In Luke 4:18–19, Jesus outlines his ministry in a synagogue sermon in the words of Isaiah 61. The description of the “anointed one” ends by saying he will “proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor (δεκτός)” (4:19), contrasting with Jesus’s later statement that “no prophet is acceptable (δεκτός) in his hometown” (Luke 4:24; note that the other Gospels don’t use this word here). Jesus, it seems, is God’s favored one who announces the dispensation of that favor, but—alas—is not favored by his own hometown. Nazareth won’t share in the blessing the anointed one brings.

Jesus says the people will say to him “Physician, heal yourself!”—a common enough proverb in Greco-Roman literature (Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 473–75; Cicero, Letter to Friends 248[F IV, 5].5; Euripides, Dramatic Fragments 1086; Plutarch, Moralia: How to Tell a Flatterer 71f; see also Genesis Rabbah 23:4). This question resonates with the question put to Jesus on the cross: “He saved others, let him save himself, if this one is the chosen Christ of God” (Luke 23:35). The claim by the scoffers that Jesus “saved” others most likely refers to his widely-recognized healing ministry.

But putting the passion narrative into conversation with Jesus’s synagogue homily and rejection at Nazareth makes an interesting point. Shortly after Jesus says they’ll tell him to “heal” himself, the Nazarenes try to kill him by chucking him over a cliff (probably this was as preparation for stoning). But their plans are foiled as Jesus simply “passed through their midst and left” (Luke 4:30). Here we see Jesus ironically fulfill his critic’s request. He “saves” himself from death. He does a miracle in their midst just like they asked (Luke 4:23). But it is a miracle after it is too late for the Nazarenes, since its the means by which he leaves them. The comparison with the passion narrative also highlights the point of Jesus’s willing death. Jesus choses to remain on the cross, though it is well within his means—though not his Father’s will—for him to simply pass through their midst once again.