Due to a sweet turn of events, I was able to attend my first game at Invesco Field at Mile High in Denver, Colorado on Sunday. I have been a Broncos fan since about the time I arrived on earth and seeing a home game was quite a treat. The in-conference rivalry between the Broncos and the San Diego Chargers was no secret to the 76,000 attendees. What was a secret was the drastic collapse of the temperature after halftime and the arrival of an incessant, freezing rain. The most surprising thing was the absolute beat-down that the Broncos suffered through. The game ended with a score of 41-3 in favor of the Super Chargers. No one likes to see their team lose — literally. In the second half, when the freezing rain drops fell as did the hopes of a home team victory, people started filing out of the stadium. The consensus was that if the weather had not taken such a drastic turn more people would have stayed. Or if the Broncos had been winning, the fans would have endured the moisture. It was both a literal and figurative picture of fair-weather fans.

Perhaps the saddest part of the game was towards the very end when quarterback Jay Cutler threw a pass to nobody and the [few] fans that were left started booing him. It was a demoralizing time. I watched him walk back to the sidelines in a dejected mood. The parallel is striking between how fans treat their team and how people treated Jesus when He was on earth. When Jesus was doing things that they saw as a benefit, they lauded Him. But they were so willing to turn on Him. The best example is the disparity of the Jerusalem crowd when they worshiped Jesus riding into town on a donkey and then a couple of days later yelled, “Crucify Him!”

Jesus grew up in Nazareth and after His ministry started, He returned home. While there, He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath and read from Isaiah (what would later be known as chapter 61:1-2).

Luke 4:18-19 — The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

Then Jesus sat down and said (v. 21), “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” You may think this would have caused an uproar, but instead we see a group of receptive worshipers.

Luke 4:22 — And all spoke well of Him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from His mouth.

It is easy to love God and love others when things are going well. Too much smooth sailing results in complacency, though. Jesus was far more interested in creating change than He was interested in making sure everyone was comfortable. He still is. Remember that the people who heard Jesus were expecting a military overthrow of the [Gentile] Romans. Notice what Jesus says next. He quotes the Jewish proverb, “No prophet is acceptable in his hometown.”

He then goes on to explain that during the time of Elijah, there was a famine for three-and-a-half years. During that time, there were many widows who needed assistance, but Elijah was sent only to Zarephath, in Sidon (read about it in 1 Kings 17). Zarephath was outside of Israel at a place where Canaanite religion was rampant. In other words, Elijah was sent to a Gentile instead of helping Israel. Then Jesus tells of Elisha who healed only one leper: a man named Naaman. Naaman was from Syria — again outside of Israel (read about it in 2 Kings 5). The fans of Jesus turn on Him.

Luke 4:28-30 — When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. And they rose up and drove Him out of the town and brought Him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw Him down the cliff. But passing through their midst, He went away.

Somehow Jesus is able to escape the grasp of the mob who was seeking to kill Him. The amazing thing is that the people are filled with wonder (v. 22) yet have persistent unbelief (v. 28). How many times do we see God as wonderful, yet live life as if we do not believe? Are we fair-weather fans? We must acknowledge that there are times when the sailing is not smooth. We must recognize that Jesus is more interested in changing our life, not in creating comfort. God is working in us, and we must trust that His work is good (see Philippians 2:13).

Let me encourage you to reflect on your relationship with God. Are you worshiping Him only when things are smooth? Or do you genuinely believe His work is good?

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This entry was posted by zac on Thursday, October 11th, 2007 at 7:26 am and is filed under Weekly Jib Jab. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.