Salvation Unfolds: Despite Direct Rejection
Throughout the Sundays after the Epiphany of our Lord, we are getting to know Jesus better. Today in our Gospel text, we meet Jesus in the early stages of his public ministry. He has been baptized. He has triumphed over Satan’s temptations in the wilderness. He has returned to Galilee by the Sea to proclaim the good news of the kingdom of heaven. Everything seems to be progressing nicely, at least until he reaches Nazareth. There the Teacher of teachers opens the scroll of the prophet Isaiah and reads to those gathered in his local synagogue. Why is this so significant? Consider how quickly people pit the Old Testament versus the New. Here Jesus shows us that all the Scriptures, whether they come from the hand of the Apostle Paul or the scroll of the prophet Isaiah, point to Jesus!
