Luke
4:21 He began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in
your hearing." 22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious
words that came from his lips. "Isn't this Joseph's son?" they asked.
23 Jesus said to them, "Surely you will quote this proverb to me:
'Physician, heal yourself !' And you will tell me, 'Do here in your hometown
what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.' " 24 "Truly I tell
you," he continued, "prophets are not accepted in their hometowns. 25
I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah's time, when the
sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine
throughout the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow
in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. 27 And there were many in Israel with
leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was
cleansed--only Naaman the Syrian." 28 All the people in the synagogue were
furious when they heard this. 29 They got up, drove him out of the town, and
took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw
him off the cliff. 30 But he walked right through the crowd and went on his
way.
This Sunday's Gospel text picks up right where last Sunday's left off. In fact,
it even repeats a verse from last Sunday--vs 21 He began by saying to them,
"Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." What happens
after this statement, however, is the INTERESTING part of the passage.... and
it all boils down to vs 22 where the hearers that day in the synagogue: All
spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his
lips. "Isn't this Joseph's son?" they asked. It's a little bit
perplexing. On the surface there doesn't seem to be too much going on in vs 22
that would cause the situation to unravel.
Let's review what we already know along with what we can deduce. (1) Luke
hasn't given us much in the way of detail yet, but judging from vss 14-15 Jesus
is already a 'famous' personality. It's a foible of the way Luke unfolds his
gospel, but even though he hasn't reported yet what all went on in other areas
like Capernaum, evidently Jesus did some amazing things there (vs 23). (2)
Based on the fact of this growing fame (as a prophet... wonder-worker... holy man)
Jesus is given a platform at his hometown synagogue. Given how the situation
deteriorates, one can assume that there was an ulterior motive in so 'honoring'
him. Judging from vs 23 Jesus deduces that they didn't want to hear him speak,
they wanted to see him perform. (3) Given the [small] size of Nazareth and the
way things were... it's very likely that the people [mostly men] in attendance
that day not only knew Jesus from way back, but were also relatives.
It boils down to this... what is meant by the question Isn't this Joseph's
son? Luke's readers already know the answer to that question. NO! He's the
son of God (as per Gabriel's announcement 1:35). But the question has two
possible meanings: Isn't this Joseph's son could mean: who does this
young whipper snapper think he is? He's putting on airs... commin' in here
telling us he's the fulfillment of prophecy... why, I remember when he
was just a runt working in the shop with his daddy... In that sense Isn't
this Joseph's son is a denunciation. They're saying it while shaking their
heads & leaving. They're underwhelmed; less than wowed.
But there's also another way to view Isn't this Joseph's son. It begins
by taking seriously the statement immediately preceding: All spoke well of
him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. It seems
a bit herky-jerky to go from speaking well of him & his gracious words to
denunciation. What if, rather... they mean...isn't this Joseph's son? Hey...
he's our hometown boy. Maybe he **is the fulfillment of prophecy, but he's
first & foremost one of us. Our ship has just come in. Life is gonna get
good now. He's Joseph's son, & we're Joseph's 3rd cousins, so that means
nothing but extra good stuff for us!
In the end, I suppose either way of reading the narrative would work. And
either way, Jesus interprets their words as being a REJECTION (v 24).... either
an outright rejection (who does this guy think he is?) or a rejection of
mission/authority (he's our hometown boy, we'll keep him all to ourselves). Further,
he is rejected for (1) not performing a sign/wonder right there in front
of them on command and (2) reprimanding them for so-desiring such a
performance.
Luke seems to be doing several things with this account. First, the rejection
of Jesus in his own home town synagogue is a prelude to the rejection that will
occur in Jerusalem at the end of the story. Second, from a "Luke's
Community" standpoint (wherever that may be, circa 80AD) it also represents
the continued rejection of Jesus by the synagogue. Third, we can even
include the general rejection of Jesus by the world at large. How easy it would
be to accept him if he would just dance to our tune... if he would only 'Do
here what we have heard that he did in Capernaum'... all those years ago.
If he would only be the messiah on our terms, how easy it would be to
accept him.
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