Lk 4:14-22
14Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news of him spread throughout the whole region. 15He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all.
16He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read 17and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written: 18“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,/ because he has anointed me/ to bring glad tidings to the poor./ He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives/ and recovery of sight to the blind,/ to let the oppressed go free,/ 19and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.”
20Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. 21He said to them, “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” 22And all spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They also asked, “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?”
He came to Nazareth where he had grown up: This is delightfully sweet. It simply means Jesus went home! The desire to come home is ever in the heart of every person. Ask the millions of our overseas contract workers. They all long to go home.
I knew this feeling when I was studying as a seminarian in Manila. When classes closed, neither the allure of the metropolis and the dazzle of the city lights nor the invitation of friends could stop me from running home. I just had to go home. The trips on the bus along vast tracts of rice fields were among the most exciting in my life. Still, it was neither the scenery nor the ride. It was the heart coming home.
No homecoming is complete without bringing some presents (pasalubong). Jesus’ present for his hometown is the good news. Our new lives and our new learning will be among the good news we bring to our folks when we go home.
Nazareth: Nazareth is the town or village of Galilee where Jesus spent most of his life. The name probably is a play on the word neser, “shoot” (of Jesse) in Is 11:1 or nazir, “person dedicated to God.” Nathanael’s comment about Jesus’ origin, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” (Jn 1:46), points to the insignificance of the village. Modern Nazareth is the largest Christian city in Israel and is dominated by the magnificent Basilica of the Annunciation, built in 1960.