Gospel LK 4:16-30
Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had grown up,
and went according to his custom
into the synagogue on the sabbath day.
He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah.
He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.
Rolling up the scroll,
he handed it back to the attendant and sat down,
and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him.
He said to them,
“Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”
And all spoke highly of him
and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.
They also asked, “Is this not the son of Joseph?”
He said to them, “Surely you will quote me this proverb,
‘Physician, cure yourself,’ and say, ‘Do here in your native place
the things that we heard were done in Capernaum.’”
And he said,
“Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place.
Indeed, I tell you,
there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah
when the sky was closed for three and a half years
and a severe famine spread over the entire land.
It was to none of these that Elijah was sent,
but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon.
Again, there were many lepers in Israel
during the time of Elisha the prophet;
yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”
When the people in the synagogue heard this,
they were all filled with fury.
They rose up, drove him out of the town,
and led him to the brow of the hill
on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong.
But he passed through the midst of them and went away.
Reflection:
“Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place.”
Jesus was rejected by the Jews in his hometown of Nazareth because they could not believe that someone who grew up in their mist was actually the Holy One of God.
Perhaps it was fear of what they did not understand that prompted them to ask,
“Is this not the son of Joseph?”
Their minds were closed and they would not listen. “And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.” Matthew 13: 58
There have been times when I chastised one of my children for some perceived wrong, only to find out that they were not guilty of what they had been accused.
Even though they may have been trying to tell me their side of the story, my response was, “Enough, I don’t want to hear it! You’re grounded. Go to your room.”
Jesus quoted to his neighbors from the prophet Isaiah:
“He has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.”
I am reminded of a quotation that is often expressed in Alcoholics Anonymous that applies to the attitude of people who refuse to listen: “There is a principle which cannot fail to keep a person in everlasting ignorance—that principle is contempt prior to investigation.”
But still, in fear of what they did not understand, “They rose up, drove him out of the town.”
Did they perhaps fear that if Jesus, who had been raised in their neighborhood, had been called by God to bring hope to the poor, help the blind, and free the oppressed, that they too would be called to do the same?
If that was their fear, then they were indeed correct.
Jesus, the Son of God, was calling them, as He calls to each of us today: “Come follow me.”
“I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” Matthew 25:35