Widows, Lepers, and Foreigners, Oh My

Luke 4:21-30

Then he began to say to them, "Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, "Is not this Joseph's son?" He said to them, "Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, 'Doctor, cure yourself!" And you will say, "Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum."

And he said, "Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet's hometown. But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; yet, Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow in Zarephath of Sidon. There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian."

When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. They got up, drove him out of town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.

---

If you heard last Sunday’s sermon, it was full of good news, but I warned you that things were going to change. Back in Nazareth, Jesus’ hometown – his friends, family, and neighbors had heard what he’d been up to – preaching and teaching his way around Galilee, and when he showed up in the synagogue, where we find him, still, today – he had that good news for them, which he has been anointed by God to share: “good news for the poor, release for the captives, recovery of sight for the blind, freedom for the oppressed, and the year of the Lord’s favor.”

And they were all over it. Their home-town boy made good. A local hero. An anointed prophet, filled with spirit and good news and so many gracious words falling from his lips.

And Jesus knows they’d like more than just to hear about these things. They’d like to see some of his best work, too, which is why he kind of teases them with that old proverb, “Doctor, cure yourself.” “Show us a trick.” “Give us a show.” “Let’s see just how ‘anointed’ you really are.”

He knows what else they’re thinking, too: “Jesus, do something for us – your family, friends, and neighbors – like we’ve heard you’ve been doing out there in the world. Release some captives, here. Heal some of us who are sick. Give some of the Lord’s favor to those of us who know you best, now that you’re home. If you’re doing it for them, surely you can do it for us, too.”

But Jesus reminds them – not so subtly – that this “Lord’s favor” the prophets spoke of wasn’t about playing favorites, or taking sides, or “us and them.”

He reminds them about how – during a famine once, way back in the day – when all of Israel – the nation of God’s chosen ones – could have used a little release and recovery and a dose of the Lord’s favor, the prophet Elijah was sent outside the fold, to help some widow at Zarephath in Sidon. And he reminds them about how, during the good ol’ days of the prophet Elisha, there were plenty of Hebrew lepers who could have used a cleansing, but that God sent the prophet to an outsider – some foreigner named Naaman, from Syria.

And when they hear it, Jesus’ newly minted fans lose their minds. They turn on a dime. They turn on Jesus. And they run him out of the synagogue, and straight out of town.

“You mean this grace and favor and this recovery and release stuff isn’t just for us?!” “You mean we aren’t supposed to look out for number one?!?!” “You mean we don’t take care of our own, first, and then pick and choose who we think might be worthy?!?!?” “You mean this ‘recovery’ and ‘release’ and ‘freedom’ and ‘favor’