Hometown Prophet
Luke 4:22-30
1. The rejection of Jesus by His hometown
22 And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” 23 And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Physician, heal yourself.’ What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.” 24 And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown.” Luke 4:22-24 (ESV)
We never see Jesus performing miracles in response to coercion or manipulation.
22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 1 Corinthians 1:22 (ESV)
2. The message of Jesus to His hometown
25 “…But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, 26 and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27 And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” Luke 4:25-27 (ESV)
13 And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the LORD sends rain upon the earth.’” 1 Kings 17:13-14 (ESV)
11 But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, “Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper.” 2 Kings 5:11 (ESV)
Both of Jesus’ stories involved individuals who were outside of Israel, or Gentiles, and both stories involved individuals who had to believe God’s word before the miracle occurred.
3. The persecution of Jesus by His hometown
28 When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. 29 And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. 30 But passing through their midst, he went away. Luke 4:28-30 (ESV)
Jesus often eluded the authorities or a hostile crowd simply because it was not God’s time, which reminds us that God is in control.
11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. John 1:11 (ESV)