HOW TO HANDLE CORRECTION
INTRODUCTION
One thing I’ve learned in walking with Jesus is that I am always in need of correction. I know it’s hard to admit, but I am wrong about things on occasion. I say and do things that if not corrected can lead to brokenness of spirit and relationships. I don’t want that! But I also am tempted to view corrections or rebukes in a negative light. When correction comes (and it will come) I am put in a position to choose my response.
Jesus used correction to help bring life to people. Sometimes they received it and, in doing so, received life. On other occasions Jesus’s correction is not received and that rejection had negative consequences. I know receiving rebuke from someone is not easy. However, I have come to understand that even when I do not like it, correction can lead me to transformation.
Luke records the story of Jesus returning to His hometown to launch His public ministry. However, when He brings some rebuke to these hometown folks thing get a little dicey.
IN THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT
Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him (Lk 4:14-15).
Remember, Jesus just spent 40 days in the desert fasting and being tempted by Satan. The result of His experience is that He comes out of the desert “in the power of the Spirit.” His time alone with The Father and His triumph over Satan proved He had the strength and ability to accomplish His purpose. He begins His teaching ministry in the synagogue at Galilee and is well received. Luke informs us that the “news about him spread” and “everyone praised him.” Sounds like a great start to a ministry tour!
Jesus’s popularity as a speaker/teacher grew around the “whole countryside.” He makes the decision to leave Galilee and travel to Nazareth where He had “been brought up.” It’s like Jesus wants to go home and “officially” launch His ministry. Now this is speculation on my part but somehow, I believe Jesus wanted to help those with whom He had grown up. It is possible that He wants to declare His purpose for coming to those who have known Him the longest. But what is the purpose of Jesus’s ministry?
THE PURPOSE OF JESUS’S MINISTRY
He 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, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him (Lk 4:16-17a).
I want you to picture the scene. Jesus’s fame is “spread through the whole countryside.” The implication is that the people in Nazareth are expecting big things from their famous son. I imagine Mary, His mom, was there along with His half-brothers (i.e. James). Jesus wants to honor them through His actions and teaching.
One thing we know is that when visiting His mom, Jesus went to church with her! He is a visiting rabbi (teacher) and custom dictates that He should read the Scriptures to those in attendance. A Jewish synagogue service, at this time, would have included the following elements:
A recitation of the Shema (Dt. 6:4-9 “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is One)
Then a benediction, a psalm, a priestly blessing, prayer, a reading from the Law, and then,
A reading from the Prophets.
After the reading of The Prophets, the reader is expected to offer an interpretation of that day’s test. Jesus participated in the third element by taking up the scrolls and reading from The Prophet Isaiah.
The synagogue in Nazareth had no permanent Rabbi, so they depended on traveling or itinerant teachers to expound the word each Sabbath. Jesus is the guy for this day!
When it came time for Jesus to read, they hand Him a scroll containing the book of Isaiah. Jesus takes the scroll, rolls it out until He find the part He wants to read (no chapters or verse numbers) and reads:
“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” (Lk 4:18-19).
That’s cool and everybody is happy. What a pleasant passage to read. It’s encouraging. It’s powerful. It’s full of promise. Jesus stopped reading Isaiah 61: 2 before the words, “and the day of vengeance of our God.”
Then 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 (Lk 4:20-22).
Now, Jesus will begin giving His interpretation of this passage and begins it with, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Basically Jesus is saying, “I am the fulfillment of Isaiah’s words. I am the ‘Anointed One.’”
Listen to the people’s reaction to Jesus’s words, “All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked.”
Their response to Jesus’s teaching is mixture of politeness and scrutiny. Kind of like the Southern USA phrase, “Bless your heart!” It’s polite but carries a wicked undertone. Sure Jesus’s words are gracious but, “Isn’t He Joseph’s son? Why is He saying all this stuff about being anointed?” They are fully aware that Jesus is proclaiming Himself as Messiah. As such, He promises to set them free from the oppression of sin, not just that of the government.
The key phrase in this section is the question, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” Why? Because probably everyone in the audience knew Jesus since childhood. To them, He is just the son of carpenter and handmaiden. Let’s face it, the scandalous story of Mary’s pre-marriage pregnancy is most likely known to everyone in the crowd.
Now the text almost makes it sound like Jesus is finished. Although Luke does not mention this, the custom was for the Rabbi to introduce his topic, sit down, then continue teaching. In Western culture when a speaker sits down, we think He is finished. Not so in Nazareth! Jesus is just getting started, read on.
THE EXPECTATIONS OF OTHERS
Jesus knows what’s going on in their heads and their lack of faith in His claim. So, he challenges them with these words:
“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’” (Lk 4:23).
Basically, the people are expecting Jesus to perform miracles like those in Capernaum. There He healed many, cast out demons, healed Peter’s mother-in-law, healed a paralyzed man who was let down through a roof, and many more supernatural works. The Nazarenes however want a front row seat to the miraculous demanding Jesus prove Himself by putting on a show. The implication is that if Jesus doesn’t perform, they will not believe in Him. Jesus’s response is amazing.
THE STORY OF ELIJAH
“Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown. I 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. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. And 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” (Lk 4:24-27).
If you’re not familiar with this Old Testament story let me unpack it. Elijah is a powerful prophet of God whose ministry is marked by the miraculous. He called fire down from Heaven, made rain stop, made the rain start, parted the Jordan River, and more (14 recorded miracles in total).
During Elijah’s ministry a famine and drought hit the land of Israel. During this season God does not sen the prophet to minister to the nation of Israel but to:
A widow in a foreign country. She was supernaturally provided for by God. At the time Israel was starving because of their rebellion against God.
A leper in a foreign country while those with the same malady in Israel continued to suffer.
Why is Jesus telling the people in Nazareth this story? What point is He trying to make? The stories of the widow and the leper have one common thread: faith! Elijah asked the widow to surrender her last meal to him and trust God. She obeyed in faith and God multiplied her food. At a different time, this widow’s son dies, and Elijah raises him to life. The leper (a foreign king named Naaman) is commanded to dip seven times in the Jordan River. Initially he resists but when he finally obeys God miraculously cleanses him from the disease.
Everyone in that synagogue knew exactly what Jesus was saying. They had heard these stories their whole life. They expectantly waited for the day the Anointed One would make His appearance. Now He is in front of them, and they do not believe! Why? Because He is one of them – just a hometown boy!
But this local is pleading with them to believe in Him because failure to do so will result in something horrible. God the Father will send Jesus to another people who will put their faith in Him. God will send Jesus to foreigners and Gentiles and the house of Israel will continue to suffer.
THE REACTION OF THE PEOPLE
Their response reveals much about the human propensity to do away with anyone who dares bring correction to others:
All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They 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. But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way (Lk 4:28-30)
WOW! Remember what these same people thought of Jesus when He was the miracle worker from Galilee? Luek 4:15 says, “everyone praised him.” Thirteen verses later their mood is radically different, “all the people in the synagogue were furious” (Lk 4:28). Why the drastic change? Because in their minds Jesus did not meet their pre-conceived expectations. When He attempted to right their thinking to being blessing to them, they decided to throw Him off a cliff.
HOW TO RECEIVE CORRECTION
What can we take away from this part of Luke’s gospel? How can we apply this to our lives on Monday? While there are several truths we could pull from this passage. I could talk about how Jesus fulfilled every prophecy about being the Son of God. I could talk about how Jesus sets people free. I could talk about any number of topics.
I want to focus on an idea rarely spoken of in today’s church culture: how to handle correction.
No one likes to be corrected. No one enjoys being told they are wrong. But the truth is this, we all need correction. When your boss comes by and says, “Hey, you are not doing this thing the way you are supposed to.” Or, think about how you receive corrections from your spouse. (Anyone married for longer than 15 minutes will give and receive correction in the marriage relationship).
Jesus is trying his best to correct the thinking of those in the synagogue that day. He wants them to receive God’s blessings. He wants the best for them, but they could not stand to hear corrections from a hometown boy! Instead of receiving life-giving correction, they try to kill Jesus! This is not how you handle corrections from your boss or spouse.
How do you respond when God brings correction into your life through His Word or through other believers?
You see, correction brings blessing to us. Correction empowers us to avoid ignorance (Prov 5:5). Correction brings us prosperity (Prov 13:18). It also keeps us walking in the will of God (Prov 10:17).
When God uses people to bring correction to us how should we respond? Let me give you give three positive responses to correction. These responses do not depend on how we are corrected – there is nothing you can do about that – you only have control over your response. When correction comes, take a deep breath and consider these three practices (before you overreact from a place of pride or an insulted ego):
Do Not Point Fingers at Others
Usually the first natural response when correction comes is to point fingers at someone else and say, “They made me do it!” We turn the correction around and begin to point out the flaws of the one doing the correcting. That person probably has myriad of flaws that need worked on but that’s not the point.
At this moment they are trying to help you, even if it doesn’t feel that way. There may be a time when you can help them too. But how you handle correction in this moment will determine whether you will get tacit permission to speak into their lives when the time is right. I suggest you receive what they are saying without immediate reaction. Then take it to the Lord in prayer. Nex, deal honestly with the fault they’ve pointed out asking the Holy Spirit for triumphant victory!
2. Be Willing to Receive Correction from Anyone.
How do you respond when a younger person corrects you? How do you respond when an unbeliever corrects you? What about when a child or teenager points out some fault or weakness in your life? Do you get arrogant and angry at their audacity? Is it possible that God can use anyone He desires to help form us into the image of Son? I think He can. However, that is not the primary issue. The underlying question is, “Will you receive correction from those you perceive as ‘lesser’ or “subordinate’ to you in some way?”
3. Never Become Bitter Towards People Who Correct You
If we are not careful, we can become resentful toward those who bring correction into our lives. Often, we get offended by those who correct us (and want to throw them off a cliff or kill them with accusation). We start avoiding that person. We go out of our way to not sit next to them. We start thinking about changing jobs. We might even contemplate finding a new spouse. None of these are appropriate solutions to soothe your pride and ego. The only healing balm is to submit these corrections to God asking Him to reveal in us anything that would hinder our witness and walk.
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