Part of the answer lies in how Luke uses this incident in Jesus’ life. By contrast to Matthew and Mark, Luke places the Nazareth sermon at the very beginning of Jesus’ public ministry directly following his Baptism and the Temptations. The text Jesus quoted from, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me” comes from the prophet Isaiah and sets the content as it were of Jesus whole public ministry. The words of the reading about bringing good news to the poor, release to the captives, sight to the blind, freeing the oppressed and proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favor seem to echo the content of the ministry about to be described. Again and again people who heard and experienced the ministry of Jesus were given hope, they were healed, they were encouraged, they were restored to community and found forgiveness and reconciliation. What Luke is saying clearly is that this Jesus is the fulfillment of all the hopes and expectations of the Hebrew Scriptures. Indeed the first three chapters of Luke have already earthed Jesus in the context of all the expectation of those scriptures. John the Baptist, Elizabeth, Mary, Simeon and Anna are all figures of the old covenant pointing towards Jesus as the fulfillment of all that has gone before. Furthermore we the reader also know that the Spirit of the Lord is upon Jesus because Luke has just told us about his Baptism when the “ Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove.”

So in a sense we are prepared for the startling and short sermon, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” This Jesus is none other than the fulfillment of all that has gone before, of all the hopes of the Jewish prophets and people. It is in the person and work of Jesus that all will be accomplished in terms of the Salvation of God. This “today” is none other than the Day of the Lord, the Day of Salvation. This is a major declaration in terms of Luke’s gospel. He is setting the stage for all that is to follow.

But what do we make of the reaction of the crowd? What is this saying to us? In some sense it seems so familiar from a human point of view. First of all the hometown crowd spoke well of him and were amazed at what he said. Perhaps they liked his religious conformity in being at synagogue on the Sabbath and taking his place in reading from the scriptures. Perhaps they like the brevity of his preaching! Not often you get a one-liner. But also it was nice to see and hear one of their own. There is something comforting and reassuring about familiarity. After all they knew his family and remembered Jesus as a boy and as a teenager. I am sure there was a deal of “do you remember when?” There is something inherently unthreatening about “one of your own.” But then the doubts set in. “Is not this Joseph’s son?” Was that said with pride or with condescension? Were they saying is it not remarkable that one of us is speaking with such authority? Or is there a touch of “don’t forget who you are” in the comment? Or even it may appear to be a reminder of the unusual events surrounding Jesus’ birth. Was Joseph truly his father? As an Australian I tend to go for the “don’t forget who you are”. One of the down sides of Australian egalitarianism is what is known as the “tall poppy syndrome”. It is fair game to cut down to size anyone who excels. There is nothing like reminding people of their small town or humble origins. Jesus’ response in the two sayings “Doctor heal yourself” and “no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown” seems to echo this. In any case what we see taking place in the gospel incident is all too familiar from a human point of view. Who do they think they are saying that or doing that? Indeed I can certainly identify with the real need for many people including myself to break out of the boundaries of small town or family or of an overly familiar setting. Sometimes we need to get away in order to better fulfill our vocations or to maintain our integrity.

In any case the congregation at Nazareth found the prophetic word and identification by Jesus too much to handle. After all you expect a hometown boy to offer comfort and assurance. They certainly did not want to be unsettled or disturbed. But what Jesus offered was none other that the “acceptable day of the Lord”, or the “today” of God. This is the good news of God’s salvation or God’s hospitality for all people and especially those on the margins. So Jesus labored on with two telling reminders from the Hebrew Scriptures. He pointed out two people, the widow of Zarephath and Naaman the Syrian, both non-Jewish foreigners, who received the gracious blessing of God so reminding his hearers that God’s good news, “the year of the Lord’s favor”, is for all people who will hear it, Jew and Gentile alike. This was too much for the home crowd. It pushed the bounds just too far. This was both disturbing and unsettling. “ Surely he cannot be serious.” “How dare he think he can get up in front of us and say such radical things.”

Such was their rage that we are told “they got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff.” They meant serious business. But we are told “Jesus passed through the midst of them and went on his way.”

What Luke is doing here in describing Jesus’ rejection is looking backward and forward. Already Luke has set the scene for the Nazareth preachment. Luke is the only Gospel to tell of the incident in Jesus’ boyhood when Jesus stayed behind in the Temple talking with the doctors of the Law much to the consternation of his parents. There we see that he is no longer simply the boy from Nazareth, the son of Joseph but rather the Son of God who “must be about his Father’s business” in the Temple. And furthermore it is only Luke who tells us of Simeon’s prophecy to Mary his mother, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed – and a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

But the rejection at Nazareth also looks forward to the events of the Passion and Death of Jesus at Jerusalem. From the outset all the synoptic gospels make the same point in different ways. The opposition to Jesus is there from the outset. As Jesus passes through the ugly crowd at Nazareth so he will pass through the events of Calvary into Resurrection and Ascension. As I have said numerous times it is helpful to remember that the gospels were written through the lense of the death and resurrection of Jesus. So it is not surprising that those events resonate throughout the entire gospel from the birth narratives through the ministry.

And last but by no means least how does all that affect us as we seek to follow the way of Jesus? Well most importantly do not be surprised if the good news of salvation fearlessly proclaimed is not always gladly received. Because as we see in today’s reading and indeed in the Jeremiah reading God’s good news, Salvation for all, is strangely disturbing and threatening stuff to all who have an interest in maintaining the status quo. What we must beware of most of all is the tendency to dumb down and to domesticate the good news of God in order to make it more palatable and easy to hear.

When we gather as God’s faithful and faith-filled people let us proclaim fearlessly God’s saving and hospitable love for all as we know it in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus and as we celebrate it in this eucharist.   Amen

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