Monday September 4, 2017
Why do the listeners of Jesus, who are initially appreciative of him, turn against him? David Bosch suggests that the clue to an answer lies in the point in Isaiah’s prophesy where Jesus stops reading and rolls up the scroll. Jesus ends at: “to announce the Lord’s year of mercy.” However, in Isaiah, the phrase actually says: “to announce the Lord’s year of mercy and his day of vengeance” (Is. 61:2). For the Jews of those times, whose history was replete with slavery, subjugation, and humiliation, the year of the Lord’s mercy was inseparable from the Lord’s day of vengeance on their enemies. Mercy for themselves, and vengeance on their enemies, were the two sides of the same coin, the deepest desire of a nation that had suffered long. But Jesus would dare to break the inseparable phrase and end with the announcement of mercy, period. Vengeance was not his mission. Revenge was not an option in his Gospel. Thus, as he kept on speaking of God’s grace, his audience grew upset and angry. Jesus was challenging the unquestioned ethos of their nation. No wonder they wanted to kill him.
Jesus would not comprise his Gospel: to appease people or save his life. Would you?
