You can never go home again...

Day 83

OT Reading: Joshua 11-13

NT Reading: Luke 4:1-32

General rule of thumb: people who changed your diaper, watched you in elementary school plays or witnessed you go through the awkwardness of puberty generally do not want your opinion...much less when it involves serious subjects like sex, money, relationships or religion.

Jesus experienced this first hand when he went back to Nazareth, his own hometown. Instead of people being thrilled to see him, excited that their native son was making a name for himself...they decided to run him out of town. They even tried to throw him off a cliff when he got a bit too personal.

Jesus' response? "I tell you the truth, no prophet is accepted in his own home town." (Luke 4:14, NIV)

So have you ever been in that situation? I don't mean, in a synagogue reading from the public scroll and declaring your own Messiahship, but in a situation where you try to give wise advise or council to someone you've known forever and end up receiving an adverse reaction. Typically this seems to occur when speaking to someone who knew you a long time ago: parent, sibling, cousin, friend, that lady from two doors down whose cat you shaved once as a teenager. But instead of being open to your words, you receive a roll of the eyes, changing of the subject or even a verbal shot reminding you of something you did years ago. But regardless of the cues and reactions one thing is clear: your message was not received.

This was the sort of reaction that Jesus faced. These are the individuals who knew Jesus since he was a little boy. They likely saw him work along side his adopted earthly father Joseph swinging hammers and pounding nails. They had watched him grow up with his other brothers, playing with their own kids, and now...they just could not believe what they were hearing.

So don't be surprised if you find yourself in a similar situation...in a place that looks like home but is making you feel like a foreigner. Because the fact is, Jesus faced this very thing himself.