Today's Gospel in Art - Jesus came to Nazara, where he had been brought up

The Virgin Spring in Nazareth, by Vasilij Dmitrievich Polenov 1882 © State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

Source: Christian Art

Gospel of 30th August 2021 - Luke 4:16-30

Jesus came to Nazara, where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day as he usually did. He stood up to read and they handed him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll he found the place where it is written:

The spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me.

He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and to the blind new sight, to set the downtrodden free, to proclaim the Lord's year of favour.

He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the assistant and sat down. And all eyes in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to speak to them, 'This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen.' And he won the approval of all, and they were astonished by the gracious words that came from his lips. They said, 'This is Joseph's son, surely?'

But he replied, 'No doubt you will quote me the saying, "Physician, heal yourself" and tell me, "We have heard all that happened in Capernaum, do the same here in your own countryside."'

And he went on, 'I tell you solemnly, no prophet is ever accepted in his own country.

'There were many widows in Israel, I can assure you, in Elijah's day, when heaven remained shut for three years and six months and a great famine raged throughout the land, but Elijah was not sent to any one of these: he was sent to a widow at Zarephath, a Sidonian town. And in the prophet Elisha's time there were many lepers in Israel, but none of these was cured, except the Syrian, Naaman.'

When they heard this everyone in the synagogue was enraged. They sprang to their feet and hustled him out of the town; and they took him up to the brow of the hill their town was built on, intending to throw him down the cliff, but he slipped through the crowd and walked away.

Reflection on the Painting

In our Gospel reading we are told about Jesus coming to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. The people of his home town listened to Him, but they were rather expecting Jesus to perform miracles. They had heard of His miracles and wanted to see with their own eyes if Jesus would perform such wonders. But Jesus doesn't meet their expectations. He simply reads two passages from the Old Testament. Jesus wanted to bring them to the heart of His teachings, and not just perform miracles for display or to win over people in his home town. Miracles are there to help and assist the people being healed; Jesus didn't perform miracles for show or to win over crowds.

Jesus preached about inclusion and that he came for everyone, not just a select few: 'He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and to the blind new sight'. But by speaking this inclusive language, Jesus excluded Himself from His home town.

The painting we are looking at is by Russian artist Vasilij Dmitrievich Polenov, painted in 1882. It depicts the Virgin Spring in Nazareth. It is a nice, uncomplicated, day-to-day scene, showing women going to the well. The well is Mary's Well, as by repute that is where the Angel Gabriel appeared to Our Lady. An underground spring in Nazareth served as the city's main water source for several millennia and so Mary would have gone there, like the women depicted in the painting, to get water. A daily task. Villagers of Nazareth would have filled their water pitchers there all the way till 1966 when the well was closed.

LINKS

Today's story - https://christian.art/en/daily-gospel-reading/914
Christian Art - https:/www.christian.art