Why the Quick Turn?

By Cal Cook

Luke 4:2a Everyone spoke well of him and was amazed by the gracious words that came from his lips.
And then what must have only been moments later:
Luke 4:29 Jumping up, they mobbed him and forced him to the edge of the hill on which the town was built. They intended to push him over the cliff,

Wow I thought I had a bad temper…what made them so mad? What is going on here? Well some of what was going on can be gleaned from the end of verse 22. They thought his words were gracious, yet they doubted him, “How can this be?” they asked. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” They thought they knew him, they thought they could lay claim on him; they thought if anyone was to gain from his words and proclamation, it would be them!

Luke 4:18-19 “The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the LORD’s favor has come.

If what Jesus claimed was true (and they doubted it could be in Joseph’s son) then it was the people of Galilee who were to be set free, it was they who would experience the Lord’s favor! You see Galilee was the hill country…the hillbillies of the Jews. They we up in the hills a long way from Jerusalem. Do you remember what Nathanael said of Nazareth when He was told Jesus was from there?
John 1:46 "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Nathanael asked.

The Pharisees and Religious Leaders did not hold it in high regards:
John 7:52 They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Search the Scriptures and see for yourself—no prophet ever comes from Galilee!”

In fact even the Samarians were closer to Jerusalem than Galilee! A good Jew would walk around it to get to Nazareth! The people of Nazareth and Galilee were looked down upon even by their own people and leaders…they had to contend with their longtime enemies to the north in Lebanon and Syria! And now this supposed prophet from among their own people is telling them that the blessings are not for them. Reminding them of how God had passed over them in the past and blessed their enemies…now this Jesus says He’s going to do it again!