Jesus returns to Nazareth

(Luke 4.14-21)

In Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, Scrooge comes face to face with the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future.

Of course that was just a fairy story, ...but at this time of year, we think of the true story of Advent Past, Present and Future.

'Bah ...Humbug!', you may say!

But it's true!

As you probably know, the word 'Advent' is Latin for 'Coming'. ...And in this season of the Church Year:

- we look back, to Advent Past, when God first came to Earth as a human baby,

-we look forward, to Advent Future, when Jesus will come again in all his splendour.

But as Scrooge discovered, ...thinking about the past and the future is of little use, unless it has an impact on our lives NOW.

And so our main focus this morning is Advent Present, how God comes to you, and me, today.

That's the main point that Jesus was trying to get across to the people of Nazareth. As we have just heard, he said to them:

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

I want us to come back to that passage in a few minutes, ...but first let me briefly remind you of the events which lead up to it.

Nazareth was a small town, partly secluded in the mountains, halfway between the Mediterranean and the Sea of Galilee.

It was the home of both Mary and Joseph. However, when Caesar Augustus ordered that a census be taken, they both travelled some 80 miles to Bethlehem, (because that's where Joseph's ancestors came from).

While they were staying in Bethlehem, Jesus was born. But when they discovered that King Herod wanted to kill him, the family had to flee to Egypt.

When Herod died, the family then returned to Nazareth, and it was there that Jesus spent most of his childhood and adult life.

The Bible tells us very little about the twenty-odd years that he lived there.

We know that "he grew in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and men", (Lk. 2.52), ...and we know that he was a carpenter, (Mk. 6.3). But that's about it.

He was probably very well known by those who lived in Nazareth. (An important point which we'll come back to later). There's no record of him performing any miracles, ...he was just a ordinary carpenter.

And then at the age of 30, Jesus left his home town. And his public ministry took off in a very dramatic way.

- He was baptized by John the Baptist, and a voice from heaven said, "You are my Son".

- He spent 40 days in the wilderness being tempted by Satan.

- Then he began to perform great miracles, ...at the wedding in Cana he turned water into wine.

- He healed the son of a royal official, who was close to death.

- He went to Samaria, and told the 'woman at a well' that he was the Messiah, ...and that he was the source of life giving water.

And now we pick up today's Gospel reading, (and if you want to follow it, it is printed on the white sheets):

Jesus, armed with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee; and reports about him spread through the whole country-side. He taught in their synagogues and all men sang his praises.

Notice how Jesus was working in the power of the Spirit.

At the beginning of the chapter we read that it was the Spirit who led him into the wilderness to be tempted. ...Now the Spirit leads him into Galilee.

Jesus listened to see where God's Spirit was calling him, ...and then he obeyed, knowing that the Spirit who had called him, would also give him the strength and power to do the job.

It's wonderful to think that God's Spirit still calls Christians today, ...and we can also know the power of God's Spirit.

I was talking to someone recently who felt that God was calling him to do something very specific, ...and he knew that it wasn't going to be easy.

But when we're obedient to God's calling, he also gives us the power that we need.

Is God calling you to something?

(pause)

It might be something quite small, or it might be

something that will change your whole life.

It might be something quite easy, or it might be something very difficult.

(pause)

At this time of Advent, one way in which we can experience God's coming now, ...is to ask God what he is calling us to, ...and then to respond to what we think he is saying.

For this next few verses I want you to use your imagination.

So he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day as he regularly did. He stood up to read the lesson and was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah.

The carpenter had come home!

While he'd been away, the folk from Nazareth had heard reports of all the things that Jesus had done. Remember they'd never seen him do anything special during the years he'd been the local carpenter.

How would you feel if someone you knew suddenly became famous.

It was with great surprise that I first saw Carol Vordaman on the TV programme 'Countdown'.

I'd previously known her as a humble student, studying Engineering at the same time as me at university, ...and now it seems she's on everything from the National Lottery to Antique Programmes.

I guess there were those in Nazareth who were proud of him, "a local boy come good!" ...and others who were jealous, "Just who does he think he is? ...He needs to be taken down a peg or two!"

Well, for whatever reason, when Jesus went to the synagogue, I imagine the place was packed.

Jesus was asked to read the lesson, and was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah.

He opened the scroll and found the passage which says,

'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.'

These days, a lot of organizations have what they call a 'Mission Statement' ...a brief statement which sums up what they're all about.

Well I reckon Jesus was 2000 years ahead of his time, because here we have Jesus' Mission Statement, ...a brief description of why he came to earth.

Notice how we again have it emphasised that Jesus was working in the power of the Spirit.

And then how he has been sent to bring good news to those who are in the greatest need: ...the poor, ...the prisoners, ...the blind, ...broken victims.

Now Christians have traditionally interpreted Jesus' words in two ways, both of which are true.

First, we can take them literally.

Jesus had a great heart for those who were in great physical need.

- He associated with the poor, ...with lepers and other outcasts;

- Many of his followers were later arrested and thrown into prison;

- He healed people like Bartimaeus, who was blind;

- in other words, he came to those who were the broken victims of society.

But we can also look upon these words from a spiritual point of view.

- Jesus came for those of us who are spiritually poor, ...those of us who recognise that we can never earn our way to heaven, and who rely entirely on God's grace and forgiveness.

Do you feel spiritually poor?

(pause)

- Jesus comes to those of us who are prisoners to sin, ...those of us who continue to do those things that we know to be wrong, and who just can't break the habit.

Are you a prisoner to sin?

(pause)

- Jesus came for those of us who are spiritually blind, ...those of us who just can't see the full truth of the gospel

Are you spiritually blind?

(pause)

That was Jesus' Mission Statement.

And whether we interpret his words literally, or spiritually, ...he said that he came for all of us who need him.

He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and all eyes in the synagogue were fixed on him.

He began to speak: 'Today', he said, 'in your very hearing this text has come true.'

It's a wonderful story, ...but if we read the rest of the chapter, we discover that it has a sting in the tail.

The real tragedy of the story is that the people of his own town ended up rejecting him. When they'd heard all that he had to say, they were so furious that they drove him out of the town, ...and some even tried to throw him over a cliff.

They were so familiar with this carpenter, that they failed to recognise that the Son of God had come to them.

And that, I think, is the greatest challenge to us. If we ask God to come close to us, this Advent, ...will we recognise him.

The one thing that brings me the greatest joy, is seeing people meet with God.

There are people in our church today who knew very little of God's love a couple of years ago, ...but today they are full of excitement because they recognise that God has come close to them.

Most of us here this morning have been Christians for many years...

- do we still expect God to meet with us?

- do we recognise God's coming to us?

We can make the same mistake as those folk at Nazareth. We've been coming to church for years, ...we've heard the same Bible stories over and over again, ...we're so familiar with it all.

But when God comes to us, perhaps even today, we fail to recognise him.

Advent is a time for looking back to God's coming as baby.

Advent is a time for looking forward, to God's coming in great splendour.

But Advent is also a time for looking now, to God's coming today: ...to those of us who are poor, ...prisoners, ...blind, ...and broken victims.

May God give us the grace to recognise his coming to us.

Amen.