Jesus in Nazareth Luke 4,16-30

Jesus came to Nazareth, where he grew up. According to his custom, he entered the synagogue on Saturday and got up to read. They gave him the book of the prophet Isaiah. As he unfolded the book, he found a place where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He sent me to declare to the captives that they would be released, and to the blind that they would see; Then he rolled up the book, returned it to the servant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And they all convinced him, and marveled at the kind words that proceeded out of his mouth, and said, Is not this Joseph’s son? in Capernaum; do this also in your own country. ” He added: “Verily I say unto you, No prophet is precious in his own country. But I tell you the truth: Many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up for three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout the land. And Elijah was not sent unto any of them, but unto the widow to Zarephat of Sidon. And many lepers were in Israel in the days of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, but Naaman the Syrian: and when they heard it, all the people of the synagogue were wroth: and they rose up, and drove him out of the city, and led him unto the brook. Their city was built, and from thence they sought to overthrow him: but he passed by, and departed.
What is our experience of witnessing to the faith? Has it not happened to you that even “Christians” are ashamed to profess the faith? The man was talking about his co-worker. One day this collaborator visited me. As I spoke, I asked him, “Have you ever heard the gospel?” “No,” he replied, “but I have seen it. I know a man who was scared of the whole neighborhood. He was an alcoholic, he was as dangerous as a wild beast. But under the influence of the gospel, he changed completely. Now he is kind and good and has given up all alcohol. “

In today’s Gospel of Jesus, the natives did not accept that the words came out of his mouth: “If you will remind me of the words: Doctor, heal yourself! We heard what had happened in Capernaum; do it here, too, in your homeland “(Luke 4:23). The Lord Jesus comes to his own, and they know him: for he is the son of Joseph. They do not recognize him as their native – but not as the Messiah, and just as such, he wants to introduce himself to them when he reads a messianic passage from the prophet Isaiah, the prophet clearly points to him, but they do not accept it with their minds or hearts. When we look at the example of those Nazarene’s, we can understand what it means to know Christ, it means to come out of darkness, from the darkness of error, deception, dishonesty, to know Christ is to free oneself from one’s selfishness, greed, pride, sensuality, comfort; to allow ourselves to tell the truth – especially the truth about ourselves, it means to accept the truth – even if it is unpleasant, difficult, uncomfortable.

Christ, when he became man, found his homeland among us; may he be a precious prophet in this country, even though he reveals difficult truths to us; for these truths, for our deliverance from darkness, he sacrifices his life. No one is a prophet in his homeland. The proverb can be misused. All Jesus asks of us is to bear witness to the truth in this world, in the environment where we live and work. That is, simply to resist the false currents of the present, showing in one’s own life that one can live differently, more beautifully and more perfectly. This will force many around us to ask about the meaning of life.

Our testimonies of the release of faith may be different. We need to look closely at our lives first. We don’t want from others what we don’t do. The father says: My son drank, he also struck me … I once shouted at him, “Did they teach you in religion and in the church?” He replied, “You are silent! I have never seen you be a Christian.” That day I entered my conscience and changed my life. “I need to live a testimony of faith from each other and from each other. Amen.