A PRAYER TO START
This prayer from Psalm 119 as be re-phrased as a confession amidst culturally unacceptable trust. Begin your time praying it 3xs…
Father, remember what you said to me. I am one who serves you. The very word on which I hang for life, the word that gives me hope to live today. Your words lift my head in difficult times. Your promises bring me back to life!
But Father, the casually disrespectful ridicule me without mercy, though I will not shift from your revelation. When I think about your ancient words, how sure and true have proven to be, I find myself walking the straight path.
But Father, when I see the wicked ignore your direction, the anger inside is too intense to suppress.
Father, I have set your acts to music and will sing them as I walk the way you have set before me today. I will set my mind upon you as I dream. I will treasure your revelation as the sweetest of dreams. Even if such a blessing means I walk through a downpour of laughter, it will be so because I live by your Word and counsel. Amen.
DIVING INTO THE DETAILS
The first four chapters of Matthew’s gospel reference Jesus “fulfilling” a promise of Scripture eight times (1:22, 2:5, 15, 17, 23, 3:3, 15, 4:14), giving context to the much bigger story in which Jesus enters and will continue to unfold. The final fulfillment in Jesus’ introduction is from Isaiah (who is one of Jesus’ favorite Old Testament prophets!) and gives context to the conditions in which Jesus lived and ministered. Isaiah 9:1-2 reads,
The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.
The prophecy may not sound that descriptive to you and I, but what we know from history is that at the time of Jesus’ ministry, the “district of Galilee” (2:22) was indeed overrun by gentiles. After the diaspora, the land had been intentionally resettled by the various kingdoms and their subjects who ousted Israel from her promised inheritance. Such a land, to a first century Jew, would certainly look bleak, like a shadow of death laid across it, a constant reminder of foreign gods and judgment. It was in the southern corner of this district, in town called Nazareth (thus Jesus is called a “Nazarene” (2:23)) that Jesus grew up and where Luke in his gospel tells us Jesus began his ministry, full of the power of the Spirit (Luke 4:14-16).
It is important for us to notice something special about Nazareth, a rather unremarkable place as Nathanael so famously chirped, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46). Kenneth Bailey, a Middle-Eastern scholar, noted while the region of Galilee had become Galilee of the Gentiles, the little town of Nazareth had remained an all-Jewish town. In fact, after the fall of Jerusalem, Nazareth became a refugee haven for the exiled priests and during the Maccabean revolt in the 2nd century B.C., the town had become a re-settlement outpost for Jews from across Judea. Such towns, as Bailey argues, like any colonial enclave, “have a strong tendency…to be politically, culturally, and religiously self-conscious and intensely nationalistic.” They protected their faith and country as holy, they knew their scriptures and the prophecies of deliverance, and they let their disdain for those outsiders boil. It would be from Nazareth, and towns like it, that God—or some leader in his name—would raise up the nation of Israel out of the oppression of her conquers and into new and glorious heights. So they believed. You could say that these people, of all people, would be ones most prepared and exuberant for the appearing of the great light which would push back the darkness of the “others” that is Jesus…right?
Luke tells us an interesting story as he introduces Jesus, one that is important for you and I as we journey in Matthew. Having returned from his wilderness word-battle with Satan, Jesus enters his home town,
"And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,
‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim the 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.’
And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 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?’
And he said to them, ‘Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Physician, heal yourself.’ What we have heard you did in at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’
And Jesus 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."
Apparently the light Jesus was shining was not so welcomed after all. But what is the big deal? Well, it seems that Jesus left out a few lines of Isaiah’s prophecy that these long-suffering Jews had so perseveringly clung to. The full word written by Isaiah reads,
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God…” (Isaiah 61:1-2)
Jesus’ proclamation is the restoration that the devoutly Jewish of Nazareth longed for, with a caveat. They would not be released from the bonds of the conquering nations, nor would God’s vengeance come upon the gentile invaders. The listeners seem to the miss the powerfully subtle omission in Jesus’ reading, and so he makes his point more vibrant for them in the stories of Elijah and Elisha, the two great prophets of old who were sent by God to show mercy to a starving gentile widow, and heal not the afflicted Israelites but rather their hated oppressor. Jesus will certainly heal, rescue, provided sight and freedom; and he will do so through mercy and not vengeance. And his ministry (God’s kingdom coming which he invites them to follow him into) will be one in which his neighbors and friends will be expected to demonstrate the same mercy and generosity as Jesus does; even to those they cannot stand.
Such a declaration was a crime to those who long-awaited a day of religious purity and national abundance (what Isaiah 61:2-7 promises). They saw no other way for God’s kingdom to come but through the elevation of their righteousness and the removal of the wickedness of everyone else. Jesus barely survives their hostile disappointment at one who would cost them their vision of the kingdom.
DEVELOPING DISCERNMENT
If Jesus is to surprise us still today, we need to learn to discern what vision of the kingdom of God we are living in, and see how Jesus’ words and deeds subvert our own, our neighbors', our co-workers', and our family's imaginations. Don’t skip this part. Information is of little use in quickening a transformed life if we are undiscerning people. Take the time to thoughtfully answer these questions, and maybe use them as conversation starters in Gospel Community, at work or in your home. Doing so will pay dividends in the long run!
- What do you expect God to do in order to change your world?
- Is there something that has to be removed—a difficulty, a desire, a person?
- Is there something that has to be gained—resources, a relationship, an apology?
- Is there something that has to be revealed—a calling, an affirmation, a gifting?
- How would your friend at the office answer?
- Do you recognize any parallels in the religious, political and cultural self-consciousness and intense nationalism of Jesus’ community and your community, city, and nation? Describe.
- How might such parallels impact the way “the church” follows Jesus in living out mercy and generosity?
- How might such parallels impact the way “gentiles” receive or reject such a lived message?
- What would Jesus have to say to you to surprise you?
- What would he have to say to your children?
- How about the single-mom who lives across the street?
- What about your sister who doesn’t care too much about “church”? Or the dad on your daughter’s soccer team? Or the recently resettled refuge who you bump into at the grocery store?
As we begin to discern the partially conflicting vision we and others have of the kingdom with the one Jesus declares and lives out, we will become ones who can “truth in love”. That is, a people who live out the truth we speak to each other and our neighbors.
A PRAYER TO CLOSE
Pray this prayer adapted from John Ballie as you go about the day looking for God’s unexpected kingdom.
O Eternal God, although we cannot see you with our eyes or touch you with our hands, give us today a clear conviction of your reality and power; of your kingdom. Do not let us go into our work this week believing only in the world of sense and time, but give us grace to understand that the world we cannot see or touch is the most real world of all. Our life this week will be lived in time, but it will involve eternal kingdom issues. The needs of our bodies will shout, but it is for the needs of our souls that we must care the most. Our business will be with material things, but let us be aware of spiritual things behind them. Let us always keep in mind that the things that matter are not money or possessions, not houses or property, not recognition or likes, not experiences or success, not bodily comforts or pleasures, but truth and honor and gentleness and helpfulness and a pure love for you.
Thank you, Lord:
For the power you have given us to grasp things unseen;
For the strong sense we have that this is not our eternal home but your kingdom nonetheless;
For our restless heart which nothing finite can satisfy.
Thank you, Lord:
For sending your Spirit to fill our hearts, minds, and souls;
For all human love and goodness that speak to us of you.
For the fullness of your glory poured out in Jesus Christ for us.
On our pilgrim journey toward eternity in your kingdom, we come before you, the eternal One. Let us not try to deaden or destroy the desire for you and your kingdom that disturbs our hearts. Let us rather give ourselves over to its persuasion and go where it leads us. Make us wise this week to see all things within the dimensions of your kingdom and make us brave to face all the changes in our life that come from this vision; through the grace of Christ our Savior. Amen.