Just How Does One Evade a Lynch Mob?
May 25, 2018
Why did Jesus turn on them anyway in that Bible account at Luke 4? They (his hometown's people) had been very nice to him: "And they all began to give favorable witness about him and to be amazed at the gracious words coming out of his mouth." (vs 22) And then he turns around and insults them! - comparing them to lowlife Israelites that the prophets ignored so they could lavish attention on the widow of Zarephath and General Naaman,
It seems to be because they were patronizing him. He was the hometown boy what done good...he'd become a sensation...they'd heard great reports abroad, and they wanted a piece of him. In fact, they were put out that he had done his miracles elsewhere, and not started at home where they would drag out everyone with phyical complaint and he could do his vaudeville trick on them and make them well....just like he did in those others towns, only more so.
And here they are carrying on (same vs: 22) that "is this not the carpenter's son?" It can't have been easy for them to hear him stand up to give his talk at the synagogue, like he'd done many times before, quote Isaiah 61:1,2:
"The spirit of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah is upon me,
Because Jehovah anointed me to declare good news to the meek.
He sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And the wide opening of the eyes to the prisoners,To proclaim the year of Jehovah’s goodwill*
And the day of vengeance of our God,
To comfort all who mourn,"
and say: 'Right here. Right now. It's me,' even though he had the record and works to back it up; he was a nobody, a 'carpenter's son.' Alright, so he had learned some cool tricks abroad somehow...use them here! with your childhood townspeople!...but to go 'Messiah' on us is just too much.
As one brother pointed out last night at the meeting, they did get their miracle: When they sought to hurl the ungrateful upstart off a cliff, he got away by "passing through the midst of them." Just how does one pass through the midst of a mob seeking one's execution? I'll bet it's like that scene from Ben Hur (the Charlton Heston version) where the Roman soldier challenges Jesus (a fictional account) and then falls back at something he sensed in his manner or countenance.
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