No prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown- Lk 4
Jeremiah 1:4-10; Psalm 71:1-6; 1 Corinthians 13:1-13; Luke 4:21-30
We sometimes say, “Familiarity breeds contempt”. It can be a common experience. As we become used to something, it loses its specialness- our respect diminishes. As a teenager, the brand-new shoes that we were so careful about not getting dirty, within a few months, walk through everything we normally would. … This can be true in relationships, too. When we first get into a romantic relationship, our beloved is our whole world, but after the wedding we can snap at our partner over petty annoyances that we couldn’t have imagined bothering us before. We get a dream job we longed for, but over time it seems like all we notice are the things we don’t like about it.
Jeremiah experiences this internally as he hears God’s call. Who is he that God would call him? He responds to God’s call
“Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.”
His familiarity with himself led to him dismissing himself as someone who could be qualified for such a profound calling.
Jesus experiences this from others as they are unwilling to take what he says seriously because they watched him grow-up. … Jesus has just read from the prophet Isaiah (61:1-2) and given a sermon to the people of his hometown synagogue where he essentially revealed that he is the expected Messiah that Isaiah spoke about. … He can tell what they are thinking. They are doubtful. They want him to prove it. “Do a miracle here, at home.” They want more than words. … “Is not this Joseph’s son?” Who is this that he should be someone to fulfill Scripture? We knew him when he was running around in diapers. … Jesus’ statement, “no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown”, is something like “familiarity breeds contempt”.
To illustrate this point, he speaks about the prophet Elijah. King Ahab and Queen Jezebel had turned away from the God of Israel, and have dedicated themselves to a Canaanite rain god, Baal. Ironically, Elijah declared a drought, which ended up lasting for 3 years and 6 months. Elijah felt abandoned, not only by the leadership, but also by the people. He was eventually directed to go into Gentile territory where he met the widow whose son he healed. … He had to leave Israel to find a welcoming place. He was a prophet of the God of Israel and there was no welcoming place for him in Israel.
Likewise, Naaman, a Syrian, an enemy commander who fought against Israel, was told by an Israelite slave girl that he should seek out the prophet in Israel to be cured of his leprosy. He went with a delegation to see the King of Israel. The king doesn’t seem to even think about sending him to Elisha until Elisha sends word to the king to send Naaman to him. Naaman was then healed after being directed to wash 7 times in the Jordan River. … Why was it that this foreigner, not even a worshipped of the God of Israel, received this healing? Jesus seems to imply that there was a lack of appreciation that God had given a prophet to Israel.
Both examples seem to show that unbelief in Israel resulted in God turning His blessing to Gentiles. They were left out, and Gentiles received the blessing instead. They didn’t appreciate the prophet in their midst, and so were unable to participate in the blessing God gave through the prophet.
This would be insulting on a number of levels. First, his words would group the people of his hometown in with unfaithful Baal worshippers who had turned away from God, like Ahab and Jezebel . They are like those who rejected the prophets. They made an unwelcome place for the prophets, which caused the prophet to bring his ministry elsewhere. … For Christians, this might be like being accused of being like the crowd that called for Jesus’ crucifixion.
Secondly, generally, like other first century Jews, they hated Gentiles. The Romans were their oppressors. Not long before the Romans, the Greeks had desecrated the temple. But before them there were the Egyptians who had enslaved them, and so on. … But it goes well beyond this- the Gentiles worship other gods- multiple gods. They have detestable and immoral practices. … The story they wanted to tell was about a Messiah who comes to fight for the nation of Israel against Israel’s enemies. They wanted to talk about God pouring out wrath on the Gentiles for their immoral behavior. … But, here comes Jesus telling stories about God blessing Gentiles. God gave grace to those who were not considered to be his people.
St. Paul will see this rejection as being a pattern that God will use to bless the Gentiles. Paul followed this pattern in his own ministry when he went to a new town to share the news about Jesus. He would first go to the local synagogue to preach. When he was kicked out, he went and told the Gentiles about Jesus. Their rejection opened the door to the Gentiles receiving this grace from God.
Familiarity often does breed contempt. Maybe “contempt” is too strong a word. Maybe familiarity breed a lack of appreciation. … For example, it is very common for people to have a Bible at home gathering dust that is never read. But think about what had to happen to allow that book to be on that shelf. First, there in the writing of it, which is no small task in itself. Paul was in prison writing many of his letters, for example. Then the writings had to be gathered. Then extra copies were made by hand to preserve it and spread it. The monastics had very special ways of copying it to minimize errors. It had to survive persecutions where people were threatened to give up their Bibles or be killed. In the Medieval Era, few people could read, and books were incredibly expensive. In some churches Bibles were so valuable they were secured to lecterns with heavy chains. In Europe, until after the Reformation, the Bible was written in Latin. Translators risked their lives to translate the Bible into the languages of the people. William Tyndale, for example, was an academic who translated the Bible into English and was killed as a heretic, but his translation was the foundation of the King James Version. … The invention of the printing press (as the Reformation began) allowed large numbers of books to be made quite quickly which made them much cheaper and more available. I've also been learning recently about how the public school system grew out of a desire to have a population who could read the Bible (Martin Luther was important for inspiring this). …
So now, because of the blood of martyrs who refused to give up their Scriptures, and because of those who fought to translate it, as well as the technologies to mass produce it, we have the Bible sitting on our shelf, and we don’t realize that our ancestors may have been brought to tears by the thought that they could have copy of their own, in a language that they could read whenever they wanted. … But, familiarity breeds a lack of appreciation. It is common to us, so we don’t realize how precious it actually is to have the words of Jesus so readily available to us.
Over the last couple years, many of us are now gaining a new appreciation for being able to gather to worship. Before the pandemic, this was something we took for granted.
To the people of Nazareth Jesus was just a kid they remembered running around in diapers, hanging around with his dad the carpenter. How could he be anyone special? … But that is exactly the point of the incarnation- to be profoundly common. He came, not only as a human being, but as a common human being. Not a scholar. Not a prince.
I like how Eugene Peterson translated the first chapter of John’s Gospel-
Jesus experiences this from others as they are unwilling to take what he says seriously because they watched him grow-up. … Jesus has just read from the prophet Isaiah (61:1-2) and given a sermon to the people of his hometown synagogue where he essentially revealed that he is the expected Messiah that Isaiah spoke about. … He can tell what they are thinking. They are doubtful. They want him to prove it. “Do a miracle here, at home.” They want more than words. … “Is not this Joseph’s son?” Who is this that he should be someone to fulfill Scripture? We knew him when he was running around in diapers. … Jesus’ statement, “no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown”, is something like “familiarity breeds contempt”.
To illustrate this point, he speaks about the prophet Elijah. King Ahab and Queen Jezebel had turned away from the God of Israel, and have dedicated themselves to a Canaanite rain god, Baal. Ironically, Elijah declared a drought, which ended up lasting for 3 years and 6 months. Elijah felt abandoned, not only by the leadership, but also by the people. He was eventually directed to go into Gentile territory where he met the widow whose son he healed. … He had to leave Israel to find a welcoming place. He was a prophet of the God of Israel and there was no welcoming place for him in Israel.
Likewise, Naaman, a Syrian, an enemy commander who fought against Israel, was told by an Israelite slave girl that he should seek out the prophet in Israel to be cured of his leprosy. He went with a delegation to see the King of Israel. The king doesn’t seem to even think about sending him to Elisha until Elisha sends word to the king to send Naaman to him. Naaman was then healed after being directed to wash 7 times in the Jordan River. … Why was it that this foreigner, not even a worshipped of the God of Israel, received this healing? Jesus seems to imply that there was a lack of appreciation that God had given a prophet to Israel.
Both examples seem to show that unbelief in Israel resulted in God turning His blessing to Gentiles. They were left out, and Gentiles received the blessing instead. They didn’t appreciate the prophet in their midst, and so were unable to participate in the blessing God gave through the prophet.
This would be insulting on a number of levels. First, his words would group the people of his hometown in with unfaithful Baal worshippers who had turned away from God, like Ahab and Jezebel . They are like those who rejected the prophets. They made an unwelcome place for the prophets, which caused the prophet to bring his ministry elsewhere. … For Christians, this might be like being accused of being like the crowd that called for Jesus’ crucifixion.
Secondly, generally, like other first century Jews, they hated Gentiles. The Romans were their oppressors. Not long before the Romans, the Greeks had desecrated the temple. But before them there were the Egyptians who had enslaved them, and so on. … But it goes well beyond this- the Gentiles worship other gods- multiple gods. They have detestable and immoral practices. … The story they wanted to tell was about a Messiah who comes to fight for the nation of Israel against Israel’s enemies. They wanted to talk about God pouring out wrath on the Gentiles for their immoral behavior. … But, here comes Jesus telling stories about God blessing Gentiles. God gave grace to those who were not considered to be his people.
St. Paul will see this rejection as being a pattern that God will use to bless the Gentiles. Paul followed this pattern in his own ministry when he went to a new town to share the news about Jesus. He would first go to the local synagogue to preach. When he was kicked out, he went and told the Gentiles about Jesus. Their rejection opened the door to the Gentiles receiving this grace from God.
Familiarity often does breed contempt. Maybe “contempt” is too strong a word. Maybe familiarity breed a lack of appreciation. … For example, it is very common for people to have a Bible at home gathering dust that is never read. But think about what had to happen to allow that book to be on that shelf. First, there in the writing of it, which is no small task in itself. Paul was in prison writing many of his letters, for example. Then the writings had to be gathered. Then extra copies were made by hand to preserve it and spread it. The monastics had very special ways of copying it to minimize errors. It had to survive persecutions where people were threatened to give up their Bibles or be killed. In the Medieval Era, few people could read, and books were incredibly expensive. In some churches Bibles were so valuable they were secured to lecterns with heavy chains. In Europe, until after the Reformation, the Bible was written in Latin. Translators risked their lives to translate the Bible into the languages of the people. William Tyndale, for example, was an academic who translated the Bible into English and was killed as a heretic, but his translation was the foundation of the King James Version. … The invention of the printing press (as the Reformation began) allowed large numbers of books to be made quite quickly which made them much cheaper and more available. I've also been learning recently about how the public school system grew out of a desire to have a population who could read the Bible (Martin Luther was important for inspiring this). …
So now, because of the blood of martyrs who refused to give up their Scriptures, and because of those who fought to translate it, as well as the technologies to mass produce it, we have the Bible sitting on our shelf, and we don’t realize that our ancestors may have been brought to tears by the thought that they could have copy of their own, in a language that they could read whenever they wanted. … But, familiarity breeds a lack of appreciation. It is common to us, so we don’t realize how precious it actually is to have the words of Jesus so readily available to us.
Over the last couple years, many of us are now gaining a new appreciation for being able to gather to worship. Before the pandemic, this was something we took for granted.
To the people of Nazareth Jesus was just a kid they remembered running around in diapers, hanging around with his dad the carpenter. How could he be anyone special? … But that is exactly the point of the incarnation- to be profoundly common. He came, not only as a human being, but as a common human being. Not a scholar. Not a prince.
I like how Eugene Peterson translated the first chapter of John’s Gospel-
“He was in the world, the world was there through him, and yet the world didn’t even notice. He came to his own people, but they didn’t want him. But whoever did want him, who believed he was who he claimed and would do what he said, He made to be their true selves, their child-of-God selves. … The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood” (Excepts from Jn 1:9-14- The Message).
He came to us and was so common that he was overlooked and not appreciated. …
Even now, if you watch TV, you are probably more likely to hear the words “Jesus Christ” spoken as swear words, rather than as referring to the one who came to teach us to love our enemies, and who died on the cross praying “Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they are doing”. … It’s not just Nazareth, it is the whole Western world that seems to imagine having a familiarity with Jesus that seems to lead them to dismiss him, or ridicule him- ungrateful for the ways in which his teachings have transformed the world, and ungrateful for the ways he has opened up the spiritual realities to us. … Like those in Nazareth we can say, "just show us one little miracle, Jesus, and we’ll believe too". Familiarity breeds contempt- or sometimes just a lack of appreciation. Perhaps this is our human nature as polluted by Original Sin. Lord, have mercy on us. … May we be rescued from this kind of lack of appreciation, but also never be so naïve as to think that we are above it happening to us. May God grant us gratitude. AMEN
Even now, if you watch TV, you are probably more likely to hear the words “Jesus Christ” spoken as swear words, rather than as referring to the one who came to teach us to love our enemies, and who died on the cross praying “Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they are doing”. … It’s not just Nazareth, it is the whole Western world that seems to imagine having a familiarity with Jesus that seems to lead them to dismiss him, or ridicule him- ungrateful for the ways in which his teachings have transformed the world, and ungrateful for the ways he has opened up the spiritual realities to us. … Like those in Nazareth we can say, "just show us one little miracle, Jesus, and we’ll believe too". Familiarity breeds contempt- or sometimes just a lack of appreciation. Perhaps this is our human nature as polluted by Original Sin. Lord, have mercy on us. … May we be rescued from this kind of lack of appreciation, but also never be so naïve as to think that we are above it happening to us. May God grant us gratitude. AMEN
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