This week we hear how Jesus told his friends and neighbors who he really was.

In the Gospel of Luke this story happens right at the beginning of Jesus’ gown-up ministry, before he had any disciples following him.

  • All alone, Jesus got baptized by John.
  • All alone, Jesus spent 40 days in the desert.
  • Then, all alone, Jesus started going from town to town, telling people about the Kingdom of Heaven.

After traveling around for a while, still all alone, Jesus decided to go back to his home town.

Everyone knew Jesus back home in Nazareth. Every Sabbath day, they all would pray and worship together at the synagogue. So, when Jesus came home from his travels, on the Sabbath he went to the synagogue as usual. Jesus’ neighbors wanted to welcome him home, and honor him. So they asked him to read one of the Bible passages in the service. Jesus went up to the lectern. Someone brought him the scroll of the Prophet Isaiah. Jesus unrolled it to that morning’s reading. And Jesus read the words of Isaiah chapter 61.

It went something like this:

God poured his Spirit out on me!
Now I’m going to the poor people, and tell them good news from God!
Now I’m going to the prisons and jails, to set the prisoners free!
Now I’m going to the blind people, and I’m going to make them able to see!
Now I’m going to find people who are bullied and feel trapped and I’ll bring them God’s freedom!
I’m here to tell everyone that God really loves them right now!

Paraphrase of Luke 61:1-2

Everyone knew that passage of Isaiah. They all knew it was part of God’s promise to bring a savior, the Messiah. That was what all the people were hoping for. Someday God would send the Messiah, so they would be freed from their troubles. Someday the Messiah would make the world good and fair, the way God intended life to be.

Well, when Jesus was done reading the words of the prophet, he rolled the scroll back up. He handed it to the person responsible for putting it away on a safe place. But even after they put scroll away, Jesus still stood at the lectern. They wondered if maybe he would preach a sermon. Jesus looked out at the people in the synagogue. He knew them all. They all knew him. He cleared his throat. He held onto the edges of the lectern with his hands. He shifted from foot to foot for a couple seconds. Then he smiled, and said, “I have a big surprise for you: God fulfilled this promise today! Right here in Nazareth!”

Jesus could see they were kind of confused by what he said. So he clarified, “This promise from the Bible is fulfilled today!”

Used with permission Gary Neal Hansen, PhD Webstite & Blog: garynealhansen.com    Book: Kneeling with giants: Learning to Pray with History’s Best Teachers (InterVarsity Press, 2012)