The idea of religion and divinity is repugnant to many people because they want to be their own god, just like Satan. Their inflated ego and lack of humility cannot accept the thought that there is a natural law of right and wrong that one must abide by in order for society to function properly. They also do not believe in a divine law which one must follow in order to achieve enlightenment and eternal life in the hereafter. For them truth, humility, tolerance, and brotherly love are stumbling blocks. When Our Lord tried to preach this message to his own people “He was astonished at their unbelief” (Mark 6:6).
After the miracles at Cana, and at His baptism in the River Jordan where the voice from Heaven proclaimed His divinity, Jesus Christ returned to his home town of Nazareth. He arrived as the sun was setting on a Friday evening when the Jewish Sabbath began at the local synagogue, the same synagogue that Jesus had attended since he was a boy. The following morning Jesus went into the synagogue and very likely the news had already been made known to the local people and had brought the people to a high pitch of excitement and expectancy..."And Jesus came back to Galilee with the power of the Spirit upon Him" (Luke 4:14). Jesus then took His turn to read the scriptures out loud, "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 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, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:17-19).
Jesus chose that scripture from Isaiah because it announced Him and it also declared the Jubilee. The laws of Moses provided that every fiftieth year was to be one of special forgiveness and restoration. For example, all debts were canceled and all bonded servants were given their freedom. It was a safeguard against monopolies and imbalances in the community that affected social tranquility. After Jesus read the passage from Isaiah he added, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21). He realized that the people were expecting a political leader who would throw off the yoke of Roman occupation but that was not His purpose. His purpose was to redeem mankind from their sinful nature and prepare them for eternal life.
After Jesus spoke to his home town brethren they rejected him saying, "Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary?" (Mark 6:3) They found it hard to believe that the promised Messiah was only a carpenter. They didn't realize that He is of the same Being Who created the Heavens and the Earth. He told them, "A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his relatives and his own family" (Mark 6:4). The Jewish people at that time could not conceive of the humiliation of God in the form of a man as even today many people cannot. The truth is that they are right, that a "mere man" could not be God but God could be man while still remaining God. The very nature of God is that with Him all things are possible. Christ as the Messiah is the Son of God Who shares the nature of the Father, but as the Son of Man, the Father is greater than He. Christ had been in Being with the Father from eternity, well before His human nature was formed and He had come forth from the Father to assume a human nature, and when clad in it He was at the same time divine.
The hometown crowd became so upset with Jesus that they attempted to throw him off a cliff. A short distance from the Nazareth synagogue there was a cliff that dropped down to the Plains of Esdraelon about eighty feet below. Tradition has it that there they tried to do away with him but he passed through their midst and escaped. The time for the death and resurrection of Jesus had not yet come and he had much more to do. How about you? Does He abide in you or have you rejected Him too? It is not too late to change your mind. He is knocking at the door to your heart right now. Open it and let Him in. Don't worry about going to church to seek Him, and don't put it off for tomorrow either. I am reminded of an old quotation of a man named George Cecil that went "On the plains of hesitation lay the bones of countless millions who, when nearing victory, sat down to rest and while resting died." Please don't lie down until you have that chat with Jesus. You never know about tomorrow. It's better to be safe now than sorry later.
No comments:
Post a Comment