JESUS IN NAZARETH Luke 4:16-30

This post covers Jesus in Nazareth early in His ministry.

Jesus in Nazareth illustrates the attitude of His hometown people to His teaching after He was glorified by all in the beginning of His ministry. Jesus’ plan included going into the synagogues, reading from the Old Testament, and then explaining its meaning. (This ability to read facilitated His ability to teach, because few people could read.)

In Nazareth, Jesus received a scroll containing Isaiah.

The messianic prophecy that He read tells about His work as the Messiah, Luke 4:18-19:

“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, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

This reading from Isaiah 61described the Fifty-Year Jubilee from Leviticus 25. In the Jubilee, the release of slaves paralleled Jesus’ present work of setting free those in sin. Jesus then explained its meaning, Luke 4:21:

““Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

At first, the Nazarenes spoke well of Him.

But when they realized that a local man was reading, they changed their opinion to one undeserving of praise.

Then, Jesus quoted a local proverb, Luke 4:23:

“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.”

This proverb, which when cited to a prophet, challenged him to prove His inspiration by working a miracle.

This meant that suddenly they did not believe in His divinity despite His miracles in other places.

Jesus then warned them that because of their unbelief, they would suffer the same treatment by God as that experienced by the people in Elijah and Elisha’s day. Instead, God sent these prophets to the Gentiles and blessed them with miracles and the truth.

These statements that the prophecy applied to them caused so much anger they tried to kill Him. However, since Jesus had not completed His work, He escaped and went away to preach in other cities. In this way, they lost the opportunity to be a part of and receive the blessings of the Messiah’s disciples.

What this incident teaches:

I should accept the truth of God’s word even if I don’t like the consequences.

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#preachSynagogue #quoteIsaiah #teachGentiles #physicanHealSelf