THE FOURTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

Good news for Gentiles

This Sunday’s gospel repeats the last verse of last Sunday’s gospel and then continues the episode. It is important to remember that in Luke’s gospel we are still reading about the first public preaching of Jesus. He began with a quote from Isaiah which summarises his entire ministry. After an initial response of enthusiasm the people quickly move to hostile rejection. This episode is reported by Mark and Matthew only much later in the gospel and provides a context for such hostility. But in Luke this is his first public appearance. By Luke including it in the very first episode of Jesus’ pub­lic ministry he is clearly indicating both the fickleness of the crowd that will dog Jesus’ ministry and the rejection that will culminate in his death. Jesus’ prophetic words, 'no prophet is accepted in his own native place' (4:24) are tragically fulfilled by the end of this passage when his townsfolk 'drove him out of the town'. (Note, too, how this episode fulfils the prophecy of Simeon in 2:34 – 'this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted'.)

Why the hostility? The crowd was enthusiastic enough when Jesus announced the 'gracious words' of liberty, recovery, freedom, and a year of favour; they thought these blessings would be theirs, just as this prophet was apparently one of their own. But Jesus, in claiming to be a prophet, refers to two episodes in which Elijah and Elisha performed powerful deeds for the benefit of Gentiles. Readers of the gospel have been told of Jesus’ mission of universal sal­vation: Simeon prophesied that Jesus would be 'a light for revelation to the Gentiles' (2:32) and Luke had quoted Isaiah 3:6 to describe John’s ministry: 'all flesh shall see the salvation of God' (Luke 3:6). But this is the first time anyone in Jesus’ audience hears this word. The hometown crowd is angered to hear that Jesus will share their blessings with Gentiles. Apparently, they took this 'good news' for others as bad news for themselves.

Used with permission © LabOra 2010