AM – Rejection: passive and active

And he came into Nazareth, where he had been nurtured. And according to his custom, he came into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he rose up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him and, unrolling the scroll and finding the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, on account of which he ordained me [1] to announce good to the poor. He has sent me out [2] to proclaim discharge to the captives and [3] recovering of sight to blind ones, [4] to send out, discharged, oppressed ones, [5] to proclaim the welcome year of the Lord.” (Luke’s AD 60 research report re Jesus: Chapter 4: 16-30)

Jesus had been “teaching” in the synagogues of Galilee, “being glorified by all.” Would that be the case in Nazareth’s synagogue? He quietly read from the Scriptures of Israel (now better known as the Bible’s Old Testament) a Messianic statement written about 700 years earlier by the prophet Isaiah. Along with many others in those Scriptures over a period of about 2000 years BC, he was looking forward to an ultimate “Sabbath”, an ultimate Jubilee Year when the Lord God would come in person to his created world. Isaiah had stated and Jesus now said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, on account of which he ordained me … ” What is this “Spirit of the Lord”? In those Holy Scriptures “the Lord” was the Lord God Almighty. Who was this? Why was he there in Galilee? He had been “ordained” and “sent out” - [1] to announce good to the poor, [2] to proclaim discharge to the captives, [3] recovering of sight to blind ones, [4] to send out, discharged, oppressed ones, [5] to proclaim the welcome year of the Lord." He came for the “poor” “captive” “blind” “oppressed” “unwelcome”.
And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the minister and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were staring at him. In fact, he began to state to them that, “Today this very Scripture has been fulfilled in your ears.”	.
Those present that Sabbath day were suddenly faced with a huge crisis. And all were witnessing him and were marcelling at the gracious words going out from his mouth and they were stating, “Is this not a son of Joseph?” They saw Jesus. They heard these marvelous promises for them – for the “poor” “captive” “blind” “oppressed” “unwelcome”. They did nothing. And he said to them, “Of course, you will quote to me this parallel, ‘Healer, cure yourself!’ Whatever we heard came to be at Capernaum, do here also! In your homeland.” Why did they do nothing? Jesus knew the reason. And he said it to them. Today, well into the third millennium AD people think the same. If there is a God and Saviour, let him demonstrate it to me personally. I won’t respond to him unless he does that – for me personally. In fact, he said, “Truly, I state to you, no prophet is a welcome person in his homeland. In fact, in truth, I state to you, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut over three years and six months, and a great famine came to be over all the earth and Elijah was sent to none of them but only into Zarephath of Sidon, to a woman, a widow. And many lepers were in the Israel of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman of Syria.” Jesus spoke about two incidents in the history of Israel where it was non-Israel people whom the LORD fed in time of famine and cleansed in time of incurable leprosy. Because, hearing, they did something about it.
And, hearing these things, all in the synagogue were filled full of wrath. And, rising up, they threw him out, out of the town and brought him to a ridge of the hill upon which their town had been built, in order to cast him down head first. In fact, coming through their midst, he was moved.	.
Hearing this, the religious synagogue congregation did finally do something. The cap fitted. Unwilling to follow Jesus, they had to kill him off. Only then could they get on with their lives.

Sinner Syvret

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