Jesus Is Rejected in His Hometown

The City of Nazareth

Now Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

 “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.”

Then 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.  Then he began to tell them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled even as you heard it being read.”

Then he said, “You will undoubtedly quote me this proverb: ‘Physician, heal yourself’—meaning, ‘Do miracles here in your hometown like those you did in Capernaum.’ But I tell you the truth, no prophet is accepted in his own hometown.

Luke tells us that, at first, the people were amazed at the gracious words coming out of his mouth. But then, some began to question the authority of Jesus. "Isn't this Joseph's son?" The more Jesus spoke, the more angry the people became. Finally, they got up and forced him out of town. They took him to a hill on which Nazareth was built. They intended to throw Jesus off of a cliff, but he passed right through the crowd and went on his way.

View from Mt. Precipice where tradition says they took Jesus to throw him off a cliff.

The beautiful Jezreel Valley below Mt. Precipice.