“Passing through the Crowd” Colchester Federated Church, February 2, 2025, Fourth Sunday after Epiphany (Luke 4:21-30)

To understand today’s text from the Gospel according to Luke, we have to remember last Sunday’s story.  Today is Part II.  Jesus is in his hometown of Nazareth and goes to the synagogue on the Sabbath.  Jesus reads from the Prophet Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me.  He has sent me to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to liberate the oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”[1]  Jesus tells folks that the scripture has been fulfilled just as they heard it.  Everyone is amazed, “This is Joseph’s son, isn’t it?”[2]  The crowds are raving about Jesus, impressed by his gracious words. 

Though the story shifts as Jesus says, “I assure you that no prophet is welcome in the prophet’s hometown.”[3]  Jesus speaks of the prophets Elijah and Elisha healing Gentiles after being rejected by their own people.  He says, “There were also many persons with skin diseases in Israel during the time of the prophet Elisha, but none of them were cleansed.  Instead, Naaman the Syrian was cleansed.”[4]  The crowd wants Jesus to work miracles like he had already done in Capernaum, and Jesus refuses.  So those who were just raving about how wonderful he is turn on Jesus—filled with anger, running Jesus out of town, leading him to the crest of a hill, and attempting to throw Jesus off that cliff.  The story ends with Jesus passing through the angry crowd and going back to Capernaum to heal and teach and continue on.

It’s an odd story.  Jesus refuses to heal people in his hometown at the beginning of his ministry.  Jesus points out that when prophets get rejected, they often reach out to Gentiles.  The anger from the congregation is sparked because Jesus is saying that as a prophet he will bring God’s good news to others, but not healing actions to his own hometown.  Luke may be foreshadowing Jesus’ later rejections and the opening of the Jesus Movement to Gentiles.  Luke is an inclusive Gospel and all about Jesus being the Savior of the whole world.  As New Testament scholar Mark Allan Powell states, there’s an emphasis in Luke on “Jesus’ ministry to those who are oppressed, excluded, or otherwise at a disadvantage in society.”[5]  Though it is curious that these folks in Nazareth want Jesus’ help, and he doesn’t respond positively to their requests.

What do we make of this story?  It may be hard to give someone the benefit of the doubt when we know them, flaws and all.  It may be hard to have an open mind that people can change when we’ve witnessed someone make a foolish decision or two.  Maybe Jesus knew that he could never minister in his hometown because the folks in Nazareth could never separate him from being Mary and Joseph’s son (the hometown kid) and the teacher and healer who declared that Isaiah’s words about preaching good news to the poor, proclaiming release to prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, liberation for the oppressed, and proclaiming the year of God’s favor had been fulfilled in him.  Even if those folks in that Nazareth synagogue wanted Jesus to serve among them, perhaps he just couldn’t go there.  At least not yet.

In reflecting on this text, UCC Minister Rev. Kate Huey noted that Jesus is clearly not basking in the admiration of the crowd.  Something seems to be bothering him enough to react this way.  She asks, “Does he know more about their expectations than we can read from the text?  Does he feel that they’ve missed the point? Does he have a sense that they won’t like where he’s going with this line of thought, about jubilee (“the year of the Lord’s favor”) and the liberation of the oppressed?  Or does he suspect that that kind of talk is fine as long as it applies to them, but not to those who somehow stand outside the favor of God?”[6]  We don’t know for sure.  Yet this story shows that sometimes we need to branch out beyond the familiar.  There may be times when we need to start over.  Because a new beginning often starts with an ending.  There are moments when going beyond the familiar calls for some serious bravery.

This reminds me of one of the Adventures of Frog and Toad called “Dragons and Giants.”  A story to remember for both the young and the young at heart.  So, one day Frog and Toad were reading a book, and they realized that the people in the book were very brave.  The people fought dragons and giants and never got scared.  Frog and Toad wondered if they were brave.  They looked into a mirror and thought they looked brave, but they wondered if they actually were brave. 

Frog and Toad decided to go climb a mountain.  Because climbing a mountain could tell them if they were brave.  Frog was leaping over rocks and Toad came huffing and puffing behind him.  The friends came to a dark cave and a big snake emerged.  The snake said, “Hello lunch” and opened his mouth.  Frog and Toad jumped away.  Toad was shaking and yelled, “I am not afraid!”  The friends climbed higher and heard a loud noise.  Large stones began rolling down the mountain—it was an avalanche!  Frog and Toad jumped away again.  Frog was shaking and yelled, “I am not afraid!”  Then they came to the top of the mountain, and the shadow of a hawk fell over them.  Frog and Toad jumped under a rock and waited until the hawk flew away.  “We are not afraid!” screamed Frog and Toad at the exact same time.  Then they ran down the mountain real fast.  They ran past the place where they saw the avalanche and past the cave where the snake appeared.  Frog and Toad ran all the way back to Toad’s house.  Toad jumped into bed and pulled the covers over his head and Frog jumped into the closet and shut the door.  And Frog and Toad stayed like that for a long time, feeling very brave together.[7]

Going out beyond the familiar sometimes requires bravery and companionship along the way.  We know in our Christian tradition that Jesus would light some fires, overturn some tables, and proclaim that God is love and God’s time is now.  Not everyone liked him.  Jesus needed to let go of the old thing before he could pick up the new.  Jesus’ mission drives him to the edge and then out into the world God loves.  Jesus preached the good news of jubilee and liberation out beyond the confines of Nazareth.  That was his journey.  And other people helped Jesus along the way, helped him to be brave.  May it be so with us.  Thanks be to God.  Amen.

[1] Luke 4:18-19, CEB.
[2] Luke 4:22.
[3] Luke 4:24.
[4] Luke 4:27.
[5] Mark Allan Powell, Fortress Introduction to the Gospels, 93.
[6] Kate Huey, UCC Weekly Seeds, February 3, 2013.
[7] Arnold Lobel, “Dragons and Giants” in The Adventures of Frog and Toad.

Photo by Crystal McClernon on Unsplash