Jesus Is Not Accepted in Nazareth
14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Holy Spirit. News about him spread through the whole countryside.
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He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.
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Jesus went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. On the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue as he usually did. And he stood up to read.
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The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. He unrolled it and found the right place. There it is written,
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"The Spirit of the Lord is on me. He has anointed me to tell the good news to poor people. He has sent me to announce freedom for prisoners. He has sent me so that the blind will see again. He wants me to free those who are beaten down.
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And he has sent me to announce the year when he will set his people free." (Isaiah 61:1,2)
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Then Jesus rolled up the scroll. He gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were staring at him.
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He began by saying to them, "Today this passage of Scripture is coming true as you listen."
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Everyone said good things about him. They were amazed at the gracious words they heard from his lips. "Isn't this Joseph's son?" they asked.
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Jesus said, "Here is a saying you will certainly apply to me. 'Doctor, heal yourself! Do the things here in your hometown that we heard you did in Capernaum.' "
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"What I'm about to tell you is true," he continued. "A prophet is not accepted in his hometown.
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I tell you for sure that there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah. And there had been no rain for three and a half years. There wasn't enough food to eat anywhere in the land.
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But Elijah was not sent to any of those widows. Instead, he was sent to a widow in Zarephath near Sidon.
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And there were many in Israel who had skin diseases in the days of Elisha the prophet. But not one of them was healed except Naaman the Syrian."
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All the people in the synagogue were very angry when they heard that.
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They got up and ran Jesus out of town. They took him to the edge of the hill on which the town was built. They planned to throw him down the cliff.
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But Jesus walked right through the crowd and went on his way.