Context No. 3765 of 4322 · Luke

Luke 4:20-27: in context

20He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21He began to tell them, “Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22All testified about him and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth; and they said, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” 23He said to them, “Doubtless you will tell me this proverb, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we have heard done at Capernaum, do also here in your hometown.’” 24He said, “Most certainly I tell you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. 25But truly I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land. 26Elijah was sent to none of them, except to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27There were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed, except Naaman, the Syrian.”

In his hometown synagogue, Jesus declares that the Scripture he has just read is fulfilled that very day in their hearing. At first the crowd marvels at his gracious words, but then a note of skepticism creeps in: isn't this Joseph's son? Their familiarity with him breeds a contempt that will not let them receive him.

Jesus names the pattern: no prophet is accepted in his hometown. And he presses further, recalling how, in times of famine and disease, God sent Elijah not to Israel's widows but to a foreign widow at Zarephath, and cleansed not Israel's lepers but Naaman the Syrian. God's grace reached those who received it, often outsiders, while those who assumed a claim on it missed it. Two things stand out. Familiarity can blind us; the very people who had known Jesus as the carpenter's son could not see who he truly was. And God's grace goes to those who receive it in faith, and cannot be presumed upon by those who take it for granted.

Have I let familiarity with Jesus dull my wonder at who he is, and am I receiving his grace in humble faith rather than presuming I already have a claim on it?

Sources

Luke 4:21: "Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."
Luke 4:24: "Most certainly I tell you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown."
Luke 4:25-26: "There were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah... Elijah was sent to none of them, except to Zarephath... to a woman who was a widow."