Luke 4:21-30 (NRSV)
Read Luke 4:21-30 on biblegateway.com
Verse 21Then he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." Verse 22All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, "Is not this Joseph's son?" Verse 23He 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.'" Verse 24And he said, "Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet's hometown. Verse 25But 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; Verse 26yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. Verse 27There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian." Verse 28When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. Verse 29They got up, drove him out of the 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. Verse 30But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.
Devotion
Dektos — "acceptable, accepted." This little Greek word connects our gospel for today with the one for last Sunday. The One who came to proclaim the acceptable (dektos) year, the year of the Lord's favor (dektos) (v. 19) — is ironically not accepted in his own hometown. By rejecting the Messenger, the people rejected the Message — the message of God's favor for God's people, the message of the angels (Luke 2:14). In Jesus, grace and truth came to the world, which came into being through him (John 1:10-11). Yet the world did not accept him. God comes to us under many guises, with the message of God's acceptance. Can we accept it?
Prayer
Move my heart, O Lord, that I might accept you and your love for me. Amen.