What If Jesus Was Our Guest Preacher?

Luke 4:16-30

16He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

18“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
          because he has anointed me
          to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
          and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
          19to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

20Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

22All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked.

23Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’ ”

24“Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown. 25I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. 26Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. 27And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.”

28All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. 29They 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. 30But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.

What If Jesus Was Our Guest Preacher?

We’ve been enjoying this new phenomenon here at St. Peter recently. You’ve been seeing faces other than mine stand in front and lead worship. We extended a call to Pastor Schultz in the fall to preach for us once a month. Over Christmas we were privileged to have 2 other pastors from 2 other countries preach God’s Word. Not to give it all away, but there’s more to come in the future too.

Guest preachers are great – not just because it allows me to sit with my family once a month, but because they allow us all to hear different perspectives, to capitalize on different experiences, to shake us out of routines that can feel locked in or stuck in a rut.

What if I told you that Jesus was going to be our guest preacher today? Would you be excited to hear him? I would! I can’t think of a better person to preach. What do you think that’d be like? What do you think he’d say? What would you be like – walking in the door, sitting in those seats – if you knew that Jesus was going to be your guest preacher today? Would you be able to sit still? Would you be on the edge of your seat? Would you be able to wipe the silly smirk off your face? I don’t know if I could.

As hard as it may be for us to imagine, that was the exact scenario we read about in our Gospel for today. Jesus was going on his guest preaching tour of Galilee, and on one particular Saturday, he found himself at the same synagogue he went to as a little boy. Only now, instead of eating cheerios out of a Ziploc baggie with his mom and dad, Jesus was standing up and reading Scripture, sitting down to explain and apply it to the same people who watched him grow up.

I don’t know that Jesus was nervous, but his presence and his preaching caused a stir and he was prepared for it. He was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He read a couple verses, and preached a compelling sermon. Then Luke tells us:

The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him.[1]

All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips.[2]

So far, so good, right? This is exactly what every pastor wants – his people’s attention and a favourable disposition. It’s brutal when folks are falling asleep or scowling at you with their arms crossed. Jesus had his hometown’s attention and approval.

At least that’s what it seemed like at first, until they opened their mouths and spoiled the whole thing with 4 words:

“Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”[3]

Maybe you could consider this a compliment (e.g. “Look how far he’s come!”), if it weren’t for the insight into their very souls that Jesus shares next:

Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’”[4]

Jesus had just declared himself to be the fulfilment of a 700-year-old prophecy of good news and freedom and recovery, and the sentiment he got back from the people he proclaimed that to was essentially, “Prove it.” The reason their eyes were fastened on him was because they were looking at him with the same anticipation a child has looking at a circus clown making balloon animals. They wanted a spectacle. All they could see was Joseph’s son. And it was beneath them.

It's too late for today, but if I told you that Jesus was going to be the guest preacher next week, would you come to church with a little more pep in your step than you did today? Don’t get me wrong, I would not only understand your excitement; I’d share it. But I think we should all ask ourselves this question – if Jesus was going to be our guest preacher next week, what would we expect him to say or do that’s any different than what we’re saying and doing today?

Jesus isn’t your guest preacher today, and I didn’t grow up in this congregation, but are we faced with the same temptation – not just today, but every week that we gather for worship? The temptation to evaluate how worship went based on the success – or lack thereof – of the preacher or the pianist or the PowerPoint operator? Are you disappointed if we sing a song you don’t like? Do you feel let down if you can anticipate what the pastor is going to say next? Does it happen to you, like it does to me, that when your personal devotion plan is based on a Scripture passage you’ve heard a hundred times before, your eyes kind of glaze over and you’ve already moved on with your day before you’ve finished devoting time with your God?

Has your become salvation passe? Is the gospel tired? Is Jesus being the fulfilment of God’s prophecies of good news and freedom and recovery old hat? Well then, first of all, consider yourself blessed beyond measure that you’ve heard it enough times for it to be old hat, because there are still masses of people searching for what you take for granted; there are throngs of people longing to learn things you’ve forgotten in your faith. More than that, listen to the gospel again, because I’m convinced that if Jesus were our guest preacher, he wouldn’t say or do much more than he did in Nazareth:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”[5]

We are the poor, blind prisoners. We put our poverty of soul on full display when we evaluate the success of a worship service, personal devotion, the ministry of our congregation on anything other than whether God’s Word was faithfully proclaimed and the good news of salvation received top billing.

We can see our spiritual blindness when we fasten our eyes on Jesus for anything, everything other than the one thing he came to give us, i.e. when we look to him to perform the same miracles in our lives that we’ve heard he’s done for others. Why didn’t he heal my dad? Why didn’t he spare my granddaughter? Why can’t he wave his magic wand and fix my problem?

We show ourselves to be prisoners of our own sinful selfish entitlement when his gospel isn’t enough for us. When we think the glorious repetition of the good news of his love for us is beneath us.

And see, that’s the amazing thing about this passage, isn’t it? None of this was beneath Jesus! We heard it in the first verse:

He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom.[6]

Why would the all-knowing Son of God from all eternity stoop so low as to put himself under the spiritual leadership of sinful humans, whose knowledge is puny in comparison to his? Why would the Word of God in human flesh make it his custom, to do it repeatedly, to put himself through the pain of listening to people who barely understand the surface of his Scripture tell him how it is?

Because God’s Word is greater than the mouth that proclaims it. The good news we get to hear every week can overcome any stumble I have in announcing it. And if Jesus never tired of hearing it, then how could we?

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”[7]

God sent Jesus to proclaim good news to you – to speak to the soul in you that desires good things and give you the best news of all, i.e. that he’s your Saviour from yourself, that he’s delivered you from your discontentment and reminded you of the magnitude of God’s love for you. God loved you so much that he sent his Son to love his Word the way that you should; he never thought it was beneath him; he made it his custom to hear it every week, even though he knew it all before.

God loves you so much that he sent his Son into a world where he’d not only be rejected by his own friends and neighbours, but he sent Jesus into a world where they’d try – and eventually succeed – to kill him. He sent his Son to fail in the most painful way imaginable, so that he could succeed in paying the price for your sin and forgive you forever – to free you from sin and guilt and shame and your own sinful nature.

God loves you so much that he still sends his Son to open your eyes through the truth of his Word to know his love and cherish it the way he does you – to open your eyes to the precious privilege we have to listen to this good news, week in and week out, no matter who is standing up front, to read our Bibles at home and listen to our devotional podcasts on our way to work, knowing that it all directs our attention above, where we can fasten our eyes on Jesus and see the grace and favour and love of our God for us forever every day.

We don’t need to see miracles to know God’s power. We don’t need impressive preaching or concert-quality music to know God’s glory. We don’t even need to see Jesus with our own eyes to know God’s love. We have his Word. It hasn’t changed since you first heard it. It hasn’t changed since Jesus proclaimed it in Nazareth or Isaiah prophesied it 700 years before that. But that doesn’t make it boring or beneath us. It makes it beautiful and a blessing we get to revisit every week by his grace through Jesus Christ our Lord. May we never grow tired or take it for granted, but always be grateful for the gracious good news that Jesus was anointed to proclaim 2,000 years ago and continues to bring to us today and every day we hear his Word. Amen.

[1] Luke 4:20

[2] Luke 4:22

[3] Ibid

[4] Luke 4:23

[5] Luke 4:18,19

[6] Luke 4:16

[7] Luke 4:18,19

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What Are Your Expectations of Jesus?

John 2:1-11

1 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. 2 Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”

4 “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”

5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.

7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.

8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”

They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”

11 What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

What Are Your Expectations of Jesus?

Firsts are important. We remember them. First words. First steps. First kisses. First cars. First jobs. First apartments. And while they don’t dictate the course of the rest of our lives, they can be quite telling, especially in hindsight. You may not have realized at the moment that you had a type – whether that be of the kind of car you like to drive or the type of work you like to do. Firsts are important. And firsts can be very telling.

The same can be said for Jesus’ first miracle. It was important, and it was very telling. It was important for his mother, for his disciples, for those servants, for the bride and the groom and their guests too. It was telling in that it gives us a clue as to what Jesus came to do. Jesus’ first miracle establishes our expectations of him.

At the start of chapter 2 John tells us that Jesus is at a wedding:

On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”[1]

It’s such a mom thing to say, isn’t it? It’s not a question. It’s not a request or a command. It’s simply a statement, and yet, you know it’s more than that, don’t you? There’s a lot implied in those five words. She expects Jesus to do something.

And I think this is important to point out because I don’t want to paint Mary in a poor light. I actually think that she did better than most of us would have in her situation. Remember what John says at the end of this passage:

What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory.[2]

It’s not as if this had been a daily occurrence in the Carpenter household for the last 30 years. Jesus hadn’t made a habit out of refilling the pantry or his mother’s wine glass with a wiggle of his nose. Mary had never seen Jesus perform a miracle before, which makes her expectation of him so amazing.

Mary expected Jesus to do something – having never seen him perform a miracle before – because she never forgot who he was. It may have been thirty years, but you better believe she remembered Gabriel’s visit. How could you not?? When an angel comes and tells you that you’re going to have a baby even though you’re a virgin and that that baby is going to be the Son of God, you take note. That’s what Luke told us in the Christmas story:

Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.[3]

Mary never forgot who Jesus was. She always remembered what he was capable of. And in that respect, her request is incredibly admirable.

Do you ever think too little of Jesus? Do you relegate him to the realm of the spiritual and distant eternal, but not really think much about what he can do for your physical and present needs? Do you assume that Jesus doesn’t care about the little things, like whether your car starts or your cough stops, so you don’t bother him with them? Have you forgotten that he is with you every moment of every day or neglected to give him the glory and praise and thanks he deserves for all that he does for you day after day?

It's easy to forget about Jesus or to dismiss him as a viable option for help or to think that our needs as too small for his concern. Mary didn’t do that, but did she still think too little of him? What was she asking him to do? Save a party? Save the bride and the groom some embarrassment? Quench her thirst? Was she thinking more about Jesus? Was she trying to point him to an opportunity to demonstrate his glory and win more disciples? He only had 6 that we know of at this point in his ministry. Here was a room full of people! Let’s get the ball rolling, Jesus.

Whatever her aspirations – whatever her expectations – they weren’t big enough. And Jesus’ reply tells us as much:

“Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”[4]

This is just another way for Jesus to say, “You have a different agenda than I do.” “You are so fixated and focused on these little things; I have something far greater in mind.”

Do you ever do that to Jesus? Do you set the bar too low for him? Do you ever treat him like a vending machine? I put in my coins; I get out my prize. I put in my prayers; I get back the blessings I want. Tit for tat, Jesus. I did my part; now it’s time for you to do yours. I scratched your back – I put in my 65 hours of volunteerism at church this year; I taught Sunday School; I pour out my time and my energy to provide for my family – now it’s time for you to scratch my back, e.g. to make my life easier, to spare me from embarrassment or shame, to preserve my kids from the problems I’ve been trying to shield them from for years.

Do you ever treat Jesus like a life preserver hanging on the side of a cruise ship? It’s nice to know that it’s there when you need it, but most of the time you’re glad you don’t. Most of the time it’s just decoration. When push comes to shove would you even know how to get down, let alone use it in a time of crisis?

It’s nice to know that Jesus is there if we ever need him, but deep down is the whole focus of your life to try to not need him – to stand on your own two feet and be self-sufficient? Is Jesus mostly just a decoration – something that looks nice but doesn’t make a measurable difference in your day to day? Has your faith in Jesus sat so idle on the shelf in some corner of your heart that in the moment of need you wouldn’t even know how to get it down, let alone put it to use?

Mary had expectations. Jesus’ were bigger. “My hour has not yet come,”[5] he said.

It’s interesting. John makes a big deal out of Jesus’ hour in his Gospel. Over and over we hear him saying something similar, e.g. “My time has not yet come.” But then there’s this moment three years after this wedding, while Jesus and these same disciples are gathered in Jerusalem for the Passover and Jesus says,

“The hour has come…”[6]

“It is for this very reason I came to this hour…”[7]

“Now is the time…”[8]

And then he tells us what his expectation is. He never forgot who he was. He always remembered what he was capable of. And it was always immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.[9]

This is what Jesus said in Jerusalem:

“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”[10]

If you want to play devil’s advocate – which I don’t always advocate – you could make the case that Jesus could have won a vat of glory at the wedding of Cana. The sommelier was blown away at the quality of his wine. The bride and the groom would have been eternally grateful. The wedding guests would have been telling that story for years. But that wasn’t the kind of glory that Jesus was looking for. He says so himself:

“Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”[11]

This is a real “give a man a fish” kind of scenario, isn’t it? Jesus could have spent his days wandering the Galilean hillsides crashing weddings and filling cups. But when that wine was gone, there’d be nothing left but the memory and a story. Jesus had a greater goal in mind. We heard John express it before:

What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory, and his disciples believed him.[12]

Jesus didn’t perform miracles to gain attention. He performed miracles to help strengthen his disciples’ faith, to confirm their belief in him, to assure them that he was who he said he was. And he was more than just a miracle-worker with a refined palette for fermented grapes.

“Now my soul is troubled,” he said in Jerusalem, “and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.”[13]

What was so troubling to Jesus in Jerusalem during the celebration of his last Passover that would tempt him to ask his Father to save him? It was the knowledge of what was about to happen to him – that that kernel of wheat was going to fall to the ground and die, that Jesus was going to be crucified.

That was Jesus’ expectation. That was why he had come. He never forgot who he was or what he was capable of. He didn’t lose sight of his purpose or lower the bar for success. He hadn’t come to impress or to amass a vast quantity of disciples. He hadn’t come to be a vending machine on demand or a life preserver on standby. He came to be our Saviour. To rescue us from our sin. To forgive us for our faulty expectations and fickle faith – and to render a far greater service than you or I – or Mary – could ever ask or imagine, i.e. to earn salvation at the cost of his life and to give us eternal life at his side forever in heaven.

That’s what Jesus came to do. And even if we put the best construction on Mary’s expectation for Jesus – that she wanted him to get the recognition that he deserved – miracles were never how that was going to happen. It wasn’t the time. That’s why he said in Jerusalem:

“Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.[14]

It was always all about his sacrifice. That’s where his glory was going to come. That’s what would win your heart and soul for him. That’s why only Mary and the disciples and a handful of servants even knew where that wonderful wine had come from. It was just a preview of greater things to come. It was a measuring stick by which to set our expectations of him.

So what are yours?

If I may, I want to give Mary her credit again. We can scoff, roll our eyes, even chastise Mary for suggesting something as silly as second act wine for Jesus’ first miracle, i.e. for going up to her Saviour and saying, “Jesus, do this…” But what an act of faith it was for her to take her rebuke from Jesus and to turn to those servants and say, “Do whatever he says.”

“Jesus, do this.” “Do whatever Jesus says.”

That’s the kind of change of heart you and I can have too. That’s the difference between “My will be done,” and “Thy will be done.” That’s the expression of heart that yields its expectations to its God whose promises and glory are immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.

Jesus’ first miracle was important and telling. It told us who our Saviour was and the important work he came to do – not to save our party or our honour, but to save our souls for time and eternity. Now is the time to raise our expectations to meet his reality. Amen.

[1] John 2:1-3

[2] John 2:11

[3] Luke 2:19

[4] John 2:4

[5] Ibid

[6] John 12:23

[7] John 12:27

[8] John 12:31

[9] Ephesians 3:20

[10] John 12:23

[11] John 12:24

[12] John 2:11

[13] John 12:27

[14] John 12:31-33

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