Who is this Jesus?

Who is This Jesus?

(Lk.4 14-21)

I know there aren't any children here this morning, but I want to begin with a Christmas quiz. I assure that the reason for doing so will become apparent during the next few minutes.

...There are 3 questions, and I don't want you to shout out the answers.

Question 1 - According to the Bible, in what sort of building was Jesus born?

Question 2 - According to the Bible, how many wise men came to visit the baby Jesus?

Question 3 - According to the Bible, what gift did the shepherds bring to Jesus?

Have you ever been somewhere where the atmosphere was electric... full of excitement and anticipation...

...perhaps at football match just before kick-off;

...or at a theatre just before the curtain rises;

...or waiting to hear the result of an important election;

...or Prince Charles waiting to see Panarama.

Well as we think about today's gospel reading, that's the sort of atmosphere I would like you to imagine.

Jesus was speaking at the synagogue in Nazareth, ...and the atmosphere was electric.

Of course Jesus had been brought up in Nazareth. Towns were a lot smaller in those days. When I talk to people in Binley Pit Village they often tell me about the time when everyone in the village knew everyone else, ...and I imagine Nazareth to have been like that.

However, when Jesus was about 30 years old, he left Nazareth. He then began his public ministry in the surrounding towns and villages in Galilee.

We are told that one such town was Capernaum, about 25 miles from Nazareth, and here the people had been amazed at his teaching (Mk. 1.22), and many had been healed of various diseases (Mk. 1.32-34).

It's not surprising, that news about Jesus spread throughout the whole countryside (Lk. 4.14). And it must have come as a great surprise to the friends and neighbours of Jesus at Nazareth. After all they had never seen him do miraculous things like this (4.23).

Imagine sitting at home one evening watching the news on the telly. There's a report about some new 'miracle worker', and people from a nearby town were claiming that they had witnessed some amazing things. Then up on the screen comes a photo of a bloke who had been your next-door neighbour for 30 years. To your amazement this was the miracle worker who everyone's talking about.

"Hey Jan, come and see this!"

Well they didn't have tellys in Jesus day, ...but news soon spread on the grapevine. And so when Jesus eventually returned to Nazareth, he would have been the focus of attention.

Now it was the custom in those days for the president of the synagogue to invite visiting rabbis to read the lesson and to preach (Tinsley, E.J., The Gospel According to Luke, Cambridge University Press, 1965, p54).

As far as we know Jesus had never trained as a rabbi, but nevertheless, being the focus of attention he was given this invitation.

As I said before, the atmosphere must have been electric.

What would he do? ...what would he say?

As part of my theological training I visited a Jewish synagogue for a few weeks, ...and it was interesting to see how even today they read the scriptures from these huge scrolls.

Well Jesus was handed the scroll containing the words of the great prophet Isaiah. He unrolled it to chapter 61, then to everyone's amazement he applied what was written to himself.

"The spirit of the Lord is upon me... because he has anointed me;

he has sent me to announce good news to the poor,

to proclaim release for prisoners... and recovery of sight for the blind;

to let the broken victims go free,

to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour."

Then he sat down, ...preaching was done sitting down in those days (Morris, p116).

The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and Jesus began his sermon...

"Today, in your very hearing, this text has come true."

Well everyone was astonished that Jesus could make such a great claim about himself. ...and as his sermon continued their astonishment turned to anger, then to fury.

By the end of the sermon they were so furious they dragged him out of the town and tried to kill him.

[I hope you wouldn't do that if you disagreed with the preacher.]

You see, they thought they knew who Jesus was. They were used to thinking of him as a friend... as a relative... as a neighbour... as a carpenter... And when Jesus talked about himself in ways which they didn't understand... they just couldn't handle it.

Their familiarity with Jesus, prevented them from seeing who he really was.

One of the characteristics of human beings is that we can't see things that are right under our nose.

A couple of years ago my youngest daughter, Jennifer, was a little unwell. We decided that it would be good for her to have a little fresh air in her pushchair.

Now we hadn't actually used the pushchair for about six months, and Jan asked me, "Do we still have it?".

I replied that I thought it was in the garage, and so off I went to look for it... but it wasn't there!

I went back into the house, scratching my head, trying to remember where I could have put it, and then saw it... standing in the hall. It wasn't hidden by anything... it had just been standing there, in full view, for six months. During this time I reckon that Jan and I must have walked past it about 5000 times... yet neither of us had remembered seeing it there.

We had been blinded by familiarity.

But what happened in Nazareth wasn't just a one-off incident.

One of the great ironies in the gospels is that, time and time again, those who you would have most expected to have understood why Jesus came, were the very people who ended up rejecting him.

For example, of all the nations in the world, which was the one nation who should have understood and accepted Jesus?

(pause)

Well, the nation of Israel. ...After all, it was Israel who had the scriptures which pointed to Jesus, ...and many of them were expecting a Messiah to save them.

But what happens? ...Most of Israel rejects Jesus, and the invitation was passed to the Gentiles.

However, a small group of people within the nation of Israel did accept Jesus. And who would you have expected this group to have been?

Well, probably the religious leaders. ...After all, they were responsible for the spiritual life of Israel, ...they were the ones who should have been in the best position to recognise the Messiah.

But what happens, ...the religious leaders are the ones who most wanted him crucified.

Well who else would we have expected to have understood and accepted Jesus?

Well what about those who should have known him the best? What about the people he had grown up with? Surely the people from Nazareth would have accepted him.

But no, they too rejected him. They were blinded by familiarity, ...and their familiarity with Jesus, prevented them from seeing who he really was.

Now I must admit, the application of this leaves me feeling rather uncomfortable. Let me explain.

Let's move ahead 2000 years, and ask the same question, "Who in the world today would we most expect to have understood and accepted Jesus?".

Well I guess we would probably say those who come to church. After all, we hear about Him every week.

And here's the sting in the tail, ...might we too have fallen into the same trap as the religious leaders in Israel? ...who thought they would recognise the Messiah, but didn't.

Might we too have fallen into the same trap as the people in Nazareth? ...who thought that they knew who Jesus was, but had been blinded by familiarity.

Jesus gave a strong warning against complacency in Luke chapter 13:

Someone asked [Jesus], "Sir, will just a few people be saved?"

Jesus answered him, "Do your best to go through the narrow door; because many people will surely try to go in but will not be able. The master of the house will get up and close the door; then when you stand outside and begin to knock and say, 'Open the door for us, sir!' he will answer you, 'I don't know where you come from!' Then you will answer, 'We ate and drank with you; you taught in our town!' But he will say again, "I don't know where you come from. Get away from me, all you wicked people!'"

(pause)

Have we too allowed ourselves to be blinded by familiarity?

It's easy to assume that we know and understand things that in fact we don't.

I've been coming to church for many years, and I've heard most of the Bible readings time and time again.

I usually listen to the first few verses of the reading, but often find that my mind soon begins to wander.

Do any of you have the same problem?

And I guess the more times I've heard a passage, the sooner I begin to switch off.

The problem is, we fail to hear God speak to us, because we assume we know it all already.

Let me illustrate this in a light-hearted way, with the Christmas quiz we had earlier.

Answer 1 - The Bible tells us that Jesus was born in a stable.

Answer 2 - The Bible tells us that there were three wise men.

Answer 3 - The Bible tells us that the shepherds brought a baby lamb.

Now I was amazed when someone pointed out to me that all three answers are wrong.

If you don't believe me, read the first couple of chapters of each of the gospels, ...and you will see that the Bible makes no reference to a stable, ...nor to there being just three wise men, ...nor to the shepherds bringing any gift.

Now I know that it's a trivial example, but it illustrates how easy it is to be blinded by familiarity.

We think we know the Bible, ...but do we?

We think we understand why Jesus came, ...but do we?

I began with a Christmas quiz, ...can I finish with a Christmas challenge?

Why not read Mark's gospel, either as part of your Advent preparation for Christmas, or during the Christmas holidays.

It's the shortest of the four gospels, ...it was the first to be written, ...and it contains an action-packed account about what Jesus did, where he went, and what he said.

And why not read it in a modern translation? If you've not got a modern translation of the Bible, you can buy a copy of Mark's gospel for just £1. [Les has some for sale in the Church Hall after the service].

And this challenge comes complete with a money-back guarantee!

Before you read it, ask God to show you something about Jesus which you have never seen before. Then read the gospel expecting to see something new. And I guarantee that you will!

One of the characteristics of human beings is that we can't see things that are right under our nose. The people of Nazareth thought they knew who Jesus was, ...but they were wrong.

All of us face the danger of being blinded by familiarity, ...and I guess the longer we have been coming to church, the greater the danger! So at this Advent time, let us ask God to have a clearer understanding of who Jesus was, and why he came.

...And I challenge you to read Mark's gospel, and to see something new.

Who is This Jesus?

(Lk.4 14-21)

Some time ago, we watched the film, 'Deep Impact'. Early in the film the President of the United States calls a press conference to announce that a meteor is on a collision course with earth, and explain what action has been planned to deal with it. Very few people at the conference know exactly what it is he is going to announce, but they do know that the conference is being broadcast all over the world, and all the journalists have been warned that the news will be momentous. Hard-bitten and cynical reporters are sitting on the edge of their seats waiting for the biggest story they have ever covered. The atmosphere is electric. I don't suppose any of us have ever experienced anything on quite that scale, but from time to time we have probably all been at some event where waiting for it to begin was full of excitement and anticipation...

...perhaps at a football match just before kick-off;

...or at a theatre just before the curtain rises;

...or waiting to hear the result of an important election;

Well as we think about today's gospel reading, that's the sort of atmosphere I would like you to imagine. Jesus was speaking at the synagogue in Nazareth, ...and the atmosphere was electric.

Of course Jesus had been brought up in Nazareth. Towns were a lot smaller in those days. It was perhaps a bit like Jesus being brought up here in Allesley Park and attending one of our local schools as a child, being a regular worshipper here at St Christopher's for most of his life. Most of us would know who he was.

Although Jesus lived nearly all his life in Nazareth, when he was about 30 years old, he left the town. He then began his public ministry in the surrounding towns and villages in Galilee. We are told that one such town was Capernaum, about 25 miles from Nazareth, and here the people had been amazed at his teaching (Mk. 1.22), and many had been healed of various diseases (Mk. 1.32-34). It's not surprising, that news about Jesus spread throughout the whole countryside (Lk.4.14). And it must have come as a great surprise to the friends and neighbours of Jesus at Nazareth. After all they had never seen him do miraculous things like this (4.23).

When my husband Graeme was at college, one of the other people on his engineering course was a young lady called Carol Vorderman. He didn't know her very well, but he saw here nearly every day in lectures. A year or two after he left university, Channel 4 began showing a programme called Countdown, and Graeme was very surprised to see her doing mental arithmetic in front of millions of people. And perhaps it was a bit like that for the people of Nazareth. There were reports about some new 'miracle worker', and people from a nearby town were claiming that they had witnessed some amazing things. Then they realised that the man everyone was getting so excited about was the bloke who'd lived down the road for 30 years. To their amazement this was the miracle worker who everyone was talking about.

There were no televisions or radios in those days, but news would have spread quickly on the grapevine. And so when Jesus eventually returned to Nazareth, he would have been the focus of attention. It was the custom in those days for the president of the synagogue to invite visiting rabbis to read the lesson and to preach. As far as we know Jesus had never trained as a rabbi, but nevertheless, being the focus of attention he was given this invitation.

As I said before, the atmosphere must have been electric.

What would he do? ...what would he say?

As part of his theological training Graeme visited a Jewish synagogue for a few weeks, one week the children and I went with him, ...and it was interesting to see how even today they read the scriptures from these huge scrolls.

Well Jesus was handed the scroll containing the words of the great prophet Isaiah. He unrolled it to chapter 61, then to everyone's amazement he applied what was written to himself.

"The spirit of the Lord is upon me... because he has anointed me;

he has sent me to announce good news to the poor,

to proclaim release for prisoners... and recovery of sight for the blind;

to let the broken victims go free,

to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour."

Then he sat down, ...preaching was done sitting down in those days. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and Jesus began his sermon...

"Today, in your very hearing, this text has come true."

Well everyone was astonished that Jesus could make such a great claim about himself. ...and as his sermon continued their astonishment turned to anger, then to fury. By the end of the sermon they were so furious they dragged him out of the town and tried to kill him. [I hope you wouldn't do that if you disagreed with the preacher.]

You see, they thought they knew who Jesus was. They were used to thinking of him as a friend... as a relative... as a neighbour... as a carpenter... And when Jesus talked about himself in ways which they didn't understand... they just couldn't handle it. Their familiarity with Jesus, prevented them from seeing who he really was. One of the characteristics of human beings is that we can't see things that are right under our nose.

When my daughter Jennie was about three she was a little unwell one day. We decided that it would be good for her to have a little fresh air in her pushchair. Now we hadn't actually used the pushchair for about six months, and I wasn't even sure if we still had it. Graeme thought that it might be in the garage, and went off to look for it... but it wasn't there!

He came back into the house, scratching his head, and we both tried to remember where we could have put it, and then Graeme saw it... standing in the hall. It wasn't hidden by anything... it had just been standing there, in full view, for six months. During this time I reckon that Graeme and I must have walked past it about 5000 times... yet neither of us had remembered seeing it there.

We had been blinded by familiarity.

But what happened in Nazareth wasn't just a one-off incident. One of the great ironies in the gospels is that, time and time again, those who you would have most expected to have understood why Jesus came, were the very people who ended up rejecting him. For example, of all the nations in the world, which was the one nation who should have understood and accepted Jesus?

(pause)

Well, the nation of Israel. ...After all, it was Israel who had the scriptures which pointed to Jesus, ...and many of them were expecting a Messiah to save them.

But what happens? ...Most of Israel rejects Jesus, and the invitation was passed to the Gentiles.

However, a small group of people within the nation of Israel did accept Jesus. And who would you have expected this group to have been? Well, probably the religious leaders. ...After all, they were responsible for the spiritual life of Israel, ...they were the ones who should have been in the best position to recognise the Messiah. But what happens, ...the religious leaders are the ones who most wanted him crucified. Well who else would we have expected to have understood and accepted Jesus? Well what about those who should have known him the best? What about the people he had grown up with? Surely the people from Nazareth would have accepted him. But no, they too rejected him. They were blinded by familiarity, ...and their familiarity with Jesus, prevented them from seeing who he really was.

Now I must admit, the application of this leaves me feeling rather uncomfortable. Let me explain. Let's move ahead 2000 years, and ask the same question, "Who in the world today would we most expect to have understood and accepted Jesus?". Well I guess we would probably say those who come to church. After all, we hear about Him every week. And here's the sting in the tail, ...might we too have fallen into the same trap as the religious leaders in Israel? ...who thought they would recognise the Messiah, but didn't. Might we too have fallen into the same trap as the people in Nazareth? ...who thought that they knew who Jesus was, but had been blinded by familiarity.

Jesus gave a strong warning against complacency in Luke chapter 13:

Someone asked [Jesus], "Sir, will just a few people be saved?"

Jesus answered him, "Do your best to go through the narrow door; because many people will surely try to go in but will not be able. The master of the house will get up and close the door; then when you stand outside and begin to knock and say, 'Open the door for us, sir!' he will answer you, 'I don't know where you come from!' Then you will answer, 'We ate and drank with you; you taught in our town!' But he will say again, "I don't know where you come from. Get away from me, all you wicked people!'"

(pause)

Have we too allowed ourselves to be blinded by familiarity?

It's easy to assume that we know and understand things that in fact we don't. I've been coming to church for many years, and I've heard most of the Bible readings time and time again. I usually listen to the first few verses of the reading, but often find that my mind soon begins to wander. Do any of you have the same problem?

And I guess the more times I've heard a passage, the sooner I begin to switch off.

The problem is, we fail to hear God speak to us, because we assume we know it all already.

We think we know the Bible, ...but do we?

We think we understand why Jesus came, ...but do we?

Do we sometimes allow our familiarity with who we think Jesus is, to obscure other aspects of him?

Do we feel comfortable, for example, with the fact that Jesus got angry on occasions? ... that he overturned the tables of the money changers in the temple (Mt. 21:12).

Do we feel comfortable with the idea of Jesus being charismatic? ... that he was filled with the Holy Spirit ... that he frequently used spiritual gifts, ... that he drove out demons from people.

Do we feel comfortable with he idea that Jesus was not a respectable person? ... that he went round doing things that any decent person wouldn't do ... that he socialised with prostitutes and down and outs?

If I'm completely honest, there are some aspects of Jesus which make me feel uneasy .. and this feeling is made worse by the fact that as Christians we are called to be like him. ... And I don't know if I want to be like Jesus in all these ways ... perhaps you feel like that too.

So perhaps I can leave us all with a challenge. Why don't we try to read the Bible with fresh eyes. Not making any assumptions about who Jesus is, not thinking that we know it all already, but trying to see who the Jesus of the Bible really is. Let's not allow ourselves to be blinded by familiarity.

Prayers

Let us still our bodies and our minds as we pray together.

Lord God, as we call to mind that we are members of the world-wide Church, we pray for those who are insulted or persecuted for our shared faith. We stand alongside them now, and ask you to care for and protect them.

Lord in your mercy

hear our prayer.

We pray that all of us who inhabit our planet in this age may learn to hear you again and respond to your voice of love. Help us to care for our environment, and to be good stewards of the natural resources you have given us.

Lord in your mercy

hear our prayer.

We pray that wherever materialism or stress or sorrow or sin have deafened us to your will, we may be prompted to put things right.

Lord in your mercy

hear our prayer.

We pray that our homes may be places where you are welcomed and recognised through the good and the troubled times.

Lord in your mercy

hear our prayer.

We bring to your love all those we know who are ill, injured or sad. Alert us to see how we can help, and give them a real sense of your comforting presence. In particular this week, we pray for ...

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Thank you, Lord God, for all you have shown us through Jesus, and through your word week by week.

Merciful Father, accept these prayers for the sake of your Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.