Perception

Luke 4:16-30

My first boss in the Electrical Markets Division of 3M was Don Norris and one of his favorite lines was the bed you made is the one you have to lie in, or another of his lines was your past performance or mistakes will be the way others perceive you.  It was 25 years before I went to a High School reunion and many who came up to me addressed me as if we were still in High School, they called me Bobby they talked about many things that I was hoping no one would recall, and few ask about my family, my career, or even who or what I had become since High School.  To some it seemed as if High School was the pinnacle of their lives, but as I reflect back, I did not take advantage of the knowledge offered and preparing myself for the future.

What a contrast to the life of Jesus, in that Scripture tells us He found favor with both God and man and now He has publicly began His ministry and returns to his home.  The custom was to be in the synagogue on the Sabbath day and Jesus stood and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him and He began reading: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.” (Luke 4:18-19)

In verse 20 we read that Jesus rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down.  Now who else is in the audience?  Jesus brothers and Mary and maybe Joseph, and the kids who he had played with and gone to school with, and their families, these folks knew Jesus and all was good.  In fact, the last part of verse 20 tells us all eyes were fixed on Jesus.  Returning to verse 21 and 22, “And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph's son?”  It is all-good, but Jesus being God knows what is in the heart of man, He knew what was going on in their mind and hearts and now the rest of the story beginning in verse 23, and he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Physician, heal yourself.’ What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.” And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. But passing through their midst, he went away.”

Jesus just passed through this crowd of people that wanted to kill him, now is that not a great example of religion, it always wants to kill anyone with a different view.  But you will not find anywhere in Jesus’ teachings to do harm to your enemies, but to pray for them and do good things for them, because that is what followers of Christ do. 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice