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Luke 4:21-30

When Jesus uses the word poor, he means, the marginal – those systematically (read: not by accident) cut off from social engagement because of poverty, yes, but also age, gender, physical defect, religious impurity, and more. In today’s world, these exclusions remain, and more specifically: people of color, (some) foreigners, LGBTQ+, and the (perceived) unpatriotic.

Jesus’ hometown “friends” praise him because, in their estimation, they, themselves, are the poor of whom their favored boy speaks when he quotes Isaiah (vs. 18). They perceive that his (very short!) sermon, “Today this scripture is fulfilled…” (vs. 21) means that good news, release, recovery, and freedom, is for them, which is true, but not exclusively. Jesus clarifies to remind them of the times when God extended grace to outsiders, namely, a widow and her son in Sidon (1st Kings 17) and Naaman, a Syrian (2nd Kings 5) – all non-Jews.

Praise turns to rage because outsiders are included. Such that they intend to throw Jesus off a nearby cliff.

Preachers today are often criticized when they talk about God’s grace extended to the poor (see first paragraph). There’s a tension in proclaiming the gospel and keeping the congregation happy. The moral: 
don’t preach near cliffs.

Pastor Scott Thompson 
Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Kalispell, Montana