Luke 4:16-30 (NIV)

When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures. The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.” He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently. Then he began to speak to them. “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!” Everyone spoke well of him and was amazed by the gracious words that came from his lips. “How can this be?” they asked. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” Then he said, “You will undoubtedly quote me this proverb: ‘Physician, heal yourself’—meaning, ‘Do miracles here in your hometown like those you did in Capernaum.’ But I tell you the truth, no prophet is accepted in his own hometown. “Certainly there were many needy widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the heavens were closed for three and a half years, and a severe famine devastated the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them. He was sent instead to a foreigner—a widow of Zarephath in the land of Sidon. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, but the only one healed was Naaman, a Syrian.” When they heard this, the people in the synagogue were furious. Jumping up, they mobbed him and forced him to the edge of the hill on which the town was built. They intended to push him over the cliff, but he passed right through the crowd and went on his way.

Every time I read this passage of scripture, it bothers me. Based on what we know, this would seem to be Jesus’ first sermon. He preached it in his hometown amongst his own family and friends. And yet every time I read this it seems to me like Jesus deliberately provoked the people there.

”Then he said, “You will undoubtedly quote me this proverb: ‘Physician, heal yourself’—meaning, ‘Do miracles here in your hometown like those you did in Capernaum.’ But I tell you the truth, no prophet is accepted in his own hometown. “ (Vs 23-24)

The thing that I find so puzzling about this is that the verse immediately before this statement talks about how the people were amazed by him.

”Everyone spoke well of him and was amazed by the gracious words that came from his lips. “How can this be?” they asked. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” (Vs 22)

So why did Jesus turn around right then and poke the bear? After all, poking the bear doesn’t seem to be the best way to start a ministry or gain a following.

I will confess, I love to poke the bear. I love to play devil’s advocate and stir things up. I love to throw things out there just to see what will happen. I don’t do this just to create trouble, I love the discussions and debates that arise from it. I love hearing the wheels turn in other people’s minds (as well as my own) as they really think through a topic. I enjoy hearing ideas different than my own and examining them to see which parts have merit, what I agree with, etc.

But why did Jesus poke the bear? I think that part of the answer to this question is that Jesus, by this point was filled with the Holy Spirit. I also think He was fully God and fully man, so He knew the desires of their hearts. He knew what they would say before they said it. So He headed them off.

Jesus shows us over and over again that He was more concerned that people hear and understand the truth than He was about gaining followers. At this time in the history of Israel, much had been added to the original message God gave them. Not content with the 10 Commandments and the Law of Moses, the Pharisees had added many laws of their own to those God had expressly given them. There was so much emphasis on the rules that they seemed to have forgotten about the relationship. God wanted more from them than just good behavior, God wanted to know them.

Jesus wanted them to think. He knew that “poking the bear” would bring out what was really in their hearts and He wanted them to see it. There really were at least two possible responses to Jesus’ words. The people could have gotten angry at the thought that anyone would go to those outside of Israel, which is what they did, or they could have stopped to think about their original calling to be God’s ambassadors to the surrounding nations. Warren Wiersbe once said in reference to the discussion of the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart, “… for the same sun that melts the ice also hardens the clay. It all depends on the nature of the material.” The same is true here. The poke would either reveal anger or compassion…

The focus in Israel seems have changed as well. When God called Israel to be His chosen people, His desire was for them to be His ambassadors to the Gentiles sharing the message of God that was intended for all people. Israel, however, took pride in their status. They became self-centered and closed themselves off from the rest of the world. As Jesus pointed out to them these specific miracles, He was reminding them that God’s message was for all people and that part of His mission was to go to the Gentiles. That is what really got the people angry.

Don’t we do the same thing? We don’t want to get to know “those people” because they don’t: look like, act like, talk like, or think like us. Yet, as Christians, we are called to be in the world and not of it. Most of us, myself included, seem to prefer creating our own little worlds within our world and try to ignore the greater world just outside our doors.

I can say this because it is my life. If you were to examine my life, you would see that as a stay at home mom, my first responsibility is to my family. Then you would notice that I spend much of the rest of my time, teaching Sunday School, leading Preschool Choir at church, singing in the choir, reading Christian books for my Christian book club, and studying my Bible. I tell you this not to toot my own horn but to point out that, although these are all good things, by the time I do them I don’t have much time left to cultivate relationships outside the church. Like Israel, I find often myself inside my little bubble.

I think Jesus was saying to them. Yes, I am your son, your brother, your friend, but I am not only here for you. I am also here for the leper, the widow, the Samaritan woman, and the Roman Centurion. Maybe Jesus, by poking the bear, was actually issuing an invitation to them. Maybe he was telling them that He would not be joining them in their little bubble, but He very much wanted them to join Him in His big world.

Will you accept Jesus’ invitation? What are some of the ways you can get out of your little bubble?