Healer, heal Yourself

Jesus had not been back to Nazareth since His baptism six months earlier. The people from the village had heard rumours that the village carpenter had left to become a rabbi; that He had a following of disciples; and that He had performed miracles in amongst other places, Capernaum.

On this particular Sabbath morning in the synagogue, He was called up to read a portion from the Torah and the Prophets because He was a regular attendant there, and well-known to the synagogue leaders. They no doubt offered Him the opportunity to give a teaching as they wanted all these rumours explained! They had no idea that the living Torah, the Word made flesh, was standing before them reading the words of God. The passage that He read from the Prophets was Isaiah 61:1-2, where a prophecy about the Messiah is given.

He then made a startling statement: “Today this passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”  And in doing so, declared Himself to be the Anointed One, the Messiah. There definitely were mixed reactions from the people in the synagogue – some were amazed by His teachings, sensing that His eloquence and learning was supernatural (Luke 4:22). Their surprise over this indicates that He had never spoken as skilfully in Nazareth before. Others wondered greatly at the source of His wisdom and miracles that they had only heard of so far. This means that they had never seen Him do a miracle in their midst. Then there were others who took offense because they had known Him and His family all these years and regarded Him as just one of their own – the local carpenter whose siblings had probably married people in the community and maybe even started families.

The words “Physician, physician, heal your own limp!” means “Prove your claims”, and Jesus knew that this indeed was what his local townsmen required of Him before they were prepared to believe that there was anything special about Him. Little did they know that their unbelief would block the very thing they asked for: Jesus did not do many miracles there! Instead, He took His ministry elsewhere at that time.

But there was grace for Nazareth – some people from there faced their unbelief and turned around. Jesus’ family and other people of Nazareth later became believers. His brothers and cousins rose up as leaders in Christian assemblies. In fact, followers of Jesus came to be known as the Nazarenes.

Points to ponder:   Let us think about the people, places, and situations that we had no right to judge, question, or label but we did, and sometimes still do. What about the ways we belittled, demeaned, and rejected the messengers sent by God into our lives, just like the people from Nazareth did with Jesus. Sometimes truth hits so close to home and asks so much of us that we refuse to see it. We close our eyes and turn away. Start trusting Jesus and believe like a child – without asking for proof of clearly revealed truths from the Bible!