A Prophet In His Own Native Place

Gospel Reflection for March 24, 2025. Lk 4:24-30

“Jesus said to the people in the synagogue at Nazareth: ‘Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place. Indeed, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah when the sky was closed for three and a half years and a severe famine spread over the entire land. It was to none of these that Elijah was sent, but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon. Again, there were many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet; yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.’ When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury. They rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong. But he passed through the midst of them and went away.” (Lk 4:24-30 NAB)

In this Gospel passage from Luke, we see Jesus undeniably taking on the role as prophet. Various aspects of His message to the Pharisees and locals became a cause of great consternation for them. A foundational focus of this passage (and throughout His ministry) is Jesus’ message of universal acceptance for all, and, particular to this passage, for those that were cast aside. Jesus certainly takes a dig at the Pharisees in this regard citing the magnanimity of two major prophets of yore: Elijha and Elisha. In these times, widows and the “unclean” were unfortunately cast aside, looked at as lesser in Jewish culture (See also Mk 12:40). And yet, Jesus reminds that these great prophets attended to both a widow and a leper (who were also foreigners; see the widow of Zarephath (1 Kg 17:7-16) and Naaman of Syria (2 Kg 5:14), when others would not. Those present in the synagogue did not like this reminder at all—enough to want to push him off a cliff.

It is useful to remember how fickle and myopic people could be in Jesus’ times. First, they sought to embrace Him because of his scriptural knowledge, charisma and the undeniable solidity of His words, but when certain things He said became a bit too truthful, they turned on Him. Of course, this is exactly what Jesus was referring to when he said, “Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place.” At one point the Jewish faithful were gleefully asking themselves, “Wow, who is this man?” But then their glee turned to suspicious scrutiny as we could imagine them asking, “Who does he think he is?” Jesus could see that Jewish culture had become a completely closed system, one contrary to His ministry. They wanted a prophet on their terms and ultimately a socio-political messiah, both concepts antithetical to Jesus’ message.

Hard heartedness, elitism, indifference, missing the theological point and even envy seems to be the issues that Jesus was confronting with those in the synagogue. But as we delve into our hearts, where we wish Christ to reside, mustn’t we also ask ourselves about how we can be even less hard-hearted and indifferent at times? Certainly, as that is our Christian mission to increase our spiritual lives towards the service of God and His children. So, let us always take the lesson from this passage and practice not waiting for Jesus’ prophetic words to possibly be realized later, but acknowledged now in our own time and place, because of who we know He is: Priest, Prophet and King!