We are looking at the regrettable decisions people made when they encountered Jesus. Last week we noticed the person who interrupted Jesus’ sermon with his concern about receiving his portion of the inheritance. We are going to look at another encounter with Jesus. Open your copies of God’s word to Luke 4 and we are going to consider Jesus’ encounter in the town of Nazareth. You will notice that Jesus has begun his ministry and he goes to the synagogue in the town where he grew up (Luke 4:16). We know that Jesus is about 30 years old when he starts his earthly ministry (Luke 3:23). So Jesus has grown up in the town of Nazareth and the people in the town would know who Jesus is. Further, you will also notice that Jesus goes to the synagogue on the Sabbath which was his custom. For the whole of his life, every Sabbath Jesus has gone to the synagogue. Think about the people that you would know if you were going to the same church for 30 years and how familiar you would be with those people. The synagogue was a place for worship, teaching, and learning. It is worth noting as we begin that Jesus did not look down on the idea of going to the synagogue. If we would say that there was someone who did not need to go to the synagogue for worship, teaching, and learning, it would be Jesus. But Jesus went to the synagogue, as it was is custom, even as he began his earthly ministry. There are many aspects to a synagogue service. One of those aspects was a reading from the Law and the Prophets. Jesus takes this opportunity to read from the scriptures. Jesus unrolls the scroll and finds a place in Isaiah that we know as Isaiah 61 and reads from it. Jesus reads from the scripture that speaks about the arrival of the Christ who will proclaim the good news of the Lord’s favor. But after reading this prophetic scripture, what Jesus says next would have been stunning. Look at Luke 4:20-21.
And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:20-21 ESV)
The Response (Luke 4:22)
Can you imagine this moment? No one would have expected this simple sermon. This scripture is fulfilled today. The era of the fulfillment of these prophetic promises is now! This is the time that Israel and the world have been waiting for! What an exciting message Jesus proclaimed to this synagogue in Nazareth. What will the synagogue say about this message? You will notice that there appears to be a positive response in Luke 4:22. We are told that everyone spoke well of Jesus and they were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. You will notice that there are two positive responses. The people like Jesus and they like what Jesus said. They are very positive about Jesus and they really liked that sermon. What an amazing message he gave today! How inspiring! How exciting! But there is also something that is keeping the people back. You see this at the end of verse 22. “Is this not Joseph’s son?” Because of what Jesus says in verse 23 we know that this is not a question of amazement. The people are not saying that it is so amazing Joseph’s son would be so wonderful and preach such an amazing message. Rather, this question is the basis of their rejection. The people are not going to receive what Jesus proclaimed because he is Joseph’s son. The people are saying that they know who Jesus is. They know his family. They know where he came from. They saw him as a kid. They are familiar with Jesus. Even though they can speak well of Jesus and they like the message Jesus gave from the scroll of Isaiah, they cannot get past the fact that they know this Jesus. Matthew’s account records more details about what the people said:
Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” And they took offense at him. (Matthew 13:55-57 ESV)
The problem is that the people did not expect the Savior to be Jesus. The people are too familiar with him. They know him and his family. He cannot be the one to usher in the covenant promises of God. He cannot be the one who will deliver the people from their sins. Jesus was not what these people expected their Savior to be. The problem is that Jesus did not meet their expectations. We like the words. But this is not what I thought it would be.
Unrealized Expectations
One of the common problems that the scriptures observe about us that we have expectations about who God is and what he will do that keeps us from coming to him. Further, our expectations about who God is and what he will do blocks what God is willing to do in our lives for us. In Matthew 13:58 we are told that Jesus did not perform many mighty works in Nazareth because of the people’s unbelief. Please imagine this sad truth. Jesus has come to save and he cannot do any saving in his own hometown because the people simply cannot believe he is the Christ. Their expectations kept them from receiving the God’s gift.
There is a famous account of such a problem in the days of Elisha which is recorded in 2 Kings 5. In 2 Kings 5 we read about a Syrian commander called Naaman who was a great man but had leprosy. A servant girl from Israel tells Naaman about Elisha the prophet and how the prophet could cure him of his disease. So Naaman brings great wealth and possessions to go to Elisha’s house. Look at what happens in this moment:
So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha’s house. And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.” (2 Kings 5:9-10 ESV)
This sounds like great news! This sounds like wonderful news! The message is that you can be healed. You do not have to be diseased and ill any longer. The good news of healing has come to you. Go wash in the Jordan River seven times and you will be restored. But look what Naaman’s reaction:
But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, “Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage. (2 Kings 5:11-12 ESV)
What happened? Why was Naaman angry? Why did he reject the good news and disobey the command? The reason why is that this is not what Naaman expected. Like the people in Nazareth, Naaman did not expect his healing to happen like this. He expected the prophet to come out to him, call on the name of the Lord, wave his hand over the leprosy, and then he would be healed. But that is not what happened at all. So Naaman left angry and not healed. Do you see that Naaman’s expectations blocked the gift of healing that God was willing to work in his life? Thankfully, Naaman’s servants talk sense into Naaman so that he obeys the command and is healed (cf. 2 Kings 5:13-14).
Our Expectations
What expectations do we have of God? What do we think God has to do for us? But do we allow our expectations to keep us from drawing near to God and keep God from working in our lives because we do not believe? We can have expectations that God’s commands should not be hard to keep. We can expect that God will make our lives comfortable and easy. We can expect that God will keep us from suffering and trials. We can expect that God will heal when we pray. We can expect that God will answer our prayers immediately with only “yes” answers. We can expect God to make our lives make sense to us. We can expect God to make our lives go the way we want them to go, fitting the vision we have for ourselves. There are so many different ways that we can approach God with particular expectations. We can even have expectations about our salvation. Why would we have to stop the life of sin and change how we live? Why would we have to be baptized to be united to Christ? Why would we need to worship him? Why can’t I just say I love the Lord, offer a prayer, and continue doing what I want to do? We must really challenge ourselves to see if we are coming to Jesus with all of our expectations rather than coming to Jesus accepting him for him. Our great struggle is that we often try to put God in a box, trying to make God fit our mold and do what we want him to do. So many people missed out on Jesus because he was not what they expected. So many people miss out of Jesus today and what he can do for their lives because he does not match what they think he should do for them. What expectations do we have of God? What do we think God has to do for us? The problem is that we have it backward. It is not that we are to have expectations for God. God has expectations for us. We are not going to tell God what to do or how things are to be. God is going to tell us who he is, what we are to do, and how things are to be. This is part of what it means to submit to the Savior. This is part of what it means to take up our cross to follow him.
But I have one more challenge for us from this lesson. The challenge is for us to see how it is possible for our familiarity with God to cause us to lose our awe of him. The reason the people of Nazareth did not believe was because they were too familiar with Jesus. They knew him and his family. Jesus was common to them and he certainly could not be the promised Savior. We have a saying that familiarity breeds contempt. There is a danger that we can become so familiar with Jesus that we lose our awe and develop demands for him. We are no longer amazed at the good news but instead turn Jesus into routine and habit. Worship turns into a low bar of church attendance rather than being a life-giving, spirit-restoring time of worship. God becomes so familiar that we check boxes rather than connecting our hearts in songs, prayers, Lord’s Supper, and meditation of God’s word. God becomes a thing to go do rather than a life-changing experience. Being too familiar causes us to turn worship into what we get out of it rather than what we give to the Lord our awesome God. Has Jesus become so familiar to us that we like who he is and we like what he says, but it does not change how we live? Be amazed by Jesus but do not let your expectations of him keep you from having a life-changing relationship with him. Be amazed by Jesus’ words, but do not become so familiar with him that you lose your awe of the good news you have received which has brought you to this place to worship him.