After the baptism and testing, Jesus’ ministry begins in earnest, though Luke only gives us the broadest strokes of his activity in verses 14-15 of chapter 4. In these few lines, Jesus returns to a region called Galilee “in the power of the Spirit,” and a positive report about him circulates among the populace. A primary reason for this positive report, it seems, is his teaching in the local synagogues, which is so compelling that “everyone praised him.”
That short synopsis given, Luke moves in verse 16 to focus in on a particular Galilean community that knew Jesus well: his hometown of Nazareth. As the story goes, things start off well. Perhaps because his newfound reputation has preceded him, Jesus is given the opportunity to read and comment on scripture in the weekly synagogue service. We’re unsure whether Jesus chose the passage purposefully or if it was just that week’s reading. What we do know is that he read a portion of Isaiah 61 with an addition from Isaiah 58 that went like this:
The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. (Luke 4:18-19, NIV)
This is a text that would have provoked Israel’s hopes for God’s gracious intervention on their behalf. Unsurprisingly, it recalls some of the same themes from Mary’s song, which referenced the same (you can find another post on Mary’s song here). Remarkably, Jesus ties this movement of God to himself when he interprets the passage by saying that it had been fulfilled in the congregation’s hearing. The time of God’s movement is now, Jesus says, and Jesus himself is at the center of what God is doing!
Jesus’ hearers were initially impressed by his words. As folks who had known him in his childhood and youth, they marveled that “Joseph’s son” had grown into the man before them. Their goodwill dried up quickly, however, when they heard what Jesus said next. Indeed, he seems to have purposefully provoked their sensibilities.
Having identified himself as God’s anointed agent of redemption, Jesus pushes back against any idea that his hometown will enjoy special privileges in his ministry. That probably would have been offensive enough, but Jesus goes on to tell stories of Israel’s most celebrated prophets helping Gentiles. God’s movement won’t be contained to Israel, it seems. Instead, it will extend to the nations. This was the bridge too far. Jesus’ explanation of redemption included the wrong people. In the span of a few sentences, his audience goes from adoring to violently hostile, even to the point of trying to kill him. But, Jesus, probably through miraculous intervention, walks unharmed through the crowd to go about his business.
When we think of the ministry of Jesus, it is interesting to note how he defied expectations and pushed boundaries. Within Israel, he extended table fellowship to tax collectors and sinners. After his ascension, the movement he inaugurated - driven by the same Spirit that descended on him at the baptism - expanded to embrace Gentiles, just as he said it would in today’s passage. We take a wrong turn when we try to put boundaries on God’s grace. Especially when we begin to assume that God loves the people we love and despises the people we despise - that we, and not others, hold a special place in God’s heart - we need to remember passages like this one. Rather than bowing to our whims and prejudices, Jesus calls us beyond them to join a community that gives no weight to social divisions. As the Apostle Paul said in his letter to the Galatians, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28, NIV) The question is whether we will take Jesus seriously or, like his hometown, take offense at his words.