The day they tried to kill the preacher

Luke 4:20-32 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, ²¹ and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." ²² All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. "Isn't this Joseph's son?" they asked. ²³ Jesus said to them, "Surely you will quote this proverb to me: 'Physician, heal yourself! Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.'" ²⁴ "I tell you the truth," he continued, "no prophet is accepted in his hometown. ²⁵ I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah's time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. ²⁶ Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. ²⁷ And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed-- only Naaman the Syrian." ²⁸ All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. ²⁹ They got up, 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. ³⁰ But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way. ³¹ Then he went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath began to teach the people. ³² They were amazed at his teaching, because his message had authority.

Ivan and Brenda were new to our congregation. They were coming to the adult confirmation classes when one of the biblical doctrines we were discussing struck a raw nerve. They were not very happy when they left the church that evening. I wrote them a letter explaining in depth what God had to say about that particular topic in the Bible. I didn’t hear anything for two weeks. I was finally able to get hold of Brenda and we discussed everything. I asked her about her husband. She said that Ivan could do whatever he wanted, but she and the kids were coming back to church. God’s Word convicted and then convinced.

Ivan was a bit more difficult. He was a stubborn Army soldier. But after a few more weeks, Ivan was in the worship service with his family. God’s Word convicted and then convinced.

Sometimes – many times – we do not like to hear what God has to say. We don’t like our sins being pointed out to us. We don’t enjoy being told we are wrong. We don’t appreciate the constant reminders that we are sinners in need of God’s grace. But it is the height of arrogance to say that we know better than the omnipotent (all-powerful) and omniscient (all-knowing) God of the universe.

The residents of Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth thought they knew better than the Son of God who was standing in their midst. Jesus had come home. The Nazarenes had heard about all the great miracles Jesus had been doing in the surrounding country and how He was preaching with authority. They filled up the synagogue on the Sabbath. During the Divine Service the hometown boy read from Isaiah 61. A big time Messianic prophecy! It’s where God promises to send a Savior. He would be the anointed Messianic preacher of the Gospel for the spiritually oppressed, freedom for those under spiritual captivity and spiritual sight for the spiritually blind.

At first the people were impressed. They liked what He had to say. But then Jesus preached some specific, brutal, attention-getting Law. He talked about how they and their ancestors had always been stubborn in their unbelief, deafness and blindness. They heard the words, but they didn’t listen. If you are a parent of any teenager or the wife of a husband watching football, you know there is a big difference between hearing and listening!

Jesus pointed out that because of their hard-hearted unbelief, God took His grace and miracles to the Gentiles – Elijah gave unending flour and oil to the widow in Zarephath and Elisha cured Naaman the Syrian of his leprosy.

The Nazarenes had heard how Jesus had been healing folks, driving out demons, and changing water into wine. That’s what they wanted. They wanted Jesus to be a nice guy. Compliment them. Praise them. Wow them with free things. Instead they heard stinging words of rebuke. They heard specific Law … and it hurt. They didn’t like His message. They didn’t appreciate it.

Everything went downhill fast. In fact, that’s what the crowd wanted to do – throw Jesus down a hill … fast. Instead of allowing God’s Word to work, they wanted to kill the preacher.

Truth be told – we are all guilty of such blindly selfish behavior. Members don’t like it when the pastor points to the lack of attendance for worshiping the Lord. Parents don’t enjoy conferences where the teacher lays the poor grades squarely on the shoulders of their little angel. Elderly parents don’t appreciate their grown children scolding them for not telling them about their health problems. Teenagers don’t value the hard lesson their parents are teaching them by taking away the car and cell phone. Children don’t find any pleasure in a swift swat on the behind by Mom or Dad.

No one enjoys scolding or disciplining or pointing out specific sins. But that’s what we are called to do as pastor, teachers, parents, grandparents and good Christian friends. We are called to be Christ’s modern day preachers of Law and Gospel. But what is the reaction we get when we preach the specific Law, just as Jesus did that day in the synagogue?

We get the same reaction we often give. We don’t physically try to kill the preacher. Instead, we try to kill the preacher’s reputation. We verbally tear people down; we gossip about them; we try to destroy their character. Members stop coming to church. Parents tear down the reputation of the school. Wives give a cold shoulder to their husbands. Husbands stay at work longer than they need to. Adult children break off the family relationship. Teenagers slam doors and roll eyes. Children do even more naughty things to get more attention.

We, like the Nazarenes of old, so easily take offense. We get mad at the messenger instead of listening to the message. We create a feigned righteous anger directed at someone else, then we don’t have to do the difficult job of directing truly righteous anger at ourselves for our sin.

We all rebel against God’s Law in various, dangerous and destructive ways. That’s why we need to learn a lesson from negative example of the Nazarenes. Their spiritual deafness produced spiritual blindness. It is tragically ironic that in their anger over Jesus’ proclamation they marched Him out of town to kill Him. Instead, Christ miraculously passed right through the crowd. A great and miraculous thing was done in their midst … and they failed to see it!

But notice what Jesus did not do that day. In response to their rejection and violence, Jesus does not lash back; He does not berate the people; He doesn’t call down a legion of angels to drive the people off the cliff. He could have done that. He had the divine right to do that. But He doesn’t. Instead He simply walked away. Calmly. Quietly. Not because He wanted to leave them, but to continue His work. To continue teaching. For He had a job to do. It wasn’t time for Him to die yet. That would come three years later – not on a hill outside of Nazareth, but on a skull-shaped hill outside of Jerusalem. Not by falling off a cliff, but by being raised up on a cross. To lay down His life for these very people. To bear the punishment for their sins, for their anger, for their rejection, for their murderous intent against Him, and for a whole host of other sins. So that they could be forgiven. That they could believe – not in His miracles – but in His sacrifice.

That is what Jesus also does for us. Instead of giving us what we deserve, He gives us the opposite of what we deserve. Instead of punishment He gives peace. Instead of anger He gives grace. Instead of abandonment He gives love. Instead of throwing us off the cliff, He went quietly and purposefully and intentionally to the cross. He said, “Father, throw me off the cliff. Throw me to the serpent. Punish me instead of them. Father, forgive them.”

Sometimes it is hard to accept the truth. A visit to the doctor results in a diagnosis that was never contemplated. A trip to the mechanic reveals more work is required than what the car is worth. A seemingly simple service call requires major repairs. When you are faced with a difficult truth, how do you respond? Your first response might be denial. “This can’t be true.” Another response might be a search for hope.  “Are you sure?”  But an all too familiar response is anger. “You’re a quack!” “You’re a cheat!” “You don’t know what you’re talking about!”

It is hard to deal with the truth, but if Jesus sends a preacher – a pastor, teacher, parent, grandparent or friend – to point out your sin, it must mean that God and that preacher really cares about you. They care enough not to let you wallow in your sin and unbelief. They care enough to receive the hurt feelings and negative backlash. They care enough to tell you the truth.

We all need to swallow our pride and understand that Jesus speaks the harsh truth to us because He is much more than a nice guy. He is our God and our Savior. That is the truth.

Jesus said that in their anger, the Nazarenes would claim the old proverb, “Physician, heal yourself.” What they didn’t realize is that Jesus is actually the Great Physician. Jesus gets to the heart of the problem by getting at your heart … which is the problem. Through His baptismal waters He makes your dead heart alive again. With the scalpel of the Law, He cuts away at the anger, the gossip, the venom that you pour out on others. With the salve of His Gospel, He replaces those sins with peace, forgiveness and healing that you can then share with others. Through His Word, He breathes life into your dead soul. He opens your eyes to see the forgiveness He secured.  He breaks through the blackness of your heart with the penetrating light of His love. He reconciles you to God and unites you as members of one faith in His Holy Supper. This is also the truth that we need to not only hear, but listen to, believe and apply to our lives.

Brothers and sisters, instead of stubbornly insisting on throwing the divine preacher off the theological cliff, it is time for all of us in this congregation to beg Him to stay! Like the Samaritans in John 4. Like the Emmaus disciples in Luke 24. Like St. Peter who said in John 6:68-89, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”

It is time for all of us to repent. We need to stop trying to kill the preachers and instead start listening to them. God has placed them in our lives for our good. It is time to turn away from our sins of back-stabbing, door-slamming, eye-rolling, cold-shouldering, or whatever else we do when we don’t like hearing God’s Law applied to our lives. It is time to hold God’s Word sacred. It is time to gladly hear and learn it. To receive it. To apply it. To believe it.

I am eternally grateful that Brenda and Ivan heard and believed God’s Word all those years ago. They became dear friends of our family. Biscuits and gravy, beer and darts, friendship and fellowship at their house. Word and Sacrament, confession and absolution, friendship and fellowship in God’s house. That is what the Divine Preacher desires for all of us. Allow Him to first convict you, so He can then convince you. Amen.