After setting forth His mission statement (echoing the prophet Isaiah) in His hometown of Nazareth, Jesus encountered some opposition from the indignant townspeople. Jesus had announced the fulfillment of the Righteous Servant in Himself and that, just as God had displayed in sending Elijah and Elisha outside the Israelite flock, His ministry would expand beyond a tradition-bound and close-hearted Jewish people. The crowd at the synagogue then threatened to throw Him over a cliff in anger. Clearly, Jesus's words would divide people and cause them to make decisions on where their true conviction lay.
Today's passage chiefly covers a trip to Jerusalem to participate in a Jewish feast, perhaps the Passover. Jesus's work stands in the face of the Jewish leaders' preconceptions and invites significant disagreement. Though Jesus holds no office of spiritual authority, His very presence calls forth all the authority in the world. In light of the awesome power, the Jewish leaders' contentions appear like nitpicking. Had they become so enamored with their own "system" of religion (and "sub-system," as it pertains to theological questions such as the existence of a resurrection) that they failed to embrace a clear and present move of God.
In particular, what facets of Jesus's ministry call forth such opposition?
1. Lack of conformity. Jesus's disciples did not fast in the way that the religious leaders had prescribed and as John's disciples had. The power of inertial thinking had blinded the religious leaders to considering that they had replaced their system with a true relationship with God. As Jesus showed in His fellowship with broken people, we absolutely need a) humility, which leads to repentance, and b) God's grace ("unmerited favor") to receive His forgiveness and to begin a love relationship with God. Jesus slapped at the religious leaders' beliefs, defiantly explaining that "mercy" would trump "sacrifice" and that God had called "sinners" and not the "[self-]righteous."
2. Healing on the Sabbath. How dare the Son of God act in a manner contrary to the strict Sabbath observance that the Pharisees demanded? Jesus turns the conventional thinking on its head, arguing: "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath." He had declared Himself Lord over all. Yet, the religious leaders remained incredulous, not seeing that God desires to heal broken people (physical, emotional, and spiritual ailments alike) at all times and in all places. Their rules and regulations had wrested compassion from their hearts.
3. Announcing eternal life in His Name. Jesus calls upon God as His own Father and notes that "the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does." Furthermore, Jesus points to trust in the Father as the key to eternal life, not a religious system: "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man." The Saducees held that there is no resurrection, but Jesus clearly points that He is the living God Who would bring forth resurrection through His very word.
Today, we must consider: Will we keep preconceptions about what God can and can't do? Or will we embrace Him as He truly is, revealed through the testimony of His Word and through His Holy Spirit? Welcome to a great adventure in loving and honoring the living God!
QUESTIONS
1. What can you do to keep your spiritual life from becoming a series of lifeless formalities?
2. How can you embrace what God is doing in your life right now? How can you praise Him for that?
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