The Servant Jesus - You Can't Go Home!

Our text finds Jesus returning to Nazareth. He is going home again. Our Lord’s return to His hometown does not go the way one might expect it to. After all, Jesus is something of a celebrity at this time. He has been going around the countryside preaching, teaching, healing the sick, casting out demons, raising the dead, and controlling the forces of nature. He has proven something extraordinary and very different about Him.Of course, the last time Jesus was in Nazareth, things didn’t go well for Him. He went to the synagogue and preached from Isa. 61. (Luke 4:16-20) In that service, Jesus proclaimed Himself the Jewish Messiah. The people of Nazareth rejected His message and tried to kill Him by throwing Him over a cliff! He left Nazareth and preached in other places in Galilee. Now, a year later, He returns to the place He was so cruelly rejected. He wants to give His family, friends, and neighbors another chance to receive Him and His message. That is grace! (Ill. I am amazed that God would give you and me one chance, much less opportunity after opportunity, to believe in Him and His Gospel! Thank God for His good grace!)