Good morning, Nativity!

Last Sunday’s Gospel reading (Luke 4:14-20) ended with Jesus quoting from Isaiah Chapter 61 to proclaim that He was the Messiah. Normally this coming Sunday continues with Luke 4:21-30. This, however, is not a normal year.

This year, the fourth Sunday after the Epiphany falls on February 2nd, the Feast Day of the Presentation of the Lord Jesus in the Temple; we will be celebrating that Feast Day this Sunday. The assigned Gospel reading for the Presentation backtracks to Luke Chapter 2. This year, therefore, we skip the aftermath immediately following Jesus proclaiming Himself the Messiah. That passage is too rich to pass up.

The initial response of the crowd in the synagogue of Nazareth, Jesus’s hometown, was incredibly positive: “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?'” (Luke 4:22, ESV). To them this was all good news: the local boy was the Messiah!

But they got the Messiah all wrong – Jesus was the Son of God, not Joseph’s son. Furthermore, based on the full quote from Isaiah, they expected to receive special favor from the Messiah. And they were anticipating wrathful vengeance for their oppressors: “to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn” (Isaiah 61:2, ESV). Remember, however, that Jesus’s use of that quote stopped at “the year of the LORD’s favor.”

Their concept of the Messiah and His purpose were too limited and self-serving. They sought the healings, the blessings, that they had heard of elsewhere, rather than the ultimate, eternal healing that Jesus was offering. A healing that was available for all. Jesus’s audience was renouncing their calling to be “a light for the nations” (Isaiah 42:6).

Jesus recognized their flawed understanding. In response, He referenced two of the greatest Old Testament prophets, Elijah and Elisha (Luke 4:25-27); they blessed gentiles despite there being similarly afflicted people in Israel that remained unblessed. Elijah kept a poor non-Jewish widow and her son alive by miraculously feeding them during a prolonged famine. Elisha healed a great general of the Syrian army, a country that was oppressing the Israelites.

This was not the message they wanted to hear – not the blessing upon the Israelites and vengeance upon the gentiles that they desired. They responded with anger and turned on Jesus. Their angry response was an outright rejection of Jesus; He was not who they expected or wanted. The scope of Jesus’s mercy was too broad for them. They drove the hometown boy out of town. “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown.” (Luke 4:24, ESV).

Ending this Nativity Now with the Collect for Proper 8 (BCP 230) seems appropriate:

Almighty God, you have built your Church upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone: Grant us so to be joined together in unity of spirit by their teaching, that we may be made a holy temple acceptable to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

In the Peace and Love of Christ,

Fr. Tim⁺

(941.321.6376; tmac_84@yahoo.com)