'He came to Nazara, where he had been brought up’... (Jesus at Nazareth; Lk 4:16-19)

Abstract

An old saying goes, ‘there is no place like home’. Home, a place of warmth, acceptance, love, belonging, confidence, identity, belonging and now a place of knowledge. Luke presents Jesus coming to Nazara, a place where he had been brought up. Nazara becomes the place of identity and belonging for Jesus; yet it also becomes a place of rejection. On the one hand, Jesus being a native, he is handed the treasure of his community from which to read. He reads from what the community identifies with. He does not read what he wants or what is foreign to the community but what is identical and valued-from the prophets. From this Jesus finds his mission.