Aloneness is a persistent thread running through the story of Jesus’ life. It resonates with us through the human condition we share with our Savior. In today’s reading Jesus has emerged from forty days in the desert alone. His experience is magnified because the devil barks at him the entire time. Fresh from baptism, the Messiah is beginning initiation into the fallen world of humanity. Having shunned the devil, Christ is primed (“filled with the power of the Spirit”) to begin his mission of salvation and redemption. The journey goes smoothly and the countryside is abuzz for this new ministry—until he arrives in his hometown of Nazareth.

If you have spoken to a roomful of people, then you have experienced a twinge of aloneness. The message you impart will be well received, or it will not. In the niv translation the section subheading of these verses reads, “Jesus Rejected at Nazareth.” If Jesus does not feel alone when he starts reading from Isaiah, he certainly feels so when leaving town.

We might ask ourselves several questions about this scene in the synagogue: Why is Jesus given the Isaiah scripture to read? How does Jesus come to choose the specific section (Isa. 61:1-2)? Why does he stop reciting Isaiah’s prophecy at “to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor”? Why does Jesus sit down before concluding with, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing”? These last words get him run out of town. Rejection remains the story of Immanuel. Although Jesus is often alone, either of his own choosing or by others’ spurning, he is seldom lonely. For he is one in the Father as the Father is one in him. (See John 14:10.) Jesus was often alone but never isolated because the Spirit of the Lord was on him.