St Philip & St James Church

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The Arrogance of Jesus. Nehemiah 8: 1-10 & Luke 4: 14-21

The book of Nehemiah recounts how the people of Israel, having been released from their exile in Babylon, returned to Jerusalem, rebuilt the city and began to gather together the fragments of their broken and dispersed nation.

They were a nation that had been deliberately destroyed and dispersed by the conquering might of the Babylonians.  For generations they had not been able to celebrate their festivals, to gather as a people.

But now they were returned home. And the people could gather. And they gathered and heard their Scriptures being read to them. And they wept.

But their leaders, Nehemiah and Ezra told them not to weep. They were to celebrate. Everything was going to be OK.

“This day is holy to our Lord,” they said, “do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

Hundreds of years later, Jesus, son of Joseph the carpenter, went to the synagogue in his home town on the Sabbath day.  When it was his turn to read the Scriptures, he read that bit in Isaiah where it says that the person who is anointed by God will come and everything will be OK.

On that day, so the prophet said, there will be good news for the poor, captives will be released, the blind will see, the oppressed will be liberated, because it will be the year of the Lord’s favour.

When he had finished reading the words of the prophet, Jesus, son of Joseph the carpenter, rolled up the scroll. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.  And Jesus boldly said, “That time is now. I am the Lord’s anointed. I hereby proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”

And some people thought he was being rather arrogant. After all he had been going around the countryside being praised by everyone. Healing the sick and whatnot. But he didn’t perform any healing miracles in his home town of Nazareth. He just talked about being the Lord’s anointed. Shooting his mouth off, you might say. So, the people of Nazareth tried to throw him off a cliff.

To be fair, he does sound rather arrogant. We sometimes talk about the humility of Jesus; his gentleness. We like humble, gentle Jesus. Well, let me introduce you to arrogant Jesus. Jesus who said he was the Lord’s anointed – the Son of God.

Epiphany is full of surprises. And we all like a surprise. 

As long as it is a nice surprise.

We like the story of the wise men, the foreigners from the east who are drawn to Jesus by a shining star.  We like that idea of people from across the world from different cultures being drawn together in this new and surprising way.  Arrogant Jesus reminds us that it is through him alone that they are drawn to God.

We like the story of the baptism of Jesus. Even though he is without sin, Jesus submits to the rite of baptism like the rest of us need to.  He comes alongside us in our sinfulness. He announces his intention to be with us in our sinfulness.  Arrogant Jesus reminds us what an astonishing act of love this is, how low he bends to come alongside us.

We like the story of the water being turned into wine. Jesus is the God of small things. He is concerned about the little mishaps that can create such embarrassment and conflict and shame in our lives. Just a simple thing like running out of wine at a wedding feast; even that is something that concerns him. And we can see in this story that when we do not have enough power and love, how his power and love can make up the difference so that all will be well. What a lovely story.

But arrogant Jesus prompts us to look more deeply. He points us to the symbolism of the water and the wine. The water was stored in large earthenware jars to clean things and purify them. We are always trying to purify things aren’t we, by washing them over and over again, scrubbing away our filth. But the wine symbolises the blood of Jesus. When we are washed in his blood we are purified for ever. The sins of the whole world are washed away, once and for all.  That is quite a claim that arrogant Jesus makes.

There is a quip usually ascribed to Winston Churchill. On being told that Clement Atlee was a very modest man, Churchill is alleged to have said, ‘Well, he has a lot to be modest about.’

One might apply this to Jesus and the perception of arrogance that the people of Nazareth had about him. Jesus has a lot to be arrogant about. Being the Lord’s anointed. Drawing all people to God through him. Giving himself to cleanse the whole world of sin. He isn’t really being arrogant. He is just telling us how it is.

When I was a student I studied very hard. I remember one time I had an exam in the morning and I came into the college bar to celebrate that this particular exam was over and done with.

A couple of friends, knowing that I had sat an exam that morning asked me sympathetically how it had gone. 

I told them it had gone really well. I had revised effectively. The right questions had come up. I had felt inspired as I wrote my answers. I thought I would probably get a first in that paper.

My friends laughed. You are not supposed to come out of an exam and say you think you got a first. It makes you sound arrogant. And makes you look stupid as well as arrogant if you are wrong.

But I thought I would ignore that convention and just tell them straight how I felt. Just tell them how it is. The beer I was drinking was a celebratory drink because it had gone well and I didn’t mind if my friends knew it. Like Nehemiah said, “Do not be grieved.”

We need some of that confident candour in the church. We need some of that straight talking. We need to say out loud how good the good news is.

Jesus is the anointed Son of God. He has come to proclaim the love of God. His Kingdom is at hand. Good news for the poor, he comes to open our eyes and set us free. Even as I speak, he is drawing all people to God through himself. The sin of the world has been defeated. Jesus has given himself to cleanse us of all our sin.

And so, we live as his hands, his feet, his mouth. We are his body. We abide in him. Our faith in him shapes everything we do, our thoughts, our words, our actions. 

We don’t take food to the foodbank and organise a toddler group and a singing group in order to justify ourselves in the eyes of this community. We aren’t apologising for having a funny set of antiquated religious beliefs but saying, ‘hey, look, on the plus side we do a lot of good work for people in need.’

Jesus Christ is the anointed Son of God. And we are his body, his physical presence in this place, his hands his feet, his mouth. We are not grieved. The joy of the Lord is our strength.

Feel that joy. Feel that strength. Let it fill your heart. Let if shape your life.

Page last updated: Monday 28th January 2019 11:39 AM
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