Knowing The Word in Luke 4:16-30

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

4:16 And Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. 17 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”

20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph's son?” 23 And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘“Physician, heal yourself.” What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’” 24 And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. 25 But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, 26 and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27 And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” 28 When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. 29 And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. 30 But passing through their midst, he went away.

Comments

Thanks to Luke, this is the earliest description we have of a synagogue service for this time. Jesus was in Nazareth, his hometown, in the synagogue where he worshipped for some thirty years. He stood to show respect for the Word of God. The scroll of Isaiah was handed to him, meaning Jesus did not pick it. The custom was for local authorities to select someone to read and to preach as there was not an official teaching pastor for of each synagogue. The clergy led worship and offered sacrifices in Jerusalem.

Jesus opened the scroll to look for a specific passage to preach on. He selected Isaiah 61:1 and 58:6 which prophesy of the Messiah’s ministry to people in distress: the poor, captives, blind, and oppressed. He culminates with Isaiah 61:2 the “year of the Lord’s favor,” the era of salvation and a reference to the Year of Jubilee. Taking the posture for preaching, he sat and explained that he fulfilled the messianic prophecy of Isaiah. Jesus’ application of the text to himself shows that the sense of vocation that came with the heavenly voice at his baptism remained strong. Jesus self-identified with the good news for troubled people and knew God was acting in and through him.

The people were astonished that someone from their hometown could preach like this, but they did not take his message to heart, recalling his humble origins and his being the son of a carpenter. They had heard of his miracles in Capernaum, but now they want proof, to see his miraculous power. He reminds them that prophets are not accepted in their own locality. People are more prone to see greatness in strangers than those they know well. Jesus illustrated his point with the stories of two great prophets, Elijah and Elisha. What is Jesus’ point in recounting these historic events? They both took place outside of Israel among the Gentiles.

Why are they filled with such murderous anger that they want to throw Jesus off a cliff, perhaps as a prelude to stoning him? What is their mindset? Most likely they have an “Israel first” mindset that God loves them more than others. Why should Gentiles be considered more faithful than they? Interestingly, they asked Jesus to see a miracle. He gave them one: he simply, miraculously walked away through the mob, unstoppable. As far as we know, Jesus never returned to Nazareth. It had served its purpose.

Application

People can miss the gospel message when they think they are more important, more deserving than other people. Jesus teaches us to put others first when he tells us to love our neighbor as ourselves. Where in your life do you get out of sync with this commandment because you think you are more deserving?

Prayer

Lord, help me to love others as you love them, to see others as you see them, and to serve others as you serve them. Grant me a heart with the capacity to do these things.