comprehend. Were those eyes fixed on Jesus Christ really understanding and comprehending Him as the Son of God and the Savior of the world, as Isaiah had foretold?

Jesus guesses that they would like to see Him do the same miracles He did elsewhere. He suggests to them that they are thinking, "Do in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum." He suggests that these people in Nazareth want to see Him demonstrate the same signs that He did elsewhere. They want proof of who He is.

Now Jesus turns on them the full force of the Law-accusing them of their sin of not accepting Him as a prophet, the one speaking the Word of authority. Jesus is not only a prophet, but also much more. However, these people of Nazareth will not even accept Him as a prophet. He says to them, "...no prophet is accepted in his hometown." In other words, "You folks are true to the saying that a prophet is rejected in the place he grew up." Jesus is saying they are not willing to accept His words as words from God, that is, to treat Him as a true prophet of God.

He goes on to give two examples of prophets who were rejected in their homelands. Elijah was sent to a widow in Sidon, outside of Israel. Elisha healed a man from Syria, not from Israel. These examples show that these prophets, Elijah and Elisha, went outside Israel to do at least part of their work. They were not well received in Israel, and they had to go outside of it to find acceptance.

Elijah and Elisha's work outside of Israel also reminds us that God is the God of all people, not just the Jews. This is the theme of Epiphany, which is the season of the Church Year in which we fall today. God reaches out to all people. Even through the Old Testament prophets, Elijah and Elisha, God reached out to people of other lands, that is, to the Gentiles.

As I said, Jesus spoke the Law to the people of Nazareth in what He said. He pointed out their rejection of Him because they had not seen a sign. The Law shows us our disobedience to God's will. Jesus showed them their sins of rejecting God's Word of Authority. They wanted to put miracles in higher authority that the Word. They would rather give miracles precedence. The proclamations of Jesus at Nazareth were sufficient to convey the Good News of the kingdom. They should have been satisfied without the miracles.

The Law can cause two different reactions. First law can cause the reaction where the hearer is convicted of their sins. The second reaction law can cause is that the hearer will deny and reject the law. Either the law convicts us, or we refuse to accept the law. We may refuse to accept the law because we deny the authority of the speaker and his message or we may refuse to accept the law because we deny we are guilty of breaking it. The Psalm today said, "the wicked one...in his own eyes he flatters himself too much to detect or hate his sin."

The residents of Nazareth reject Jesus as the speaker of the law. Thereby, they reject the law. Their rejection of Jesus is physical. They take out their rejection of what Jesus has said in the form of physical abuse. They drive Him, meaning they forced Him to the edge of town and a cliff which was there. They were going to kill Him, because they rejected the Law which He had spoken to them. They denied the authority of His Word, and therefore, they felt justified in killing Him.

The text says that these people are furious in response to Jesus. That is clearly the response of a people who has rejected the Law. They are angry that someone would suggest that they are sinners. They might have thought, "How dare this son of Joseph accuse us of wrongdoing." This is their response to Jesus preaching the Law.

You, too may get angry at hearing the Law. It certainly is unpleasant for me to speak of it. This explains why many churches no longer allow their pastors to include Law in their preaching. They consider it too negative. They refuse to hear of their sins. They reject God's Word of Authority. And pastors do not like to make people angry or face their rejection, any more than other people do. Yet we are called to bring you the whole council of God. Jeremiah, in today's reading was given the Word in his mouth to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, and to build and plant. He was given Gospel; but he was also given Law.

You may get angry at the Law. You may reject God's Word. You may deny the Law applies to you. In doing this, however, you deny the need for a savior. If the law does not apply to you, then you are without sin. Being without sin means you need no forgiveness and no savior.

As Christians, we are rather to hear God's Word of Authority and take it to heart. We accept the Law and confess our sins. We then will know the favor of the Lord. We will be released from our oppression. Our blindness will be ended. We will be free from the prison of our sins. All of this was fulfilled in the coming of Christ. All this is provided through the one who was rejected on the cross.

See, Jesus was, in our text, rejected by the Nazarenes. They were angered and rejected the Law Jesus preached. They drove Him away and tried to kill Him. Yet through a miracle, Jesus walked right through the crowd and escaped.

Jesus went on to preach again in Capernaum. There He was not rejected. Rather the people were amazed at His message and the Authority of that message. They acknowledged and recognized the Authority of the Word of God. Those who did not reject Christ were called to be part of His body, the Christian Church. You and I today are blessed in faith because of those who accepted the Word of Authority.

Yet Jesus would be rejected again. Eventually He would be rejected with a death sentence upon the cross. There Jesus died for the sins of the whole world. He died for the sins of people rejecting Him. He suffered the punishment due all people. Yet in that death He also set us free. The captivity and bondage of death could not hold Jesus either. He walked right through death, just as He walked through the crowd at Nazareth. Jesus was raised to life. This demonstrated to us the sure confidence that we too, who believe in Christ as Savior, will be raised to life on the Last Day. Lord, "How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings." (Psalm 36.)

Recognize the authority in the words our Lord has given us. Let the Law penetrate to your heart. Then feel the comfort of the Gospel-the good news that Jesus died and rose to take your sins away. Hear the Authority of the Word which says that Jesus died to completely satisfy the demands of the Law. Be amazed at this message of authority from your Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.