Word to the Wise
Sunday, January 23, 2022 -
[Nehemiah 8:2-4a, 5-6, 8-10; 1 Cor 12:12-30; Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21]"Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing." [Luke]
When the hometown boy comes home after doing big things elsewhere, the hometown crowd is likely to expect him to do the same thing at home. What Jesus' hometown crowd did not expect was the words spoken above after reading from Isaiah about a messianic figure. The key to all those deeds done by Jesus elsewhere was faith in him. The hometown folks had trouble seeing the local boy they knew from infancy as a messiah! If one reads on from Jesus' startling words, one learns that the hometown crowd turns from being hospitable to hostile and they try to run Jesus out of town!!! We are told that their lack of faith made it very difficult for him to do there what he had done elsewhere!
Expectations of God can be obstacles to God's grace! Jesus did not fit whatever expectations his hometown crowd had of a messiah, especially since they had known him for years. (Luke tells us Jesus was about 30 years old when he began his public ministry!) Do we demand "signs" BEFORE we will believe? If that is the case, we are like the folks in Nazareth.
Each of us who have been baptized should be able to make the same statement that Jesus made. The Holy Spirit we receive in baptism and confirmation enables us to "bring the glad tidings, etc." Our local folks may not think so, but that simply means we have to stand gently, firmly and constantly in faith. Wonders will follow! AMEN