Friday, December 18, 2015

Yeshua's rejection from the synagogue of Nazareth





The Gospels of Luke, Mark and Matthew report of Yeshua teaching at the synagogue of Nazareth.
This particular episode shows how the people who grew up with Yeshua became totally hostile to Him, to the point some of them wanted to kill Him (as stated in the Gospel of Luke).
Nothing hurts more than being rejected by our loved ones. When people who grew up with us don't believe in us, their mistrust has the effect of a sword piercing our hearts.

The Gospel of Luke gives us plenty more details compared with the two other synoptic Gospels.
Interestingly, before introducing the story of Yeshua at the synagogue of Nazareth, Luke states:

"And Yeshua returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee and a report about him went our through all the surrounding country. "(Luke 4:14)

This verse shows us that Yeshua was filled with the Spirit of Hashem, and thus, was doing many miracles around Him in the whole country of Israel. At this time, the rabbi of Nazareth was well known for His wonderful deeds.

Yeshua at the synagogue of Nazareth






So what happened exactly at the synagogue and how did people turn from friendly to hostile, to the point of wanting to kill their rabbi?

Yeshua is handed over the Book of the prophet Isaiah. He is reading the verses of Isaiah 61, verses 1 and 2:

"The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me,
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim fredom for the captives,
and release from darkness the prisoners, 
to proclaim a year of the Lord's favor."

Yeshua announces that He is fulfilling the prophecy of the Book of Isaiah.

People are impressed by His wisdom and His spiritual intelligence, but as always, when people know you too well, gossips and jealously are involved.

"Isnt this Yosef''s son?", people started to ask.

Yosef (Joseph), Yeshua's adoptive father, the carpenter, was a simple man. Because of Yosef's simplicity, they assumed that he couldn't have transmitted all this godly knowledge and wisdom to his son. One can imagine that gossips probably circulated about Miriam, Yeshua's mom being pregnant before her marriage with Yosef.
Yeshua probably suffered from being considered as an "illegitimate" son by many people from his village, and mean persons probably joked behind His back.

Four of His brothers are mentioned in Matthew 13: Yaakov (Jacob, sometimes translated by "James" in English versions, Yosef (Joseph), Shimon (Simon) and Yehuda (also known as Jude).
Yeshua's sisters names are not mentioned, though.

So, they knew all of His brothers and sisters and came to the conclusion that Yeshua couldn't be knowlegeable with such a familial environment.

They are caught into thoughts of jealousy, they are all fuming, already.

Then Yeshua points at their lack of faith mentioning the episodes of 1 Kings 5, where Namaan the Syrian gets healed from leprosy by being immersed into the Jordan river and the story of the widow of Sarepta in the second book of Kings.
There are two miraculous stories linked with the widow of Sarepta (Lebanon). The miracle of the oil that is enlightening the continuuous providing of the Eternal and the resurrection of her unique son by prophet Elijah.

Yeshua's statements are provoking for the people of Nazareth in their Israeli pride. Foreigners are being shown grace before nationals. 
Their own wickedness is mirrored in Yeshua's words.

He is becoming the object of their hatred to the point they want to push Him from a hill.
Yet their plans of murder will fail miserably.

Yeshua walks through the crowd and goes His way.

Again we are learning an invaluable lesson. We will always be hated for telling the truth and showing things as they truly are. Yet a true follower of Yeshua cannot afford to compromise with lies.

Copyright© by Isabelle Esling

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