10-30 A Day at the Office with Jesus (1)

We've all experienced rejection, you have and I certainly have too. And the thing about rejection is that it hurts. Naturally we'd like people to like us and to accept us just the way we are. And depending on our different personality types that can be kind of more or less important.

To me it's a bit less important. I'm not naturally that concerned about what people think. I suppose it's how I'm wired. But I have to tell you, even with that sort of personality it can still hurt deeply this whole thing of being rejected. And the closer we are to people the more we've let them into our world and shared our lives with them, the more it hurts when they reject us.

Now we're spending a day at the office with Jesus today. No particular agenda except just getting our hearts and our minds around the reality of Jesus and who He is and what His life here on earth was like. I want Jesus to be real in my life because He's the one, the only one that can change my life and your life radically for the better.

He's the only one, this Jesus who came and suffered and died for you and me on that cross, who can bring forgiveness and healing, who can open the door so we can turn around and go back to God where we belong. Jesus, that's why He came, to set us free.

So I want this Jesus to be real and one of the real things that this man of sorrows, that's what the Bible calls Him, one of the real things He experienced was rejection. Lots of rejection but worst of all rejection of the people in Nazareth, His home town. The people He'd grown up with. So let's dive in a take a look. Luke chapter 4 beginning at verse 16:

"When Jesus came to Nazareth where He'd been brought up He went to the Synagogue on the Sabbath day as was His custom. He stood up to read and the scroll of the Prophet Isaiah was given to Him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind. To let the oppressed go free. To proclaim the year of the Lords favour.'

And He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of all in the Synagogue were fixed on Him. Then He began to say to them, 'Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing'. All spoke well of Him, they were amazed at the gracious words that came from His mouth. They said, 'Isn't that Josephs son?"

Now so far so good I guess but He's just made an outrageous claim. He's just stood up at the Synagogue in His own home town and claimed to be the messiah. The messiah they've all been waiting for, Gods anointed one. Just imagine how people would react if you or I did that at our own local Church this coming Sunday.

Well, what would they say? What would they think? What would they do? Well Jesus knew how they'd react so He dived straight into it, He confronts what they're thinking. Have a listen, Luke chapter 4 beginning at verse 23:

"He said to them, 'doubtless you will quote to me this Proverb. Doctor cure yourself. And you will say, do here also in your home town the things we have heard you did at Capernaum.' And He said, 'truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophets own town."

"But the truth is there are many widows in Israel at the time of Elijah when the heaven was shut up for three years and six months and there was a severe famine over all the land yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zaraphath in Sidon. There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the Prophet Elijah and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian."

"When they heard this all in the Synagogue were filled with rage. They got up, drove Him out of town and led Him to the brow of a hill on which their town was built so that they might hurl Him off the cliff. But He passed through the midst of them and went on His way."

So, there we are, a day at the office with Jesus. What's going on? What's the reality here? There's some serious strife down the local synagogue. Probably it was a Saturday like any other Saturday. At the Sabbath, the day of rest and worship. Everyone, well just about everyone in Nazareth is going to the Synagogue. That's what you did.

'I wonder who's preaching this week. Who's on the roster? Oh, Jesus. That should be interesting. I wonder what He's going to preach on. Oh well, lets head down to the Synagogue and find out.' So we sing some hymns from the Book of Psalms and we go through the liturgy of the service.

And then it comes to the bit where the preacher preaches and Jesus, Joseph and Mary's little boy. 'It was a bit of a scandal back then when He was born I recall. Remember Mary got pregnant while they were engaged.' Jesus, this carpenter, gets up to preach.

He does. He gets up, reads the passage from the Old Testament Book of Isaiah, fair enough, but then, then an apparent heresy comes out of His mouth.

"And He rolls up the scroll, gives it back to the attendants, sits down, the eyes of all in the Synagogue fixed on Him, then He begins to say to them. 'Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.' All spoke well of Him and were amazed at the gracious words that had come from His mouth. They said, 'isn't this Josephs son?"

It's just like you and me. Going to Church this Sunday and someone gets up and claims to be the messiah. Someone we know. Someone common like a carpenter or a plumber or a electrician, whatever. They get up and say, 'I'm it, I'm He, I'm the messiah, the one you've been waiting for.'

Well I guess it's not exactly the same thing because in Jesus case it was actually true. But they didn't know that, they didn't believe that. Up until now He's developed a good reputation. Solid, dependable young lad, a good carpenter. They'd been amazed at the words that came from His mouth. Good preacher, all that.

Some have heard about the baptisms, some were even there perhaps but this time, this time He's gone too far. Now what does Jesus do? Does He placate them? Does He soothe them? Does He explain Himself? Does He do some amazing miracle to prove beyond any shadow of a doubt that it's true? Does He pander to the crowd?

No. He doesn't skip a breathe before He launches into an inflammatory diatribe.

"Doubtless you will quote to me 'Doctor cure yourself'. And you'll say, 'do some miracles here like you did in Capernaum. And He said, 'truly I tell you a prophet isn't accepted in his home town."

And it almost gets Him killed. They wanted to throw Him off the cliff. If you've ever read this passage before have you ever wondered why did Jesus do this? Why didn't He just woo them and win them over and do some amazing miracle? Why did He have to launch into this condemnation of their unbelief?

Because He knew their hearts. They pretended to be so religious. Synagogue on the Sabbath, following the rules but right here under their noses is the Son of God and it doesn't matter what He did or what He said they weren't going to believe 'cause He was Joseph's son. So Jesus confronted the evil and the unbelief in their hearts and He dealt with it powerfully and with authority.

We want Jesus to be this soft cuddly saviour who panders to us, who panders to our every need. But we discover in Gods word that sometimes God has to confront the evil in our hearts. We discover He has to call a spade a spade and tell it the way it is.

God is love. Does Jesus love you and me? Absolutely. Yes, yes, yes. All those things but if we want to follow Jesus, if we want Him to be the overwhelming reality in our lives then we need to be prepared. Be prepared for Him to confront the evil in our hearts, be prepared for Him to confront the unbelief.

Sometimes that's hard. Sometimes it hurts. Sometimes we'd rather He wasn't like that but you spend at day at the office with Jesus and you discover that He is.