Luke 4:21-30
Remember when we were children. How easily we could make a target of one timid child. Took just one strong voice to say, “Let’s get him.” And everyone would charge in the direction of the poor soul. A mob scene is what the Gospel describes.
However, they were not children. When someone shouted, “Let’s get Him.” They were out for blood. They had every intention of killing Jesus because of what He said. Apparently what Jesus said struck a nerve. Remember that Jesus had come home. Nazareth was a small town where everyone knew everyone. Folks knew Jesus since His childhood. They knew His parents, His relatives, His teachers. No doubt that the image they had of Him was that of a little boy. But now He was in front of them as a full-grown man—not just any man, but a person who had made a name for himself. Known by many as a Rabbi, a healer, even a Prophet. The local people had come to the Synagogue to catch a glimpse of Him and perhaps to witness a miracle or two—to see if the rumors were true. Much to their disappointment, Jesus did not perform a single miracle—He preached to them. After detecting that they were anxious to see a miracle, Jesus stated that He did not feel welcomed. “No prophet is accepted in his own native place.” Imagine the shock on the faces of all the busybodies who had nothing else better to do than to come criticize, find fault, gossip about whatever Jesus was doing. The atmosphere changed drastically from one of admiration to condemnation. A typical mob mentality.
As we know from history—the majority can be wrong. A mob is usually wrong—because emotion, not reason—is in charge. We can all get pretty worked up about an issue—to the point where we forget about reason—or people’s rights—or human dignity. Got to watch ourselves—if we are yelling at the television (football games excluded) something might be lacking in our anger management. If we are yelling at our spouse—our children—the dog—first question is: are they hard of hearing? Do I have to raise my voice to make a point? Keep in mind that once respect is lost—it is very difficult to regain. Children are watching and they follow the example that they see.
The mob mentality can creep into our home. Think about the old Western movies where someone is accused and then a loud mouth shouts, “Let’s hang him.” And everybody joins in until Marshal Dillon fires his gun into the air and talks sense into the people. “Justice—innocent until proven guilty—this is a person just like us—he deserves a trial.” Took a lot of anger to get people so furious at Jesus that they wanted to kill Him without any kind of process. Obviously Jesus spoke the truth—He knew their truth and they didn’t like it. Jesus knows our truth. Comes a time when we have to admit that we have areas in our life that need improvement—that need healing. Getting angry with ourselves or with others is usually not going to help. Trying to change is a step in the right direction. Change is never easy, especially if there is a long history of unhealthy behavior. However, change is possible. Acceptance of who we are is the first step. Once we bring our sin to the light—all things are possible. Darkness cannot overpower the light when we give ourselves to God’s grace. Someone put something worthwhile of Facebook: The devil knows our name but calls us by our sin. God knows our sin but calls us by our name. A thought to ponder, particularly when we are feeling negative. We are the ones who loose patience, not God. The Lord never gets tired of listening to us, helping us, forgiving us.
He challenges us, just like He challenged his hometown friends. Knowing our truth—our weaknesses, Jesus chooses to love us.
Remember when we were children. How easily we could make a target of one timid child. Took just one strong voice to say, “Let’s get him.” And everyone would charge in the direction of the poor soul. A mob scene is what the Gospel describes.
However, they were not children. When someone shouted, “Let’s get Him.” They were out for blood. They had every intention of killing Jesus because of what He said. Apparently what Jesus said struck a nerve. Remember that Jesus had come home. Nazareth was a small town where everyone knew everyone. Folks knew Jesus since His childhood. They knew His parents, His relatives, His teachers. No doubt that the image they had of Him was that of a little boy. But now He was in front of them as a full-grown man—not just any man, but a person who had made a name for himself. Known by many as a Rabbi, a healer, even a Prophet. The local people had come to the Synagogue to catch a glimpse of Him and perhaps to witness a miracle or two—to see if the rumors were true. Much to their disappointment, Jesus did not perform a single miracle—He preached to them. After detecting that they were anxious to see a miracle, Jesus stated that He did not feel welcomed. “No prophet is accepted in his own native place.” Imagine the shock on the faces of all the busybodies who had nothing else better to do than to come criticize, find fault, gossip about whatever Jesus was doing. The atmosphere changed drastically from one of admiration to condemnation. A typical mob mentality.
As we know from history—the majority can be wrong. A mob is usually wrong—because emotion, not reason—is in charge. We can all get pretty worked up about an issue—to the point where we forget about reason—or people’s rights—or human dignity. Got to watch ourselves—if we are yelling at the television (football games excluded) something might be lacking in our anger management. If we are yelling at our spouse—our children—the dog—first question is: are they hard of hearing? Do I have to raise my voice to make a point? Keep in mind that once respect is lost—it is very difficult to regain. Children are watching and they follow the example that they see.
The mob mentality can creep into our home. Think about the old Western movies where someone is accused and then a loud mouth shouts, “Let’s hang him.” And everybody joins in until Marshal Dillon fires his gun into the air and talks sense into the people. “Justice—innocent until proven guilty—this is a person just like us—he deserves a trial.” Took a lot of anger to get people so furious at Jesus that they wanted to kill Him without any kind of process. Obviously Jesus spoke the truth—He knew their truth and they didn’t like it. Jesus knows our truth. Comes a time when we have to admit that we have areas in our life that need improvement—that need healing. Getting angry with ourselves or with others is usually not going to help. Trying to change is a step in the right direction. Change is never easy, especially if there is a long history of unhealthy behavior. However, change is possible. Acceptance of who we are is the first step. Once we bring our sin to the light—all things are possible. Darkness cannot overpower the light when we give ourselves to God’s grace. Someone put something worthwhile of Facebook: The devil knows our name but calls us by our sin. God knows our sin but calls us by our name. A thought to ponder, particularly when we are feeling negative. We are the ones who loose patience, not God. The Lord never gets tired of listening to us, helping us, forgiving us.
He challenges us, just like He challenged his hometown friends. Knowing our truth—our weaknesses, Jesus chooses to love us.
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