Then Jesus returned to Galilee, filled with the Holy Spirit’s power. Reports about him spread quickly through the whole region. He taught regularly in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.
When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures. The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor, He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.”
He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently. Then he began to speak to them. “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!”
Everyone spoke well of him and was amazed by the gracious words that came from his lips. “How can this be?” they asked. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”
Then he said, “You will undoubtedly quote me this proverb: ‘Physician, heal yourself’ – meaning, ‘Do miracles here in your hometown like those you did in Capernaum.’ But I tell you the truth, no prophet is accepted in his own hometown.
“Certainly there were many needy widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the heavens were closed for three and a half years, and a severe famine devastated the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them. He was sent instead to a foreigner – a widow of Zarephath in the land of Sidon. And many in Israel had leprosy in the time of the prophet Elisha, but the only one healed was Naaman, a Syrian.”
When they heard this, the people in the synagogue were furious. Jumping up, they mobbed him and forced him to the edge of the hill on which the town was built. They intended to push him over the cliff, but he passed right through the crowd and went on his way.
Luke 4: 14-30
After his time in the wilderness, Jesus returned to the Galilee, to his hometown of Nazareth. He began preaching in the synagogues in the area, and one Sabbath in Nazareth, Jesus read the Scriptures recorded by the prophet Isaiah.
Word had gotten out about who Jesus was. The people knew who he said he was. During this time, it may have taken several days for the word to spread the 115 kilometers from the Judean wilderness to Nazareth.
The people of Nazareth had watched Jesus grow up into the man who stood before them and read the Scripture that Sabbath day. People spoke well of Jesus, they knew his mother and his father. They watched mature from a young boy into a man. And while we don’t know much about Jesus’ life as a boy, teen and young adult, from his years in ministry we can assume that Jesus was polite, kind, and generous. He was a good neighbor and cared for the people in his town. He probably had an incredibly good reputation. Few people probably had anything bad to say about him.
So when Jesus said “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!” referring to the Good News that the prophet Isaiah wrote about, the people were shocked. They were in disbelief. They questioned how Joseph’s son could be this person that Isaiah prophesied.
The people of Nazareth rejected one of their own. With disbelief and closed minds they pushed Jesus away.
Israel isn’t the largest of countries, but without modern transportation, it would take days to get from place to place. We read this same passage of scripture in church several weeks ago, and I keep going back to it for two reasons.
First, I cannot wrap my mind around the fact that after just starting his ministry, spending forty days in the Judean wilderness, and trekking through Israel back to Nazareth, Jesus is immediately rejected by his people.
When you grow up in a town for most of your life, your community becomes your people. Your church becomes your people. Your classmates become your people. Your coworkers become your people. They support you, walk alongside you, encourage you, and live life with you. You experience growth together.
Nazareth was a town of Jesus’ people. I imagine Jesus growing up in Nazareth playing with his neighbors’ children. Helping his father with his carpentry business. Worshipping on the Sabbath together with his community. These people would have been there for the ups and downs of life as Jesus grew into an adult. He would feel at home with them. There would be common ground, love for one another, and support.
Jesus is proclaiming good news, that God has sent him to set the captives and the oppressed free and that he will make the blind see.
And how do the people of Nazareth respond? How do Jesus’ people take the news?
They rejected him.
Have you ever felt rejected by people who were supposed to love you and support you? Have you ever felt rejected by your people?
I have. It’s not easy. It can push you back into a dark place. Into deep sadness. Into frustration. Into hopelessness.
The second reason this rejection of Jesus has been on my mind, is because of what happens after the rejection.
Jesus has been rejected by his people, and how does he respond?
He passed right through the crowd and went on his way.
Jesus kept going. He didn’t let this rejection set back his purpose. He didn’t let the rejection from his people stop his mission. He didn’t let the rejection change him. He kept going.
Have you let rejection in your life keep you from who God is calling you to be?
As Christians we will face rejection by the world. By society. By our people. We can’t escape it. It’s going to be difficult. And frustrating. And it may feel like walking in darkness.
But there is hope. Jesus faced rejection. He knows how it feels. Jesus promises to walk with us. Jesus is our light in the darkness. Rejection is never easy, but with Jesus alongside us there is hope and strength.
Lord when we are facing the darkness of rejection, be with us. When our people reject us, be with us. When we start to let rejection keep us from who You are calling us to be help us to persevere. Lord it isn’t easy. And sometimes it feels hopeless. But in You there is hope. During times of rejection, wrap us in Your love and give us strength. We can’t do this without You. Amen.
Abbey Jo
Adventures with Abbey Jo 
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