To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD

 

 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 our hearing."  So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth.  And they said, "Is not this 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 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 about Christ's forty day period after His Baptism by John in the Jordan:  Then Jesus, 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.  Jesus returns from the time of testing in the wilderness to His home region of Galilee, and His public ministry begins.  Note how His reputation grew as He taught in the synagogues, and was glorified by all.

So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up.   Jesus' "hometown," where He had been brought up, was Nazareth in Galilee.  A source of confusion arises later on in His ministry, among those who do not know that He was born in Bethlehem of Judea, although brought up in Nazareth.

 

  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."  As Christ is the eternal Son of God, He did not become the world's anointed Savior, but rather has always been our Savior from before the foundation of the world.  My study Bible explains that it was Christ who spoke through Isaiah, as Isaiah said, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me" (see Isaiah 61:1-2 from which Jesus reads).  My study Bible asks us to note that He does not say, "The Spirit has come upon Me."  It explains that when the Spirit of the LORD descended on Jesus at His baptism (Luke 3:22), this was a sign revealing an eternal, not temporal, truth to the people.  The acceptable year is the time of the Incarnation, when 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 our hearing."  So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth.  And they said, "Is not this 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 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 comments that this double response of marveling (verse 22) and rejection (verse 29) occurs frequently in those who encounter Christ (see Luke 11:14-16; John 9:16).  Christ's saying, that no prophet is accepted in his own country, appears in all four Gospels (see also Matthew 13:57; Mark 6:4; John 4:44).

My study Bible says that this rejection fulfills the rejection of the Old Testament prophets such as Elijah and Elisha (verses 26-27), and is a foreshadowing of Christ's rejection by the whole Jewish nation at His trial before Pilate (John 19:14-15).  Here, the hour of Christ's Passion has not yet come (see John 8:20).

It's very interesting to note how outspoken Jesus is.  It's as if He has come out publicly into the world with His ministry with a commitment never to mince words, to hold nothing back.  There are times we know when He seeks to withdraw, to avoid clashing with the authorities before the time of His Passion.  There are times just after He has had a particular conflict with the religious authorities when He will seek to be out of the way for awhile.  For example, in Mark's Gospel, we're told that when He went through the Gentile territory of Tyre and Sidon, "He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret," and so has an encounter with the Syrophoenician woman who wants His help casting a demon from her daughter (Mark 7:24-30).  Similarly, in Mark's 9th chapter, just before Christ warns the disciples for the second time that He will be killed and rise the third day, we read, "Then they departed from there and passed through Galilee, and He did not want anyone to know  it" (Mark 9:30-32).  But in this case in today's reading, when Jesus goes to His hometown of Nazareth, it's almost as it if it is time for this particular meeting, this particular objection, this response upon which my study Bible remarks of both marveling and rejection.  He boldly announces to this congregation in the place where He grew up, that the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled in their hearing on this day.  Note that He has already established Himself in Galilee with a prominent public ministry, and clearly has done great works elsewhere.  Jesus says 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.'"  In this place where they know Him and His family is where the demand for proofs begin, and it is seemingly as if Jesus has anticipated this type of objection, this obstacle to belief, and the rejection that comes among "His own."  In His own hometown of Nazareth, the people are so outraged at Him when He responds that it was only foreigners who received the word of Elijah and of Elisha, that they attempt to rush Him off a cliff to His death.  His time has not yet come for His Passion and death, but many rejections will come before that also.  Jesus wastes no time mincing words, or seeking to appease, or to find something acceptable to say.  He tells the truth -- the very blunt truth that one supposes He must know they will react to in this hostile way.  After all, we can imagine they say to themselves, who does He think He is?  "Is this not Joseph's son?"  Where did He get those gracious words?  At any rate, Jesus knows the fate of prophets, saying that "no prophet is accepted in his own country."  Therefore what is bound to happen must happen, and Jesus will not change His mission and ministry, His gospel message, nor His obedience to the Father.  Whatever is going to conflict with that is simply what He will accept as He must.  What comes first is following the Father's will and acting in the Father's name -- even if that means rejection in His hometown.  So what can we ourselves learn from Christ's ministry here in His hometown of Nazareth?  There are times when we might face rejection among "our own" because of our faith, because we follow where we think God is leading us.  We might express the "wrong opinion," or perhaps we ourselves are led to develop skills and talents such as "gracious words" that spark both marveling and rejection at the same time.  After all, envy is not something confined to Christ's time, and a truthful prophet no doubt may still find the same response "in his own country."  But for the meantime, let us ponder Jesus' role.  It is not to shrink back, or fail to do His mission.  If rejection of His message will come, that does not mean He will avoid that message.  The last thing Jesus seeks is popularity; He has a job to do, a mission to fulfill, a ministry to make known, a message He must proclaim, and a certain end to fulfill.  It is "the acceptable year of the Lord," and He is the fulfillment of prophecy.  He knows what He is doing, where He is headed and what He is about, and to whom He is loyal above all.  Let us follow His example and accept what we must with His faith and His courage.  

The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me

 

 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 broken-hearted,

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 to them, "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 

 

Yesterday we read that, after His baptism by John,  Jesus, 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.   Jesus begins His public ministry, again, as with His withdrawal for fasting and temptation (see yesterday's reading, above) in the power of the Spirit.  His ministry begins in Galilee, His home region where He was raised.  Note the immediate sense of the public response to His ministry; He was 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 broken-hearted, 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."  My study Bible explains that as Christ is the eternal Son of God, He did not become the world's anointed Savior, but has always been our Savior from before the foundation of the world.  It was Christ who spoke through Isaiah the prophet, when he declared, "The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me" (Isaiah 61:1).  He does not say, "The Spirit has come upon Me."  When the Spirit of the LORD descended on Jesus at His baptism (Luke 3:22), this was a sign which revealed an eternal, not temporal, truth to the people.  The acceptable year is understood to be the time of the Incarnation, when the Kingdom of heaven has come to earth (see 2 Corinthians 6:2).   Jesus announces here that He is the One upon whom the Holy Spirit rests and has always rested, He is the anointed one, the Messiah, who is sent to preach the gospel to the poor, . .  to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim that the acceptable year of the LORD is here and now.

 

 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 to them, "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 comments that the double response by the people of both marveling and rejection (see verses 22 and 29) is a frequent occurrence in those who encounter Christ (see Luke 11:14-16, John 9:16).  His being rejected in His own country is a fulfillment of the rejection of the Old Testament prophets before Christ, such as Elijah and Elisha.  It foreshadows His rejection by the whole Jewish nation at His trial before Pilate (John 19:14-15).  It notes that Christ accepts death according to the Father's will, not at the will of the nation.  Here, the hour of Christ's Passion has not yet come (see John 8:20).  

What does it mean to reject the Lord?  To reject Jesus in His public ministry in the world?  We all are familiar with rejection, and the fear of rejection, on some level or another.  But this usual experience of rejection is not quite the same as the rejection of Christ in His role as the One proclaimed in the words of Isaiah:  "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 broken-hearted, 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."   In this role for which He's been sent, Jesus is the Anointed One, the Messiah.  He speaks the words given to Him by the Father, and carries on the mission He is specifically sent for.  As Healer and Liberator, He has come to preach the gospel message to all who have need for it, to bring sight to the spiritually blind, liberty to the oppressed.  This is the acceptable year of the LORD in which He has come to the world for a saving mission.  And what is being rejected within the context of this public ministry is a rejection of all of these things.  It is not simply a rejection of Jesus in this role, but a rejection of the role itself, of Father, Son, and Spirit, of the mission.  Jesus has said, "Whoever has seen Me, has seen the Father" (John 14:9).  Therefore, it implies, a rejection of Jesus in His role as Savior is a rejection of God the Father.  This is not the kind of rejection that you or I may commonly experience in our daily lives, but if we will, we might be connected to this ministry through faith.  We might seek also to serve Him in His ministry and mission, and this is also possible through faith.  He tells each of us to carry our own cross, as He will carry the Cross, and this, too, may become a part of His ministry and mission in the world, in which we may also participate.  This participation becomes part and parcel of the power of martyrdom, the difficult lives of saints, because they, also, may participate in the mission of Christ, and in so doing suffer rejection as part of that participation.   We should attempt to make an effort to make this distinction for ourselves, and to understand what holiness is and does -- and even to understand the power of what it is we might be participating in ourselves when we join in this work of faith.  For the astonishment of the people is not the same as astonishment at worldly achievements in a commonplace sense; unless, of course, what we perceive as a worldly achievement is indeed a part of the expression of someone's faith, and helped and assisted and inspired by that faith.  This reality of Christ's mission, the Spirit of the LORD who makes it possible, the energy of the holy reality of the Kingdom, is something in which we are invited to participate, and which always remains something much greater than ourselves.  So, when we consider rejection and what that means, we must keep this context in mind, and come to understand the powerful energies and grace of God at work in this ministry, inviting us in to share in it.  We are invited to share His Cross by bearing our own in our own lives, whatever that might mean.  But when we take it up, we should remember what we are a part of, and that we don't do so entirely alone.  This is why we pray to be true to our mission, to know ourselves and the ongoing need for discipleship and spiritual growth, for with Christ's presence and His kingdom among us it is always the acceptable year of the LORD.

 

 

 

 

Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country

T'oros Roslin Gospels, Canon Table with Isaiah, 1262.   Hromkla scriptorium, Cilicia/Walters Ms. W.539, fol.5v, Walters Art Museum, Baltimore

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 broken-hearted,

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 not this 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 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 own way.

 

 - Luke 4:14–30 

 

On Saturday, we read that Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan after His Baptism 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.  Luke tells us once more of the direct role the Holy Spirit has in this beginning of Christ's ministry (see also Luke 3:16, 22; 4:1).

 

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 broken-hearted, 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 comments here that Christ, being the eternal Son of God, did not "become" the world's anointed Savior, but has always been our Savior from before the foundation of the world.  It notes that it was Christ who spoke through Isaiah who said, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me" (Isaiah 61:1).  Christ does note say that "the Spirit has come upon Me."  When the Spirit of the LORD descended upon Jesus at His Baptism (see Luke 3:22), this was a sign which revealed an eternal, not temporal, truth to the people. 

 

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."   Christ explains that Isaiah's proclaimed acceptable year of the LORD is the time of the Incarnation, when the Kingdom of heaven has come to earth (see 2 Corinthians 6:2).  

 

 So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth.  And they said, "Is not this 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 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 own way.  My study bible comments that this double response in which the people both marveled and also rejected Him occurs frequently in those who encounter Christ (see also Luke 11:14-16, John 9:16).  Christ's being rejected in His own country is a fulfillment of the rejection of Old Testament prophets such as Elijah, and also Elisha (both of whom Jesus mentions here), and it foreshadows Christ's rejection by the whole of the Jewish nation at His trial before Pilate (John 9:14-15).  Christ accepts death according to the will of the Father, and not at the will of the people or the religious leaders.  Here, the hour of His Passion has not yet come (see John 8:20).  

Jesus says, "Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country."  This is such an important statement that all four of the Gospels include it (see also Matthew 13:57, Mark 6:4, John 4:44).  Jesus brings to mind, by way of explanation to His townspeople, the stories of Elijah and Elisha, in which they were not sent by God to perform miraculous signs and healings except to foreigners, and not to their own people.  Indeed, Matthew and Mark explain that Jesus could not perform any great signs in Nazareth because of His fellow townspeople's lack of faith (Matthew 13:58, Mark 6:5-6).  They just can't believe that Christ could be anything except the person they remember as Joseph's son.  They marvel at the gracious words He speaks which apparently are a kind of surprising revelation to them.  But they have also heard of the works He's done elsewhere by this time, and Jesus anticipates that they will demand such among themselves as a kind of proof of this new status He's gained:  "Whatever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in Your country."   But consistently throughout the Gospels Jesus refuses to produce signs and "proofs" on demand.   The manifestations of His divine power happen in response to faith.  In giving the examples of Elijah and Elisha, this is what Christ has attempted to explain to the townspeople.  Rather than comprehending and considering what He's telling them, they respond with an outrage predictable to those familiar with the Gospels and Jesus' ministry.  How dare He tell them that the lack of proofs, or manifestation of signs, has something to do with them, something lacking in them?  Their outrage is indicative both of their lack of faith and their lack of recognition of any kind of authority in Jesus, and reflects the greater rejection that is to come in Jerusalem for similar reasons.   Psychologically, this outrage is a reflection of what is commonly called "projection," in which our own internal darkness or ignorance -- a lack of knowledge about what is within ourselves -- results in the projection of our own flaws onto others.  The darkness within us acts as a kind of mirror, where what we accuse others of being is a reflection of something within ourselves.  In this case, Jesus tells them the truth about themselves.  Rather than possessing the ability to look within in an honest way, and trusting in the words and motives of Christ, they respond with a predictable outrage at the Person they perceive as accuser.  Repeatedly, Jesus says in the Gospels that those who love the Father will also be able to "hear" Him.  In John chapter 8, Jesus says to those among the Pharisees who wish to kill Him:  "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word.  You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God" (John 8:42-47).  He also speaks of this phenomenon of projection when He teaches that we don't dare correct or condemn someone when we haven't dealt with our own bigger flaws:  "Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.  And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye?" (Matthew 7:1-4).   In today's reading, the townspeople of Nazareth come off as quite judgmental and set in their ways.  The way their society has viewed and understood Jesus and His family has to be the correct one, and nothing can happen that upsets this perception, unless it is flattering to the townspeople.  One cannot help but wonder at the ways in which the lives of Mary and Jesus might have been difficult, except for the fact that the humility with which we understand them to have lived their lives serves as a kind of protection against conflict with the arrogant.  But now, in the setting of our reading, is the time for truth to be revealed, for Jesus to reveal Himself, and for the manifestation of the Kingdom.  As Jesus says, reading the prophecy of Isaiah, to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.   The outrage and rejection of God's truth only serves as judgment against those who refuse it.  

 

 

Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country

 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

Last week, we began reading the Gospel of Luke. On Friday, we read of Jesus' Baptism by John the Baptist in the Jordan.  On Saturday we read that then Jesus, 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.  Just as Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, here He returns in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and begins His Galilean ministry, in which He is 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 says that, being the eternal Son of God, Christ did not become the world's anointed Savior, but that He has always been our Savior from before the foundation of the world (John 17:24, Ephesians 1:4).  Christ spoke through Isaiah the prophet to say, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me" (Isaiah 61:1).  At Jesus' Baptism, the descent of the Spirit of the LORD like a dove (3:22), it was a sign that revealed the eternal truth of Christ to the people.   The acceptable year of the LORD is the time of the Incarnation, when 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?"  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 calls our attention to the double response of the people to Christ -- of both marveling and rejection.  It is a frequent occurrence in the encounters with Christ (see 11:14-16; John 9:16).  That Christ is rejected in His own country is a fulfillment of the Old Testament prophets, such as Elijah and Elisha.  It foreshadows Christ's rejection by the whole Jewish nation at His trial before Pilate (John 19:14-15).  But Jesus accepts death according to the Father's will, not according to the will of those who will seek to persecute Him.  But here in today's reading, His hour of the Passion has not yet come (see John 8:20).

Notable in today's passage is Christ's emphasis on faith in God the Father -- and particularly in God's word, as it is living and active and presented to us, as opposed to what we learn from ancestors, custom, habit, and the condition of the society.  What is familiar is incorrect here, because God's word (and Christ is the Word, see John 1:14) intervenes, and is present and living, standing in front of them.  And it is this that they cannot accept.  His familiar townspeople and neighbors know one thing, and God is presenting to them another.  They ask, "Is this not Joseph's son?"  Jesus is already well-known and well-received around Galilee.  The Gospel tells us that He is preaching in the synagogues, and is glorified by all.  But in His hometown of Nazareth, they know one thing and that is what they're sticking to.  They demand a proof, a sign, some great sign such as has been done elsewhere, as in Capernaum.  Jesus goes on the offensive, pushing for recognition of spiritual truth as it's been given in the Scriptures.  He tells them that there were many widows in Israel at the time of a great famine, but Elijah was sent to none of them, only a widow of Sidon, a foreigner, named Zarephath (1 Kings 17:9-16).   He reminds them also that at the time of Elisha there were many lepers in Israel, but Elisha was sent to none of them, and healed only Naaman the Syrian, another foreigner (2 Kings 5).  They understand what He's telling them about themselves.  Their outrage is clear; they wish to kill Him, to throw Him out of the city, and even over a cliff.  But God's intervention in our own lives could be met with the same outrage.  God will always come to call us to the truth, and to the reality of our own circumstances.  While the greatest of blessings come from above, even every good and perfect gift (James 1:17), God's blessings and love also come with the truth about ourselves:  where we need to go, what we need to do, how we need to step up to our own calling.  It may well give us correction, and even rebuke.  It will always ask us to expand the way we see things, and our own outlook on life.  The way that God is calling Christ's townspeople now is to recognition of the Christ in their midst, even as one of their own, whom they cannot recognize as anything but Jesus, the son of Joseph.  He announces Himself and His identity to them, but they cannot accept it.  They are outraged at what He claims for Himself.  They must be wondering how He can presume to tell them anything.  That Christ says to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country" is of such profound importance to our faith as given by Christ that it is found in all four Gospels.  Luke's Gospel has so far given us an emphasis on the pull of nationalism as opposed to the call of God to the recognition of holiness.  But this profound surprise and outrage goes even deeper than that.  It tells us something about God's work among us, in all of our communities and in our lives.  We can't rely on what is old and familiar.  The work of repentance itself is always a call to the new, the untried, what we don't know yet -- to reconsider how we've always done things, and to be willing to take the risk of change.  That is what faith is all about.  When we put our trust in God, we go where we are called, even if it is frightening, even unthinkable.  Have you ever been in a circumstance that called upon you to "step up" and try something new?  Has God called you to take a risk in trust and in faith?  Where has your prayer life led you?  Consider Christ's strong and harsh words, provoking such an impact of rage and wrath from His own townspeople.  You may find the same in your own life, but take heart and know where you are going, in faith.

Proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD

 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 filled 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

Yesterday we read that Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit returned from the Jordan [after His Baptism] 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.  We're tempted to see the word glorified as simply meaning hailed or praised.  But in the Scriptural context, it's important to remember that this word implies recognizing His true value, the glory of God at work through Him.

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."  As eternal Son of God, Christ didn't become the world's anointed Savior, says my study bible, but rather has always been our Savior from before the foundation of the world.  It was Christ speaking through Isaiah who said, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me" (Isaiah 61:1).  Jesus' doesn't say "The Spirit has come upon Me."  Rather, when the Spirit of the LORD descended on Jesus at His baptism (see 3:22), it was a sign of revelation -- the revelation of an eternal, not temporal, truth to people about the identity of Jesus.  The acceptable year is the time of Christ's Incarnation, when the Kingdom of heaven has come into the world (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 filled 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.  My study bible notes the double response of both marveling and rejection, which it says occurs frequently in those who encounter Christ (see 11:14-16; John 9:16).  Being rejected in His own country fulfills the rejection of the Old Testament prophets such as Elijah and Elisha (named here by Jesus), and foreshadows His rejection by the whole nation at His trial before Pilate (John 19:14-15).  Christ accepts death according to the Father's will, not that of the Jewish leadership.  But here, the hour of His Passion has not yet come (see John 8:20). 

Jesus is rejected in His hometown.  We must understand that without faith, there will be no wonders done, no miracles of the sort which these townspeople have heard Jesus has done elsewhere.  So important is the saying that no prophet is accepted in his own country that it appears in all four Gospels (see also Matthew 13:57, Mark 6:4, John 4:44).  It at once intrigues us with a law of familiarity; that those to whom we've already grown used with a certain image of impression retain for us this identity.  But a prophet's job is precisely to remind people of what they've forgotten, to tell them the truth they'd rather not be reminded of, to bring them back to faith and out of the convenience of their own thinking.  Jesus calls people not only to the identity that is truly His, but to a recognition of truth that outsiders can grasp about Him.  He reminds His own townspeople of the prophets of the Old Testament who were able to perform wonders for outsiders, foreigners (like the widow of Sidon, or Naaman the Syrian).  But He will not perform wonders in order to be "glorified."  Faith comes in a different way, and does not depend upon proofs in order to compel a response of love and acceptance.  Jesus will say, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" again in a reference also found in Isaiah. The lesson we can take from today's reading is about familiarity and complacence.  When we're used to things a certain way, when we have a fixed idea in our minds, it's easy to be deaf and blind to God's surprising work and presence in our lives or in the lives of others around ourselves.  We always need to be called back to the surprising "good news."  Sometimes the good news doesn't seem like good news at all.  It shakes up our world, it calls for us to change, and to change our perceptions, which in turn may wind up changing all kinds of things we're not always prepared for.  That is the nature of a truth we've forgotten, or don't want to acknowledge, something that can be like news from a doctor we'd rather not do anything about.   When Jesus suggests that His townspeople wish to say to Him, "Physician, heal yourself!" it's in reference to one who must cure his own faults before criticizing others -- in this case, a way to respond to the prophetic call for change with an accusation and facile criticism.  Prophets themselves were unusual people, to say the least, often called "out" of the society to serve God.  In such a way, then, we can see Christ in His hometown as the fullness of prophecy, the One come into the world to call us back to God, but even more -- the revelation of God Himself.  He cannot just be "Joseph's son" and whatever that means to the townspeople of Nazareth.  He is representing something much greater, a gift one must have open eyes and ears to grasp and realize and value properly.  Such will always be the nature of God at work in the world.  Let us be attentive!