This week, we are looking at an event from history from
the life in Jesus that is recorded for us in the Bible in the gospel of Luke.
Wednesday, we looked on as the residents of Nazareth believed that Jesus would
do the miraculous for them simply because they were insiders with Him. The
residents of Nazareth believed that because they were insiders with Jesus, they
should get the best from Jesus.
Jesus confronts the crowds by making the claim that no
prophet is welcome in his hometown. Jesus is claiming that no person who
proclaims the truth about God to those who consider themselves insiders is met
with approval by those who consider themselves insiders. And to back His claim,
Jesus refers to two different events from the history of the Jewish people to
reveal the reality that the Jewish people who were insiders had repeatedly
rejected God and the word of God through His spokespersons the prophets. The
Jewish people did not approve of the prophets or their message. Those who were
insiders; those who were raised in church; those who considered themselves
religious had God’s predictions and promises in the Bible to point them to God
but rejected God.
Jesus is revealing
the reality that self righteous religious people who consider themselves
insiders would reject His message just as they rejected the prophet’s message.
And Jesus is revealing the reality that His message, the message of the gospel
was for all of humanity. Jesus was sent not simply for the insiders. Instead
Jesus was sent to proclaim the message of the gospel to the outsiders. Jesus
was sent to proclaim the gospel to the religious people who were far from God
and the irreligious people who were far from God. Today, we see Luke record for
us how the crowds responded to Jesus claims in verse 28:
And all the people in the synagogue were
filled with rage as they heard these things; and they got up and drove Him out
of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been
built, in order to throw Him down the cliff. But passing through their midst,
He went His way.
Upon hearing Jesus claims, Luke tells us that the
crowds were filled with rage. They were filled with rage because they were
offended by the idea that God would extend the opportunity for forgiveness and
a relationship with Him to irreligious people who were outsiders who were far
from God. And in their rage, the crowds rose up from their seats, drove Jesus
outside of town, and attempted to throw Him off the edge of the cliff that the
town was built on.
Jesus however, like a scene from a matrix movie
passed through their midst and traveled back to Capernaum, which was His base
of ministry. Luke tells us that as Jesus taught in the synagogue in Capernaum,
He miraculously healed a man that had been possessed by a demon. Then, if that
was not enough, Jesus went to Peter’s house and miraculously healed Peter’s
mother in law, who was suffering from a severe fever.
Now, just for free this morning, the reason why
Peter had a mother in law was because he was married. I mean that is how you
get a mother in law, isn’t it. No one says, I just want a mother in law without
being married. As Jesus continued to do the miraculous, the people of Capernaum
responded by wanting Him to remain in town. Jesus, however, had other plans, as
Luke records for us in Luke 4:42:
When day came, Jesus left and
went to a secluded place; and the crowds were searching for Him, and came to
Him and tried to keep Him from going away from them. But He said to them,
"I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent
for this purpose." So He kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.
Jesus responded to their desire for Him to stay in
Capernaum by focusing on the mission He had been given. I must preach the
kingdom of God to the other cities, also. I must proclaim that God’s promise of a Messiah has been fulfilled as I am
the Messiah. I am the Promised One who is anointed by the Holy Spirit to
proclaim the good news of God’s rescue from selfishness, sin and rebellion that
will usher in the beginning of God’s kingdom”. Jesus explained that He had to
proclaim that message for I was sent for this purpose.
And it is here that we see God reveal for us a
timeless truth when it comes to living on mission. And that timeless truth is
this: Living on mission requires that we share God’s message of rescue to those
around us who are far from God. Just as Jesus was sent on a mission, as
followers of Jesus, we have been sent on a mission. And that mission requires
that we share God’s message of rescue through the claims of Christ and the
message of the gospel to those around us who are far from God.
You see, the church is the only organization on the
planet that does not exist for the sake of its members. Instead, the church
exists for the sake of the mission we have been given by God. And that mission
is to be the vehicle that God uses to reveal His Son Jesus and His message of
rescue through the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel to those who
are far from God.
Living on mission requires that we share the good
news that all of humanity has the opportunity to experience forgiveness and the
relationship with God that they were created for by believing trusting and
following Jesus as Lord and Leader. Living
on mission requires that we share that message with self righteous religious
people who think that they are insiders when they really are outsiders who are
far from God. Living on mission requires that we share that message with
irreligious people who are outsiders who are far from God.
And living on mission requires that we fulfill our responsibility
to lovingly, graciously, and truthfully share God’s message of rescue through
the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel regardless of the response.
While the only thing that should be offensive when we share the message of the
gospel should be the message, we must recognize that the message of the gospel
will be offensive. However, we are not to allow the offensiveness of the
message of the gospel stop us from sharing that message. Because, as we have
seen Living on mission requires that we share God’s message of rescue to the
people around us who are far from God.
So here is a question to
consider. Are you willing to share God’s message of rescue to
the people around us who are far from God?
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