Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21

Copyrighted material that appears in this article is included under the provisions of the Fair Use Clause of the National Copyright Act, which allows limited reproduction of copyrighted materials for educational and religious use when no financial charge is made for viewing. Catholic Lectionary. (2009). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.

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1 Since many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the events that have been fulfilled among us,2 just as those who were eyewitnesses from the beginning and the ministers of the word have handed them down to us,3 I too have decided, after investigating everything accurately anew, to write it down in an orderly sequence for you, most excellent Theophilus,4 so that you may realize the certainty of the teachings you have received.14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news of him spread throughout the whole region.15 He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all.16 He 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 read17 and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:18 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,19 and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.20 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.21 He said to them, Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.

Jesus is rejected.As we study the Bible we notice a pattern of rejection.All of the prophets, those who spoke for God, were in someway rejected by the very people to which they were sent.Today we read about Jesus using Isaiahs message to announce his arrival and mission. Jesus was already known as a popular teacher, so it would be natural for synagogue officials to ask him to read from and explain a scripture passage as part of their weekly Sabbath celebration.Jesus followed synagogue tradition by standing to read and then sitting down to explain the passage.Do you recall the saying, familiarity breeds contempt?Thats what happened in Nazareth because they knew him, how could he claim to be the Messiah, hes just a local son of a humble carpenter.The people found his reading and message socially unacceptable.Jesus read, He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, 19 and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.

Why would you ever want to preach to the poor, they cant return anything of value. Why in the world would your want to release captives? They were imprisoned for a reason.The blind?They couldnt earn a living so how could they contribute to your mission?Liberty to those oppressed?Was he planning to free Jews from Roman Empire?In the values of the day, what he said was impossible, and was counter-cultural.Once forming such an opinion of Jesus the locals decided to reject his message.They had rejected the messenger because they didnt like the message.Sometimes we see people leave the church because they dont like the message.Its much easier to reject that which inconveniences us rather than searching for the truth which might not be immediately clear.

This is what happened in Nazareth but take heart, in time many of those who disbelieve returned to the church once they came to understand.Later Jesus would tell Thomas, who didnt believe the other apostles, Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe. (Jn 20:29).