I
pick up Luke’s narrative well into the fourth chapter of his Gospel, where we find a man attending a Synagogue service in the ill-thought-of community of Nazareth, not far from the Sea of Galilee. Earlier chapters
provide back story which puts the reader in
the know; but I begin here to underscore the fact that those who watched
him that Saturday knew very little of that back story.
Here
is what they did know.
- He was a hometown boy.
- He was beginning to get a name for himself.
- He might put on a show.
Here
is what a few others in attendance may also have known.
- Some thirty-year-old stories about something weird happening when he was born somewhere… (A gravely old voice chimes in: “I think it was Bethlehem or some’ere ‘round those parts.”)
- And also a few confusing reports about something odd involving him and "that there prophet who’s baptizin’ folks down Jordan way.”
There
are many themes we could pursue from this point on. One would be the likelihood
that Luke wrote this Gospel and the Book of Acts to vindicate the ministry of
the Apostle Paul. Of all of Paul’s companions Luke was with him the longest –
right up to the day Paul died. On the other hand, we could trace the westward
movement the Holy Spirit developed in Luke’s writings.
The
purpose of these devotionals, however, is to put ourselves among the Jew and Gentile
population of Israel as they are faced with two decisive features about this man’s presence: first, those things which hinted loudly as to who he was; and second, those things which revealed the extent of his authority because of who he was. Those were (and are) the matters which made him mysteriously fascinating and frightening. We who profess to know him by faith are good
with the identity; but I’m not sure we properly address the authority.
NEXT: Did He Just Say What I Think He Said?
SERIES INDEX The Mysterious Footprint of Godliness
PREVIOUS: Do We Forget the Mystery?
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