Physicians Cure Yourselves

Jesus 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 and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written: 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, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.

Rolling 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. He said to them, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” And all spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.

They also asked, “Is this not the son of Joseph?” He said to them, “Surely you will quote me this proverb, ‘Physician, cure yourself,’ and say, ‘Do here in your native place the things that we heard were done in Capernaum.’” 

And he said, “Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place. Indeed, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah when the sky was closed for three and a half years and a severe famine spread over the entire land. It was to none of these that Elijah was sent, but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon. Again, there were many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet; yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury. They rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong. But he passed through the midst of them and went away.  (Luke 4:16-30)

How many of us can say, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.”  Do we bring glad tidings to the poor?  Do we proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, let the oppressed go free, and proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord?   There are different ways to interpret these questions.  For example, if one is blind to injustice, do we try to open his/her eyes?  Our own eyes?  Do we forgive and set free those oppressed with guilt for what they have done to us?

During this election year have we avoided family turmoil, even disintegration, by accepting other family members' different political opinions and preferences?  Do we accept those who differ from us “in our native place” meaning we do not participate in destructive tribal conflict such as polarized Republican versus Democrat acrimony?

If our answers to the aforementioned questions were “no,” then Jesus says to us, “Physicians, cure yourselves!  You must fulfill this Scripture passage in my hearing.”

Deacon David Pierce