NOTE: THESE CHAPTERS ARE NOW AVAILABLE IN A MUCH IMPROVED, EXPANDED BOOK, "A SWORD SHALL PIERCE YOUR SOUL" from FriesenPress
After spending a few days with Jesus in Capernaum, Mary decided she needed to go home. She had enjoyed being able to spend time with Jesus’ new friends, and even their families. The family of the one called Simon, in particular, had been such good hosts.
She had listened with intent wonder at the things she heard Jesus sharing with the young men, and not only them, but the crowds that seemed to gather around nonstop. Jesus was getting known. More amazingly, she saw Jesus healing people of diseases and even casting out evil spirits. Sometimes she wondered if Jesus was overdoing it. He hardly seemed to take a rest. It was hard to believe this was her son doing all this. It made her realize anew what all those voices from the past had said about her child. Now, she was seeing it come true. But where would it go? She was soon to find out one of those possibilities.
Mary pulled Jesus aside one morning and said, “I think I need to go home. The children are getting restless. Your brothers need to go back to work. Why don’t you come back with us? Our people in Nazareth could also benefit from hearing your teaching and even from your healing.”
“Thank you mother, for your invitation,” Jesus replied. “I must ask the Father about it. Why don’t you go on home with the family and I will follow if it is his will.” Suddenly pulling her close, Jesus kissed both of her cheeks and added, “You know I love you mother, and always will. Our Father will take care of you. Go in peace.”
Mary turned to gather her children and her things, marveling again at Jesus’ manner of speaking. Suddenly he was a mature man, speaking with authority. Where had this come from?
Not long after, Jesus left that place and came to his hometown,making his way back to Nazareth after all. One Sabbath day, he went to the synagogue. His disciples were with him too (Mark 6:1). People had heard about the things Jesus was doing and were glad to see him. Those who had known him better growing up and knew what a brilliant student he had been, were eager to hear what he had to tell them. They had also heard of the miracles he was doing in the villages and towns around the Sea of Galilee and were hoping they could see some miracles too.
Mary was told he was at the synagogue and she hurried to see what was happening. She had not seen Jesus for some time and missed him dearly She was beginning to realize how much she had come to depend on him after Joseph’s death. She knew he had ended up at Capernaum and seemed to be making that his home. He was apparently staying at the home of one of the young men Mary had met at the wedding in Cana, a fisherman named Simon, son of Zebedee.
Jesus’ brothers and sisters followed alongwith Mary and they arrived at the synagogue just as they could see through the door that Jesus was standing up and making his way to the front. Doing so indicated he was ready to take a turn at reading. The leader of the synagogue gave him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah to read. Jesus took the scroll and unrolled it to find this passage:“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and the regaining of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor (Luke 4:16-19).”
Luke 4:20Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on him. 4:21Then he began to tell them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled even as you heard it being read.”
Those in the audience were amazed at the gracious words coming out of his mouth. Many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did he get these ideas? And what is this wisdom that has been given to him? What are these miracles that are done through his hands? They turned to one another, speaking well of him. Ashe went on to explain what he meant, his fellow Nazarenes nodded in approval andamazement. (Luke 4:20-22). They believed they knew what it meant to be poor, as many of them were. Many also had experience being captives. They certainly felt oppressed, even under their own King Herod, let alone the Romans. Hearing that it was time to proclaim “the year of the Lord’s favour” lifted their spirits. Was Jesus going to help them shake off the yokes of their oppressors! It all sounded too good to be true.
As they listened to this some naysayers began to question what he said. They said to each other, Isn’t this the carpenter, Joseph’s son? Is ne not the son of Mary and brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon? And aren’t his sisters here with us?” (Mark 6:2-3, Luke 4:22)? Whereas just a short time before they had been buoyed by his words, they now began to question how a local boy like Jesus could make these claims for himself. So, they took offense at him. They soon had everyone beginning to discount what Jesus was saying. They had expected him to do some miracles for them but he was doing nothing of the kind. Without such deeds, how could they believe he had any power to do what he was talking of.
As if reading their minds, Jesus saidto them, “No doubt you will quote to me the proverb, ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ You really feel like saying, ‘What we have heard that you did in Capernaum, do here in your hometown too.’”He added, “I tell you the truth, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown and among his relatives, and in his own house (Mark 6:4). Let me remind you of a truth from the prophets: There were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s days, when the sky was shut up three and a half years, and there was a great famine over all the land. Yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to a woman who was a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, yet none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian (Like 4:23-27.”
When they heard this, all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage. How could Jesus talk of occasions where God had seemed to pour his favour on Gentiles. Given the Jews animosity to the Gentiles, going back especially to the time of Babylon, then Greece and now Rome, this was not something they could accept. How could their God help the Gentiles? Had Jesus forgotten all they had suffered under the Gentiles? The Gentiles had not done them any favours.
How could Jesus only speak of good things done to Gentiles? It sounded as if he was twisting the words of the prophets to make them say something new and different. They really did not know what Jesus was trying to tell them. They only knew they did not like the sound of something they could not understand. It sounded to them like blasphemy, to so misuse the prophets and attribute grace to the Gentiles to God!
Suddenly they were all on their feet and rushing to the front of the synagogue. Jesus’ followers were caught off guard by this sudden onset of hostility. Before they could intervene, the crowd pushed forward, grabbed Jesus and practically carried him out of the synagogue and dragged him out of the town. The penalty for blasphemy was death and this mob was intent on that.
Mary was shocked as she saw her beloved son treated this way. She wanted to cry out and tell them they were mistaken, to beg them to let Jesus go. Jesus would never say anything to favour evildoers like the Gentiles. But seeing the murderous looks on her neighbours faces and hearing their angry cries, she felt afraid for her other children, let alone herself. How could they turn on one of their own like this? What if they turned on them, as Jesus’ family? And where were Jesus’ young friends? Could they not have helped stop this?
Mary followed from a distance, keeping well back of the crowd. She saw Jesus’ friends at the back of the crowd, trying vainly to break through to help their teacher, but to no avail. She had to see what was going to happen to Jesus. She gripped the hands of her children and ordered them to stay with her. She saw the crowd drag Jesus to the brow of the hill at the edge of the town, pushing him to the edge of the cliff. They wanted to throw him over the edge! It was obvious they really were intent on killing him. But, suddenly she saw Jesus simply turn back, pass through the crowd and into the circle of his friends and together they simply disappeared. No one could touch him (Luke 4:28-30)!
Mary had seen it all unfold. She was still too terror stricken to really appreciate what she had just seen, that Jesus had been spared. She had felt powerless in the face of these angry citizens. She wished she had not come; she felt especially sorry that Jesus’ siblings had seen and heard this. What questions they would have, never mind the confusion in her mind. What would they think of their brother when they saw how their fellow Nazarenes thought of him. That Jesus deserved to die for what he had said? And how could people be so unbelieving? Sometimes Mary had begun to wonder if Jesus was going a bit too far, getting carried away with his deeply ingrained sense of mission and God’s calling.
Mary’s heart ached as she trudged home. She was glad that she had heard some people crying out in his defense that Jesus had indeed laid his hands on them and healed them. Mary assumed that had been before she and her family had caught up with Jesus at the synagogue. However, he was not able to do many miracles there, except to lay his hands on these few sick people and heal them. 6:6Jesus told her later, he had been amazed because of their unbelief.
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