Luke 4:14-30
Jesus comes back to Nazareth, preaches and is not well received. There’s a lot of human behavior happening here. There’s the inability to imagine God being right here, or a small town boy done that good. There’s a fear of God getting this close. There’s an assumption of arrogance.
Jesus has a response for all of it that we often overlook in reading this passage. We often want to see God as giving us infinite chances to get it right. At the same time, Jesus brings to the forefront the idea that God isn’t just going to try with us, and that God will continue to reach out to share the Good News.
Jesus declares that God sends messengers to people other than God’s people in times of trial and trouble. Jesus asserts that there’s a reason – and that this reception is that reason. What do we hear with new ears? What have we become unable to hear with our ‘old’ ears? How do we hear God’s Word when it comes home?
