Allen Jackson - Jesus In The Synagogue - Part 2
I find we are very comfortable talking about first century ideas. We're completely at home talking about the political circumstances in the first century that resulted in Jesus's execution. We are much less comfortable talking about the political circumstances or the cultural circumstances of the 21st century and what the implications of the gospel are for us. And that's precisely what happened in Nazareth. And Jesus begins to prod them a bit. He reminds them that there were points in their history when God wanted to move, but there weren't people amongst the Jewish community who were co-operative and that God used outsiders. It's very provocative language.
I can tell you how provocative it is because in verse 28 Luke says to us: "All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard it". These are his neighbors, childhood friends. "They got up, and drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff". I've preached lots of sermons in churches. Some of them have been okay, some of them have been not so good. Occasionally, I've gotten an amen, I'm grateful to say, I think. I've never had a response that was as unanimously angry as the one Jesus got. And it's the first message Luke gives us in a synagogue. That's noteworthy folks. The previous verse, I read it to you, in verse 15, he said, he taught in their synagogues and everybody praised him. And then he said, then he went to Nazareth to the synagogue as was his custom and they wanted to kill him.
So again, Luke is telling us a story. He's inviting us into the middle of something, we should pay attention. Same chapter, chapter 4, verse 31: "Then Jesus went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath, he began to teach the people. They were amazed at his teaching, because his message had authority. In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an evil spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice, 'What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are: the Holy One of God!'"
We talked a moment ago about a dimensional life. There's a demonized man in the synagogue, do you have room for that in your theological construct? One of the covenant people of God not drunk on Shabbat, not engaged in some immorality on Shabbat, in the synagogue, tormented by an unclean spirit. And the unclean spirit has an awareness that nobody else in the gospel has yet; no disciple, no religious leader. The demon says, "I know who you are". "And Jesus said, 'Be quiet!' And the people were amazed and they said, 'What is this teaching! With authority and power he gives orders to evil spirits and they come out!' And the news about him spread throughout the surrounding area".
A little more friendly in Capernaum, maybe. But there's still resistance, there's demonic resistance. There's opposition from unclean spirits. Again, I have had the privilege of standing before groups of people many times in my life, it is awkward when demons outwardly interrupt you. That's not the preferred plan. So in the first two places, synagogues Luke takes us to with the Lord, we've slipped in twice now. In Nazareth, they tried to kill him and in Capernaum, the demons interrupt us. Maybe we should follow another rabbi. This one seems to have a proclivity towards the dramatic. There's just something he's kind of, you know, it's an emotional lightning rod. If it's not his friends and neighbors, it's demons. I mean, really, couldn't we just go to synagogue and hear the Scripture? We'll stay in Capernaum just a moment.
"Just when the sun was setting, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laid hands on each one of them, and he healed them. Moreover, demons came out of many people, shouting, 'You're the Son of God!' He rebuked them and wouldn't allow them to speak. They knew he was the Messiah. At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving. But he said," remember, Luke is presenting us a story. So these are the words that Luke chooses to share with us. Jesus said a lot of things Luke didn't record. So when he records something that Jesus had to say, it's to inform us, is very purposeful. So what Luke says to us, has Jesus say to us, is, "'I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns, because that is why I was sent.' And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea".
Looks like we gotta go back to the synagogue some more. Sometimes the audience is receptive, Jesus has a sense of mission, "This is why I was sent". Synagogues were a primary point of interaction. Oh bother the reception, I've got this to do. Chapter 6: "On another Sabbath he went into the synagogue and he was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled. The Pharisees," the Pharisees are the leaders in the local synagogues. The Sadducees have more power and authority in the temple in Jerusalem, but in these local communities, the Pharisees are oftentimes the spiritual authority.
"The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. Jesus knew what they were thinking," there's that dimensional thing again. "And he said to the man with the shriveled hand, 'Get up and stand in front of everyone.' So he got up and stood there. And Jesus said to them, 'I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?'"
Now, see if we've gone with him on this date, this is tense stuff. Here he goes again! You know he did this in Nazareth a few days ago, you had to get out. You know, he had to bring up Naaman. He had to go and remind them of that foreign widow that got help, and now he's found somebody that needs healing and he stood him up and he's looking around the room going, "So what should we do"? "I'm not going back to another synagogue with him. Is it okay to heal on the Sabbath? Should we take a pass"? "And he looked around at them, and said to the man, 'Stretch out your hand.' And he did so and his hand was completely restored. And they were furious and they began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus".
And if we go with him to the next synagogue, they're gonna think we're with him. I mean, if you scroll all the way to the end of Luke's Gospel, when they get to Jerusalem, when they come to arrest Jesus, they say the disciples, aren't you one of them? I mean, I've got his accent, but I'm not one of his crazy followers. No, that's not me. I don't think we're doing anything inappropriate to the text to suggest that Jesus did that on purpose. He could have prayed for that man before synagogue. He could have prayed with him after the Sabbath, right? I thought Jesus was always friendly. I thought he was always kind. I didn't think Jesus would ever bring something disruptive to bear. I mean, except like in the Bible.
Luke 13: "On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues," yeah, we kind of got that pattern now. "And a woman was there," oh, no, "who'd been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years". What Jesus needed was a synagogue of healthy people. But if I remember correctly, he said the healthy don't need the physician, the sick do. We don't go to church because we've got it all figured out, we go to church because we need help. "And she was bent over and couldn't straighten up. And when Jesus saw her," he slipped over quietly beside her and said, let's pray. No, not exactly. "He called her forward and he said to her, 'Woman, you're set free from your infirmity.' And he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and she praised God".
So now we've got another disruption, and "Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue ruler said to the people, 'There's six days for work. So come and be healed on those days.'" And the Lord said to him, I understand your perspective. "And Jesus said, you hypocrite"! Wait a minute, you know, when you invited me to come, go to synagogue with you and Jesus, you told me he was gentle and meek and kind. And now I've been with you three or four times and he has been provocative and challenging and confrontational. Well, there have been some good things happen, but couldn't he have done them in a less disruptive way? Luke is giving us a presentation. It isn't subtle, it's not some isolated unique event.
This one is particularly interesting in verse 17, after Jesus's response on behalf of the woman, it says: "When he said this, all of his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing". Remember what we talked about at the very beginning, we said there were some who would believe and there were some who would resist? You see, you can't choose what other people will do, but you can choose what you will do. I wanna be certain that you understand you have an invitation to be a friend with Jesus, to call him Lord, to serve him, to make it your life ambition to be pleasing to him. Not for the approval of someone else, not for compliance to some set of rules, but because you believe Jesus of Nazareth is worthy of your humble submission.
Won't be easy, there'll be those who won't agree with you. There'll be those who will mock you. There'll be resistance. Sometimes you may even be rejected because you choose to do that. There are times following Jesus, there are times even walking with Jesus, there are times being identified with Jesus, that will put you in positions that will be very uncomfortable. I would follow him anyway. I want to be his friend. I want to live in such a way that to the best of my ability, it's pleasing before him. I'm not interested in being religious. I have very little interest, to be completely candid, about playing church whatsoever. He's the head of the church, so I lifted my hand. It's an honor for me to serve in any place that he thinks is worthwhile. But the ambition, the goal, the purpose, the intent, the focus is to be pleasing to him.
I'll close with Luke 21. Jesus was polarizing in the first century, folks; he still is. This is a little different. There's some commentary on synagogues, but this is Jesus's prophet, the greatest of the Hebrew prophets. "He said to the people: 'Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be great earthquakes, and famines and pestilences in various places, fearful events and great signs in heaven.'" So that stuff's coming. But the next phrase is important. He said, "But before this," before all that stuff, there's just some mundane and everyday stuff you're gonna have to wade through, "they'll lay hands on you and they'll persecute you".
This is Luke 21. We're very near the end of his life, he's about to be betrayed and arrested and his passion will begin. But by this point, his disciples and some of his friends have been with him for almost three years of public ministry. They've seen the angry voices. They've heard the accusing shouts. They've seen him narrowly escape death. They understand he has been rejected and that he has suffered. It's been a part of their journey with him. But now Jesus has changed the narrative a bit. He says: "They will lay hands on you and persecute you. And they'll deliver you to the synagogues and the prisons, and you'll be brought before kings and governors, all on account of my name".
You see, we've been coached to bury the name of Jesus, to dial it back, to turn it down. Not to wear something that has a religious implication, not to be identified with your Bible oftentimes, in a public place or a workplace. This is not something far removed from us, folks. By the time they put you in train cars like Corrie, it's too late to object. Your objections won't make any difference in the camp. "They'll deliver you to synagogues and prisons, and you'll be brought before kings and governors, all on account of my name". The result will be your witnessing to them. "But make up your mind," Jesus said, "not to worry beforehand how you'll defend yourselves," wow. We read that, we spend more time worrying about how we're going to defend ourselves and how we're going to be advocates.
Well, I don't wanna get to one of those places, what would I say? I don't know how to say. I don't know what to say, I've just been quiet. I'm afraid I'll say the wrong thing. I'm sorry, that's not the counsel we were given. "For I'll give you the words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. You will be betrayed". Wow, that's not a promise many people claim. Jesus said, "You will be betrayed even by parents, and brothers, and relatives and friends, they'll put some of you to death. All men will hate you because of me, but not a hair of your head will perish. By standing firm, you will gain life".
Now, you need a little dimensional awareness to get to the end of that passage and still maintain your sanity. He said they're gonna put some of you to death, but you can gain life. He's talking about a life beyond time. Because for complete candor, if they put you to death, it feels like to me, the hairs of your head have gotten messed with. So clearly, Jesus is inviting us to an awareness of a life beyond time and not to value our journey under the sun with such tremendous significance that we forfeit the opportunity to have true life, a life beyond time, a dimension beyond this one. That's not to diminish our journey through time. These beautiful mornings we've been having with the crisp air and the low humidity, in Tennessee, folks, this is like a God thing. Beautiful days, but there's something better than a beautiful fall day awaiting us.
Folks, get your Bibles out, walk with Jesus, listen to what he's saying, ask him to help you understand what the implications are for our lives today. You know, the one thing I have decided, that is universal, is life is more difficult than we would like it to be. It comes with challenges we didn't imagine, with decisions we would prefer not to have to face, but God is faithful. We're gonna close with communion. Jesus gave us the privilege, we don't wanna miss that. When you came in, there were ushers with the elements.
If you're at home and you're watching us, go grab a saltine and a cup of water. Or an Oreo and a glass of milk. It's not as healthy, but it'll do. Communion is a physical tangible opportunity to receive by faith what Jesus did for us through his death, burial, and resurrection. Which, the shorthand on that, it gives us the ability to stand in the presence of God without guilt or shame or fear. Not because we've earned it or we deserved it or we're special or we read Luke 32 times, but because of what Jesus did for us. Peter wrote to us in the Epistle that bears his name and said, God's given us everything we need for life and godliness and it's made available to us through the broken body of Jesus.
So whatever we come with tonight, maybe we need healing, maybe we need peace, maybe we need God to open a door where there seems to be an impenetrable wall, whatever it may be, Jesus has made provision. So we come as disciples to the table. Jesus had the Passover meal with his disciples and at the end, he took bread and said, "This bread is my body, broken for you. As often as you eat this, do this in remembrance of me". Let's receive together. "Then he took a cup. He said, this cup is a new covenant, a new contract, sealed with my own blood. As often as you drink it, you proclaim my death until you see me again". Let's receive together. You stand with me for a prayer?
Father, thank you. Thank you for your great love for us, that you called us out of the darkness into the kingdom of your Son. I thank you that before the foundations of the earth were laid that you looked across time and you chose us. We praise you for that tonight. We thank you for your grace and your mercy towards us. Lord Jesus, we thank you for your faithfulness and your obedience, for the sacrifice you made that we might become a part of your eternal kingdom. And as we have received the bread and the cup tonight, we receive your life. We ask you to forgive us of our sins, forgive us of our sins just as we forgive those who have sinned against us. I thank you that through the blood of Jesus, we are justified, acquitted, declared not guilty. I thank you that through the blood of Jesus, we've been sanctified, set apart for the purposes of God, delivered from the present evil age to fulfill God's purposes with our lives. I thank you that through the blood of Jesus, all of Satan's claims against us have been canceled, that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, and that we have been set free to live for the glory of the living God. May that be more real to us than any challenge we face or any need we have, in Jesus's name, amen.