“Is the Good News Really Good News?”

Luke 4:14-30

January 30, 2022

“All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.” (Luke 4:22, NRSV)

“When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff.” (Luke 4:28-29,NRSV)

A week and a half ago, I met with three members of the Session for my annual performance review. I will confess that I was a little nervous. Is anyone ever NOT nervous before an evaluation? 

Anyway, I was quickly put at ease, by one of the members of the committee, who led with this comment: “Well, I think this will be a pretty easy review. I can’t think of anything bad to say!” 🙂 Phew! I think I said something like, “Great! Can we just be done now then??” Or maybe I didn’t actually say that; but I know for sure I thought it!

We weren’t done then, of course, but the rest of review went well, and ended with a comment similar in feeling to the one it had started with. The same person said something like, “I think the Pastor Nominating Committee outdid themselves when they found you.” 🙂 I left the review feeling very affirmed and encouraged and supported, and I slept well that night. I think. If I didn’t, at least it wasn’t because of my review. 🙂 

As a side note, I want to share with all of you what I shared with the committee–which was to say how honored I continue to be to be here with you all, how grateful I am for your faithful and amazing and ongoing support not only of White Rock Presbyterian Church but of me, and my family, and how excited I am to keep moving forward on this journey with you. 

But back to my sermon! 🙂 So, with the comments of my review committee in mind, I want to look back at today’s passage. It seems like the people who were in the synagogue that day, initially, were experiencing similar kinds of feelings. 

They had heard good things about Jesus already, and what he was doing, as he had begun his public ministry and had been teaching in other synagogues throughout the region. We’re told at the beginning of today’s passage that he was being “praised by everyone.” (cf. Luke 4:15)

Then he came back home, to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and read from the Isaiah scroll, as we heard. And then he began to interpret what he’d read, saying–as we know from last week and heard again today: “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 

And wow, more praise! “All spoke well of him,” we hear, “and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.” 

I can imagine the murmuring among the people:

“The stories are true! He’s amazing!” 

And then someone else: “I’ve never heard another rabbi teach like he just did!” 

And I can hear others commenting, “And he’s so young! How did he get to be so wise??”

And perhaps the younger ones whispering to each other, “He’s kind of cute! AND smart…”

And then the hometown pride–someone said, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” 

And the responses:

“It is! He grew up right next door to us. He used to play with my Eli!”

Or maybe, “Joseph and Mary must be so proud!”

Or even something like, “I assume he’s going to stay here, now that he’s come home…” 

“All spoke well of him,” we read, “and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.” 

I wonder if Jesus thought, even for just a moment, “Great! Can we just be done now??”

It seems like maybe he didn’t, though. 

He, apparently, was not done.

I’m sure he heard their words of praise, and sensed their delight in what he was saying. After all, he knew that what he was saying was good news! Really good news! Such good news for the people gathered there!

Finally, after hundreds of years of waiting, Jesus was telling them that God’s promises were going to be fulfilled!! No–not that they were GOING to be fulfilled, but that they were being fulfilled! 

“Today,” he said, “this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

TODAY!! No more waiting! The captives are going to be released, the blind will see, the oppressed will go free, the year of the Lord’s favor has arrived! On that very day!

That was some seriously good news! And from their hometown boy! It’s no wonder that they were all speaking so well of him and his gracious words!

But then…things took a turn.

Jesus didn’t stop with that proclamation of scripture fulfilled. He went on. And he told them, effectively, that that good news that he had just announced, that good news that they were so happy to hear, that good news that they had been waiting for for centuries–the good news of release for the captives, sight for the blind, freedom for the oppressed, and the coming of the year of the Lord’s favor, that good news–Jesus told them, Jesus, their hometown-boy-come-home, that good news wasn’t just for them.

He said this to them, “the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah…; yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon.” Not a Jewish widow, but a Gentile. An outsider.

And he said, “There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.” Also not a Jew; another Gentile. A hated Gentile. (Luke 4:25-27)

At this point, we’re told that, “all in the synagogue were filled with rage” (4:28), and “they got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff.” (4:29)

What happened to their glowing praise?? Where did all of their amazement at his gracious words go?? How did all of their hometown pride disappear?? So much so that they wanted to throw him off a cliff?????

Here’s what Episcopalian priest the Rev. Dr. Judith Jones observed on a website called “Working Preacher”:

“Today, Jesus says, Isaiah’s prophecy of release is fulfilled. This sounds like good news to his hearers in Nazareth, at least if all that healing and release is meant for them. But when Jesus reminds them that God’s love extends beyond their borders, that Elijah helped a woman from Sidon and Elisha healed a hated Syrian, they conclude that his message is really bad news. In order to accept his teaching, they would have to change their attitudes toward outsiders. They would have to include people they routinely exclude. They would have to believe that God’s salvation is really for all flesh, and not just for them.”

Hmmm.

It seems that it wasn’t the people’s affirmation and delight that Jesus was after. It seems that he wasn’t preaching and teaching and healing to win people’s praise. 

If that had been the case, there likely would have been no cross.

Jesus was preaching and teaching and healing because he couldn’t not. He was preaching and teaching and healing because that’s what he was about.

Jesus was all about bringing good news. And bringing it to all who would hear it. He was all about offering the goodness of God. And offering it to all who would taste it. He was all about revealing the Reality of God. And revealing it to all who see it. Jesus was all about embodying the Love of God. And extending it to all who would accept it.

The good news that Jesus brought was not just for the people who thought they deserved it. It wasn’t just for the people who they felt they had earned it. It wasn’t just for the people who figured they were in the know. It wasn’t just for the people who knew the stories and had heard the prophecies and spoke the language and knew the prayers.

It was also for the people that those people didn’t like. It was also for the people that those people thought didn’t deserve it. It was also for the people that those people believed were outside the circle.

Suddenly, to the people who thought they were inside the circle, the good news that Jesus brought felt like bad news! 

In the words of the Rev. Dr. Jones again, “In order to accept his teaching, they would have to change their attitudes toward outsiders. They would have to include people they routinely exclude. They would have to believe that God’s salvation is really for all flesh, and not just for them.”

So…as I’ve thought about all of this, I have felt the need to try to find a little more of the Jesus in me, and a little less of the “me” in me, and worry less about receiving your praise and affirmation and focus more on being true to the Gospel…

And so I have to ask–this good news that Jesus brings–the reality that God’s salvation is really for all flesh–where do we stand on it? Is the good news really good news? For us?

And if so, who besides us, needs to hear it? 

Amen.