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Word from Scotland
by Sandy Shaw
In Luke 4:17, Jesus Christ is present at worship in the synagogue at Nazareth. It was his custom and habit to be there with all the others. He is given the scroll to read the lesson. Jesus stands up to read – to contribute – to participate in a real, relevant and meaningful way, and he turns to Isaiah Chapter 61. Jesus knows his way around. After reading the passage he comments briefly. “This refers to ME!”
He has come to the bruised and battered and broken and sore - to those who are heavy and hurting - to release - to set free - to deliver. He has been anointed vertically to minister horizontally. That is normally God’s pattern.
The reaction is astonishing. Who does HE think HE is? Many are furious. All HE did was read the lesson.
Verses 25 to 27. Jesus becomes quite controversial. What I am telling you is true. In the days of Elijah there were many widows, and there was a severe famine - 1 Kings 17. God did not send His servant to minister to all the needs of all the poor - but to one poor widow - in the region of Sidon. Now, Sidon was not in the land of Israel, and the thought that the Jewish Messiah might minister to people who were not Jews was outrageous.
There were many lepers and only Naaman was cleansed. 2 Kings 5. Jesus knew his Old Testament – and, he quotes it with authority.
Verses 28,29. They hustled Christ outside. This was a place of execution. Jesus life is threatened already. He had only read the lesson and made a few comments. Fierce conflict arose. The Father knew that it was not yet time for Jesus to die. Jesus has three years of work to do - preaching - teaching - training men.
Jesus quietly slips away - unhurt - unharmed. He does not seek to defend himself. Jesus does not argue. He is not sore about what happened.
Luke 4:31. Having been rejected in Nazareth, Jesus adopts Capernaum. His melting words had not melted many hearts. There was a clash - an explosion between light and darkness. The Word of God will make a man glad or mad - faith or furious. These are very basic fundamental lessons, which we need to learn this early on. Some of us take 4 or 5 years to learn these lessons and that can be a sore experience.
Alexander 'Sandy' Shaw is pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship in Nairn, Scotland. Nairn is 17 miles east of Inverness - on the Moray Firth Coast - not far from the Loch Ness Monster!
Gifted as a Biblical teacher, Sandy is firmly committed to making sure that his teachings are firmly grounded in the Word.
Sandy has a weekly radio talk which can be heard via the Internet on Saturday at 11:40am, New Orleans time, at wsho.com.
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