The Shepherd Staff

And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read.  And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him: … “THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR.  HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD” … And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”  And all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips; and they were saying, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”

And He said, “Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown.  But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land; and yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.  And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”  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.  (Luke 4:16-19, 21-22, 25-34)

This response to Jesus, first hot then cold, took place in Jesus’ home village.  These Nazarenes went from “speaking well of Him and … (His) gracious words” to being “filled with rage,” all within about two minutes.  Obviously, Jesus had struck a nerve.

What is so interesting about this change from admiration to anger is that it did not take place when Jesus claimed to fulfill Messianic prophecy.  That apparently went right over their heads.  It was when Jesus pointed out that two of Israel’s most revered prophets ignored certain Jews who were in need of help in order to minister, instead, to Gentiles.  That is when they came unglued.

Most Jews rejected the idea that God cared about the Gentiles.  They believed He was only concerned about Israel.  As far as they were concerned, Gentiles were nothing but “dogs.”  This had been the attitude of the prophet Jonah toward the population of Nineveh; and this was the attitude within this synagogue.  How could God possibly love them, these pagan nations

• that had enslaved His chosen people while in Egypt …
• that had constantly oppressed them in the days of the Judges …
• that had constantly attacked them in the days of the kings …
• that had dragged them off, first into Assyrian captivity, then later into Babylonian captivity …
• and that now occupied their land by the hated Roman military!

Somewhere along the way, Israel lost sight of the heart of Yahweh, a longing He revealed in His covenant with their father Abraham:

In you all the families of the earth will be blessed.  (Genesis 12:3)

Somewhere along the way, they had abandoned the calling God had placed on them, to be a missionary nation:

God be gracious to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us … that Your way may be known on the earth, Your salvation among all nations.

Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You.

Let the nations be glad and sing for joy; for You will judge the peoples with uprightness and guide the nations on the earth.

Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You.

The earth has yielded its produce; God, our God, blesses us.  God blesses us, that all the ends of the earth may fear Him.  (Psalms 67:1-7)

We might call Psalm 67 Israel’s “Great Commission.”  It is their call to proclaim God’s salvation among “all the nations.”  But Nazareth had no love for “the nations on the earth.”  Few in Israel did.  Sometimes I wonder if the Church is any different.

Have you ever been in a conversation with a church member about Kim Jong-un (Supreme Leader of North Korea)?  If so, what was the general tone of that conversation?  Have we become nothing but a Church of Jonahs, wanting Nineveh (North Korea) to be destroyed; or do we want them to be saved?  Has patriotic zeal clouded the missionary heart of the New Testament Church?

Can you think of anyone you do not want God to save?  What exactly do we want for ISIS … or Al Qaeda … or Islamic terrorists … or Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad … or Russia’s president Vladimir Putin?  Do our churches have too much red, white and blue in them and not enough blood red?  Which kingdom occupies the heart of the Church?

Perhaps now might be a good time to pray that God would have mercy upon the eternal souls of your temporal country’s enemy.

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