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Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:
"The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.'"
Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, "Is this not Joseph's son?"
He said to them, "You will surely say this proverb to Me, 'Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in Your country.'" Then He said, "Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country. But I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land; but to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath, in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian." So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, and rose up and thrust Him out of the city; and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff. Then passing through the midst of them, He went His way.
- Luke 4:14-30
On Saturday, we read that Jesus, after His baptism, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry. And the devil said to Him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread." But Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.'" Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, "All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours." And Jesus answered and said to him, "Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.'" Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. For it is written: 'He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you,' and 'In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.'" And Jesus answered and said to him, "It has been said, 'You shall not tempt the LORD your God.'" Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.
Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. The scene is set; Jesus' Galilean mission is well under way. He has been teaching in synagogues throughout the region, and widely "glorified by all."
So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: "The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.'" My study bible indicates to us the interpretation of this text (see Isaiah 61:1-2) as that of proclamation of the Incarnation. It tells us that as eternal Son of God, Christ doesn't become the world's anointed Savior, but has always been Savior from before the foundation of the world. It tells us that it was Christ speaking through Isaiah to say, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me" (Isaiah 61:1). He doesn't say that the Spirit "has come upon Me," but rather "is upon Me." At His baptism, when the Spirit of the LORD descended on Jesus, it was a sign revealing an eternal truth to the people, not a temporal one. This "is" is the eternal present in the name "I AM," and in Jesus' statement, "Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58). And what is the "acceptable year of the LORD"? It is the time of the Incarnation, when -- as my study bible puts it -- "the Kingdom of heaven has come to earth (see 2 Corinthians 6:2)."
Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, "Is this not Joseph's son?" The seated position is the traditional position of a teacher, or rabbi. His pronouncement seams clear: the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled in their hearing! Jesus' townspeople marvel at His gracious speech. Is this really the man we all know? Joseph's son?
He said to them, "You will surely say this proverb to Me, 'Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in Your country.'" Then He said, "Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country. But I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land; but to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath, in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian." So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, and rose up and thrust Him out of the city; and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff. Then passing through the midst of them, He went His way. My study bible suggests that the double response we observe here of both marveling and rejection occurs frequently in those who encounter Christ (see Luke 11:14-16; John 9:16). Jesus' being rejected in His own country fulfills the rejection of Old Testament prophets such as Elijah and Elisha mentioned here by Jesus in vv. 26 and 27, and it foreshadows Jesus' rejection by the whole of the Jewish nation at His trial before Pilate (John 19:14-15). A note tells us that Christ accepts death according to the Father's will, not at the will of other human beings. Here, the hour of His Passion has not yet come (see John 8:20).
In Luke's Gospel, this is the first time Jesus escapes death. But it certainly isn't the last, particularly if we take into account the rest of the New Testament Gospels, including that of John. Over and over again, we read that it wasn't yet His time, the hour of Passion, crucifixion, and Resurrection. The notable thing here, however, is that this first brush with such a threat comes in His hometown. It's a kind of early sign of what is to come, both in the "marveling and rejection" that simultaneously accompanies Jesus in His public ministry, and of the irate rage at the truth He tells them about themselves. Because they're from His hometown, perhaps, they expect great things. They're almost like spectators at a great event, or film-goers watching a movie they expect to be dazzled by. Where are the great marvels and miracles they've heard about already? What about the things He's done in Capernaum? And, by the way, isn't this just that young man we knew and watched grow up, Joseph's boy? They know Him as Jesus, Joseph's son. This eloquent speech doesn't belong to such a person. How is it possible? But it is possible, and even the revelation of Messiah or Christ is possible. It's possible that Isaiah's prophecy is fulfilled in their hearing. But they want a sign. They demand to be dazzled first. They're waiting for something. Faith doesn't come. There's no trust. Who knows if this is a human by-product of familiarity, or expectation? Perhaps we demand conformity of "our own" within our own limits of expectation or desire. Jesus' statement that "no prophet is accepted in his own country" is recorded in all of the Gospels, giving us an emphatic assurance of this truth. His warning must also be taken seriously, when He gives explicit examples of the truth of the prophets being realized only by foreigners. This warning isn't taken seriously enough for the townspeople to reflect on their own responses to Him and His gracious words. It's met, as truth may so often be met about ourselves, with wrath and perhaps disgust -- a murderous rage at His words. Jesus must accept this rejection from His hometown and His neighbors, the things that are familiar to Him. So, once again, the Gospels give us an example about the reception of truth, truth about ourselves, truth about a spiritual reality we may need to accept or to take a good look at. Our own personal reaction might be rage. It might be fear. We might endlessly demand proofs in order to avoid what it is we want to avoid. It isn't easy, necessarily, to accept truth, particularly spiritual truth which transcends all our circumstances, assumptions, familiar understanding, and family and neighborly ties. Jesus cites the experience of these great prophets, Elijah and Elisha, as proof of that, and as warning to these "neighbors." But then, in our present Gospel of Luke, we will also be given an answer that goes deeper than our understanding of neighbor, to a lawyer's question, "Who is my neighbor?" Luke invites us here to think about what is a neighbor, and what it means to be truly related. We ask here questions about our faith, and how faith establishes not only a different order of reality -- of a Kingdom present -- but also a different order of relatedness to one another. It invites us to consider our own blind spots, a kind of rejection or denial that results in rage that is defense against personal change, transformation of our own viewpoint. We go back to John's Gospel again for Jesus' repeated emphasis on love of the Father; this love in our hearts determines whether or not we are willing to see what revelation of truth God has for us, whether we can adapt to that reality or not. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. Are we able to accept the wealth of the gifts we're offered, or to be truly healed? Can we receive our liberty, and accept the sight He offers? In His eternal presence, it is always the acceptable year of the LORD, but we need faith to realize it for ourselves.
