Epiphany 4
Preaching
Preaching Luke's Gospel
A Narrative Approach
The text assigned for the Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany overlaps the text appointed for the Third Sunday after the Epiphany. The text for the Third Sunday ended with, and the text for the Fourth Sunday begins with, v. 21: "Then he (Jesus) began to say to them, 'Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.' " We have commented above on the importance of this verse in terms of Jesus' self-identification. Jesus understood himself as the Spirit Bearer promised of old. Jesus understood himself as Spirit Bearer, as Son of God whose life was to be given for the poor, the captives, the blind, and the oppressed.
So far, so good. But now the mood changes in the story told by Luke. The One who had come to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord is not acceptable to his own people! "Isn't this Joseph's son?" they queried. In his commentary on Luke, David Tiede writes that this question on the lips of the people is the dramatic hinge of the narrative. Up until this story in Luke's telling people had come to faith in the workings of God toward the birth of a Son. Zechariah believed, though his faith was slow in coming. Mary asked simply that God's word of promise be done to her. Elizabeth and Simeon and Anna believed. Jesus' hometown folk, however, did not be-lieve! Their question could sound neutral enough. "Isn't this Joseph's son?" Jesus' reply to their question, however, makes it clear that their question was a question of unbelief.
In his book, Prophecy and History in Luke-Acts, David Tiede makes much of this passage of rejection.1 At the time that Luke wrote his Gospel, he maintains, there were many questions in the air about God's promises to Israel. Things did not appear to have worked out the way Israel's hopes would have preferred. There was rejection on every hand! But why? Why must a prophet be rejected in his own country (4:24)? (See also the immediate rejection of the prophet [Jesus] by the Samaritans: 9:51-56.) The fact of the matter is, however, that people did not accept Jesus' identification of his own mission. That's why this prophet is not acceptable in his own country. This rejection of Jesus and his mission continues as a theme in Luke-Acts until its very last pages: Acts 28:23-31. Luke concludes his entire story with the word that the telling of the story, preaching and teaching the kingdom of God, will be carried on. The end of Luke's two-volume work, that is, leaves the final question of belief and unbelief up to us. The preaching is still going on. Will we have faith?
In answer to the question about his parental origin Jesus identifies himself as a prophet. (The Lukan theme of Jesus as prophet is discussed in Luke 7:11-17.) Jesus states it as a fact that prophets have never been accepted in their own country. To prove his point he tells stories of two such prophets. Notice how Jesus answered the questions of the people. He told stories. Jesus thought in stories! In his first story Jesus pointed out that Elijah could only miraculously produce food for a woman in the land of Sidon at a time of great drought (1 Kings 17:8-16). Elisha could only perform healing powers on a Syrian named Naaman (2 Kings 5:1-19). Unbelief, that is, is nothing new! It's been around for a long time. Prophets, those bearing the word of God, are not acceptable in their own home countries!
Unbelief grows apace in the Lukan narrative. The Pharisees appear as leading spokespersons for those who doubt. They raise questions about Jesus' every move: 5:17-26, 21; 5:29-39, 30, 33; 6:1-11, 2, 7, 11. The first reaction to Jesus among the Samaritans is the same as the first reaction of his own townspeople. Neither would they receive him (9:51-56)! The end result of this whole process of unbelief, of course, is that the Son of Man must suffer. Unbelief finally got Jesus killed.
Satan had a hand in this, too. We remember that after tempting Jesus the devil left him and waited for a more opportune time. In Luke 22:3 we read that the devil entered Judas Iscariot. A more opportune time indeed! Judas betrayed Jesus. Jesus was handed over to the authorities. There was a trial, a conviction, and a cruci-fixion. Truly, a prophet has no honor in his own country!
Homiletical Directions
This week's text from Luke 4 is an ideal time to preach on faith and unbelief. Story One would be the story from today's text. The focus of the telling would be on the unbelief of Jesus' friends and neighbors. You might imaginatively expand the story in your telling by describing certain kinds of people who had known Jesus all their lives. Now they sit in the synagogue and hear him say that he is the fulfillment of the word of the prophets; he is the fulfillment of scriptural promise. They hear, but they cannot believe. "Isn't this Joseph's son?" Jesus' friends and neighbors do not believe. They do not believe the words Jesus speaks! They do not believe that the Spirit of the Lord is upon this son of a car-penter. They do not believe that this day Holy Scripture is fulfilled in their hearing.
Story Two might recall the story of Zechariah and Mary in Luke 1. (See Chapter 1 for our earlier comments on Zechariah and Mary.) In this week's text unbelief raises its ugly head in a very serious way for the first time in Luke's story. Before this we heard of faithful responses to God's words of promise. Zechariah did not believe the words of promise right away. Zechariah is kind of the patron saint of all who come slowly to faith. Zechariah's unbelief is described precisely. "You did not believe my words," Gabriel says to Zechariah when Zechariah wanted to know how God was going to fulfill God's promise (Luke 1:20). This is pre-cisely the problem with the people in Nazareth. They did not believe the words they had heard from Jesus' mouth. Zechariah's unbelief was temporary. Once the child was born his tongue was set loose and he burst forth in song (1:67-79).
Unlike Zechariah, Mary believed right away. Her faith is also defined in precise language. "Let it be with me according to your word," Mary said upon hearing the word of promise from the lips of the angel Gabriel (1:38). Faith believes the word that it hears. Unbelief does not believe the word that it hears. So it was in the synagogue in Nazareth when Jesus read from the prophet Isaiah.
Story One and Two of our sermon are complete. We may need to pause here to catch the big picture. Luke's story begins as a story of the faithful, as a story of those who believe what they hear. In Nazareth unbelief appears for the first time in the story. We referred above to the Pharisees as those who follow up the Nazareth unbelief with unbelieving questions of their own. They didn't believe the words Jesus said either. Nor did the Samaritans (9:51-56). Nor did those whose unbelief led to Jesus' betrayal, trial, and crucifixion.
Story Three might be the story that follows today's text: 4:31-37. It is a story that demonstrates the power of the word that Jesus incarnates. There was a man in the synagogue with an unclean demon. The man with the demon shouted at Jesus. "Be silent and come out of him," Jesus said. And the demon came out. When Jesus speaks, demons listen. "What kind of utterance is this?" the people said. "For with authority and power he commands the un-clean spirits and out they come" (4:31-37)! Jesus' word has power because he is God's Word incarnate! As God's Word incarnate Jesus is the author of our faith.
A theological summary of where we have been would go like this: Faith is created by the words that come forth from the mouth of God. Faith is created by the words that come forth from the mouth of God's Son. Faith is created by the word of God incarnate in Jesus Christ.
Story Four could focus on Acts 28:23-31. This is the end of the story as Luke tells it. Unbelief is still a problem, especially for the Jews who hear but never understand, who see but never per-ceive. So the message of God's Word incarnate must be taken to the Gentiles. Luke's two-volume work ends in preaching, ends in the telling of the story to the Gentiles, ends in the telling of the story to us. The final question of Luke's story, therefore, is the question of belief or unbelief addressed to us.
Today Jesus speaks to us. He says to us what he said to the people in Nazareth long ago: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. I am God's word of promise to you. I fulfill the promises of Scripture for you. I have come to set you free from all that oppresses you. I have come to set you free from the powers of sin. I have come to set you free from the powers of death. I have come to set you free from the powers of the devil."
"What kind of utterance is this? For with authority ..." he speaks! (4:36).
Such a sermon might end with a prayer to the Holy Spirit to enable us to believe the words that we have heard.
____________
1.aDavid Tiede, Prophecy and History in Luke-Acts (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1980), Chapter 2.
So far, so good. But now the mood changes in the story told by Luke. The One who had come to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord is not acceptable to his own people! "Isn't this Joseph's son?" they queried. In his commentary on Luke, David Tiede writes that this question on the lips of the people is the dramatic hinge of the narrative. Up until this story in Luke's telling people had come to faith in the workings of God toward the birth of a Son. Zechariah believed, though his faith was slow in coming. Mary asked simply that God's word of promise be done to her. Elizabeth and Simeon and Anna believed. Jesus' hometown folk, however, did not be-lieve! Their question could sound neutral enough. "Isn't this Joseph's son?" Jesus' reply to their question, however, makes it clear that their question was a question of unbelief.
In his book, Prophecy and History in Luke-Acts, David Tiede makes much of this passage of rejection.1 At the time that Luke wrote his Gospel, he maintains, there were many questions in the air about God's promises to Israel. Things did not appear to have worked out the way Israel's hopes would have preferred. There was rejection on every hand! But why? Why must a prophet be rejected in his own country (4:24)? (See also the immediate rejection of the prophet [Jesus] by the Samaritans: 9:51-56.) The fact of the matter is, however, that people did not accept Jesus' identification of his own mission. That's why this prophet is not acceptable in his own country. This rejection of Jesus and his mission continues as a theme in Luke-Acts until its very last pages: Acts 28:23-31. Luke concludes his entire story with the word that the telling of the story, preaching and teaching the kingdom of God, will be carried on. The end of Luke's two-volume work, that is, leaves the final question of belief and unbelief up to us. The preaching is still going on. Will we have faith?
In answer to the question about his parental origin Jesus identifies himself as a prophet. (The Lukan theme of Jesus as prophet is discussed in Luke 7:11-17.) Jesus states it as a fact that prophets have never been accepted in their own country. To prove his point he tells stories of two such prophets. Notice how Jesus answered the questions of the people. He told stories. Jesus thought in stories! In his first story Jesus pointed out that Elijah could only miraculously produce food for a woman in the land of Sidon at a time of great drought (1 Kings 17:8-16). Elisha could only perform healing powers on a Syrian named Naaman (2 Kings 5:1-19). Unbelief, that is, is nothing new! It's been around for a long time. Prophets, those bearing the word of God, are not acceptable in their own home countries!
Unbelief grows apace in the Lukan narrative. The Pharisees appear as leading spokespersons for those who doubt. They raise questions about Jesus' every move: 5:17-26, 21; 5:29-39, 30, 33; 6:1-11, 2, 7, 11. The first reaction to Jesus among the Samaritans is the same as the first reaction of his own townspeople. Neither would they receive him (9:51-56)! The end result of this whole process of unbelief, of course, is that the Son of Man must suffer. Unbelief finally got Jesus killed.
Satan had a hand in this, too. We remember that after tempting Jesus the devil left him and waited for a more opportune time. In Luke 22:3 we read that the devil entered Judas Iscariot. A more opportune time indeed! Judas betrayed Jesus. Jesus was handed over to the authorities. There was a trial, a conviction, and a cruci-fixion. Truly, a prophet has no honor in his own country!
Homiletical Directions
This week's text from Luke 4 is an ideal time to preach on faith and unbelief. Story One would be the story from today's text. The focus of the telling would be on the unbelief of Jesus' friends and neighbors. You might imaginatively expand the story in your telling by describing certain kinds of people who had known Jesus all their lives. Now they sit in the synagogue and hear him say that he is the fulfillment of the word of the prophets; he is the fulfillment of scriptural promise. They hear, but they cannot believe. "Isn't this Joseph's son?" Jesus' friends and neighbors do not believe. They do not believe the words Jesus speaks! They do not believe that the Spirit of the Lord is upon this son of a car-penter. They do not believe that this day Holy Scripture is fulfilled in their hearing.
Story Two might recall the story of Zechariah and Mary in Luke 1. (See Chapter 1 for our earlier comments on Zechariah and Mary.) In this week's text unbelief raises its ugly head in a very serious way for the first time in Luke's story. Before this we heard of faithful responses to God's words of promise. Zechariah did not believe the words of promise right away. Zechariah is kind of the patron saint of all who come slowly to faith. Zechariah's unbelief is described precisely. "You did not believe my words," Gabriel says to Zechariah when Zechariah wanted to know how God was going to fulfill God's promise (Luke 1:20). This is pre-cisely the problem with the people in Nazareth. They did not believe the words they had heard from Jesus' mouth. Zechariah's unbelief was temporary. Once the child was born his tongue was set loose and he burst forth in song (1:67-79).
Unlike Zechariah, Mary believed right away. Her faith is also defined in precise language. "Let it be with me according to your word," Mary said upon hearing the word of promise from the lips of the angel Gabriel (1:38). Faith believes the word that it hears. Unbelief does not believe the word that it hears. So it was in the synagogue in Nazareth when Jesus read from the prophet Isaiah.
Story One and Two of our sermon are complete. We may need to pause here to catch the big picture. Luke's story begins as a story of the faithful, as a story of those who believe what they hear. In Nazareth unbelief appears for the first time in the story. We referred above to the Pharisees as those who follow up the Nazareth unbelief with unbelieving questions of their own. They didn't believe the words Jesus said either. Nor did the Samaritans (9:51-56). Nor did those whose unbelief led to Jesus' betrayal, trial, and crucifixion.
Story Three might be the story that follows today's text: 4:31-37. It is a story that demonstrates the power of the word that Jesus incarnates. There was a man in the synagogue with an unclean demon. The man with the demon shouted at Jesus. "Be silent and come out of him," Jesus said. And the demon came out. When Jesus speaks, demons listen. "What kind of utterance is this?" the people said. "For with authority and power he commands the un-clean spirits and out they come" (4:31-37)! Jesus' word has power because he is God's Word incarnate! As God's Word incarnate Jesus is the author of our faith.
A theological summary of where we have been would go like this: Faith is created by the words that come forth from the mouth of God. Faith is created by the words that come forth from the mouth of God's Son. Faith is created by the word of God incarnate in Jesus Christ.
Story Four could focus on Acts 28:23-31. This is the end of the story as Luke tells it. Unbelief is still a problem, especially for the Jews who hear but never understand, who see but never per-ceive. So the message of God's Word incarnate must be taken to the Gentiles. Luke's two-volume work ends in preaching, ends in the telling of the story to the Gentiles, ends in the telling of the story to us. The final question of Luke's story, therefore, is the question of belief or unbelief addressed to us.
Today Jesus speaks to us. He says to us what he said to the people in Nazareth long ago: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. I am God's word of promise to you. I fulfill the promises of Scripture for you. I have come to set you free from all that oppresses you. I have come to set you free from the powers of sin. I have come to set you free from the powers of death. I have come to set you free from the powers of the devil."
"What kind of utterance is this? For with authority ..." he speaks! (4:36).
Such a sermon might end with a prayer to the Holy Spirit to enable us to believe the words that we have heard.
____________
1.aDavid Tiede, Prophecy and History in Luke-Acts (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1980), Chapter 2.
