4 Epiphany Yr C

In the synagogue at Nazareth, Jesus’ home town, all spoke well of Jesus and said, “this is Joseph’s son.” I’m imagining the conversation something like this. “We watched this boy grow up, he was so helpful to his father in his carpenter’s shop. He has always been so faithful and pious, attending synagogue, reading the Torah, knowing his place. Ahh, such a good boy, we’re proud.”

And then, the next thing that happens is that they drive Jesus out of town and they want to toss him over a cliff! What’s up with that? How do these people go from being proud of the neighborhood boy to tossing him over a cliff? What filled them with such rage?

What’s this all about? And, what can it mean to us?

I’m never really sure what this story is all about, my wonderings are as good as your wonderings, but I have a little information that might be helpful in figuring this out. Remember that this story, the Gospel or Good News, is recorded here for a purpose. Part of the purpose of the writer of this gospel is to convince the reader that Jesus is a prophet in the line of prophets. The line of prophets includes Elijah and Elisha. Every Jew who heard this story knew this, and every Jew who heard this story also knew that all prophets in their stories are rejected in their hometowns. So, the writer of this story needed to have Jesus rejected in his own town in order for him to be a prophet in the line of the ancient prophets. Another part of the purpose for the writer of this Gospel is likewise to convince the reader that this prophet, Jesus, is the fulfillment of the scriptures, Jesus is the One who has been promised.

The writer accomplishes his purpose of placing Jesus in the line of the ancient prophets by invoking Elijah and Elisha, and the stories that Luke chose to have Jesus refer to are the stories about widows and orphans. Now, stay with me here for just another minute while I tell you why I think this is important. Widows and lepers are the two groups of people that are invoked in relation to the prophets Elijah and Elisha. In the cultural schema of Greek society, in the first century, when the story of Jesus was told, widows and lepers are as low as it goes.

Let me give you a brief picture of this culture. The patron of a household owned everything. He owned his wife, his concubines, his slaves, his children. He owned land and everything and everyone on it. He and his household were at the top of the pyramid, and he owned everything and everyone in it. There were artisans and farmers and smiths that were beholden to the patron. They were able to sustain a life because the patron allowed them to be part of his household. He was good to them, as long as they were loyal. Underneath the artisans and farmers and smiths, were the women and children. The women had worth only as measured by the men to whom they belonged, their father, or husband, or brothers. A woman owned nothing, and she had no means for protection outside of the man she belonged to. For all intents and purposes, a woman was dead if she did not belong to a man. When a husband died, the widow must be married to a brother to gain protection once again. So a widow was worthless, she had no means of support and no protection. Lepers were those cast out of this system because of disease. They too were worthless, they had no means of support and no protection.

Now let’s get back to the story. Jesus invokes these two groups of people. Two groups of people who were the lowest of low, who had no worth, no value in this first century culture. The people first hearing this story about Jesus already know where Jesus is going with this story. They’ve heard this one time and time again by the time it’s written down.

And they know about this Jesus. He’s the one who gave new life to the lowest of low. He’s the one who ate and talked with the widows, the lepers, the unattached women, the tax collectors. He’s the one who claimed that new life, value, worth, dignity, is theirs through God, his father. God, who loves them so much he was willing to come and be one of them. Jesus is the one who they say suffered, died, and appeared again to his friends and even strangers. Jesus is the one who they claimed is the new King.

And therein lies the rub. Jesus is the one who empowers the powerless. Jesus is the one who offers life where for all intents and purposes there is death. A woman without protection is as good as dead. A diseased person is surely dead. Jesus is the one who brings dignity and respect to all, including those whose culture judged them worthless and outcasts.

In this story Jesus claims to be a prophet in the line of the prophets. Jesus claims to be the one who gives new life where there was death. And that claim, by this young man who was just Joseph’s son, enraged the powerful people. It made them so mad, they wanted to toss him over a cliff. A prophet must be rejected in his hometown.

And yet, Jesus goes on to Capernaum, and people were astounded by his teaching, because he spoke with authority. Who’s authority? God’s authority.

What does this story have to do with us? It seems to me that the reason Jesus is rejected in his hometown is that his message is so shocking. If you were one of the power brokers of the town, one of the leaders of the synagogue, you may be thinking to yourself, “I thought this was Joseph’s son, but he’s become a young upstart, telling us how we ought to go about our business, how we ought to order our lives. He’s no son of ours.”

But maybe it was also necessary for Jesus to be rejected in his hometown because if he had been accepted, maybe he would never have left. Maybe his message of God’s love for all, regardless of power and prestige, would never have made it out of Nazareth. Maybe his message of dignity and worth, regardless of what you look like or how you smell, would never have made it out of Nazareth.

Maybe his message of new life, instead of our culture’s message of “it’s all about you,” would never have made it out of Nazareth. Well, then, we would be in a very sad state of affairs.

Jesus’ message is universal. It’s for all of us. You and I are part of this story. We have power brokers here, people looking for meaning and for a way to understand life beyond themselves. We have young people here, wondering where they fit in, wondering how to juggle all the balls. We have parents here, wondering how to keep it all together in a world that demands such busyness. We have elders here, wondering what it is they have left to give. We have children here, wondering why the rest of us are so serious all the time.

We, all of us, fit in to the story. The story is about God, and God’s love for us. God gave up all power to live as one of us, and through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, we are brought back into relationship with God. We, who sometimes feel worthless, are valued. We, who sometimes feel broken, are made whole. We, who sometimes feel like no one cares, are loved. We, who are hungry, are fed. We, who are tired, are given rest.

Jesus shows us God’s love is for every one of us, even if that reality makes many folks mad, mad enough to throw Jesus right over the cliff.

The Lord shows forth his glory: Come let us adore him.