No Prophet Accepted Among His Own - Luke 4:24

Luke the physician shared how Jesus, “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 has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he has 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, You will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal yourself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in your country”, and in chapter four and verse twenty-four of his book Luke shared how Jesus said, “no prophet is accepted in his own country” where we read:

And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.

The verse reads, “And he said, Verily I say unto you, ...” Luke began with the words, “and he said” or “and Jesus uttered, declared and proclaimed” “verily I say unto you” which means “truly and surely I, Jesus, utter, declare and proclaim to the people within the synagogue in Nazareth”. Luke shared how Jesus continued to share with the people in the synagogue the following truth.

The verse continues, “No prophet is accepted in his own country.” Luke added the words, “no prophet” which means “there exists not one person who is moved by the Spirit of God and hence his organ or spokesman who solemnly declares to men what he has received by inspiration, especially concerning future events, and in particular such as relate to the cause and kingdom of God and to human salvation” “is accepted” or “is approved, propitious and acceptable” “in his own country” which means “within that prophet's own native fatherland or town”. Luke shared how there was “not one prophet” who exists who was “acceptable” by the people within their own neighborhood or home.

When we think through Luke's words in this verse, we see the epitome of the phrase “familiarity breeds contempt”, and even for Jesus, the people within His own native town did not believe in Him. Though Jesus was “received” and “glorified” by people in other places, the people within the town of Nazareth who knew Him and His family had difficulty believing He was the “Messiah” sent from God. Jesus is the “Christ”, and though some people do not believe Him, their unbelief did not change His status with God. God loves people, and He sent His Son Jesus to the world to save them from their sins. Without Jesus, no person would be saved, and therefore they would be forever separated from God. Those who are wise yield their lives to Him as their personal “Savior and Lord” and believe and trust that Jesus is who He declares He is.

Next time Luke shares how Jesus says there were, “many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".