Luke 4: 14 – 30
Hot Time, Trouble In The City
14 Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. 15 And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. 16 So 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 to read. 17 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: 18 “ The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.” 20 Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?” 23 He said to them, “You will surely say this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in Your country.’” 24 Then He said, “Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country. 25 But I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land; 26 but to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath, in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27 And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.” 28 So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, 29 and rose up and thrust Him out of the city; and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff. 30 Then passing through the midst of them, He went His way.
Let me ask you a question, have you ever been a witness to a crime or an accident? If so, then you are familiar with giving an account to the police on what you saw. If there were four of you who witnessed the occasion, do you think that all of you would give the same descriptions? Most of you probably never thought of this possibility, but the answer is that all the witnesses would give different descriptions. It is all based on your make up and what is important to you. One of you might focus on the general conditions. Others would get into the specifics in more detail. With all this information finally collected, then the police are in a better position to understand what exactly happened.
In our study today, I am going to let you know up front that there were two other listings of the events that we are going to study today. One of the listings comes from a possible eyewitness and that is Matthew. In case you did not know this, Mark received all his information from the apostle Peter, who was also an eyewitness. You will see how these two Gospel writers seem more in harmony that the information that Luke gives us.
Now, this is not bad, where some may say that Luke’s information is not trustworthy. This is not true. Luke was a great investigator. He interviewed, like a policeman, a lot of people who were eyewitnesses to these events and he is able to shed some more light which I for one am very appreciative.
So, let me just list for you the record accounts that Matthew and Mark gave regarding these specific incidents.
Matthew 13, “53 Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these parables, that He departed from there. 54 When He had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, “Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? 55 Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? 56 And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?” 57 So they were offended at Him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house.” 58 Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.”
Mark 6, “ 1 Then He went out from there and came to His own country, and His disciples followed Him. 2 And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue. And many hearing Him were astonished, saying, “Where did this Man get these things? And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands! 3 Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?” So they were offended at Him.4 But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.” 5 Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6 And He marveled because of their unbelief. Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching.”
I will give you some of the differences. All in all in my opinion the are not that big a deal. I will explain.
In The Gospel of Matthew our Lord Jesus had already left Nazareth in order to dwell in Capernaum. Both Matthew and Mark tell us that the disciples were with our Lord Jesus in Nazareth at this time. Luke does not mention this fact. You will also see in Matthew and Mark that our Lord Jesus did some miracles in Nazareth, while Luke gives the impression that our Lord did not do any miracles there.
We will be taking a look at the people’s reaction for trying to kill our Lord Jesus by pushing Him off a cliff. But let me give one of the possible reasons for this, and it is jealousy and unbelief. In one case they were proclaiming, ‘Who does this guy think He Is, proclaiming Himself to be the Messiah.’ And in the other case, they are ticked off because He only healed a few of the people. Although they did not come for healing they still were angry at Him because He didn’t heal more people. Is this type of thinking sick or what?
In Matthew and Mark our Lord Jesus’ mother, brothers, and sisters are mentioned, not Joseph. Perhaps by this time he was dead. In Luke’s account Joseph is mentioned and perhaps he was either considered to be still alive. Or it is also possible as Luke had gone back and interviewed the residents of Nazareth, that one person had commented that he had heard someone in the crowd at the Synagogue comment about how our Lord Jesus was Joseph the carpenter’s son.
Matthew and Mark list that our Lord Jesus marvels at the people’s unbelief, while Luke goes on to the point on how the people wanted to kill Him.
14 Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. 15 And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. 16 So 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 to read. 17 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: 18 “ The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.” 20 Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”
Our Lord Jesus gained quick recognition as a teacher. They responded with amazement at His teaching. You see teachers would share the Word of God and in their presentation would quote other Rabbi positions. Our Lord Jesus personalized the Scripture. He drove home the truth.
Now, you will see from verse 14 to 16 it was His custom to ‘teach’ – “14 Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. 15 And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. 16 So 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 to read.”
Now, remember that He was gifted at doing this since the age of 12. He was now in His thirties. So, you always wondered about His hidden years, well now you know a little of what He did. His custom was to teach in the various Synagogues. Most likely He taught often for many years in this very Synagogue in His hometown of Nazareth.
17 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written
Many times people skip over this verse and go onto what He read. But there is some important things to consider here. Was it a coincidence that He was to read this passage or did He search out the passage. You may be thinking, ‘who cares, why would that be such a big deal to consider?’
Well, think about this. The book of Isaiah is the longest one of all the other books. Now, do not forget that these passages were written down on a scroll. There were no chapters or verses. If our Lord went specifically to this passage He would have to unwind almost the whole scroll in order to get to this portion of Isaiah’s messages.
18 “ The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.”
I think here is a good reason and example why we should be sincere seekers of knowing God’s Word. The people of this day should have had the light bulbs going off as a result of the special and unique things that were happening. I am sure word got out about the special situation at the Temple and ultimate birth of John The Baptist. Then he shows up many years later and people come from all over to see and hear what he was preaching. Then this One Man comes down to John in the Jordan River, and He Is proclaimed as the Coming Anointed One of God. The Heavens open up and a voice speaks. And Some thing in the form of a dove descends on this One Who John wants everyone to see and follow. It is spoken about that this dove was the Holy Spirit. Now in Nazareth the Lord Jesus reads the words which point to Him as the Messiah and everyone misses the whole point - 18 “ The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor”
The ministry of the Messiah is described;
1. Evangelism – He Is sent to proclaim the Gospel
2. Heal emotional, spiritual, and physical ailments
3. Deliver us sinners from eternal death. He will set us captives free
4. Set free the oppressed – All of us who had no hope of ever being forgiven.
20 Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”
Suppose you were in this crowd. The Lord finishes reading this portion of Scripture which dealt with the Messiah. He hands the scroll back to the attendant and sits down. Now all eyes are on Him and ears attentive to hear His remarks. So, what does He say, ‘Today, you are looking at Him’.
‘Say what?’ ‘Now wait a minute’ ‘This man is one of us. We know his dad – Joseph’. ‘Did He just say what we think He just said – He Is The Messiah?’
Have you ever had one man or woman from your town become a celebrity? You know like an Olympian or a Professional Athlete? You take pride when you tell others that so and so grew up in your town. Now, how would you feel if you found out that God’s Holy Anointed One grew up in your town. Why you could set up future tours and sell souvenirs. Is this what the people of Nazareth did? No, they were so angry that they wanted to kill Him.
Now, I love our Lord. He didn’t follow the book ‘How to win friends and influence people’. Look at His response to the complainers
He already knows about their real desires. They just want to see the show. Miracles do not cause faith and belief so our Lord gives them a Proverb to figure out
23 He said to them, “You will surely say this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in Your country.’”
Give us a bunch of miracles and then we will believe. Fat chance! In fact if you look at chapter 23 you will see that they throw the same kind of insults at Him while He was on the cross, “35 And the people stood looking on. But even the rulers with them sneered, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God.”
Have you ever had a problem witnessing to your family after you had turned your life over to Jesus as Lord and Savior. How did they respond to your message to also give their hearts to the Lord Jesus? They gave you a hard time I am sure. They might have also thought that you have lost your mind.
Our Lord Jesus Is getting this type of reaction from the people He knew all His earthly life.
24 Then He said, “Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country.
And now to really get them riled, He tells them that because of their unbelief God will reject them for Gentiles. The Jews knew from Scripture that God would include the Gentiles. But in their reasoning they felt that these Gentiles would convert to Judaism.
Our Lord Jesus through the truth of past historical biblical record that God was going to do a new work and deal with Gentiles in a special way. The people healed and the people taken care of by Him were Gentiles not Jews. This definitely did not go over to well with His audience.
25 But I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land; 26 but to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath, in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27 And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”
Gentiles being saved over Jews? Gentiles given more than Jews? That message was the last straw. This is how they thanked Him.
28 So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, 29 and rose up and thrust Him out of the city; and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff. 30 Then passing through the midst of them, He went His way
You see in truth they were angry at God’s Sovernity, and that is that He Will have Mercy on whoever He feels like having Mercy. Hey, it’s okay for you to have mercy on us, but not those other people. No, what irritates the people is that He will pass over them because of their hardened hearts of unbelief and select cursed people like you and me. Thank you Precious Holy Adoni Yehweh.
