"And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all. And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph's son? And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country. And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country. But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian. And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. But he passing through the midst of them went his way,"
At this point in the Gospel, Luke has made it clear who Jesus is:
Famed teaching through Galilee
His sermon here in Nazareth encapsulates His whole message.
The Spirit of the Lord has anointed Him. He is both Son of God and the Christ. What He preaches here will be the theme of His entire ministry.
Good news for those with nothing
Good news for those in constant disappointment
Good news for those at the very bottom
His quotations from Isaiah combine the declaration of the year of Jubilee (Isaiah 61:1-2) and a line from Isaiah's description of an acceptable fast (Isaiah 58:6).
In God's eyes, what is an acceptable fast? An acceptable year?
Jesus preaches freedom and transformation, releases for captives, the blind, and the oppressed. But you will notice that He does not separate economics from spirituality. His salvation embraces mind, body, and soul. It releases the debt of sin.
Jesus says that this day Isaiah's prophecy of release is fulfilled, but not merely within the borders of Jewry, but also to Sidon and Syria, the world.
But those of His hometown are too familiar with him to care to understand his words, they've made up their minds about Him. And beside that, they can't overcome their prejudices because they hate the people of Sidon and Syria. This blinds them to God's greater plan. They conclude that Jesus is just Joseph's delusional son and refuse to be swayed to believe that God's salvation is for ALL flesh.
