JESUS REJECTED IN HIS HOMETOWN

Luke 4:14-30 / Keywords 4:18

The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed,

 

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

4:14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. 15 He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.

16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

    because he has anointed me

    to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

    and recovery of sight for the blind,

to set the oppressed free,

19     to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”[f]

20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked.

23 Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’”

24 “Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown. 25 I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. 27 And there were many in Israel with leprosy[g] in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.”

28 All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. 29 They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. 30 But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.

Footnotes

e. Luke 4:12 Deut. 6:16

f. Luke 4:19 Isaiah 61:1,2 (see Septuagint); Isaiah 58:6

g. Luke 4:27 The Greek word traditionally translated leprosy was used for various diseases affecting the skin.

1. Jesus visited his hometown Nazareth. In the synagogue, he read Isaiah’s prophecy about the Messiah’s mission: He would proclaim the good news to the poor, freedom for the captives and sight to the blind; His coming would be the year of the Lord’s favor. Jesus fulfilled the prophecy. He is the Messiah. He frees us from sin and opens our spiritual eyes. He brings us God’s great favor.

2. The initial response of people in Nazareth was positive. But because of their familiarity with him, the poor carpenter’s son, they became hard- hearted to him. They could not believe that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah. Jesus taught them that the Prophets Elijah and Elisha could not help the unbelieving Israelites but blessed only Gentiles who had faith in God. As the Israelites had tried to put their prophets to death, so did Jesus’ hometown people. Like the saying “Familiarity breeds contempt,” they saw Jesus humanly and rejected their Messiah. We are to live by faith in God like the widow of Sidon and Naaman the Syrian, not by human thinking.

Prayer Lord, renew my heart and spirit and help me to proclaim the good news in the power of the Spirit.

One Word The Lord’s favor comes through faith