Luke 4:16
When fame comes, we can either let it get to our heads or we can do like Jesus, take it all in stride and remain humble. In this passage, Luke the gospel writer, informs us that when Jesus returned to Galilee from His baptism and wilderness experience that He did so “in the power of the Spirit…” (v.14). As He entered His public ministry, Luke is also careful to point out how increasingly famous and exceedingly well-known he had become, so much so that he says “…and there went out a fame of him through all the region about” (v14).
However, instead of allowing fame to get the better of Him, we are told that Jesus “…taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all” (v15). In other words, Jesus continued doing what He knew to do. He remained humble. He never lost touch with the grassroots and the true essence of his calling. He refused to get a big head. He stayed focused. He remained true to His mission and Himself. He never seemed to forget where He was coming from and where He was going.
I find it astounding that Jesus at this point in His life and ministry still chose and desired to go home and to even go to the synagogue. Certainly, He could have opted to book bigger arenas and really go after the applause of the people and deliberately go after bigger crowds and even demand big offerings, but to do so, would have been such a contradiction of all that He really stood for and represented. Today may we, like Jesus, never be seduced by fame and the praise of the people and lose sight of who we are and what we are truly called to do.
The Word tells us that Jesus never allowed the applause of the people to get to His head. He received it cautiously. He understood in a most profound way, the fickleness of the people as demonstrated in verse 28 of this very chapter. The people would praise you today and despise you the next moment.
It is by design, that Luke points out that as Jesus teaches in the synagogues of Galilee, that He also goes home. He states, “And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up: and, as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the sabbath day and stood up for to read” (Luke 4:16). The now notoriously famous and celebrated Jesus returns home, but not only does He return home, the Scripture says “…and as His custom was, He went into the synagogue …” (v16). Jesus, the supremely excellent One, the infinitely incomparable One, the fountainhead of truth and wisdom, deliberately goes home and goes to the place of worship as He was accustomed to doing.
What an example for us! He went back to this little city of about 2,000 people and He did as He always did – He went to church. If this was some of us, we would never go back to little Nazareth. Yet Jesus goes back and serves with a greater level of intensity and devotion. He goes away but He comes back, so much so that they had to do remark “…Is not this Joseph’s son?” (v22). Joseph’s son had returned to humbly minister to His friends and neighbors. How often many, who have been blessed with success, choose to move away and never seem to want to return and reach out to those from their place of origin and upbringing! We forget or choose to forget.
As God begins to bless our lives and ministries, may we always see the need to humble ourselves and return to home base and remember to serve. May God help us not only to go to church but to be always ready to stand up and contribute when we go! We remain determined, never to be spoiled by the trappings of fame and success. We come back to our roots and to the place of worship, as is our custom, not only to be blessed but to be a blessing, to stand up, minister and give back.
Leroy V. Greenaway
Presiding Bishop – Northeast Region
