Throwing Jesus Off A Cliff

If you consider yourself “human” (which I have yet to receive any hits on this blog outside the sphere of our planet), then we should never be surprised as to how people react when they feel threatened, hurt, offended, or angry. It’s not that I am advocating that some of those reactions are justified or warranted, but I am simply expressing the fact that when it comes to our humanity, all of us are capable of doing things which are beyond the confines of what we would consider “normal behavior.” For instance, take an incident which happened around two thousand years ago in which an unruly mob decided that they had enough of someone’s banter and they decided to do something about it. Unfortunately, this someone was Jesus. Luke 4:29 describes their reaction as being “They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built in order to throw him off the cliff.” Apparently, the ministry of Jesus to his hometown synagogue did not result in the congregation having that “kumbaya” feeling that is so prevalent in the church of today. This is the “loving and kind” Jesus! The One who “would never say anything to hurt us and make us uncomfortable” Jesus! What could He had possibly said or done that would cause these callously violent individuals to throw Him off of a cliff?

When Jesus came to the synagogue, He announced the fulfillment of what the prophets of the Old Testament testified of who one day would come to install God’s kingdom on earth. As Jesus quoted Isaiah 61 in saying “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me…” (Luke 4:18), the statement and all of the connotations with it echoed the anticipated arrival of the Messiah. Jesus’ action to open and close the scroll and then sitting down, verified his authoritative claim of “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21)----and this is where the problems began. The response was typical of a Sunday morning church crowd in many churches of today, “That was a nice message” and then “let’s critic the pastor!” Those in the synagogue “were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips” (Luke 4:22). There was a great sense of “wondering” why Jesus said what he said and furthermore, appeared to assign himself to the role of Messiah. Their response of “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” was more like our modern day response of “who does he think he is?” They had already heard the reports of what Jesus had done in fulfilling the Scripture which he announced from Isaiah 61 (Luke 4:23) and now, He began to expose the content of their faithless hearts (v.23-27).

As one reads Luke 4:16-30, the question of “Why didn’t they believe Jesus?” comes to mind. Sure, they knew Him as Joseph and Mary’s son, but they also heard of the teachings, healings, and the power of God that flowed through His life. Ironically, many in the church have heard the same stories about Jesus. They know all about who He is and what He has done, and yet, they still have so much unbelief! The problem is simple: “familiarity breeds contempt.” The church of today loves its comfortable and predictable setting. Ours is a world of enjoyable sermons that allow us to sit week after week in the church pew and never be confronted with the truth of needing to submit our lives under the lordship of Christ. We don’t see Jesus as the KING but we see Him as someone just like us and when He asks of us more than what we are willing to give, we no longer want “that kind of Jesus” in our midst!

The Jesus that came to Nazareth was an all too familiar face to those in the synagogue. Because of that, there was no room for Jesus to assert the authority of being Messiah in their lives. Jesus explained to them that those who understood the authority of the prophetic word and chose to submit to it were propelled into a life of freedom (Luke 4:24-27). Jesus said, “Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor” (Matthew 13:57) and the result is that Jesus did “not do many miracles there because their lack of faith” (v.58). Week after week the people of God sit in God’s house and many are not moved by the Spirit of the Lord. We causally stroll into our seats with coffee cups in hand as if we are going to an entertainment venue and we prepare ourselves to go through the same old familiar routine that we do week after week. We’ve mastered the art of being able to have our brain in two places of concentration at the same time (perhaps this is the only supernatural thing that happens in our churches) as we are able to simultaneously read the bulletin while absorbing the truths from the Word of God. We know that the Jesus of “our church” would never point out our weaknesses, flaws, and God forbid, say anything about our “sin.” And if by chance, He would venture through the message of the pastor or a word through the worship leader to “offend” us, then we do what all respectable mature children of God do-----throw Jesus off a cliff!

If we truly want the answer of why we do not see more of the power of God in the church of today we may want to look at the depths of our own hearts. The Spirit of God is not being poured out in power because we do not allow Jesus to be the One who He claims to be! If we actually believed that He is Lord and King then we would cease doing much of the things we do. We would no longer remain the same people we have remained week after week in the church. There would be no such thing as “offense” and when we gathered together for worship, there would be a reverent awe that would fill the church rather than the smell of coffee and the chatter of the latest sporting events. People would not look bored out of their skulls but they would approach the throne of grace with humility, gratitude, and a love for Christ. Furthermore, all agendas would cease except for the one that says, “We just want to glorify our King.” In the end, we truly have to ask ourselves if we want Jesus to be the One who He claimed to be for our lives or are we content with believing something about Him that he never claimed to be? Jesus is not your “friend.” He is not someone who can stoop to that level of familiarity in your life. He cannot be reduced to just another face in the crowd of people in your life----HE IS THE KING OF KING AND LORD OF LORDS! And either you must accept that and respond accordingly or you will continually attempt to rid of his presence in your life by trying to throw Him off of a cliff. If you choose the latter, you will certainly experience what many are experiencing in the Body of Christ, “…he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.” (Luke 4:30).