The Good, The Bad & The Ugly Response

Luke 4:16-30

Jesus comes to His hometown. Nazareth is gripped by expectancy as its most famous son returns – the news of His exploits elsewhere on everyone’s lips. He begins to read from the book of Isaiah – the message is all about ‘good news’. It’s a message of freedom & favour. The people love it, ‘All spoke well of him’ (v22). Jesus it seems has struck just the right note – everyone feels uplifted & encouraged. The speaker has been a hit – 'let’s make sure we get Him on the programme next year!'

But – CLUNK – Jesus doesn’t take the chance to say ‘Amen’ and hit the buffet on a high. No – He goes on and the atmosphere suddenly changes. The message becomes a little personal – it starts to challenge the congregation’s presumptions about who ‘Isaiah’s blessings’ are for. Jesus turns the screw on them – His words now are not so reassuring but warning and challenging. The response: ‘All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this’ (v28). And it had all been going so well….

Jesus is our model for ministry – He tells good news but doesn’t side-step the bad news. We want to have ministry that stops at v22 – so our sermons skip over v’s 23-27. We want the feel good verses so we read out a Psalm in church – but stop when we get to the verses about the wicked or wrath, etc.

If we adopt a church culture that is all about the nice stuff in God’s Word while missing out the tough stuff we will eventually develop an unBiblical worldview - a Christian worldview that is distorted, incomplete and wanting. So don't be afraid of ministry that isn’t all ‘pats on the back’ – you’ll be in good company!