Get Jesus Off The Cliff!

Today I’m standing on the edge of a cliff.  As I peer over the side I quickly conclude it would most likely be fatal if I fall.  If not fatal, then certainly life altering.  Some falls in life lead to scrapes and bruises, this one would lead to things like brokenness and scarring.  My buddy comes up behind me and gives me a slight nudge, sending that instant fear to my brain that I might actually be going over.

This cliff is just outside Nazareth, the city in Israel where Jesus grew up.  I can imagine as a young boy he may have come to this area to play with his friends.  Boys like these somewhat  risky places. Nazareth, at that point in history, has only a couple hundred residents.  It had a synagogue where we know there were at least a handful of Jewish men living.  This city is where Joseph and Mary had landed after returning from the short trip to Egypt to escape Herod’s wrath against children.

In Luke 4, we fast forward to Jesus just after his thirtieth birthday.  He has come back home to Nazareth and is sitting in church on the Sabbath.  As is the custom, someone is asked to read the Scripture for the day and on this particular day the synagogue leader hands the scroll to Jesus, who is now old enough to read the sacred texts aloud in front of the congregation.  Jesus reads a passage from Isaiah that declares the Messiah’s arrival. The Messiah will usher in the ‘favorable year of the Lord’.  After reading the scripture He rolls up the scroll and calmly announces that this promise of God has been fulfilled today in their very midst.

The men of the church immediately get agitated.  He… he’s… he’s claiming to be the MESSIAH! How dare this young man have the audacity to read such an important passage and claim himself as the fulfillment. That is over-the-top blasphemy.  Luke records for us that the men of the church grab Jesus by the arm, march Him out of the city gates, up to the top of the only high cliff in town and let Him know in no uncertain terms that they intend to throw Him over the edge.  Justice for anyone who falsely claims to be Messiah.

This morning I’m standing on the very cliff they intended to toss Jesus off.

The problem was they did not understand Jesus.  He was not their picture of the Messiah.  In their mind, the true Messiah would arrive in Israel full of power, glory and aristocracy. Jesus was just a guy from a poor family that lived in a small town. The common saying of the time was, ‘Can anything good come from Nazareth?’ It wasn’t a town that produced much.  It had neither famous inhabitants nor significant industry.  It was not a place a politician would likely stop while on the campaign trail.  It was out of the way, small, and culturally insignificant.  Even its residents didn’t believe it could produce the Messiah.

Jesus did not look and act as they expected the Messiah should, so they rejected Him.

Think about this for a moment.  The townsfolk had heard about His miraculous birth to Mary and of their family travels to Egypt and back.  They had heard of the story of when Jesus was twelve and stumped the priests in the temple with His brilliant questioning.  They had watched His life for thirty years!  But they just could not grasp that the Messiah would be so common.  The true Messiah would act so differently than Jesus acted, therefore He could not possibly be ‘THE ONE’. So they decided to end His life in a cruel and premature manner.

As I have followed Jesus in my life I have experienced what those church folks in Nazareth discovered. I have discovered that sometimes God acts differently than I expect Him to.  Just when I think He is going left,   He goes right.  Just when I expect Him to give clear direction, He remains silent. Just when I need Him to rescue, He seems to be fussing over someone else and I feel alone.  Just when   I need Him to heal, He seems to leave me in the waiting room.

At times like these I have the same decision the folks in Nazareth had.  I can embrace this new understanding of Jesus and His plans for me, or I can ‘throw Him over the cliff’ and get on with my life, doing it my way.  My immediate heart response to God moving differently than I  expect Him to is to grab Him by the arm,   walk Him to the edge of town, and shove.

However, the spiritually mature heart will resist such temptation and allow God to work in His time and in His manner.  We can choose to still worship, serve, and obey God even when He works in ways I do not currently understand. This does not mean I won’t feel the  confusion, doubt, or even pain of the process, but we can work at remaining patient to see the end result of His plan. So let’s get Jesus ‘off the cliff’ and back into the rightful place He    belongs. He will be better glorified and we will be better off in the long run.

I need to step away from this precipice. I’m getting vertigo.  I’m getting back on the bus.

I love being your Pastor. See you on Sunday.

Pastor Phil