Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord. (Lk 4:16-19)
Today, in the daily Mass readings, we begin the continuous reading of the public ministry of Jesus in the gospel of Luke. We have already completed the public ministry in the gospels of Mark and Matthew. The Lucan gospel is the only two-part gospel (Luke-Acts). Today’s passage has Jesus returning to his home town and preaching in the synagogue. First he reads from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah and everyone is impressed . . . that is until he begins to preach. Proclaiming a year acceptable to the Lord is great . . . but for FOREIGNERS??? The home town folks were so angry that they “drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong. But he passed through the midst of them and went away.” So much for the campaign: “NAZARETH FIRST.”
