The Road to Faith

by John Comer

It was home to him, this village of Nazareth, perched up on its hill. He would have known everybody and everybody would have known him. They knew him as “the carpenter” and as “Joseph’s son.” In the way of small towns everywhere, these people could tell you in the blink of an eye the name of Jesus’ mother, who his brothers were, all about his sisters, and probably any number   of interesting family tidbits.   Want to know anything about Jesus of Nazareth? Just ask the local folks.

On this particular occasion Jesus came back to visit his hometown and brought his disciples with him. When the Sabbath arrived, he went, as was his custom, to the old familiar synagogue, in all likelihood the very place where he had learned to read and to write and to love the Scriptures. He taught in the synagogue on this day to a congregation made up of family, old friends, and neighbors, some of whom had probably been customers when he ran the carpenter shop.

He unrolled the scroll of the prophet Isaiah and read: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Isaiah 61:1-2).

Then, as the eyes of the whole synagogue bore down upon him, he explained that the words of this Scripture were being fulfilled by his own ministry as he spoke. The people wondered how this man whom they had known for so long came to have such wisdom. And he could even perform miracles! But their initial amazement soon changed to offense, and in a fury they ran him out of town and tried to push him off a cliff.

They had been astonished. They had wondered. But they had not believed. The prophet was rejected by his own people. How could this happen? What misshapen dynamics were at work this day to produce not just unbelief but rage?

There is no record that Jesus ever returned to Nazareth. Did these people who knew Jesus so well, but really not at all, ever find faith?