“And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.” (Luke 4:24) Why not? A prophet today is someone who can expound properly upon the Word of God, a person the Lord has decided to show His truths from the Scriptures to, one who has decided that the only life worth living here is the life that denies self and glorifies God.
I have not been back to the town I was raised in for many decades, save for once, and then only for a few hours, but if I were to spend any number of days there, and reached out to those that I once knew with the gospel of Jesus Christ, I would more than likely not be accepted very well, neither would the Word of God. They would remember me as I was, and not see, in reality, what the Lord has and is changing me into. “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” (Romans 12:2)
Those that do not know Christ as Lord do not see Spiritually discerning, born-again believers when they meet us, they see religious people, they see people who “need a crutch,” who cannot make it in this life on their own, they see weak people who believe in a fairy tale. The confidence we carry by the power of the Holy Spirit is to them foolishness.
One must wonder why the Lord was not welcomed in His hometown as a prophet though, surely at least some of what He had said and accomplished before returning there had reached their ears, it would not have been because He was a “hell raiser,” an unruly child who cursed and swore and did all manner of rebellious things in His youth, and then returned as a changed man, as would be the case for many of us. Anything that we might presume to know about His youth would be conjecture, even up to the age of thirty years or so when He started His ministry. The incident when He was twelve (Luke 2:43-49) and the words of His mother at the wedding feast, “His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.” (John 2:5) tell us, and perhaps incorrectly on my part, that once He disobeyed His earthly parents, and that His mother knew that He could do things that others could not.
Most generally, no one is seen as who they truly are by others, our actions and words are not all of who we are. This truth is evident even with those we have spent years with and much time. “But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.” (John 10:38)
There is no proof of being a born-again believer, none whatsoever. We can say the words of truth to them, we can perform deeds worthy of being called by His name, we can live a life that reflects the heart of Christ, that extols the name of God to all we meet, and there is still no viable, tangible proof that we are indeed saved. Except to us. “For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” (2 Tim. 1:12)
The assurance that we walk in is not marred by others, those who knew us before and meet us after the cross, those that have known us since the cross, but have witnessed our sins, those that we have just met, but cannot comprehend the words of truth coming from someone that looks like you might, these people do not sway our confidence that we have been chosen by God Himself to spread the good news of Jesus Christ, and the salvation offered to all.
I will offer one piece of conjecture here, they would not accept Jesus in His hometown because while He was there, He was just an average guy to them. He was just like everybody else in their eyes, just the carpenter in town. It sort of makes it easier to see why He would choose the average folks to follow Him.
