Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 4:16
And 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 for to read.
16. And he came to Nazareth ] This is probably the visit related in unchronological order in Mat 13:53-58; Mar 6:1-6, since after so violent and decisive a rejection as St Luke narrates, it is unlikely that He should have preached at Nazareth again. If so, we learn from these (1) that His disciples were with Him; (2) that He healed a few of the sick, being prevented from further activity by their unbelief.
as his custom was ] This seems to refer to what had been the habit of the life of Jesus while he had lived at Nazareth. Hitherto however He had been, in all probability, a silent worshipper.
into the synagogue ] The article shews that the little village only possessed a single synagogue. Synagogues had sprung up throughout Judaea since the return from the exile. They were rooms of which the end pointed towards Jerusalem (the Kibleh, or consecrated direction, of Jewish worship (Dan 6:10), as Mecca is of Mohammedan). The men sat on one side; the veiled women behind a lattice on the other. The chief furniture was the Ark ( tebhah) of painted wood, generally shrouded by a curtain, and containing the Thorah (Pentateuch), and rolls ( megilloth) of the Prophets. On one side was a bema for the reader and preacher, and there were “chief seats” (Mar 12:39) for the Ruler of the Synagogue, and the elders ( zekanim). The servants of the synagogue were the clerk ( chazzan), verger ( sheliach) and deacons ( parnasim, ‘shepherds’).
on the sabbath day ] Observe the divine sanction thus given to the ordinance of weekly public worship.
stood up for to read ] The custom was to read the Scripture standing. There was no recognised or ordained ministry for the synagogues. The functions of Priest and Levites were confined to the Temple, and the various officers of the synagogue were more like our churchwardens. Hence it was the custom of the Ruler or Elders to invite any one to read or preach who was known to them as a distinguished or competent person (Act 13:15).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And, as his custom was, he went … – From this it appears that the Saviour regularly attended the service of the synagogue. In that service the Scriptures of the Old Testament were read, prayers were offered, and the Word of God was explained. See the notes at Mat 4:23. There was great corruption in doctrine and practice at that time, but Christ did not on that account keep away from the place of public worship. From this we may learn:
- That it is our duty regularly to attend public worship.
- That it is better to attend a place of worship which is not entirely pure, or where just such doctrines are not delivered as we would wish, than not attend at all.
It is of vast importance that the public worship of God should be maintained; and it is our duty to assist in maintaining it, to show by our example that we love it, and to win others also to love it. See Heb 10:25. At the same time, this remark should not be construed as enjoining it as our duty to attend where the true God is not worshipped, or where he is worshipped by pagan rites and pagan prayers. If, therefore, the Unitarian does not worship the true God, and if the Roman Catholic worships God in a manner forbidden and offers homage to the creatures of God, thus being guilty of idolatry, it cannot be a duty to attend on such a place of worship.
The synagogue – See Mat 4:23.
Stood up for to read – The books of Moses were so divided that they could be read through in the synagogues once in a year. To these were added portions out of the prophets, so that no small part of them was read also once a year. It is not known whether our Saviour read the lesson which was the regular one for that day, though it might seem probable that he would not depart from the usual custom. Yet, as the eyes of all were fixed on him; as he deliberately looked out a place; and as the people were evidently surprised at what he did, it seems to be intimated that he selected a lesson which was not the regular one for that day. The same ceremonies in regard to conducting public worship which are here described are observed at Jerusalem by the Jews at the present time. Professor Hackett (Illustrations of Scripture, p. 232) says: I attended the Jewish worship at Jerusalem, and was struck with the accordance of the ceremonies with those mentioned in the New Testament. The sacred roll was brought from the chest or closet where it was kept; it was handed by an attendant to the reader; a portion of it was rehearsed; the congregation rose and stood while it was read, whereas the speaker, as well as the others present, sat during the delivery of the address which formed a part of the service.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Luk 4:16
And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up: and, as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day
The tides of the Spirit
The moment was overcharged with a certain sad intensity.
Since last He stood upon that spot, a change had passed upon Him; a light, long struggling with the clouds, and often drowned in a golden haze of mystery, had cleared itself within Him; He was no longer at His own disposal, nor free to rest upon the trodden paths; but the sacred dove was ever on the wing before Him; and now alighted on the synagogue of Nazareth, and there, where He naturally fell into the attitude of docility, left Him to speak the word of supernatural power. Never is it so hard to follow and trust a higher inspiration, as amid the crowd of customary things. If ever Jesus could yield to misgivings of what was committed to Him it would be in that place. There, in the presence of those at whose feet He used to sit–there, where He first heard and pondered Israels hope, and watched a holy light on other faces, not knowing that it was reflected from His own–how could He stand up and draw the great words of Isaiah upon Himself, and say aloud, This is the hour. Lo! it is I. But He had emerged from the desert that lay between the old life and the new. The very Spirit of God had driven Him thither to hear what could be said against itself. And now, He was no longer His own. No flitting of the Spirit, off and on. It rested with Him now. And so He could bear those native scenes again, for they lay in another light; the hills of Nazareth were transfigured before Him; from all things round the chill and weary aspect had fled, that makes them press with the weight of usage; and He stood amid the well-known groups, as some immortal friend might return and look in among us here, with unabated love, but with saintly insight into meanings hid from us. Lifted then into the full power of the Spirit, whither, as least congenial, does He take His heavenly point of view? To the village synagogue, on the stated day of rest; nothing newer, nothing higher; but just the place and time which had been sacred to the fathers. The first thing which He did, under freshest inspiration, was to resume the dear old ways, to fall in with the well-known season, to unroll the same venerable page; only to find a new meaning in words that had long carried their rhythm to His heart. We are sustained then by the sympathy of the highest inspiration, when we make it our custom, too, to illuminate in our calendar some holy day, and to raise near every cluster of our dwellings a house where prayer is wont to be made. Against the Christian habit of seasonal and local worship the truth is often urged that God is a Spirit, eternal and omniscient, abiding neither in this mountain nor in that Jerusalem, and bearing equal relation into every mind and moment. In the occasionalism of piety I see, however, not its shame but its distinctive glory. For of all Gods agencies and manifestations, it is the lowest that are least mutable, and most remain the same from first to last; whilst the highest have ever a tidal ebb and flow–moving in waves of time, and surprising hidden inlets of space with their flood. Be assured then that in your ancient usages of seasonal and local worship, in seeking here to meet at intervals the high tides of Gods Spirit, you are in harmony with His sublimest providence–with a law of variation transcending any physical uniformity over which it sweeps. Reverence the holy custom, shelter from heedless slight the living impulse that week by week calls you hither to remember, to aspire, to pray. Bring only the pure, lowly, childlike hearts, tender to everything except the sins you must confess–full of hope for the world and trust in God; spread out an eager and a gentle spirit for the dropping of fruitful seeds from Holy Writ and saintly hymn; freshen the fading vow of self-sacrificing love; and your worship here will not only resemble His who, in fulness of the Spirit, went as His custom was, &c., but prepare for a higher communion where your life is hid with Him in God. (J. Martineau, LL. D.)
Synagogue worship
The Jewish synagogues were open every day for three services, but as those of the afternoon and evening were always joined, there were, in reality, only two. It was the duty of every godly Jew to go to each service, for so sacred was daily attendance that the Rabbis taught that he who practised it saved Israel from the heathen. The two market days, Monday and Thursday, when the country people came into town, and when the courts were held, and the Sabbaths, were the special times of public worship. Feast days and fasts were also marked by similar sacredness. (Dr. Geikie.)
A good example in attending public worship
Of good Archbishop Leighton it is said, that the Sabbath was his delight, and no slight hindrance could detain him from the house of prayer. Upon one occasion, when he was indisposed, the day being stormy, his friends urged him, on account of his health, not to venture to church. Were the weather fair, was the reply, I would stay at home but since it is otherwise, I must go, lest I be thought to countenance by my example, the irreligious practice of allowing trivial hindrances to keep me back from public worship. (Life of Leighton.)
Evil of neglecting public worship
Of the late venerable Dr. Waugh, his biographer records that, in his ministerial visitations, his nationality was often strongly displayed, and this with most beneficial effect, both in sentiment and language. When, without any adequate cause, any of his hearers had failed to attend public ordinances so regularly as he could have wished, and would plead their distance from the chapel as an excuse, he would exclaim in the emphatic northern dialect, which he used on familiar occasions to employ, What, you from Scotland! from Melrose! from Gala Water! from Selkirk! and its a hard matter to walk a mile or two to serve your Maker one day in the week! How many miles did you walk at Selkirk? Five. Five! And can ye no walk twa here? Man!your father walked ten or twal (twelve) out, and as many hame, every Sunday i the year; and your mither too, aften. Ive seen a hunder folk and muir, that aye walked six or seven–men, women, and bairns too: and at the sacraments folk walked fifteen, and some twenty miles. How far will you walk the morn to mak half-a-crown? Fie! fie I But yell be out wi a your household next Sabbath, I ken. O my man, mind the bairns I If you love their souls, dinna let them get into the habit of biding awa In the kirk. All the evils among young folk in London arise from their not attending Gods house. Such remonstrances, it may easily be imagined, were not often urged in vain. (Baxendales Anecdotes.)
The synagogue service
The order of service was certainly fixed and invariable in the time of Christ. The supreme moment of the service was that of the reading of the law, for the great end of meeting was to hear and study the law. Prayer preceded this exercise, and the reading of a passage chosen from the prophets, followed by the benediction, closed the service. In the opening prayer there were several distinct portions. It began with the recitation of the Shema (three passages of the law, viz., Deu_6:4-9; Deu_11:13-21; Num 15:37-41). Then came the eighteen blessings. During this solemn recitation, the people remained standing with their faces turned towards Jerusalem and the Holy Place. The reciter stood before the chest containing the manuscripts. Any member of the assembly could be called on by the president to perform this important duty. Minors alone were excepted, and Christ may have very likely taken His turn in these introductory prayers, both at Nazareth and at Capernaum. The people responded with a loud Amen at the close of each prayer. The reading of the law followed. The Chazzan took the sacred scroll out of the chest, removed its case, and placed it before the first reader. The seven members who had been chosen, rose, and read in turn at least three verses each. The first reader before beginning used a short formula of benediction, which he repeated also at the end. The Torah was divided into one hundred and fifty-three sections. In three years the whole was read through. Subsequently these sections were made three times as long, and the whole law was read through in one year. The Chazzan remained all the time close to the reader, and watched that he made no mistake, and read nothing unsuitable for a general audience. To the reading and its translation was always added a commentary, a sort of homily, to which great importance came to be attached in the Christian Churches, and which subsequently developed into the sermon. The reading of the law being over, the one who had recited the opening prayer read a portion from one of the prophets. This was called the closing lesson, because it completed the service. The reader was chosen by the head of the synagogue. He read three verses in succession, and then translated them (into Aramaic). Christ one day read one of these closing lessons in the synagogue at Nazareth. It is possible, however, that He may have chosen the passage Himself. We notice that it consists of only two verses. This was allowable, because He proposed to make some comment on it. The final benediction was then pronounced, and the assembly broke up. (E. Stapfer, D. D.)
Jesus of Nazareth admired but rejected
If we were to single out one place as illustrating more perhaps than any other place St. Johns remark, He came to His own and His own received Him not, that place would surely be Nazareth.
I. Observe THE VALUE WHICH THE LORD PUTS UPON THE PUBLIC MEANS OF GRACE–As His custom was. Although there was very little life or spirituality in the synagogue services, yet Jesus was a habitual worshipper there. What a lesson for those who excuse themselves on such grounds as that–
1. They can pray as well at home. Do they?
2. The service is not quite to their mind (Heb 10:25).
II. THE ACCOUNT WHICH CHRIST GAVE AT NAZARETH OF HIS OWN OFFICE AND MINISTRY.
III. THE EFFECT PRODUCED BY OUR OURS DISCOURSE AT NAZARETH,
1. Admiration and astonishment.
2. But, mingled with this, contempt.
3. And so Christ and His salvation are rejected. (G. T.Harding, M. A.)
An inaugural discourse
The first sermon of Jesus at Nazareth, a standard for the minister of the gospel at the beginning of His work. The narrative imparts to the minister of the gospel pregnant suggestions.
I. In reference to the POINT OF VIEW from which he is to consider his work.
1. Origin.
2. Matter.
3. Object of preaching.
II. In relation to the MANNER in which he must perform his work. His preaching must be, as here–
1. Grounded on Scripture.
2. Accommodated to the necessity of the hearers.
3. Presented in an attractive manner.
III. In relation to the FRUIT upon which he can reckon in this labour. Nazareth shows us–
1. That blossoms are as yet no certain signs of fruit.
2. That this fruit may be blasted by the most unhappy causes.
3. That the harvest may turn out yet better than at the beginning it appears (there in the synagogue were Mary, and also the Lords brethren, who afterwards believed; and if the Saviour did not work many miracles at Nazareth, He yet wrought some) (Mat 13:58).
IV. In relation to the TEMPER in which he is to begin a new work.
1. With thankful recollections of the past.
2. With holy spiritual might for the present.
3. With joyful hope for the future.
Happy the teacher who is permitted to begin his preaching under more favourable presages than Jesus began His in the city where He was brought up. (J. J. Van Oosterzee, D. D.)
View of Nazareth
Sheets of smooth rock; fields of hinge boulders, between which, at times, there was scarcely room to pass; acres of loose stones of all sizes, no path or track visible–parts so steep that to hold on to the horses mane was a help–everything unspeakably rough and difficult–such was the way up the face of the rocks to get to the tableland on which Nazareth stands. After a time spots of green appeared on the wide, unearthly desolation, and some lean cattle were to be seen picking up poor mouthfuls among the stones. Further on was a larger, but still very small, spot of green. Goats and sheep alone could find sustenance in such a weird place. After an hours ride, during which we passed both camels and donkeys toiling up the face of the hill with heavy loads, we came to a spring at the wayside, now running, but dry in summer. At last, all at once, a small valley opened below, set round with hills, and a pleasant little town appeared to the west. Its straggling houses, of white, soft limestone, and mostly new, rose row over row up the steep slope. A fine large building, with slender cypresses growing around it, stood nearest to us; a minaret looked down a little to the rear. Fig-trees, single and in clumps, were growing here and there in the valley, which was covered with crops of grain, lentils, and beans. Above the town the hills were steep and high, with thin pasture, sheets of rock, fig-trees, and now and then an enclosed spot. The small domed tomb-shrine of a Mahommedan saint crowned the upper end of the western slope. Such was Nazareth, the home of our Lord Numerous hills, not grassy like those of England, but bare, white, and rocky, though here and there faintly green, shut in Nazareth from the outer world; the last heights of Galilee, as they melt away into the plain of Esdraelon. Their long, rounded tops have no wild beauty, and there are no ravines or shady woods to make them romantic or picturesque; indeed, so far as the eye reaches, they are treeless, or very nearly so The water of Nazareth is mainly derived from rain-cisterns, for there is only one spring, and in autumn its supply is precarious. A momentous interest, however, gathers around this single fountain, for it has been in use for immemorial ages, and, no doubt, often saw the Virgin and her Divine Child among those who frequented it morning and evening, as the mothers of the town, many with children at their side, do now. The water comes through spouts in a stone wall, under an arched recess built for shelter, and falls into a trough at which a dozen persons can stand side by side. Thence it runs into a square stone tank at the side, against which gossips at all hours delight to lean. The water that flows over the top of the trough below the spouts makes a small pool immediately beneath them, and there women wash their linen, and even their children; standing in the water, ankle-deep, their baggy trousers–striped pink or green–tucked between their knees, while those coming for water are continually passing and repassing with their jars, empty or full, on their heads. The spring lies under the town, and as the Nazareth of ancient times, as shown by old cisterns and tombs, was rather higher up the hill than at present, the fountain must in those days have been still farther away from the houses. (C. Geikie, D. D.)
The synagogue
A synagogue generally stood on the highest piece of ground in a city, or near it; it was oblong, and the end opposite to the entrance pointed towards Jerusalem. There were the seats of the elders, and in the midst, at this end, was the ark with a lamp always burning before it, in which was preserved the roll of the Law. Before it also was an eight-branched candlestick, lighted on the highest festivals. A little way down was a raised platform, on which several persons could stand at once, and in the middle rose a pulpit, in which the reader stood to read those lessons which were not from the books of Moses. The roll of the Law was taken with great solemnity out of the ark, and unrolled by the Rabbi, so that the congregation might not look on the writing. The lessons from Moses were so arranged that the books of the Law were read through once in three years. Much less ceremony was shown about the second lesson, which was taken from the prophets and historical books. On week-days, not less than twenty-one verses were read; on the Sabbath, not more than three, five, or seven. After this lesson followed the exposition, or interpretation. The Scriptures were read in Hebrew, but the Hebrew was unintelligible to the Jews after their return from the Babylonish captivity, consequently the interpreter translated or expounded what he had read in the Aramaic or Syro-Chaldee tongue. The reader stood when reading the prophets, but was allowed to sit or stand for the historical books. Originally the prophets and historical books had not been read in the synagogue service, but when Antiochus Epiphanes forbade the reading of the Law, in the services of the Sabbath, the prophets and other books had been substituted for those of Moses, and when this restriction was withdrawn the Jews continued reading the prophets, but read the Law as well, as of old, in the place of honour. (S. Baring. Gould, M. A.)
Christs mission
I. THE GREAT DISTINCTION IN WHICH OUR LORD EXALTED–The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me. As this was what distinguished the Lord, so it ought to distinguish His Church.
II. THE GREAT MESSAGE OUR LORD HAD TO DELIVER–TO preach the gospel to the poor, &c.
III. THE GREAT WORK OUR LORD HAD TO ACCOMPLISH–To heal the broken-hearted, &c. (J. P. Chown.)
The Christ as a preacher
Christ read the appointed lesson for the day (which happened to be the day of Atonement), but not the whole of it. He had not come to proclaim the day of the vengeance of our God. The gospel is primarily a deliverance shadowed by the year of Jubilee; it embraces the physical and social ills of men, and their spiritual ills. The inextricableness with which they are united in the words of Christ suggests the profound mystery of body and spirit, mind and matter, environment and spiritual history. In these words we find a theology and a life, a doctrine and a practice, and that the two are inseparable. Pass now to this preaching of Christ.
I. ITS SUBSTANCE. Without doubt we have here the key-note to His entire teaching. It is the peculiarity of Christs preaching that He pierces at once to the centre of His great delivering system, and plants His ministry upon it. The peculiar feature of this quotation from Isaiah, which Christ makes His own, is its doubleness: poor, captives, blind, bruised physically and morally, but chiefly morally. Let no man think that there is any gospel of deliverance or helpfulness for him, except as it is grounded in a cure of whatever evil there may be in him–evil habits, or selfish aims, or a worldly spirit.
II. ITS PHILOSOPHY. Suppose some questioner had arisen in that synagogue of Nazareth and asked Jesus, not as to the substance of His preaching, for that was plain enough, but what was the ground of it, on what ultimate fact or reason it rested. I think the answer would have been of this sort: I am making in this gospel a revelation of God, showing you His very heart. This is what God feels for you; this is how He loves and pities you; this is what God proposes to do for you, to cheer you with good news, and open your blind eyes, and free your bruised souls and bodies from the captivity of evil.
III. ITS POWER. In one sense its power lay in its substance; m another, in the philosophy or ground of it; but there was more than come from these; there was the power that resided in Him who spoke these truths. In what lay the commanding power which made them wonder at His words? Not in any impressiveness of manner, or felicity of presentation. These are elements of power, but they do not constitute power. The main element of power in one who speaks is, an entire, or the largest possible comprehension of the subject. Here we have the key to the power with which Christ preached. He saw the meaning of the Jewish system. He knew what the acceptable year of the Lord meant. He pierced the whole symbolism to its centre, and drew out its significance. He saw that God was a deliverer from first to last, and measured the significance of the fact. The whole heart and mind of God were open to Him. This was the power of Christs preaching; He saw God; He understood God; He knew what God had done, and would do; the whole purpose and plan of deliverance and redemption lay before Him as an open page. We cannot measure this knowledge of the Christ, we can but faintly conceive it. But the measure of our conception of it is the measure of our spiritual power over others. ( T. T. Munger.)
Jesus at Nazareth
Observe
I. THE PLACE SPECIFIED IN THE TEXT.
1. The obscurity of Christs private life.
2. We see in it Gods estimation of the worlds pomp and glory.
3. We see honest industry honoured by the Saviour.
II. WHAT JESUS DID ON HIS VISIT TO NAZARETH.
1. The place to which He resorted. The synagogue.
2. This place was identified with former associations. As His custom was.
3. The time when Christ went into the synagogue was the Sabbath.
4. What Jesus did in the synagogue.
5. The portion of the Sacred Scriptures which HE read.
Application:
1. Give especial heed, &c., to the Holy Scriptures.
2. Let Scripture be the test of all your views and doctrines, &c.
3. The rule of your life, &c. (J. Burns, D. D.)
Christs first sermon
I. THE ACCOUNT WHICH JESUS GAVE OF HIS MISSION.
1. He refers to His Divine qualification.
(1) The Spirit was upon Him in unbroken plenitude.
(2) He had the Spirit always with Him.
2. He refers to the fulfilment of a striking prophecy. Every word of God is pure, true, unalterable.
3. He declares the character of His work.
(1) To preach the gospel to the poor.
(2) To heal the broken-hearted.
(3) Deliverance to the captives.
(4) Recovering of sight to the blind.
(5) He sets at liberty those that are bruised.
(6) He proclaimed the year of jubilee to the people.
The very reverse of their former state, made known the joyful sound of peace and plenty, of rest and festivity. The gospel era is emphatically the acceptable year of the Lord.
II. THE EFFECT IT PRODUCED UPON HIS AUDITORY.
1. They listened with marked attention. This was proper, necessary, pleasing. Some have their eyes closed in sleep, some gaze about, some look into their Bibles and hymn books; but they fixed their eyes upon the speaker.
2. They were filled with astonishment and wonder. No doubt at His wisdom, but equally so at the tenderness, condescension, and love with which He spake.
3. They were spell-bound, however, by prejudice.
4. They attempted to murder the Son of God. Truth flashed upon their minds, but they hated it; it exasperated them, and they tried to cast the messenger of mercy headlong down the hill, &c.
Application:
1. To you Jesus has come with the message of life.
2. You stand in need of the blessings He bestows.
3. Do not allow prejudice to make Christ a stone of stumbling and rock of offence.
4. Embrace the message, and live.
5. Put on Christ, and profess Him to the world. (J. Burns, D. D.)
Jesus at Nazareth
Let us notice the chief points of interest connected with Christs first appearance as the Messiah, proclaiming the gospel in the home of His childhood.
I. THE PLACE. He was ready to preach where He had been known all His life. Many resolve to become disciples of Christ as soon as they get away among strangers. They say they have not courage to follow Him amongst their own friends. Every one knows their past sins. Their friends would laugh at them. Their changed lives would attract general attention. But, the greater the change, the more reason for showing it at home. Jesus had no past sins laid to His charge when He went back to His own home to preach glad tidings. If your past character has been upright, the remembrance of it will give weight to your testimony as a disciple of Christ. If your past life has been evil, no one will be so moved by the genuineness of the change in you as those who knew you before your conversion.
II. THE ASSOCIATIONS. He preached in the synagogue. It was His custom to attend there. He always worked through the regularly organized channels for religious labour, and among those who professed to be religious. There are those who profess to be followers of Christ, who stand apart from the Churches because of the imperfections of Christians. They cannot work with or enter into fellowship with Christians. But they find no warrant for this in the example of Jesus. The Jewish Church was corrupt; yet He worked in and with and through it, till they cast Him out.
III. THE TIME. He preached on the Sabbath. He used holy time for holy work. His work was always holy, always appropriate to time and place. But He honoured the Sabbath in its true meaning as the day of worship.
IV. THE SUBJECT. It was a text from the Bible. No one ever expounded the Scriptures as He did. He was Himself the Word. God had spoken through the prophets. His Word of old had been the revelation of Himself. Now the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. The living speech and living speaker revealed the mind of God. His words were spirit and life. But they never thrust into the background what had been already spoken. Those who would follow Christ will love the Bible, and will grow holy by receiving and obeying it, and will persuade others through it to believe on Jesus Christ. Without it we are defenceless against the attacks of the adversary.
V. THE SOURCE OF THE PREACHERS POWER. The Spirit of the Lord was upon Him. It empowered Him to make known the gracious message of salvation, and Himself the Saviour. Before leaving the world He bestowed this Divine gift on His disciples, and it is promised to every one who believes on Christ and seeks it. He is ready to anoint every believer for service. Whoever empties himself of pride, self-seeking, all sin, and asks for that gift simply that he may glorify God, will receive it.
VI. THE SERMON. He was Himself the explanation of His text. His presence spoke and made His words luminous.
VII. THE RECEPTION OF THE SERMON. His hearers lacked the sense of the Divine presence. They were filled with worldliness and pride, and could not appreciate the heavenly gifts which Christ brought. With no consciousness of inner want, they sought only outward things. They judged Him first by His personal appearance and manner, and the graciousness of His words; they were pleased. Then they remembered His humble position in society, and their impression began to change. Then they recalled the fame of His miracles, and they began to desire to be entertained by wonders. Then they saw that He was exposing their prevailing sins, and they were enraged. But the truth which He presented they could not discern, and they saw the frame not the picture; the vessel, not the contents. They sought entertainment, flattery, agreement with themselves, not truth. They thrust for ever salvation and their Saviour, with murder in their hearts.
VIII. THE ESCAPE. The only wonder which they would be likely to remember was that by which He separated Himself from them for ever. A mob is always unreasoning. Some sudden feeling or event may change its purpose as quickly as it was started. Many times the courage and firmness of a single man has dispersed enraged multitudes. When Marius, once the honoured consul of Rome, was being dragged to execution by a yelling, cursing crowd, he fixed his eye on the man who came forward to kill him, with the words, Slave I dost thou dare to kill Marius? The soldier dropped his sword and fled, and with him the panic-stricken mob. When Napoleon came back to France from exile, and met the troops sent to oppose him, they, at the sight of him, changed their purpose, and welcomed him as their commander. Jesus, with the majesty of grace and truth, so awed His enemies, that their rage was restrained, and He passed through them unharmed. But oh i had they welcomed the Prince of Peace, even at that last moment, how different their destiny would have been. (A. E. Dunning.)
The new teacher
Jesus emerged from the desert to enter on His great career. The season was the spring. And within as without all was springtime. He returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee, and Galilee felt and owned the Spirit and the power. In the homes of its peasantry and the hamlets of its fishermen, on the shores of its beautiful sea, in the towns and villages that stood on its banks, and were mirrored in its waves, He preached His gospel. Only His own Nazareth refused to hear Him. Thither, indeed, He had gone, had entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, as His custom was, and had stood up to read. To Him the place was full of sacred associations. He had there, as boy and youth and man, listened for hours and days to the voice of God. But others had their associations as well as He, and theirs were not always as sacred as His. The synagogue was often the scene of strife. The conflict of opinion was not unknown there. The men of Nazareth had their personal rivalries and spites, and when One whom they knew, so far as the senses can know, rose and read, and applied to Himself the prophetic words, they received His gracious speech with incredulous wonder. But when He proceeded to speak with authority, to rebuke their unbelief, to quote against them their own proverbs, then they were filled with wrath, &c. And He went His way, and found elsewhere men who heard gladly His words of power. The strange thing about the new Teacher was not His having been untaught and a carpenter. The great creative spirits of Israel had never been the sons of a school. The Rabbi was qualified rather than disqualified for his office by a handicraft. But the strange thing was the new Teacher Himself. He stood distinguished from all the Rabbis who had been, or then were, in Israel. Of the points that made Him pre-eminent and unique, three may be here specified.
1. The relation between His person and His word. The Teacher made the truth He taught. His teaching was His articulated person, His person His incorporated teaching.
2. The consciousness He had of Himself and His truth; its authority and creative energy.
3. His knowledge of His truth and mission, throughout perfect and self-consistent. His first word revealed His purpose, expressed His aim. Had Christ at first a plan? is a question often discussed. Plan is a word too mechanical and pragmatic. Christ had at the beginning the idea He meant to realize. The evidence lives in the phrase most frequent on His lips, the kingdom of heaven. (A. M. Fairbairn, D. D.)
The gospel for the Gentiles
If I read this narrative for the first time I should pause at the words, glorified of all, knowing that there would be a thunderstorm before long. Here is Christ, with more wisdom in Him than all the world besides; and yet, as His custom was, He went into the synagogue, &c. What did He go there for? They could teach Him nothing. Men and women now, on the plea that they learn nothing, that there is nothing fresh to hear or know or learn at church, very seldom come. And many of you who come to hear me, come not to worship God. So I turn and read this history of how Christ, who was the fountain of life, the wisest of the wise, went, as His custom was, &c. He stood up for to read. Here stands a teacher from whose teaching men shall date for all time, and He is about to choose a text. What it was you know. Who could wonder that the eyes of all were fastened upon Him. They had never heard the words read as He read them. They wondered at the gracious words, &c. They found them gracious, and they said, some of them honestly, some of them meanly, Is not this Josephs son? Now watch for the storm. He tells them a terrible truth which they dont like. As long as they thought He was going to preach all these things to the Jewish nation it was all right, but the moment they hear that these things are to be done to the Gentiles, oh! then the storm comes. You know what they had heard–that Gods love was big enough to reach Sarepta. These people had sound right views. Think of that! And what did Christ do to anger them? He told them that Gods love reached even to Sidon; that His heart was deep enough to take in the leprous Naaman. What shocking things to tell the people, werent they? And what effect did they have? They were proud of Him ten minutes ago; but now they are going to throw Him headlong over the brow of the hill. Has there ever been any picture like that?–the sunny morning; the welcome Christ; the teacher kissed; the teacher thrown down the precipice. And what brought it about? He discussed of the largeness of Gods love. I often see these things. It does not belong to this history only. (George Dawson, M. A.)
Habit and holiness
Here, in our text, is one case of Jesus conforming to a good common custom–perhaps not only following the custom, but getting help from it to promote His own spiritual life. From this one well-authenticated custom of Jesus in regard to Sabbath observance, I purpose, in connection with the text, to set before you the value and use of habit, as an aid to holy life and character, placed by Gods providence within our reach, and which we are bound, as wise men, to turn to account. The capacity of forming habits is a very valuable part of human nature, as originally framed by God. By doing a thing often, we come to do it easily, and even to contract a liking and craving to do it. Sometimes this facility and inclination grow up before we are aware of it, in matters where we did not intend it. Moreover, it is a power as ready for bad uses as for good, so that it requires observation and guidance. It is by habit and use that workroom in the various arts and trades learn to manipulate skilfully the various tools and materials which they employ. Similarly, by gradual training, both animal and vegetable natures may be wonderfully modified-by more or less light, water, warmth, food, or motion. It is the alteration of these conditions that determines life and death, beauty and deformity, success and failure. Many of the evils that give us the greatest annoyance in society are largely the result of neglected or misdirected habits or customs. It is no new thing to employ the force of habit in connection with piety; it has already been done very systematically in past ages. In fact, it is only in comparatively recent times, and in connection with Protestant Churches especially, that the power of habit has been neglected. Under the Romish system there was both great use and abuse of habit and custom. At present we are in the midst of a reaction and protest against former abuses. All the details of rule and discipline, as laid down for monks and nuns, had for their aim the utilizing of habit on the side of virtue and holiness. But, in many cases, this was carried to excess, and rules became ridiculous when emphasized as important in themselves, whereas they were only means to an end. Such rules applied to dress, to hours of devotion, to repeating certain formulae, to the period of sleep, to regulation of diet. When this was pushed beyond reasonable bounds, the system was open to ridicule, as an attempt to make virtue by machinery. But these ancient extravagances of certain branches of the Christian Church are no reason why habit should not be studied and utilized for the same purposes within proper limits. Habit, in excess, is formalism or routine, and is near of kin to hypocrisy. This was the besetting sin of the old Pharisees. In the same way, habit or custom, in excess, becomes a system of ceremony, or ritualism, which is just old Pharisaism renewing its youth, but in adaptation to the Christian System. Warned by these errors–but mindful that there is also in habit a mighty power for good–let us consider a few of those matters in which habit is desirable.
1. The instance in the text applicable to Jesus–the custom of being present at public worship every Sabbath. How great an aid is this to everything that is good I It puts us in the way of the chief means of grace; it puts us in the way of the best human companionship.
2. A habit of prayer. The prayer to which I refer specially at present is family and personal prayer. Public or common prayer is implied in Sunday observance and churchgoing. If there is no habit of family prayer, the prayer is not likely to be made at all. All the details of family worship imply arrangement–a certain hour–a fixed place–books at hand–a person responsible for conducting the service. Family worship thus becomes one of the most beautiful features of domestic order in every house where it is duly attended to. Its omission becomes at once a mark and cause of disorder. Personal prayer no less depends on habit and custom for its maintenance.
3. Labour may be the subject of another of those good habits, in a religious point of view. At first sight it might seem as if a habit of labour, while good and useful in itself, had little to do with religion. These idle, aimless existences are the most unhappy condition possible for reasonable beings. Far better is it for a man to hold on steadily in his work to the end, and nobly wear out, than rust wearily and unprofitably. It is a calamity when a man cannot work by reason of old age or sickness. The man who has acquired the habit of labour has got possession of that honest power which will advance him alike in a worldly and moral point of view, and which will keep him out of many temptations.
4. A habit of learning may well form the sequel to a habit of labour. It is in always aiming to learn something new that we secure for ourselves real improvement and progress, carrying the purposes of youth and early manhood into advanced years. There are various ways in which this habit of learning may develop itself. The simplest, perhaps, is obser-ration for ones self; and the next in simplicity, conversation with ones neighbours, so as to add their observation or information to ones own. But far more valuable are books and professed teachers, who have made a specialty of some subject. A habit of spending leisure time in careful, definite reading on matters useful in ordinary life, is one of the most noble exercises in which a man can train himself.
5. The last matter that I shall at present name as a fit subject for a good habit is charity. A custom of this noble sort could not be formed or maintained save by very deliberate effort and self-sacrifice. Thus have we considered the place and utility of habit from a Christian point of view. (J. Rankin, D. D.)
Our Lords visit to Nazareth
I. HIS ARRIVAL AT NAZARETH. He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. A man of reflection and feeling piety will always be affected when he comes to the place where he was brought up.
1. What was Nazareth? It was a small town of the Zebu-lonites, in Galilee, seventy-two miles north of Jerusalem, and west of Mount Tamar. Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?
2. How came He to be brought up here?
3. How was He brought up there?
4. How came He to Nazareth, since He was there brought up? Because He had been absent from the place: He had been to the baptism of John. For a considerable time He visited other places, where He performed His first miracles; and having thus gained a well-deserved renown, this would serve to favour His introduction to His townsmen and His relations: and thus He came to Nazareth where He had been brought up.
II. HIS PRIVATE ENGAGEMENTS THERE BEFORE HE PREACHED–And, as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.
1. The time was the Sabbath.
2. The place was the synagogue. Synagogues were scattered all over Judea, and were in every country where the Jews lived. They were places sacred to devotion and instruction. They were not expressly of Divine appointment, like the Temple, but they arose from the moral exigencies of the people; and were peculiarly serviceable in maintaining and perpetuating the knowledge of Moses and the prophets. They are supposed to have originated in the days of Ezra.
3. The action–He stood up for to read. Bless God that you have the Scriptures in your own hand, and in your own language; and that you are allowed to read them, and that you are commanded to read them.
III. This brings us to HIS PREACHING. And there was delivered unto Him the book of the prophet Esaias; and when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor, He hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
1. This was the text.
2. But observe the attention of the audience– And He closed the book, and gave it again to the minister, and sat down: and the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on Him. It is very desirable to see an audience attentive, as the mind follows the eye, and the eye affecteth the heart.
3. Then observe the sermon itself–And He began to say, This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears.
(1) First, He asserts His qualification for His mission– The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me.
(2) Then He asserts the design of His office– He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.
IV. WHAT WAS THE EFFECT OF THE SERMON? They were struck with admiration; but admiration seems to have been all that they felt–And they wondered at the gracious words that proceeded out of His mouth; and they said, Is not this Josephs son? What reception does Jesus Christ meet with from us? (W. Jay.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 16. To Nazareth, where he had been brought up] It is likely that our Lord lived principally in this city till the 30th year of his age; but, after he entered on his public ministry, his usual place of residence was at the house of Peter, in Capernaum.
As his custom was] Our Lord regularly attended the public worship of God in the synagogues; for there the Scriptures were read: other parts of the worship were very corrupt; but it was the best at that time to be found in the land. To worship God publicly is the duty of every man, and no man can be guiltless who neglects it. If a person cannot get such public worship as he likes, let him frequent such as he can get. Better to attend the most indifferent than to stay at home, especially on the Lord’s day. The place and the time are set apart for the worship of the true God: if others do not conduct themselves well in it, that is not your fault, and need not be any hinderance to you. You come to worship GOD – do not forget your errand-and God will supply the lack in the service by the teachings of his Spirit. Hear the saying of old Mr. Herbert: – “The worst speak something good: should all want sense,
God takes the text, and preacheth p-a-t-i-e-n-c-e.”
A man may always profit where the word of God is read.
Stood up for to read.] The Jews, in general, sat while they taught or commented on the Sacred Writings, or the traditions of the elders; but when they read either the law or the prophets they invariably stood up: it was not lawful for them even to lean against any thing while employed in reading.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
We heard before, Luk 2:39,51, that Christ was brought up at Nazareth; we read of him at Nazareth, Mat 13:54. But I must confess I doubt whether Matthew there, and Luke here, speak of the same time. Of the nature of the Jewish synagogues, and their order of worship there, and the reading of the Scriptures in them, we have spoken before in our notes on Mat 4:23. See Poole on “Mat 4:23“.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
16. as his custom wasCompareAc 17:2.
stood up for to readOthersbesides rabbins were allowed to address the congregation. (See Ac13:15.)
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And he came to Nazareth,…. After some length of time, when he had gone through all Galilee, and had acquired great credit and reputation by his ministry and miracles; he came to the place,
where he had been brought up: where he was conceived, though not born; and where he had his education, and wrought at a trade, and was well known to the inhabitants; and therefore it was proper that he should first exercise his ministry, and obtain a character in other places, which would prepare him a reception among his townsmen, who otherwise, in all likelihood, would have treated him at once with neglect and contempt:
and as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day. This was either his custom from his youth, when he dwelt at Nazareth, while a private person, and before he was engaged in public service, whither he had used to repair as an inhabitant of the city, and a member of the congregation, to attend synagogue worship, as he now did; or it refers to his custom, since he became a public preacher, who at Capernaum, or any other city of Galilee, where there was a synagogue, used to frequent it, whether on sabbath days, or any other, and so he did here:
and stood up for to read: by rising and standing up, and perhaps by some other gesture he signified his inclination to read a portion of Scripture, if liberty was given, and a book delivered him, for, as yet, he had no book to read in; nor might any read in public, unless he had an order from the congregation, or the chief of it; for so runs the Jewish canon k:
“a reader may not read until the chief of the congregation bids him read; yea, even a minister of the congregation, or a ruler of the synagogue, may not read of himself, until the congregation, or the chief among them, bids him read.”
This custom of reading the Scriptures publicly, was an appointment of Moses, according to the account of the Jews; who say l
“Moses our master, ordered the Israelites to read in the law publicly, on the sabbath, and on the second and fifth days of the week, in the morning; so that they might not be three days without hearing the law and Ezra ordered, that they should read so at the evening sacrifice, every sabbath, on account of those that sit in the corners of streets; and also he ordered, that three men should read on the second and fifth days of the week, and that they should not read less than twenty verses.”
It was also the custom to stand at reading the law and the prophets: with regard to the book of Esther, the rule is m this;
“he that reads the “Megilia”, or book of “Esther”, stands or sits.”
That is, as their commentators n explain it, if he will he may stand, and if he will he may sit, he may do as he pleases; but so he might not in reading the law: hence it is asked o,
“why is it not so in the law? R. Abhu replies, because the Scripture says, De 5:3 “Stand thou here by me.””
Wherefore they say p, the law must be read standing, and it is even forbidden to lean on any thing. Christ conformed to these rules; he went into the synagogue to read on the sabbath day, and stood up when he read, and waited for order, and a book to be given him to read: it may be asked, how he came to be admitted to read publicly in the synagogue, when he was not of the tribe of Levi, nor was he brought up in the schools and academies of the Jews, and was known to be a mechanic? It may be observed, that common Israelites, as well as priests and Levites, were allowed to read the Scriptures publicly; every sabbath day, seven persons read, a priest, a Levite, and five Israelites: the order was this; the priest read first, and after him the Levite, and after him an Israelite: and it is said to be a known custom to this day, that even an unlearned priest read before the greatest wise man in Israel; and he that was greater than his companion in wisdom, read first q. Now Christ, on account of the great fame he was in for his wisdom and mighty works, was admitted to this public service, though he was no Levite, and known by the inhabitants of this place, to have been brought up to a trade.
k Maimon. Hilchot Tephilla, c. 12. sect. 7. l Maimon. Hilchot Tephilla, c. 12. sect. 1. m Misn. Megilia, c. 4. 1. n Jarchi & Bartenora in ib. o T. Bab. Megilia, fol. 21. 1. p Robbenu Asher in T. Megill. c. 3. sect. 1. & Piske Harosh in ib. q Maimon. Hilch. Tephillah, c. 12. sect. 16, 18.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Where he had been brought up ( ). Past perfect passive periphrastic indicative, a state of completion in past time, from , a common Greek verb. This visit is before that recorded in Mark 6:1-6; Matt 13:54-58 which was just before the third tour of Galilee. Here Jesus comes back after a year of public ministry elsewhere and with a wide reputation (Lu 4:15). Luke may have in mind 2:51, but for some time now Nazareth had not been his home and that fact may be implied by the past perfect tense.
As his custom was ( ). Second perfect active neuter singular participle of an old (Homer), to be accustomed. Literally according to what was customary to him (, dative case). This is one of the flashlights on the early life of Jesus. He had the habit of going to public worship in the synagogue as a boy, a habit that he kept up when a grown man. If the child does not form the habit of going to church, the man is almost certain not to have it. We have already had in Matthew and Mark frequent instances of the word synagogue which played such a large part in Jewish life after the restoration from Babylon.
Stood up (). Second aorist active indicative and intransitive. Very common verb. It was the custom for the reader to stand except when the Book of Esther was read at the feast of Purim when he might sit. It is not here stated that Jesus had been in the habit of standing up to read here or elsewhere. It was his habit to go to the synagogue for worship. Since he entered upon his Messianic work his habit was to teach in the synagogues (Lu 4:15). This was apparently the first time that he had done so in Nazareth. He may have been asked to read as Paul was in Antioch in Pisidia (Ac 13:15). The ruler of the synagogue for that day may have invited Jesus to read and speak because of his now great reputation as a teacher. Jesus could have stood up voluntarily and appropriately because of his interest in his home town.
To read (). Second aorist active infinitive of , to recognize again the written characters and so to read and then to read aloud. It appears first in Pindar in the sense of read and always so in the N.T. This public reading aloud with occasional comments may explain the parenthesis in Mt 24:15 (Let him that readeth understand).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Nazareth. With the article; that Nazareth where he had been brought up.
Stood up. Not as a sign that he wished to expound, but being summoned by the superintendent of the synagogue.
To read [] . Usually in New Testament of public reading. 7 After the liturgical services which introduced the worship of the synagogue, the “minister” took a roll of the law from the ark, removed its case and wrappings, and then called upon some one to read. On the Sabbaths, at least seven persons were called on successively to read portions of the law, none of them consisting of less than three verses. After the law followed a section from the prophets, which was succeeded immediately by a discourse. It was this section which Jesus read and expounded. See Act 13:15; Neh 8:5, 8. For a detailed account of the synagogue – worship, see Edersheim, “Life and Times of Jesus,” 1, 430 sq.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And he came to Nazareth,” (kai elthen eis Nazara) “And he came into Nazareth,” where He had lived since coming out of Egypt with His parents, Mat 2:14-15; Mat 2:23. He returned here twice in His ministry, Mat 13:54-58; Mar 6:1-6.
2) “Where he had been brought up:” (ou en thethrammenos) “Where he had been brought up or reared,” by Joseph and Mary, since their return from Egypt, and where He had been schooled, Mat 2:23; Luk 2:51-52.
3) “And as his custom was,” (kai kata to eiothos auto) “And based on his custom,” on His ethical practice, or pattern of Sabbath Day Discipline, of going to the house of God, where the Law of the Lord was read, a good custom for His children to follow today, Heb 10:25; 1Co 16:1.
4) “He went into the synagogue on the sabbath day,” (eiselthen en te hemera ton sabbaton eis ten sunagogen) “He entered into the synagogue on the sabbath day,” Mar 1:21; Joh 18:20. Where a passage was read by custom each Sabbath day from 1) the law, 2) the prophets, and 3) from the Psalms, providing diversity of language, yet harmony in the unity of Divine thought, Psa 119:160.
5) “And stood up for to read.” (kai aneste anagonai) “And he stood up to read,” from the Scriptures, for respect to the God of the Scriptures as He read, Joh 5:39. For He knew that they testified of Him, Himself; a thing that He affirmed throughout His life, and explained further, after His resurrection, Luk 24:25-27; Luk 24:44-45.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
16. And he came to Nazareth The Evangelists are very careful to show by what sort of proofs Christ became known, a striking instance of which is here related by Luke. By explaining a passage in Isaiah, and applying it to the instruction which was immediately required, he turned upon him the eyes of all. He entered, according to his custom, into the synagogue Hence we conclude, that not only did he address the people in the open streets and highways, but, as far as he had opportunity, observed the usual order of the church. We see also that, though the Jews were become very degenerate, though every thing was in a state of confusion, and the condition of the church was miserably corrupted, one good thing still remained: they read the Scriptures publicly, and took occasion from them to teach and admonish the people.
Hence also it is evident, what was the true and lawful method of keeping the Sabbath. When God commanded his people to abstain from working on that day, it was not that they might give themselves up to indolent repose, but, on the contrary, that they might exercise themselves in meditating on his works. Now, the minds of men are naturally blind to the consideration of his works, and must therefore be guided by the rule of Scripture. Though Paul includes the Sabbath in an enumeration of the shadows of the law, (Col 2:16,) yet, in this respect, our manner of observing it is the same with that of the Jews: the people must assemble to hear the word, to public prayers, and to the other exercises of religion. It was for this purpose that the Jewish Sabbath was succeeded by the Lord’s Day.
Now, if we make a comparison of dates, this passage will be sufficient to prove clearly, that the corruptions of the Papal Hierarchy, in our own time, are more shocking and detestable than those which existed among the Jews under the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas. For the reading of Scripture, which was then in use, has not only grown obsolete under the Pope, but is driven from the churches by fire and sword; with this exception, that such portions of it, as they think proper, are chanted by them in an unknown tongue. Christ rose up to read, not only that his voice might be better heard, but in token of reverence: for the majesty of Scripture deserves that its expounders should make it apparent, that they proceed to handle it with modesty and reverence.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(16) And he came to Nazareth.The narrative that follows, signally interesting in itself, has also the special interest of being peculiar to St. Luke. We may naturally think of it as having come to him from the same group of informants as those from whom he derived his narrative of the Infancy. (See Introduction.) He may have journeyed from Carea to Nazareth during St. Pauls imprisonment in the former city, and obtained his information on the spot. It is clear that our Lord did not begin His ministry at Nazareth. He came there when His fame was, in some measure, at least, already established.
As his custom was.This, then, had been His wont before He entered on His work. Children were admitted to the synagogue at the age of five. At thirteen attendance was obligatory. It was open to any man of reputed knowledge and piety, with the sanction of the ruler of the synagogue, to read the lessons (one from the Law and one from the Prophets), and our Lords previous life had doubtless gained the respect of that officer. Up to this time, it would seem, He had confined Himself to reading. Now He came to preach, after an absence possibly of some months, with the new power that had already made Him famous. The work of preaching also was open to any person of adequate culture, who had a word of exhortation to address to the worshippers. (Comp. Act. 13:15.) The constitution of the synagogue in thus admitting the teaching functions of qualified laymen, was distinctly opposed to the root-idea of sacerdotalism.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
FIRST VISIT TO NAZARETH RESIDENCE AT CAPERNAUM, Luk 4:16-31.
Luke sees a true propriety in selecting the first manifestation of the Lord at Nazareth, as the opening of his history of the great ministry. It was initial, ominous, typical. Here, pre-eminently, “he came to his own, and his own received him not.”
It is strenuously maintained by some commentators that there was but one visit and rejection at Nazareth. This is argued from the fact that in both accounts the same proverb is adduced, and the same reference to Jesus’s relatives is made. But that a repetition of the unwelcome visit should awaken similar trains of thought and language is perfectly natural. On the contrary, it seems scarcely probable that in Matthew and Mark the most exciting part of the affair, the attempt to hurl Jesus from the precipice, should be omitted.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
16. Nazareth See Stanley’s beautiful description of this place in our note on Mat 1:23. The rude character ascribed by Nathaniel to this town in his query, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” (although some doubt, very groundlessly, its imputing any popular odium to that town,) was well illustrated by the coarse and murderous violence of its mob on the present occasion.
As his custom His custom of attending the synagogue on the sabbath, to read and teach. Luke’s summary of Christ’s Galilean ministry thus far, (Luk 4:15,) indicates that he had preached long enough to have established a custom.
Nazareth was not so bad but that she had a synagogue and a service. The service of the synagogue commenced with praise and prayer; then a portion of the law was read aloud, and after this a portion of the prophets. The reader and congregation, out of respect to God’s word, stood while it was read; they sat while the subsequent discourse was delivered.
Stood up to read It would seem that Jesus rose to indicate that it was his wish to read and explain; which was probably expected and readily accorded by the chazan and congregation. He sat down to discourse, (Luk 4:20,) instead of returning to his own place in the congregation. In regard to Jewish synagogues, see our note on Mat 4:23.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up.’
This incident took place some time after Jesus commenced preaching, as in fact Luk 4:15-16 make clear. (Some argue that we find it in Mar 6:1-6 (very much abbreviated), but that is questionable. See above). Either way Luke apparently has knowledge of what happened which was unavailable to Mark, probably because Mark’s source Peter was not present, while Luke’s source was (it may have been His mother). It is clear that Luke wishes to present Nazareth as a kind of official launching point of His ministry, partly because of the suitability of what Jesus said when He was in Nazareth as an introduction to His ministry, and partly because this was where the angel had declared Him to be the Son of the Most High, the Davidic king, and the Son of God (Luk 1:32-34). It may well be that the actual launching point was unknown. Alternately it may be because he wants to demonstrate immediately after the temptations how the attack of the Devil always follows blessing, resulting in a move in situation and further blessing (see especially how this pattern is brought out in the case of Paul in Acts 13-14, 16-18).
(Jesus had already ministered for a period in Judaea, but that had been in support of John. He had not then wanted to diminish John and had not therefore fully identified Himself, even though John had identified Him clearly. But now that John was in prison He launched His own ministry publicly, and that is what Luke is bringing out. See John 1-4. See also Mat 4:12; Mar 1:14 which both identify the commencement of His ministry in Galilee with the imprisonment of John.)
Nazareth was not a large town, being nestled in a valley on a mountainside, which looked out over the plain of Esdraelon. But it was as, we already know, Jesus’ home town. He had grown up there and they had seen His perfect life, and had grown used to it. He was simply particularly well favoured, but He was not important. They saw what we would have given our eyes to see, but it had hardened them against the truth, just as too much of the Gospel can do the same. Too much of what is wonderful makes us lose our sense of wonder. (Everyone knows what the Gospels say, but few have ever really read them. They judge on hearsay. Others have dissected them into little bits and cannot see the forest for the trees.).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
‘And he entered, as his custom was, into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up to read.’
Arriving in Nazareth Jesus went on the Sabbath to the synagogue ‘as His custom was’. This may signify that it had regularly been His custom to go to the Nazareth synagogue, which we would anyway have assumed, or it may be referring to His custom on the Sabbath day to go to the nearest Synagogue as in Luk 4:15.
In the Synagogue He stood up to read. This would be at the invitation of the ruler of the Synagogue and was probably part way through the ‘service’. This is the first description that we have of a Synagogue service, but if we assume that it followed the pattern of later services it would commence with prayer, the Shema and the Blessings, followed by a reading of the Law. It is only then that someone would be called on to read from the Prophets. The Scriptures would be read in Hebrew and possibly translated into Aramaic.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jesus Reveals Himself As The Spirit Anointed Prophet of Isaiah (4:16-21).
In this next passage Jesus reveals that the fulfilment of the prophecy of Isaiah concerning the coming anointed Prophet is to come about through Himself. It commences with His proclamation of Himself as such in the synagogue at Nazareth, and goes on to demonstrate the different ways in which the prophecy will be fulfilled. But there are mixed reactions to Him and in the end they are so angry at His comments that they drag Him to a precipice in order to kill Him, at which He walks through their midst and goes away. It appears that basic to their anger is His failure to perform miracles in Nazareth (Luk 4:23), which we learn elsewhere is because of their unbelief, an unbelief that prevented them bringing their sick to be healed. They were not going to bring their sick to the local carpenter! It is typical of perverse human beings that although they did not come for healing they still blamed Him because there were no healings. But this is exacerbated when they misunderstand His comments,
We can compare here Mat 13:53-58; Mar 6:1-5. There is a question as to whether these are describing the same incident, for in Mat 4:13 Jesus has already left Nazareth in order to dwell in Capernaum. There are also clear differences. In Matthew and Mark Jesus is accompanied by His disciples, while in Luke the disciples are not mentioned. In Matthew/Mark He is represented as having done at least some miracles in Nazareth, while in Luke the impression is that He had done none. Had He even done one or two surely they would not have been so sceptical. In Matthew/Mark the people identify Him in terms of his mother, brothers and sisters, in Luke He is identified in terms of Joseph, this may suggest that in the latter case Joseph was still alive, or had only recently died while in the former case he had been dead long enough for the changed description to become normal. In Matthew/Mark He simply marvels at their unbelief, in Luke they nearly kill Him. Thus in spite of the similarities, which are explicable simply in terms of the fact that both cases occur in His home town/former home town, so that similar reactions and comments arise, they would appear to be different incidents. There is no reason at all why, after time had caused tempers to cool down, Jesus should not have made a second attempt to reach those whom He had known from babyhood and some of whom had at times been so kind to Him. By then He was fully established throughout Galilee as a Prophet, and some who felt friendly towards Him might well have urged him to come back and try again. And it would be in His nature to give them a second opportunity. The repetition of the proverb is not at all unlikely. It referred equally in both cases.
a Jesus entered Nazareth where He was brought up (Luk 4:16 a).
b He entered, as His custom was, into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up to read (Luk 4:16 b).
c He read the passage about the Spirit of the Lord being on the Prophet with the consequent results of proclaiming good news, releasing captives, opening the eyes of the blind, freeing those in bondage and proclaiming the acceptable year of the Lord, and He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fastened on Him, and He began to say to them, “Today has this scripture been fulfilled in your ears.” (Luk 4:17-21).
d And all bore Him witness, and wondered at the words of grace which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” (Luk 4:22).
e And He said to them, “Doubtless you will say to me this parable, ‘Physician, heal yourself,’ whatever we have heard done at Capernaum, do also here in your own country.” (Luk 4:23).
d And He said, “Truly I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his own country.” (Luk 4:24).’
c But of a truth I say to you, ‘There were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when there came a great famine over all the land, and to none of them was Elijah sent, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian’ (Luk 4:25-27).
b And they were all filled with wrath in the synagogue, as they heard these things, and they rose up, and cast Him forth out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, so that they might throw Him down headlong (Luk 4:28-29).
a But He passing through the midst of them went His way (Luk 4:30).
It will be noted that in ‘a’ He comes to Nazareth, and in the parallel He goes His way. In ‘b’ He enters the synagogue to read, and in the parallel those in the synagogue drive Him from the synagogue and seek to hurl Him over a cliff. In ‘c’ He proclaims His ministry as the anointed Prophet, and what the consequences are going to be, and in the parallel He describes the consequences of God’s previous activity through His prophets. In ‘d’ they begin to express doubt because He is Joseph’s son and in the parallel he points out that a prophet is not honoured in his own country. In ‘e’, central to their problem is that He is not doing in Nazareth what He has been doing in Capernaum.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Discourse: Jesus Declares His Calling as Saviour ( Mat 13:53-58 , Mar 6:1-6 ) Luk 4:16-30 tells us the story of how Jesus Christ stood up in the synagogue of His home town of Nazareth to testify of His calling and ministry as Saviour of the world. He will spend part of His ministry testifying of Himself (Luk 4:16 to Luk 9:50). Then He will begin to train His disciples how to become witnesses of Him (Luk 9:51 to Luk 21:38). After His Passion He will give them His final commission to be witnesses of Him and the things they have seen.
Outline: Here is a proposed outline:
1. Jesus Expounds an Old Testament Passage Luk 4:16-21
2. Jesus Illustrates His Message from the Old Testament Luk 4:22-27
3. The Rejection of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in Nazareth Luk 4:28-30
Comparison of Synoptic Narrative Material – Jesus’ testimony at Nazareth was rejected by His hometown. We find this story in Luke’s Gospel placed at the beginning of His Galilean ministry. This is because Luke’s Gospel uses this story to show how some people rejected the authority and anointing of His prophetic ministry over every sickness and disease and were not able to be healed. Mark’s Gospel records this same story by placing emphasis upon how Jesus preached the Gospel with miracles following. Matthew’s Gospel is the most brief as it simply emphasizes how Jesus faced offences and how He handled it.
The Order of Jesus’ Ministry in the Cities of Galilee – Kenneth Hagin writes about one of his divine visitations and says that Jesus told him that the sermon in Luk 4:16-30 records the first sermon that He preached after the wilderness temptation and that it was the first sermon that He preached in each subsequent city that He entered. If they believed in His message, they would receive and be healed. When they rejected this message, Jesus was not able to heal them. [175]
[175] Kenneth Hagin, Hear and Be Healed (Tulsa, Oklahoma: Faith Library Publications, c1987, 1991), 17.
The Ministry of the Prophet and Apostle The four Gospels and Acts will emphasize as their third imperative theme the five-fold office of the Church: apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher. The Gospel of Matthew emphasizes the office and ministry of a teacher, who is called to made disciples of all nations by following the format of Jesus’ ministry in this Gospel. The Gospel of Mark emphasizes the office and ministry of the evangelist, who is called to preach the Gospel with signs following by following the format of Jesus’ ministry in this Gospel. The Gospel of Luke and Acts emphasizes the office and ministries of the prophet and apostle, who are called to testify to the ends of the earth following the format of Jesus’ ministry in Luke/Acts. The Gospel of John emphasizes the office and ministry of the pastor, who is called to shepherd God’s sheep by following the format of Jesus’ ministry in this Gospel.
In light of this emphasis in Luke/Acts, we now can easily see in Luk 4:16-30 how Jesus was walking in both offices of prophet and apostle as He read from the prophet Isaiah to the people in the synagogue in Nazareth and told them that God had sent Him and anointed Him to preach the Gospel to them. This sermon in Nazareth was Jesus first prophetic utterance as He declared that the Spirit of the Lord was upon Him. Up to this passage in Luke’s Gospel, prophetic utterances have been given concerning Jesus’ birth and childhood by other eyewitnesses. Jesus has already wrought miracles (Mark), fulfilled Old Testament prophecy (Matthew), and declared Himself the Son of God (John), but in Luke Jesus is walking in His prophetic office.
The Infancy Gospels Grant Osborne notes how the recognition of Jesus as a simple carpenter by the people of Nazareth contradicts the stories recorded in the Infancy Gospels of miracles that Jesus performed as a child recorded. [176] Had Jesus performed miracles as a child, the people of Nazareth would have reacted differently, greatly fearing Him, rather than running Him out of the city.
[176] Grant R. Osborne, Matthew, in Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, ed. Clinton E. Arnold (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010), 550. The stories of Jesus working miracles as a child are recorded in the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel fo Pseudo-Matthew, and The Arabic Gospel of the Infancy. See Montague Rhodes James, The Apocryphal New Testament being the Apocryphal Gospels, Acts, Epistles, and Apocalypses (Oxford: The Clarendon Press, c1924, 1963), 49-82.
Luk 4:16-21 Jesus Expounds an Old Testament Passage In Luk 4:16-21 Jesus Christ expounds an Old Testament passage of Scripture from Isa 60:1-2 in His home town of Nazareth.
Luk 4:16 And 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 for to read.
Luk 4:16
Jesus’ public ministry will go through several phrases so that His message will progress through the phases of God’s plan of redemption for mankind. He begins here in Nazareth by asking the Jews to accept His divine calling as the Messiah. He will later shift His emphasis of the Gospel to justification, indoctrination, divine service, perseverance, and finally the glorification of the Church, after which He will enter into His Passion.
Luk 4:17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
Luk 4:17
Early Church tradition held that it was Ezra the scribe who finally compiled the books of the Old Testament Scriptures as we know them today. Eusebius (A.D. 260 to 340) says Ezra was inspired to restore the Sacred Scriptures after his return from Exile. Note:
“And this was nothing wonderful for God to do, who, in the captivity of the people trader Nebuchadnezzar, when the Scriptures had been destroyed, and the Jews had returned to their own country after seventy years, afterwards, in the time of Artaxerxes, king of the Persians, inspired Ezra the priest, of the tribe of Levi, to relate all the words of the former prophets, and to restore to the people the legislation of Moses .” Such are the words of Irenaeus.” (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 5.8.15) [177]
[177] Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, trans. Arthur C. McGiffert under the title The Church History of Eusebius, in A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, A New Series, vol. 1, eds. Henry Wace and Philip Schaff (Oxford: Parker and Company, c1890, 1905), 224.
The purpose of compiling or editing Sacred Writings would be for the purpose of teaching the people of a later era than which a book was written. This is exactly what happened during the time of Ezra the scribe. E. W. Bullinger tells us the Jewish tradition how that after the Babylonian captivity, Ezra and Nehemiah began the task of setting the Old Testament Scriptures in order. We see this in Ezr 7:6; Ezr 7:11 and Neh 8:8. They created an order of scribes called the Sopherim (from the Hebrew word “saphar,” which means, “to count or number”). Their task was to set the original text in order. This means, that they counted each line, each word and each letter of the books of the Old Testament. They devised the way each page of Scripture was to have a certain column of text with the known amount of words and letters on each particular page. These pages could then be copied without error using this counting system because each page would always look the same. This meant that each letter was locked into same place on its designated page in the Scriptures and could never be moved. Only the order of the Sopherim had the authority to revise the original text or to move text to a new place. Jewish tradition tells us that the men of “the Great Synagogue” as they were known, took about 100 years to complete this work, from the time of Nehemiah to Simon the first, 410-300 B.C.
After the text was set, the order of the Massorites was established. This title comes from the Hebrew word “maser,” which means, “to deliver something into the hand of another, so as to commit it to his trust.” This order of Jewish scribes became the custodians of the Sacred Scriptures. Their job was to preserve the Scriptures so that no changes took place. A look at an ancient Hebrew manuscript reveals how this was done. In the upper and lower margins of these ancient manuscripts and between and along the outside of the columns of Sacred Text, you can see small writings by these Massorites which contain a counting system for the text. These side notes are not commentaries, but rather information about the text on that particular page, such as the number of times the several letters occur in the various books of the Bible; the number of words, and the middle word; the number of verses, and the middle verse; the number of expressions and combinations of words, etc. It even listed the one hundred thirty four (134) passages in which the Hebrew word “Adonai” was substituted for the original “YHWH.” When the Hebrew Bible came into print in the fifteenth century, only the Sacred Text was printed and all of the marginal notes were disregarded. This is why we are not familiar with this ancient Hebrew tradition today. [178]
[178] E. W. Bullinger, Appendix 30: Massrah, in The Companion Bible Being The Authorized Version of 1611 With The Structures And Notes, Critical, Explanatory and Suggestive And With 198 Appendixes (London: Oxford University Press, c1909-22), 31.
Regarding the number of Old Testament books originally canonized by the Jews, Josephus (A.D. 37 to 100) tells us that the ancient Jews counted twenty-two books as the canon of the Old Testament. They did this by combining together some of the books that are separated in the English Bible ( Against Apion 1.8). [179] Thus, the synagogues which Jesus visited in Galilee may have had twenty-two scrolls stored in a room of the synagogue. The attendant would have gone to these shelves and pulled out the scroll of Isaiah to read.
[179] Flavius Josephus, Flavius Josephus Against Apion, in The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged, trans. William Whiston (Peabody, Mass: Hendrickson, c1987, 1996), in Libronix Digital Library System, v. 2.1c [CD-ROM] (Bellingham, WA: Libronix Corp., 2000-2004).
Luk 4:17 “And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written” – Comments – Luk 4:17 does not say that Jesus began to read from the text, but simply that he turned to Isa 61:1-2 in the synagogue scroll. However, the context of this passage shows that Jesus did in fact read from it by saying, “And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down.” (Luk 4:20)
There were no chapter and verse divisions in the ancient Hebrew scrolls. However, Jesus was able to find the passage He read in the scroll of Isaiah by column number and by row since the Hebrew text of the entire Hebrew Scriptures was set in the same place in every copy of the scrolls. This took place shortly after the Babylonian Captivity.
Luk 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
Luk 4:18
Luk 4:18 “to preach the gospel to the poor” Word Study on “poor” Gesenius says the Hebrew word (H6035) means, “meek, gentle.” The TDOT says it means, “humble.” Strong says the Greek word (G4434) literally means, “a beggar, a pauper,” and figuratively, “distressed.” BDAG says it means, “dependent upon others for support, poor.”
Comments The Hebrew text of Isa 61:1 reads, “to preach good tidings unto the meek .” Thus, Jesus is referring to those who are humble in hearts. Jesus taught and preached before He healed, whether in the Temple, in a synagogue, in a boat, or on a mountainside to those who would humble themselves and listen. However, I believe the Greek word “poor” can also refer more broadly to those who are poor spiritually, emotionally, physically and financially. In other words, it may refer to anyone who lacks wholeness. The remedy for poverty in any area of our lives begins with the preaching of God’s Word. However, the cure does not come until the person receives this message in meekness of heart. Preaching without hearing produces hardness of heart, while the preaching of the Gospel mixed with hearing produces abundance.
According to the Parable of the Sower, Jesus is planting seed into the hearts of men in this sermon at Nazareth; but it is the condition of the soil, or the heart, that will determine the harvest. The poor in general are more receptive to the Gospel of Jesus Christ because they are most aware of their need for a saviour from their distress. God chose the poor of this world to be rich in faith in hearing the Gospel (Jas 2:5).
Jas 2:5, “Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?”
Why does Jesus’ message of the Gospel of the kingdom of God begin with preaching to the poor? The reason is that poverty is the outward manifestation of the curse imposed upon mankind at the time of the Fall. In the curse upon man, the indicator of God’s curse was thorns and thistles (Gen 3:18). Thus, when Jesus wore a crown of thorns, it represented the fact that He bore the curse of mankind upon the Cross of Calvary. Thorns produce poverty. Thus, systemic poverty in a nation is the outward indication of the curse. This is why Jesus also came redeem mankind from poverty, because it was a result of and manifestation of the curse.
This is why there was no poverty in the early Church. Act 4:34 says, “Neither was there any among them that lacked.” The early Church leaders asked Paul to remember the poor (Gal 2:10), so that it would not be in any of the churches. Paul ministered to his needs and those around him to eliminate lack (Act 20:34). He spent much time taking up a collection for the poor saints in Jerusalem so that they would no lack.
Gen 3:18, “Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;”
Act 4:34, “Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold,”
Gal 2:10, “Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do.”
Act 20:34, “Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me.”
Luk 4:18 “to heal the broken-hearted” Word Study on “heal” – The Greek verb (G2390) refers to the healing of an illness ( BDAG). In Isa 61:1 the Hebrew equivalent is ( ) (H2280), which literally means, “to wrap firmly,” and figuratively, “to stop, to rule.” ( Strong). Gesenius says ( ) means in the Piel, “to bind up (wounds).”
Word Study on “broken-hearted” – The Greek word for “broken-hearted” is taken from the Greek verb . This word describes those whose hearts were shattered, mistreated, crushed, or broken inside. It can also refer to mental or emotional pain. This same Greek word is used in Luk 9:39 to refer to physical harm, “And, lo, a spirit taketh him, and he suddenly crieth out; and it teareth him that he foameth again, and bruising him hardly departeth from him.”
Luk 4:18 “to preach deliverance to the captives” Word Study on “captives” – The Greek word translated “oppressed” is (G2616). This verb is used in the passive voice in Luk 4:18. means, “to exercise harsh control over, to used one’s power against one” ( Thayer), or “to dominate, exploit, oppress” ( BDAG). It comes from two words:
1. (G2596) “against, etc” ( Strong says it can denote opposition .)
2. “To hold power or lordship, be powerful or influential.” ( Liddel-Scott)
Literally, it refers to those under the domination or lordship of Satan.
Comments – Captives are those who are taken as prisoners in war. They are those overcome by someone who is stronger than they. They are captives to what? There are many different types of prisons that are not made of steel and wood. There are prisons that men create for themselves and that Satan creates over men. Paul refers to this imprisonment in his epistles.
Rom 7:23, “But I see another law in my members , warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.”
2Ti 2:26, “And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil , who are taken captive by him at his will.”
Act 10:38, “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil ; for God was with him.”
Illustration (1) – The Emancipation Proclamation, issued by President Abraham Lincoln on 1 January 1663, freed all Americans from slavery. [180]
[180] James M. McPherson, “Emancipation Proclamation,” in The World Book Encyclopedia, vol. 6 (Chicago: World Book, Inc., 1994), 253-54.
Illustration (2) – R. W. Shambach was saved on the street when a preacher shouted, “You don’t have to sin anymore.”
Luk 4:18 “recovering of sight to the blind” – Comments – People are blind both mentally and physically.
1. Mentally:
2Co 4:4, “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”
2. Physically – Jesus healed the blind physically.
Luk 4:18 “to set at liberty them that are bruised” – Comments – The word “bruised” here refers to those who are down trodden, broken, weakened, or oppressed.
Luk 4:19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
Luk 4:19
This year of Jubilee is referred to in 2Co 6:2, “(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time ; behold, now is the day of salvation.)”
Luk 4:18-19 Comments – Jesus Reads from the Book of Isaiah – T. J. McCrossan says that Jesus did not continue to quote the rest of the second verse of Isaiah 61, which finishes by saying, “and the day of vengeance of our God,” for the reason that Jesus Himself had not yet “come in vengeance, and would not do so until after the Great Tribulation.” [181] Thus, Jesus says He has fulfilled the first part of this prophecy. [182] However, Jesus did teach eschatology during the latter part of His earthly ministry, which meant that He taught on the Second Coming and the Day of Judgment that will come upon all mankind.
[181] T. J. McCrossan, Bodily Healing and the Atonement, re-edited by Roy H. Hicks and Kenneth E. Hagin, second edition (Tulsa, OK: Faith Library Publications, c1982, 1992), 17.
[182] Jerry Vines and Jim Shaddix, Power in the Pulpit (Chicago, Illinois: Moody Press, 1999), 117.
The Quotation from Isa 61:1-2 is an Emancipation Proclamation to the Children of Israel Luk 4:18-19 contains a quote from Isa 61:1-2. Why would Jesus choose this passage of Scripture in Isa 61:1-2 to read to the Jews above other passages? The nation of Israel was under the oppressive Roman rule in Jesus’ day, and the Jews were looking for someone to liberate them from this strong hand. The Jews longed for a Jewish king, their Messiah to set them free. However, Jesus, the Messiah, had a different anointing, a different calling. After returning from His 40-day temptation in the wilderness, He returned in the power of the Spirit, stood in the synagogue at Nazareth and read out of Isaiah 61, a passage on deliverance. Jesus’ anointing was not to liberate the Israelites from Roman rule, but to set people free from the bondages of Satan. The Jews wanted to be set free politically, but Jesus came to set them free spiritually. Their spiritual deliverance took precedence over their political bondages. Thus, Jesus chose a passage of Scripture that the Jews would be somewhat familiar with and would be able to relate to in their search for a deliverer. In addition, the passage in Isa 61:1-2 reveals that the Messiah would minister in the office of a prophet, which office is emphasized in the Gospel of Luke.
The book of Isaiah was a popular book for the first century Jews, being quoted many times in the New Testament, and it has a pronounced presence in the Dead Sea Scrolls. [183] The emphasis in the book of Isaiah on the coming of the Messiah may be a major reason for its popularity among first-century Jews.
[183] Harold Scanlin, The Dead Sea Scrolls and Modern Translations of the Old Testament (Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndall House Publishers, 1993), in Libronix Digital Library System, v. 2.1c [CD-ROM] (Bellingham, WA: Libronix Corp., 2000-2004).
The Gospel that Jesus preaches to the Jews in the synagogue at Nazareth is probably the same message that Jesus declared in each synagogue that He had the opportunity to preach. Note that this Gospel is initially directed towards the people’s poverty, “he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. ” This is because poverty is directly linked to the Adamic fall in the Garden of Eden. Satan spoke a lie, which Adam and Eve believed. This lie blinded their sight and brought them into captivity to sin, which results in a life of poverty and death.
Luk 4:18-19 follows a progression of events. Sin brings one into poverty. Poverty breaks a man’s spirit. This weakened person is then easily taken into captivity. This captivity keeps a person blinded to the truth so that they live a life of oppression. Thus, oppression keeps one weak, bound, fearful and blinded to the truth.
We see this pattern when a country is taken over by a dictator. The people are first brought under control by fear through a lie of Satan. This is because fear causes blindness and stops a person from pursuing freedom. This fear brings one into bondage to an oppressor. Bondage breaks one’s spirit and robs him until there is nothing left but poverty. In such oppressed countries, the oppressor and his army generals gain the nation’s wealth, while the people sit in darkness and death. This is the condition that Jesus found the children of Israel.
Slavery was accepted in the United States for many years. When the people began to see slavery as a sin, that all people have the right to be free, then slavery was abolished. This freedom to the slaves did not come easily. On 1 January 1863, in the midst of the civil war, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared all slaves free in the South. [184] This declaration came with the backing of the U.S. military. However, it took the victory of Civil War to enforce this proclamation before the slaves were truly free. The Lord favored the righteous who were fighting for liberty and gave them the victory.
[184] Abraham Lincoln, Letters and Proclamations of the President (n.p., 1864).
In the same way, Jesus Christ reads Isa 61:1-2 to the Jews as an Emancipation Proclamation to God’s people. Jesus came to set us free. Note:
Joh 8:31, “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
Joh 8:36, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”
Some of the Jewish synagogues received Jesus’ message, and others rejected Him, as we see here at Nazareth. Jesus fought the battle all the way to the Cross and rose up victorious, giving liberty to all who will receive His forgiveness.
Although this freedom is now available to all, a battle must be fought to receive it. This is part of the process of sanctification that will bring us to eternal glory with the Father.
Note how the Sermon on the Mount also begins with a reference to the poor (Mat 5:3)
Mat 5:3, “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Jesus taught the Sermon on the Mount to all who had heard His Emancipation Proclamation declared in Isa 61:1-2. He taught it to His disciples, those who wanted to know how to be set free from the sins and bondages of this world. In a similar way that Moses separated the children of Israel from Egypt through the Exodus, delivered to them the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai, and led them to the Promised Land, so does Jesus Christ call out the true children of God from the world in the Beatitudes (Mat 5:1-16). He explains the true meaning of the Ten Commandments in Mat 5:17-48. He tells them how to get to the Promised Land (Mat 6:1 to Mat 7:29).
Thus, we see how Jesus declared freedom to the children of Israel in Luk 4:18-19, and for those who received His message, He taught them how to walk in that freedom with the Sermon on the Mount.
Luk 4:20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
Luk 4:20
Luk 4:20 Comments Jesus did not speak again until the audience looked upon Him in expectation. Any preacher understands how an expectant and receptive audience draws the anointing to preach out of him. So, Jesus opened His mouth to speak by inspiration and spoke.
Luk 4:21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
Luk 4:22-27
Luk 4:22 And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph’s son?
Luk 4:22
Luk 4:22 “And they said, Is not this Joseph’s son” – Comments – They were not accepting Jesus as being sent from God because they could only see Jesus with carnal eyes and not with the eyes of their heart. Because the people of Nazareth knew Jesus from a child in the natural realm, they were unable to recognize His divine nature, even though their hearts bore witness to the anointing of His words. In a similar way, the apostles of the Lamb became so familiar with Jesus during His earthly ministry that they had difficulty understanding His heavenly ministry. Paul, however, only knew Jesus as the resurrected Lord and Saviour, from a heavenly perspective, so that he was able to better perceive and understand Christ Jesus’ work of redemption as we read in the Pauline epistles. Perhaps for this reason it was necessary for God to raise up Paul the apostle in due season, after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, to whom He would impart the understanding of the doctrines of the New Testament Church.
Luk 4:22 Comments – The people were touched by His anointing when He spoke, as this verse describes, “they wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth.” The word “gracious” here refers to the anointing. Thus, we see how the people were touched in their hearts by the anointing in Jesus’ ministry, but their minds reasoned against Him because they perceived him in the natural, as the son of Joseph, and not as the Son of God. Thus, we see that their reasoning dominated over their inner convictions and they chose to reject Jesus’ message. This type of reasoning is played out regularly in the carnal minds of those who hear men of God and reject them because of the outward appearance.
Luk 4:23 And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country.
Luk 4:23
Why does Jesus use this particular city as an example? Because in Luk 4:31-44, Luke records the warm acceptance of Jesus in Capernaum as a comparison to the violent rejection that He experienced in Nazareth as recorded in Luk 4:14-30.
Luk 4:23 Comments – The people of Nazareth were basically telling Jesus to prove that He was sent from God. They were saying that if He were of God, then He should perform a miracle for them just as they had heard Him perform in Capernaum. Why does the Lord not respond to such challenges? Remember what Abraham told the rich man in the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luk 16:19-31). When the rich man begged Abraham to send Lazarus back from the dead to testify to his brothers, Abraham responded that if they would not believe God’s Word then they would not believe if they saw a miracle. Jesus also said that an evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign (Mat 12:39). To a hardened heart a miracle will not soften.
Luk 4:24 And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.
Luk 4:24
Mat 13:57, “And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house.”
Mar 6:4, “But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.”
Luk 4:24, “And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.”
Those family and friends who had grown up with Jesus and lived with Him had a difficult time accepting Him as the Messiah, while the rest of Galilee received Him gladly. Andrew Wommack quotes this proverb, “Familiarity breeds contempt.” [185] In other words, when we become too familiar with someone, we generally are less likely to praise his gifts, and more likely to condemn his weaknesses. Although Jesus Christ had not faults, no sin, He was fully human. Those who became familiar with His humanity had a difficult time embracing His deity. The writings of the New Testament reveal that Paul the apostle had a greater revelation of who Jesus Christ was than did the Twelve who walked with Him for three and a half years. This is because Paul only knew Jesus as the Resurrected Christ. He did not have to lay aside his experience of walking with Jesus as flesh and blood. It is easier for us to understand the revelation of the deity of Jesus Christ than it was for those who walked with Him on earth because we can only view Him by the Word of God through the revelation of the Holy Spirit. Thus, Jesus said, “Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.” (Joh 20:29) There is a greater blessing in believing for those who have not seen Him because it is easier to take hold of the Word of God through the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit.
[185] Andrew Wommack, “Familiarity Breeds Contempt,” in One Year With Jesus: February 16 th , [on-line]; accessed 17 February 2012; available from http://www.awmi.net/devotion/jesus/feb_16; Internet.
Luk 4:25 But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land;
Luk 4:26 Luk 4:27 Luk 4:28-30
Luk 4:28 And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath,
Luk 4:28
Luk 4:29 And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.
Luk 4:29
Luk 4:30 But he passing through the midst of them went his way,
Luk 4:30
Had Jesus allowed Himself to be pushed over the cliff and stoned to death, it would not have served as an atoning death for mankind. Jesus must offer Himself as the sacrificial Passover Lamb in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy in order for His blood to atone for the sins of mankind. For example, a devout Jew had to bring his lamb offering to the Temple and offer it to the priest so that it serves as a sin offering under the Law. Had this devout Jew slain his lamb along his journey to the Temple, it would have lost its value as an acceptable offering unto the Lord. In a similar way, Jesus had to fulfill His death on Calvary as an acceptable offering unto God.
Jesus withdrew from a hostile, negative environment on numerous occasions. He first withdrew from Judea into Galilee when John the Baptist was cast into prison (Mat 4:12). The people in His hometown of Nazareth tried to kill Him, and He supernaturally passed through the crowd, and moved His residence to Capernaum (Luk 4:30-31). He passed through hostile crowds miraculously on a number of other occasions (Joh 8:59; Joh 10:39). The people of the country of the Gergesenes asked Him to depart, and He did so (Mat 8:34 to Mat 9:1). He was persecuted while in Galilee and withdrew Himself (Mat 12:14-15). He hid himself several times from those who were hostile (Joh 5:13; Joh 12:36). He stopped His public ministry in Judea because the Jewish leaders sought to kill Him (Joh 7:1). Jesus once escaped across the Jordan River because of persecution (Joh 10:39-40). At one point Jesus stopped His public ministry and withdrew Himself into the wilderness (Joh 11:53-54). Jesus taught His disciples to do the same (Mat 10:23).
Mat 4:12, “Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee;”
Luk 4:30-31, “But he passing through the midst of them went his way, And came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days.”
Joh 8:59, “Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.”
Joh 10:39, “Therefore they sought again to take him: but he escaped out of their hand,”
Mat 8:34 to Mat 9:1, “And, behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus: and when they saw him, they besought him that he would depart out of their coasts. And he entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into his own city.”
Mat 12:14-15, “Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him. But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all;”
Joh 5:13, “And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place.”
Joh 12:36, “While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them.”
Joh 7:1, “After these things Jesus walked in Galilee: for he would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill him.”
Joh 10:39-40, “Therefore they sought again to take him: but he escaped out of their hand, And went away again beyond Jordan into the place where John at first baptized; and there he abode.”
Joh 11:53-54, “Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death. Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews; but went thence unto a country near to the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim, and there continued with his disciples.”
Mat 10:23, “But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.”
Each time Jesus saved His own life, He knew that His time was not yet, and so He deliberately avoided being killed (Joh 7:30; Joh 8:20); for this power was in His hand and no man could take His life. However, when His time had come, He willingly gave Himself over into the hands of man (Joh 10:17-18).
Joh 7:30, “Then they sought to take him: but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come.”
Joh 8:20, “These words spake Jesus in the treasury, as he taught in the temple: and no man laid hands on him; for his hour was not yet come.”
Joh 10:17-18, “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.”
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The visit to Nazareth:
v. 16. And 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 for to read.
v. 17. And there was delivered unto Him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written,
v. 18. The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me because He hath anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
v. 19. to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. In the course of the Galilean travels Jesus came to Nazareth. This little town in the hills of Galilee, situated on the brow of a hill, had been His home for almost thirty years. There He had been brought up; there He had received His education, at least in large part; there He had worked at His trade of carpenter, together with His foster-father Joseph. Now He came in a new capacity, as a teacher or rabbi. When the Sabbath came, He followed His usual custom of going to the synagogue. Note: If Jesus felt the need of regular attendance at church services, it is much more necessary for us to make it a habit to be at church every Sunday and whenever His Word is taught. On the Sabbath of which our text speaks the Lord was present as usual. According to the order of services, the reading of the Law had been done. Next in order came the reading from the prophets. Now the Lord arose to read. It was a courtesy which was willingly granted any visiting rabbis that they could read one of the lessons and append to that reading a few remarks in explanation. This was the meamar, or talk, which served instead of the sermon. When Jesus arose, the servant of the synagogue took out of the ark, or case, in which the sacred writings were kept the roll of parchment on which the prophecies of Isaiah were written. It was a long, narrow strip, fastened at either end to an ornamental rod. As the reading was continued, the parchment was rolled up at the one end and unrolled at the other, only a small space of the written text being visible between the two end rolls, from which space the reader slowly read the Hebrew, which was at once translated into the Aramaic. As Jesus now rolled the parchment apart after the manner just described, He came, either by deliberate choice, or according to the due course of the reading of the lesson of the day, to the text Isa 61:1-2. It was a text which was eminently fitting for an introductory sermon, for it described so exactly the work of the Messiah. The Spirit of the Lord rests upon Jesus, because He has been anointed with the Holy Ghost without measure. He is Jesus the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One, Act 10:38. The preaching of the Gospel is His characteristic work, Isa 48:16. To the poor He preaches the Gospel, to those that feel the depth and hopelessness of their spiritual poverty; with Christ they will find the true riches that last throughout eternity. Jesus has been sent to heal those whose hearts were broken, that felt the wounds of sin with painful vividness, with the balm of Gilead, the Gospel of healing. To preach to the captives deliverance, to those that were held bound by the power of sin and the fear of the devil; He cuts the cords and breaks the fetters with which the enemies have held the souls in their power. He gives sight to the blind, that their eyes may no longer beheld in the darkness of unbelief; He grants the liberty of the children of God to those that were violently abused, that were slaves of their own lusts as they were led. And all of this together meant for all men the acceptable year of the Lord. As when the harvesters rejoice when the last sheaves are safely stored away, so the Lord of mercy is delighted when His harvest is bountiful. It is a year of rejoicing for His Church, Lev 25:10, the year in which all debts of sins and trespasses are remitted, in which all the goods of God’s heritage, which were lost through sin, are recovered, Isa 49:8. “That is His kingdom, that is His office, that we might not be conquered by death, by sin, by the Law, but that He helps us against them that they may also be overcome in us, not by our strength, but through the power of Christ, who triumphs in us through His Word.”
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Luk 4:16. He went into the synagogue on the sabbath-day, &c. They who are acquainted with Jewish literature know, that the five books of Moses have long ago been divided in such a manner, that by reading a section of them every sabbath, the whole is gone through in the space of a year. For though the sections or parashoth be fifty-four in number, by joining two short ones together, and byreading the last and the first in one day, they reduce the whole within the compass of the year. It is generallythought that Ezra was the author of these divisions; and that the Jews from his time read Moses publicly on the sabbaths, till Antiochus Epiphanes prohibited that part of their service on pain of death. Awed by the terror of so severe a punishment, the Jews forbore reading their law for a time, and substituted in its place certain sections of the prophets, which they thought had some affinity with the subjects handled by Moses; and though more peaceable times came, in which they again brought the law into their worship, they continued to read the prophets, joining the two together, as is evident from St. Luke’s account of the synagogue service, Act 13:15. By the rules of the synagogue, any person whom the directors called up, might read the portion of scripture allotted for the service of the day. Our Lord therefore read, by the appointment of those who presided in the service. Vitringa, indeed, and Surenhusius imagine, that he did not officiate on this occasion in the low capacity of a reader, but as a teacher; alleging, that none of the circumstances which usually attended the reading of the law are to be found here; particularly, it is not said that Jesus was called to read; nothing is spoken of the benedictions with which this part of the service was accompanied; and only one verse, with part of another, was read. Vitringa also affirms, that, as far as he knows, the passage which he mentioned makes no part of any section of the prophets now read in the synagogue. De Vet. Synag. p. l000.But the first objection proves too much; for the fore-cited passage, Act 13:15 shews that a call from the rulers was necessary to a person’s preaching in the place of public worship. It is therefore strange that Vitringa should have insisted on the omission of this circumstance, to prove that Jesus now performed the office, not only of a reader, but a teacher: the truth is, an omission of this kind can prove nothing at all, as it is well known that the evangelists, in their narrations, have omitted many circumstances which really existed. But to pass this, the historian himself appears to have determined the matter in dispute; for he says expressly, that Jesus went into the synagogue on the sabbath-day, and stood up for to read; which seems to imply, that he did read the section for the day, and that he was authorized to do so. The reason is, it does not appear that any portion of scripture was used in the synagogue-service besides the appointed sections, the shemas excepted, which were three passages in the books of Moses, beginning with the word shema, whose signification is Hear thou, and which were written on the phylacteries. See on Mat 23:5. As for the benedictions, it was quite foreign to the evangelist’s purpose to take notice of them at all; and that there was only one verse read, with a part of another, if I mistake not, Vitringa will find it hard to prove from any thing that St. Luke has said. He tells us, that Jesus stood up for to read, Luk 4:17 and there was delivered to him the book of the prophet Isaias; and when he had opened the book, he found the place.No sooner had he separated the two rolls of the volume, ( ) than that lesson of the prophet presented itselfwhere it is written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. Therefore, since the evangelist says expressly that Jesus stood up for to read, those who understand the customs of the synagogues, and the manner in which the books of the ancients were written and rolled up, must acknowledge that what he read was in all probability the section for the day, which presented itself of course, and that he did not deliver the book to the minister till he had finished it. For, consistently enough with these suppositions, St. Luke might characterize the lesson read, by that particular passage of it which Jesus chose to make the subject of his sermon to the congregation, especially as that sermon occasioned his removal to Capernaum, which was the principal point that the historian had in view.To Vitringa’s last argument it may be replied, that though the passage read should not be found in any section of the prophets read at present in the synagogue, it will byno means follow, that it was not used in the synagogue anciently; especially as it is well known that all the Jews do not now observe one rule in this matter: nor, though they were perfectly agreed about the lessons, should the practice of men, who in many instances have deviated from the institutions of their fathers, outweigh, in a matter of antiquity, the testimony of anauthor who lived in the age that he wrote of, and who could not but know the form of worship then practised. Nevertheless, if the reader be pleased to consult the table printed at the end of Vender Hooght’s edition of the Hebrew Bible, he will find that Isa 61:1 according to the custom of all the synagogues, fallsto be read with the fiftieth section of the law. For the section of the prophets corresponding with the fiftieth section of the law, begins at Isa 60:1 and ends where the next section begins, viz. at Isa 61:11. It was therefore the section for the day which Jesus read in the synagogue of Nazareth:If so, the chronology of this part of the history is determined; for the first section of the law being anciently read on the fifth sabbath of Tisri, the seventh month, according to our September, because Ezra, the father of the synagogue, began the public reading on the first day of that month, (Neh 8:2.) thefiftieth section, with its corresponding passage in the prophets, fell to be read on the last sabbath of August, or the first of September. The Jews at present begin the law, answering to the primitive institution of Moses, Deu 31:10-11 on the last day of the feast of tabernacles, that is, the twenty-second day of Tisri. By this commencement it was a week or two later in the year when our Lord read the scriptures publicly in the synagogue of Nazareth, was expelled the town, and fixed his residence at Capernaum. We may just remark further, that the attitude observed in reading the Scripture was standing; but when they commented upon or explained what had been read, they sat down. There was a settled reader in every synagogue, but it was likewise customary to compliment any person with this honour, though a stranger, provided he was any way famous for his mental abilities or gravity; therefore, though Jesus was not one of the stated ministers of religion in the town of Nazareth, the office now assigned him was agreeable to the regulations of the synagogue. Perhaps the rulers, having heard the report of his miracles, (see Luk 4:14.) and of the Baptist’s testimony concerning him, were curious to hear him read and expound the scriptures, and the rather, because it was well known in Nazareth that he had not had the advantage of a learned education. Some would point the latter part of this verse thus: He went into the synagogue, as he was wont to do, on the sabbath-day, and stood up to read.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Luk 4:16 . As to the relation of the following incident to the similar one in Mat 13:53 ff., Mar 6:1 ff., see on Matthew. No argument can be drawn from Luk 4:23 against the view that the incidents are different, for therein a ministry at Capernaum would already be presupposed (Schleiermacher, Kern, de Wette, Weiss, Bleek, Holtzmann, and others), as a previous ministry in that same place in the course of a journey (not while residing there) is fully established by Luk 4:14-15 . According to Ewald (comp. also his Gesch. Chr . p. 345), who, moreover, rightly distinguishes the present from the subsequent appearance at Nazareth, there are incorporated together in Luke two distinct narratives about the discourses of Jesus in Nazareth. But with reference to the mention of Capernaum at Luk 4:23 , see above; the connection, however, between Luk 4:22-23 is sufficiently effected by . In Luk 4:31 ff. it is not the first appearance of Jesus at Capernaum in general that is related, but the first portion of His ministry after taking up His residence there (Luk 4:31 ), and a special fact which occurred during that ministry is brought into prominence (Luk 4:33 ff.). According to Kstlin, p. 205, Luke met with the narrative at a later place in the Gospel history, but placed it here earlier, and allowed the . . inappropriately to remain because it might at a pinch be referred to Luk 4:15 . Assuredly he did not proceed so frivolously and awkwardly, although Holtzmann also (comp. Weizscker, p. 398), following Schleiermacher, etc., accuses him of such an anticipation and self-contradiction, and, moreover, following Baur and Hilgenfeld, makes this anticipation find its motive withal in the supposed typical tendency of Luk 4:24 .
.] an observation inserted to account for the circumstances mentioned in Luk 4:22-23 .
. ] refers to His visiting the synagogue on the Sabbath, not also to the . The Sabbath visit to the synagogue was certainly His custom from His youth up. Comp. Bengel and Lange, L. J . II. 2, p. 545.
] for the Scripture was read standing (Vitringa, Synag . p. 135 f.; Lightfoot, p. 760 f.; Wetstein in loc .); so when Jesus stood up it was a sign that He wished to read. It is true, a superintendent of the synagogue was accustomed to summon to the reading the person whom he regarded as being fitted for it; but in the case of Jesus, His offering Himself is as much in keeping with His peculiar pre-eminence, as is the immediate acquiescence in His application.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
16 And 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 for to read.
Ver. 16. Where he had been brought up ] The Jews were to be kind to the Egyptians, and to pray for the prosperity of Babylon, where they had been bred and fed. “Be ye thankful,” Col 3:15 , viz. to your friends and benefactors.
And stood up for to read ] In honour of the word that he read. So Neh 8:5 , a commendable custom.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
16. ] = , Luk 4:23 : see Joh 4:44 and note.
refers to the whole of what He did it is not merely that He had been in the habit of attending the synagogues, but of teaching in them: see Luk 4:15 . It was apparently the first time He had ever so taught in the synagogue at Nazareth.
. ] The rising up was probably to shew His wish to explain the Scripture; for so . imports. Ezra is called an , Jos. Antt. xi. 5. 1. The ordinary way was, for the ruler of the synagogue to call upon persons of any learning or note to read and explain. That the demand of the Lord was so readily complied with, is sufficiently accounted for by Luk 4:14-15 . See reff.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Luk 4:16-30 . Jesus in Nazareth (Mat 13:53-58 , Mar 6:1-6 a). Though Lk. uses an editorial discretion in the placing of this beautiful story, there need be no suspicion as to the historicity of its main features. The visit of Jesus to His native town, which had a secure place in the common tradition, would be sure to interest Lk. and create desire for further information, which might readily be obtainable from surviving Nazareans, who had been present, even from the brethren of Jesus. We may therefore seek in this frontispiece ( Programm-stck , J. Weiss) authentic reminiscences of a synagogue address of Jesus.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Luk 4:16-21 . : the reference most probably is, not to the custom of Jesus as a boy during His private life, but to what He had been doing since He began His ministry. He used the synagogue as one of His chief opportunities. (So J. Weiss and Hahn against Bengel, Meyer, Godet, etc.) That Jesus attended the synagogue as a boy and youth goes without saying. , stood up, the usual attitude in reading (“both sitting and standing were allowed at the reading of the Book of Esther,” Schrer, Div. II., vol. ii., p. 79); either as requested by the president or of His own accord, as a now well-known teacher.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Luk 4:16-30
16And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. 17And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written, 18″The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed, 19To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.” 20And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22And all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips; and they were saying, “Is this not Joseph’s son?” 23And He said to them, “No doubt you will quote this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we heard was done at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.'” 24And He said, “Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown. 25But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land; 26and yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” 28And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things; 29and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff. 30But passing through their midst, He went His way.
Luk 4:16-30 The footnote in the New Jerusalem Bible translation (1966) on p. 99 #g makes the interesting assertion that Luke combines three separate visits to Nazareth.
1. Luk 4:16-22, where Jesus is honored (cf. Mat 4:13)
2. Luk 4:23-24, where Jesus amazes the townspeople (cf Mat 13:54-58)
3. Luk 4:25-30, where Jesus is attacked, which is not mentioned by Matthew or Mark
The NJB (Jerome Biblical Commentary, pp. 131-132) says this account functions as a theological summary of how Jesus will be initially received and then rejected by Palestinian Jews.
Luk 4:16 “Nazareth” The spelling of “Nazareth” (Nazara) is unusual and is found only here and Mat 4:13, which is also the temptation of Jesus. This seems to give evidence that both Matthew and Luke used a common source for their Gospel accounts.
This was Jesus’ hometown (cf. Luk 2:39; Luk 2:51, see Special Topic at Luk 4:34). There is some question as to whether Mar 6:1-6 and Mat 13:53-58 are parallel or this is a second trip to Nazareth. For me, the similarities are too overwhelming to be a second visit. Luke purposefully places this event first as a summary of Jesus’ whole life-ministry.
It must be remembered that the Bible is not a western history. Near Eastern history is selective, but not inaccurate. The Gospels are not biographies, but gospel tracts written to different groups of people for the purpose of evangelism and discipleship, not just history. Often Gospel writers selected, adapted, and arranged the material for their own theological and literary purposes (cf. Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart’s How To Read the Bible For All Its Worth, pp. 94-112, 113-134). This does not mean to imply they falsify or make up events or words. The differences in the Gospels do not deny inspiration. They affirm eyewitness accounts and the unique evangelistic purpose of each author.
“as was His custom, He entered the synagogue” Jesus grew up participating in public worship. Im sure he learned the OT in synagogue school (starting at age 5). Habits are a vital, healthy part of our religious life.
“Sabbath” This is from the Hebrew word meaning “rest” or “cessation” (BDB 992). It is connected to the seventh day of creation where God ceased His labor after finishing initial creation (cf. Gen 2:1-3). God did not rest because He was tired, but because
1. creation was complete and good (cf. Gen 1:31)
2. to give mankind a regular pattern for worship and rest
The Sabbath begins like all the days of Genesis 1, at twilight, therefore, twilight on Friday to twilight on Saturday was the official time period. All the details of its observance are given in Exodus (especially chapters 16, 20, 31, and 35) and Leviticus (especially chapters 23-26). The Pharisees had taken these regulations and, by means of their oral discussions, interpreted them to include many rules (the Oral Traditions, later the written Talmud). Jesus often performed miracles, knowingly violating their picky rules so as to enter into a dialogue with them. It was not Sabbath that Jesus rejected or belittled, but the self-righteous legalism and lack of love exhibited by the religious elite.
SPECIAL TOPIC: SYNAGOGUE SERVICE
“stood up to read” The general order of worship in the synagogue service is as follows:
1. prayer
2. a reading from the Pentateuch
3. a reading from the Prophets
4. exposition of the texts (this order was followed by the early church, but they added the reading of the NT)
As was the custom of the Jews, Jesus stood up to read the Scripture, but sat down to teach (cf. Luk 4:20). See Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, chapter 10, pp. 430-450.
Jesus quoted Deuteronomy several times during His temptation experience. All were quotes from the Greek translation of the OT, called the Septuagint. Here in the synagogue of Nazareth His reading seems to also come from the Septuagint. Most Jews of Jesus’ day had lost the ability to read Hebrew. They spoke Aramaic, but most could also use Koine Greek as a second language.
I would assume, along with F. F. Bruce, Answers to Questions, p. 175, that Jesus could read and speak (everyone read aloud) Hebrew. If so, Jesus was trilingual. The real question is what text of the Scriptures was used in the synagogues of Galilee? Most Jewish sources would assert that the reading of the Scriptures would have been in Hebrew, then an Aramaic translation would be provided.
Luk 4:17 “the book of the prophet Isaiah” The Hebrew Scriptures are written on long parchment scrolls that had to be turned to find the right place. A good resource book on this type of background information is F. F. Bruce’s The Books and the Parchments.
Luk 4:18 “This is a partial quote of Isa 61:1-2 from the Septuagint with the omission of 4:61c and 4:62b, but with an insertion of a verse from Isa 58:6 d. The combining and editing of OT texts was common in rabbinical Judaism.
There is a variant in the Greek MSS concerning the quote of Isa 61:1-2.
1. some MSS stop at “He has sent me” , B, D, L, W
2. others add the full sentence from Isa 61:1 A, Delta, Epsilon
The UBS4 gives option #1, the short text, and A rating (certain).
One wonders if Jesus intentionally omitted the line from Isaiah 61 because He chose not to do any miracles in Nazareth. This may explain why He added another line from Isa 58:6.
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me” Notice the different divine Persons. See SPECIAL TOPIC: THE TRINITY at Luk 3:22. The new age of righteousness is the Age of the Spirit.
“He anointed Me” This Hebrew word is the same root as “Messiah” (see Special Topic at Luk 2:11). In Greek the term “Messiah” is translated “Christ.” This was a way of denoting God’s calling and equipping of leaders. In the OT prophets, priests, and kings were anointed. See SPECIAL TOPIC: ANOINTING IN THE BIBLE (BDB 603) in the Bible also at Luk 2:11.
“preach the gospel” At this point the full gospel (lit. “good news”) is not yet available. Only after Jesus’ death and resurrection did His actions and teachings come into perfect focus.
“poor. . .captives. . .blind. . .downtrodden” Notice the types of people that Jesus came to help. His care for these fulfilled many prophetic texts.
Luk 4:19 “To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord” This originally referred to the year of Jubilee (cf. Lev 25:8-17), but in this context (Isa 61:2), it applies to the eschatological fulfillment of Jesus’ ministry. Clement and Origen of Alexandria said that this means that Jesus ministered only one year, but this is far too literal in understanding how this OT passage is fulfilled in Christ.
Luk 4:20 Joseph A. Fitzmyer, in his commentary on Luke 1-9 in the Anchor Bible, has an interesting comment on the VERB ateniz (fixed intently). He notes that it is a term used often by Luke, especially in Acts.
“In most instances it expresses a steadfast gaze of esteem and trustthe nuance intended here. It is part of the assembly’s initial reaction of admiration or pleasant surprise” (p. 533).
Luk 4:21 “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” This is a perfect passive indicative. It speaks of the eschatological fulfillment of the promise of the coming of the Kingdom of God, which was now present in Jesus. What a shocking statement!
The Kingdom of God is the focus of Jesus’ preaching. It is the reign of God in human hearts now that will one day be consummated over all the earth as it is in heaven (cf. Mat 6:10). It is both here and now and yet future!
SPECIAL TOPIC: THE KINGDOM OF GOD
Luk 4:22 “all were speaking well of Him” Jesus’ initial popularity continued (cf. Luk 4:15), but it will be short-lived at Nazareth!
“Is this not Joseph’s son” This question in Greek expects a “yes” answer. This shows the normalcy of Jesus’ childhood in Nazareth (i.e., Luk 2:40; Luk 2:52). It was a statement of pride in a hometown boy.
Luk 4:23 “proverb” This is literally “parable,” which means “to throw alongside of.” It was a method of teaching which used a common occurrence of life to illustrate or highlight a spiritual truth.
“‘Physician, heal yourself” The point Jesus is making is obvious: to these townspeople of Nazareth, Jesus held no special place in their minds. They wanted Jesus to do the miracles that He had done in Capernaum in His hometown also. We learn from Mar 6:1-6 that because of their unbelief, He did not do many mighty miracles here (cf. Luk 4:24).
“we heard what was done at Capernaum” This is a good place to see how Luke uses Mark’s Gospel. Mar 1:21 ff records Jesus’ ministry in Capernaum. In Mark, the healing at Capernaum found in Luk 4:31-37 is placed in chapter 1.
The difficulty modern western readers and commentators face in trying to understand the Gospels is that we assume they are chronological, detailed, sequential, cause-and-effect, modern histories, which they are not. For a good discussion on interpreting the Gospels, see Fee and Stuart, How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth, pp. 113-134.
Luk 4:24 “‘Truly I say to you” This is literally “amen.” Only Jesus uses this as a literary technique to introduce a significant statement.
SPECIAL TOPIC: AMEN
“no prophet is welcome in his hometown” This statement is similar to our English statement “familiarity breeds contempt.” It must have been so hard for Jesus’ family and neighbors to accept His Messiahship (cf. Mar 6:4; Mat 13:57).
Luk 4:25-27 Jesus mentions two OT examples where God acted in miraculous ways for non-Jews and no miracles for covenant people are recorded (Stephen will pick up on these examples in Acts 7) . This fits Luke’s universal emphasis of the gospel’s availability to all humans who repent and believe. The majority of Jews, however, will not believe, as in the days of Elijah and Elisha.
Notice that the two prophets mentioned were northern prophets from the area Jesus was addressing (i.e., tenth century B.C. Israel).
Luk 4:25 “when the sky was shut for three years and six months” This same time element is mentioned in Jas 5:17, however, 1Ki 18:1 mentions only three years. Apparently, this was a rabbinical tradition. It was also an apocalyptic idiom for “a set time of persecution” (cf. Dan 7:25; Dan 12:7; Rev 11:2; Rev 12:6; Rev 12:14).
Luk 4:26 “Elijah. . .sent to Zarephath. . .to a woman who was a widow” God sent His prophet to minister to a needy Phoenician foreigner (and a woman at that), instead of the contemporary Israelis, who were also in need. Luke records Jesus’ sayings and teachings which emphasize His love and care for outcasts!
Luk 4:27 “Elisha. . .Naaman the Syrian” God sent His prophet (Elisha) to heal a foreign military leader (an enemy at that) instead of the many sick among God’s Covenant people, Israel (cf. 2 Kings 5).
Luk 4:28 “And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things” God’s universal love toward the Gentiles was the source of these nationalistic Jews’ rage (the same is true of Stephen’s sermon in Acts 7). They did not think well of Him now (cf. Luk 4:22 a and 29). They did not want to hear God’s truth, but only wanted affirmation of their own biases and nationalistic traditions (not much has changed with humans of every age). These religious worshipers are “filled with rage” against Him who is full of the Spirit. What irony!
Luk 4:29 “they got up and drove Him out of the city. . .to throw Him down the cliff” It is amazing how quickly the attitude of this crowd moved from wonder and awe to rage and murder.
Luk 4:30 “But passing through their midst, He went His way” This is a remarkable miracle, the exact nature of which is not explained (cf. Joh 8:59; Joh 10:39). It was simply not His hour (cf. Joh 7:30). It, at least, shows us that Jesus was an ordinary-looking man of His day.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Nazareth = the (or, that) Nazareth thus defined. Aramaean. See App-94.:36. See App-169.
as His custom was = according to (Greek. kata. App-104.) custom.
on. Greek. en. App-104.
stood up. Being summoned by the superintendent (Luk 4:17). This incident (Luk 4:16-31) is peculiar to Luke.
to read. Greek anaginosko. Later usage = to read aloud (as here, 2Co 3:15. Col 4:16. 1Th 5:27). But in the Papyri generally = to read. (See Milligan, Selections, pp 39, 112.) The Lord preached in other synagogues, but read only here in Nazareth, which shows that He owned, and was owned, to be a member of this.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
16.] = , Luk 4:23 : see Joh 4:44 and note.
refers to the whole of what He did-it is not merely that He had been in the habit of attending the synagogues, but of teaching in them: see Luk 4:15. It was apparently the first time He had ever so taught in the synagogue at Nazareth.
.] The rising up was probably to shew His wish to explain the Scripture; for so . imports. Ezra is called an , Jos. Antt. xi. 5. 1. The ordinary way was, for the ruler of the synagogue to call upon persons of any learning or note to read and explain. That the demand of the Lord was so readily complied with, is sufficiently accounted for by Luk 4:14-15. See reff.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
We will read three short passages of Scripture, all relating to Christs service. The first concerns the ministry of the Lord Jesus himself.
Luk 4:16-19. And he came to Nazareth, where lie had been, brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered? into him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when, he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord, is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
What a glorious passage! This was the text of Christs whole ministry not only of that day at Nazareth, but of all his life ever after.
Luk 4:20. And he closed the book,
Rolled up the sacred writing,
Luk 4:20. And he gave it again, to the minister, and sat down.
Their practice was to sit down to speak, while the people usually stood to hear; a very good custom, indeed. If we did the same, perhaps we. should have fewer of our hearers going to sleep.
Luk 4:20-21. And the eyes of all them that were in, the synagogue were fastened on, him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
That is the way to preach; bring home the Scripture to the present time, show its application to every-day life, especially point out its connection with Christ, and prove how it is fulfilled and verified in his sacred person. Doubtless, Jesus said a great deal besides what is here recorded; but there were no shorthand writers there to take down every word he uttered.
Luk 4:22. And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his month. And they said, Is not this Josephs son?
There! Did it matter whose son Jesus was? Yet, in order to abate the force and even the blessedness of divine truth, men turn their thoughts to the Speaker rather than to what he says. How foolish!
Luk 4:23. And he said? into them, Ye quill surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country.
Begin at home, work miracles here. You are the Son of the carpenter who lives here; now, do some wonderful work among us.
Luk 4:24-26. And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country. But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; but unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow.
Elias did not feel bound to labour always among the Jews, but he went right to Sidon, to a heathen woman, and he sojourned with the widow in the far-away country. God is a Sovereign; he can save whom he wills; and he will exercise that sovereignty, and bless some of those who appear to be most hopeless, and to have the least signs of good about them, and to be the farthest removed from the means of grace.
Luk 4:27. And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian.
Only the stranger and foreigner was cured of the disease of leprosy; another instance of divine sovereignty. Men do not like this doctrine of sovereignty; they are willing to have a god if he is not God; they do not mind believing in a god who is not King, and who does not do as he wills with his own. They believe in free will, they say. Yes, yes, free will for everybody but God! Man is to be the god of man and of God, too, according to the talk of some. But this is the thunder from the divine throne: I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. Blessed is he who humbly boweth his bead, and saith, Be it so, my Lord! Absolute power cannot be in better hands than in those of the God of love.
Luk 4:28. And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath,
They were at first very pleased to have a promising young Preacher out of their own town, and they said one to another, Did not he speak well? Now they have changed their note; be has been too faithful for them. He has exalted God instead of man; and now they are filled with wrath.
Luk 4:29-30. And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down, headlong. But he passing through the midst of them went his way.
With that holy calm in which he always dwelt, with wondrous self-possession, he passed through the midst of them, and escaped their malice. Now let us read what Christ says to those who would be his followers. Turn to Luk 9:57 –
This exposition consisted of readings from Luk 4:16-30; Luk 9:57-62; and Mat 28:16-20.
Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible
Luk 4:16. , He came) for the purpose of repaying the debt of gratitude to the city where He had been reared to maturity.- ) The same phrase occurs Num 24:1. We see hereby what was the practice of Jesus whilst still a youth at Nazareth before His baptism.- , the Sabbath) It was also the day of expiation: but the mention of the Sabbath corresponds to the expression, as His custom was.-, He stood up) By this attitude He showed that it was His wish to read in public: and when He had done so, a book was given to Him. We read of His having once read (although it seems to have been His custom to act the part of the anagnostes or reader: for, on the Sabbath, all (Luk 4:20) were accustomed to come into the synagogue); we read also of His having once written, Joh 8:6. It is especially consonant with that earliest period of His ministry, that Jesus proved the Divine authority of His preaching from the Old Testament, even in condescension to the Nazarenes, who were more likely to despise Him in His own country.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
came to Nazareth
Our Lord visited Nazareth twice after beginning His public ministry. See Mat 13:54-58; Mar 6:1-6.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
to: Luk 1:26, Luk 1:27, Luk 2:39, Luk 2:51, Mat 2:23, Mat 13:54, Mar 6:1
as: Luk 4:15, Luk 2:42, Joh 18:20, Act 17:2
and stood: Act 13:14-16
Reciprocal: Lev 25:10 – proclaim Deu 31:11 – shalt read Neh 8:3 – he read Neh 8:5 – opened Neh 13:1 – they read Psa 40:9 – preached Jer 36:8 – in the Mat 4:23 – teaching Mar 1:21 – he entered Mar 10:47 – Jesus Luk 6:6 – he Luk 13:10 – General Act 13:15 – the reading Act 15:21 – sabbath Act 18:4 – he
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
6
Nazareth was the “home town” of Jesus to which he was paying a visit. When he stood up in the synagogue it was a signal to the one in charge that he was ready to do some reading, that being the main purpose of the synagogues.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
And 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 for to read.
[He stood up to read.] That we may frame the better judgment of this action of our Saviour’s, let us a little look into the customs of the synagogue: —
I. They read standing up. Piske; and Rabbenu Asher; “They do not read in the law otherwise than standing up. Nay, it is unlawful for him that readeth to lean upon any thing. Whence comes it that he that readeth in the law is bound to stand up? Rabh Abhu saith, Because the Scripture saith, Do thou stand by me. Nor ought any one to lean any way, as it is in the Jerusalem. R. Samuel Bar Isaac going into a synagogue found one expounding and leaning against a pillar. He saith to him, This is not lawful: for as the law was given with reverence, so are we to handle it with reverence too.”
They preferred the Law before the Prophets; and the Law and the Prophets above the Hagiographa; or holy writings; and yet they yielded that honour to the Prophets, that even they should not be read but standing up. Whence that is particular which they say concerning the Book of Esther, “A man may read out of the Book of Esther, either standing or sitting. But not so out of the law.” Christ in this followed the custom of the synagogue, in that while he read the Law he stood up, while he taught it he sat down.
II. He that read in the Prophets was called Maphtir; and was appointed to that office by the ruler of the synagogue.
“Rabh Bibai was a great man in taking care of the things of God. And Mar was a great man in taking care of the things of the town.” The Gloss is: “Of the things of God, that is, about the collectors of the alms, and the distribution of it, and the ordering those that were to expound and read the Prophets.”
It is probable that Christ did at this time offer himself as a Maphtir; or as one that would read in the Prophets, and preach upon what he read; not before hand appointed to it by the ruler of the synagogue, but rather approved of when he had offered himself. For those of Nazareth had heard of some miracles which he had wrought at Capernaum, Luk 4:23; and therefore no wonder if they were very desirous to hear something from him answerable to those great things he had done.
III. Piske; “He that reads in the Prophets ought not to read less than one-and-twenty verses.” Here our Saviour doth not seem to have observed the custom of the synagogue, for he read but two verses: and yet he did nothing but what was both allowable and usual. And that is worth our taking notice of which we meet with, “If there be an interpreter or preaching on the sabbath day; they read out of the prophets, three, or five, or seven verses, and are not so careful to read just one-and-twenty.”
“If there be an interpreter [or interpretation] on the sabbath day”: was there not always one on every sabbath day? So that neither Moses nor the Prophets might be read unless one stood by that could expound: as seems abundantly evident both from the traditions and the rules that concerned such a one.
These words, therefore I would understand in such a sense; ‘If either the interpreter should in his exposition enlarge himself into a sermon, or any other should preach,’ etc. For the interpreter did sometimes comment and preach upon what they read. And probably Christ did at this time both read and properly interpreted.
“Jose the Maonite expounded in the synagogue of Maon. ‘Hear, O ye priests; hearken, O house of Israel; and give y ear, O house of the king,’ Hosea_5. He said, The holy blessed God is about to snatch away the priests and set them in judgment, saying unto them, ‘Why have ye not laboured in the law? Have you not had the use and enjoyment of four-and-twenty portions belonging to the priests?’ They say unto him, ‘They have not given us any thing.’ ‘Hearken, O ye house of Israel, why have you not given those four-and-twenty portions to the priests which I have commanded you in the law?’ They answer him, ‘Because of those who are of the house of the prince, who devour all themselves.’ ‘Give ear, O house of the king, for judgment is towards you; for to you I have said that this should be the rule concerning the priests: to you, therefore, and over you, is it turned a rule of judgment.’ Rabbi [the prince] heard this, and was displeased with it.”
“After these things did king Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of Hammedatha.”
“Rabh Joseph expounded it, After these things the king promoted Haman of Hammedatha the Agagite, the son of Cuza, the son of Aphlet, the son of Dio, the son of Diusot, the son of Paros, the son of Nidan, the son of Baalkan,” etc. See the place, and compare it with the Targumist upon Esther, Est 3:1.
“A reader in the Prophet enlargeth upon ‘Shemaa'” [the manner and form of the thing we have in Massech. Soph. cap. 14]; “he passeth before the ark, and lifteth up his hands” (that is, in order to give him blessing); “but if he be a child, his father or his master doth these things in his stead,” etc. But the Gloss tells us that these things are to be understood of an ordinary reader of the prophets. Now Christ was an extraordinary reader. However, he read here, which he did not do in any other synagogue; for this was the synagogue to which he belonged, and he read as a member of that synagogue.
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Luk 4:16. Nazareth, where he had been brought up. Comp. chap. Luk 2:40; Luk 2:51-52.
As his custom was. This refers only to His going into the synagogue; probably in this case the place of worship He had attended as a youth. Even though it were His custom to stand up and read, Lukes words do not necessarily imply this, and hence do not prove that the visit occurred later in His ministry. He had never before taught in that synagogue, and hence the allusion to His early habits of piety is more suggestive.
And stood up to read. The ruler of the synagogue usually called upon persons of learning or note to read and explain, and respectable strangers were sometimes invited to give a word of exhortation (Act 13:15). The exercises were under proper control. Our Lord thus asked the privilege, which was the more readily granted, as those present evidently knew of His previous activity elsewhere. This first appearance of Jesus, as a public instructor, in the synagogue He had attended in youth, before those among whom He had been brought up, assures His sympathy to those placed in similar circumstances.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
THE MINISTRY BEGUN
AT NAZARETH (Luk 4:16-30)
It was the custom for visitors to be granted the privilege of reading the Scriptures on such occasions (Luk 4:16-17), and Jesus read from Isaiah 61. Perhaps it was not the appointed portion for that day, which may explain the last sentence of Luk 4:20. However, when He began to apply the prophecy to Himself (Luk 4:21), there was astonishment indeed, for nothing like that had ever been heard. Luk 4:23 indicates the state of mind and heart of His hearers. He knew the rejection before Him was such as had been meted out to Elijah and Elisha, and as God had worked by them among the Gentiles so would He do again. This aroused enmity, with the result of Luk 4:29-30. A comparison of Isa 61:2, affords an instance of the exquisite accuracy of Scripture, since Jesus stopped midway in the verse. The first half is connected with His first Advent and the present dispensation of grace, and the second, with His second Advent and the judgments to follow.
AT CAPERNAUM (Luk 4:31-44)
The leading events here are the casting out of the demon (Luk 4:33-35), and the healing of Peters wifes mother (Luk 4:38-39), both of which are referred to in Mark 1, the second also in Matthew 8. Matthew 4 tells us that Christ made His home at this time at Capernaum, while Luke (Luk 4:23) tells us why. Note in the case of the demon: (1) that demons know their ultimate fate; (2) that Jesus will not receive their testimony to Himself though it be true; and (3) that there is a distinction between them and the persons they inhabit and control. But why were the people amazed (Luk 4:36)? To cast out demons was not new (Mat 12:27), but the way and the power by which Jesus cast them out was altogether new. Compare the testimony of Nicodemus (Joh 3:2). Notice Luk 4:40, He laid His hands on every one of them, and healed them, and also Luk 4:43. What labor it represents!
AT GENNESARET (Luk 5:1-11)
The great draught of fishes is original with Luke, but calls for little comment. But note Peters confession of sin in Luk 5:8. Sin, not sins. It is his state of which he speaks, and not particular transgressions. What he is, not what he has done, utterly unfits him for the divine presence, and he can find no comfort in that presence until his old nature has been taken away and a new put in its place. Nor is Luk 5:11 less remarkable. They forsook all and followed Him because one who could do what they had just seen done, was able to meet all their needs hence forth including those of their families.
IN A CERTAIN CITY (Luk 5:12-13)
With the exception of Miriam (Numbers 12), this is the first illustration of the healing of leprosy in Israel, where the law of Leviticus 14 could have been acted upon. No wonder the fame of Jesus spread abroad (Luk 5:15)! Who could work this miracle by his own power save the God of Israel?
QUESTIONS
1. Name the geographical divisions of this lesson.
2. Have you examined a map in its study?
3. Can you quote Isa 61:1-3?
4. Give in your own words the Old Testament incidents referred to in Luk 4:26-27.
5. What is noticeable about Jesus quotation of Isa 61:2?
6. Why did Jesus change His residence from Nazareth to Capernaum?
7. What three things do we learn about demons?
8. Quote Joh 3:2.
9. What is most noticeable in the story of the great draught of fishes?
10. How does the cleansing of the leper prove the deity of Christ?
Fuente: James Gray’s Concise Bible Commentary
2 d. Luk 4:16-30.
Jesus did not begin by preaching at Nazareth. In His view, no doubt, the inhabitants of this city stood in much the same relation to the people of the rest of Galilee as the inhabitants of Galilee to the rest of the Jewish people; He knew that in a certain sense His greatest difficulties would be encountered there, and that it would be prudent to defer His visit until the time when His reputation, being already established in the rest of the country, would help to counteract the prejudice resulting from His former lengthened connection with the people of the place.
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
LX.
JESUS VISITS NAZARETH AND IS REJECTED.
aMATT. XIII. 54-58; bMARK VI. 1-6; cLUKE IV. 16-31.
b1 And he went out from thence [from Capernaum]; and he cometh {aAnd coming} binto his own country; and his disciples follow him. c16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up [As to this city, see Mar 1:39, Mar 3:1, Mar 3:2). For comment on this usage of the synagogue see Isa 61:1, Isa 61:2; but the quotation embraces other lines from Isaiah.] where it was written, 18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, Because he anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor [Anointing was the method by which prophets, priests, and kings were consecrated or set apart to their several offices. This prophecy says that the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus because he was appointed to do [358] a work of divine helpfulness]: He hath sent me to preach release to the captives, And recovering of sight to the blind, To set at liberty them that are bruised, 19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. [The prophecy set forth in physical terms what Jesus should perform in both the physical and spiritual realms. The prophecy closes with a reference to the jubilee year, which, being a time of liberation, forgiveness, and fresh starts, was a type of Christ’s ministry and kingdom.] 20 And he closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant [This officer corresponded to our sexton. Part of this duty was to take charge of the synagogue rolls], and sat down [Reader and congregation both stood during the reading; then, usually, both sat down to hear the passage explained. They stood out of reverence for God’s word]: and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fastened on him. [They had heard of his miracles, and were curious to see what he would say and do.] 21 And he began to say unto them, To-day hath this scripture been fulfilled in your ears. 22 And all bare him witness, and wondered at the words of grace which proceeded out of his mouth [The word grace refers rather to the manner than to the matter. The speech of Jesus flowed easily, and gracefully]: a54 And he taught {bbegan to teach} athem in their {bthe synagogue}: ainsomuch that bmany hearing him were astonished, aand said, {bsaying,} Whence hath this man these things? athis wisdom, and these might works? band, What is the wisdom that is given unto this man, and what mean such mighty works wrought by his hands? [They admitted his marvelous teaching and miraculous works, but were at a loss to account for them because their extreme familiarity with his humanity made it hard for them to believe in his divinity, by which alone his actions would be rightly explained. Twice in the early part of his ministry Jesus had been at Cana, within a few miles of Nazareth, and turning away from it had gone down to Capernaum. He did not call upon his townsmen to believe in him or his divine mission until [359] the evidences were so full that they could not deny them.] 3 Is not this the carpenter, cJoseph’s son? athe carpenter’s son? bthe son of Mary, and brother of James, and Joses, and Judas, and Simon? ais not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joseph, and Simon, and Judas? 56 And his sisters, are they not all bhere with us? [They brought forth every item of trade and relationship by which they could confirm themselves in their conviction that he was simply a human being like themselves. The question as to his identity, however, suggests that he may have been absent from Nazareth some little time. As to Jesus’ kindred, see 1Ki 17:8-16, and the second at 2Ki 5:1-14. Palestine was filled with poor people even in times of plenty, so there must have been large numbers of hungry people during the long-continued period of famine. There has always been a large number of lepers in the land, and surely if any disease ought to prompt a man to lay aside his prejudices that he might obtain healing it was leprosy; but as Nazareth was now rejecting Jesus, so their ancestors had despised the two mighty prophets. Not one of all the hungry would have received bread from Elijah by an act of faith, nor did one of all the lepers ask healing from Elisha.] 28 And they were all filled with wrath in the synagogue, as they heard these things [The Nazarenes were jealous enough of the claims of Jesus when put in their most modest dress; but when Jesus placed himself alongside Elijah and Elisha, and likened his hearers to widows for want, and lepers for uncleanness, they were ready to dash him to pieces]; 29 and they rose up, and cast him forth out of the city, and led him [they evidently had hold of him] unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might throw him down headlong. [Near the eastern end of Nazareth there is a cavern in the rock which forms a precipice down which, if a man were hurled, he would be killed. At the western end there is a perpendicular cliff about forty feet high, with a naked floor of rock at the bottom. To which place they led Jesus we can not decide.] 30 But he passing through the midst of them [361] went his way. [A simple statement of a marvelous fact. Miracles are not explained in the Bible.] b5 And he could there do no mighty work, a58 And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief. bsave that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. 6 And he marvelled because of their unbelief. [As to this statement that Jesus felt surprised, see page 273. “It should also be borne in mind,” says Canon Cook, “that surprise at the obtuseness and unreasonableness of sin is constantly attributed to God by the prophets.” The statement, therefore, is perfectly consonant with the divinity of Jesus.] c31 And he came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. [We have followed the chronology of Mark, according to which Jesus had already been living in Capernaum for some time. Luke tells of the rejection early in his narrative, and adds this line to show that from the earlier days of his ministry Jesus made Capernaum his headquarters.]
[FFG 358-362]
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
JESUS REJECTED AT NAZARETH, MIGRATES TO CAPERNAUM
Luk 4:16-31; Mat 4:13-16. He came into Nazareth, where he was brought up, and according to the custom to Him on the Sabbath-day, He came into the synagogue, and stood up to read. And the Book of Isaiah the prophet was given unto Him, and opening the book, He found the place where it was written [Isa 61:1], The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel unto the poor; sent Me to heal the broken-hearted; to preach deliverance to the captives, and sight to the blind; to send away with liberty those who are bruised; to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And closing the book, giving it to the officer, He sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were concentrated on Him. And He began to speak to them, This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears. Isaiah has been denominated the Messianic prophet, because his writings so copiously, brilliantly, and triumphantly set forth the Christ, the Shiloh of prophecy, the Redeemer of Israel, and the Savior of the world. Jesus now preaches to them these Scriptures, assuring them that they are fulfilled. This is to them, not only astounding, but paradoxical. He had spent His life there. They looked upon Him as one of them, and the idea that these grand prophecies are fulfilled in Him is more than they can receive.
And all continued to witness to Him and to be astonished at the words of grace which proceeded out of His mouth, and said, Is not this the son of Joseph? When I was in Nazareth, I visited Joseph’s workshop, and saw, in beautiful and impressive statuary, Joseph and Jesus working at the carpenter’s trade, and Mary sitting by looking at them. The scene was wonderfully sweet and charming, especially the statue of the loving boy Jesus, working with His hands. They had known Him thirty years as the son of the carpenter Joseph. There were no common schools in that country; no educational opportunities except the rabbinical colleges at Jerusalem, the prophetical schools of Elijah and Elisha being institutions of the past. They knew He had never gone away to college. Hence they are astonished, and all eyes centered on Him, and all minds wrapped in bewilderment. The birth of Jesus in Bethlehem symbolizes the regeneration of the human heart by the Holy Spirit, while His induement with the Holy Ghost, immediately after His consecration to the official Messiahship by the baptism of John, responds to our sanctification; as you must bear in mind that the negative work of sins removal had no place in His experience as in ours. Hence, He only had the positive side born in Bethlehem, and filled with the Holy Ghost at the Jordan. During the thirty years of His minority at Nazareth, His life was perfectly irreproachable, and He was a paragon saint in His disposition, attending the synagogue worship regularly as a faithful Church member. But now they see a wonderful change in Him. Such is His magnetism that all eyes are centered on Him. While they all know Him, having been acquainted with Him all His life, they can scarcely believe their own eyes and ears when they see such a change in the flash of His eye, the tone of His voice, the character and manner of His speech. What is the solution? Why, He has been filled with the Holy Ghost since they saw Him, so that now His words are like flaming fire, burning their way into the deep interior of all hearts, arousing the carnal mind with rattlesnake venom and retaliation.
Doubtless, during the years of His young manhood, He had taken an active part in the synagogue worship; but never before had they realized those fiery thunderbolts, going down into the deep interior of their spirits, producing heart-ache intolerable, and arousing Adam the First to fight for his life.
And He said to them, Truly do you speak to Me this parable, Physician, heal thyself; so many things as we have heard having been done in Capernaum, do even so here in Thy own country. As they had heard of His working mighty miracles in Capernaum (of which we have no record except this terse allusion), now they demand of Him to do the same in Nazareth; and as He is a citizen of Nazareth, the old medical problem, Physician, heal thyself, is here applied. As You are a Nazarene, and in healing the Nazarenes, You would heal Yourself. And He said, Truly, I say unto you, A prophet is not acceptable in his own country. He also said He could not do many mighty works there on account of their unbelief. This illustrates the importance of leaving home, pursuant to the Commission, Go and preach. We must not forget, that Go is a part of the Commission as well as preach. Even our Savior found it necessary to go away from Nazareth to do His mighty works, as their unbelief laid an incorrigible paralysis even on the ministry of Jesus. Multitudes of good preachers blight their own usefulness by staying where they were brought up, and so frequently by remaining too long at any one place.
But in truth I say unto you, There were many widows in the days of Elijah in Israel, when heaven was shut up, as there was a great drought on all the land; and Elijah was sent to no one of them except to a widow woman in Sareptah of Sidon. And there were many lepers in Israel in the days of Elisha the prophet; and no one of them was healed except Naaman the Syrian. Our Lord here sets forth the sovereign, discriminating mercy of God, as illustrated in the case of Elijah and Elisha, the greatest prophets the one only sent to relieve one widow, and she not an Israelite, but a Gentile; and the other only healing one leper, and he was not an Israelite, but a Syrian. So we really deserve none of God’s mercies. Whatever He does is a sheer gratuity; and if He does not relieve us, we have no right to complain if He simply lets us alone in the sin and misery which we have brought on ourselves.
And they were all in the synagogue, hearing these things, filled with rage. They regard His talk as an impudent insinuation against them, as if they were not as good as the people in other cities where He had done these mighty works of philanthropy and benefaction. He had attended service in that synagogue thirty years; they felt that He was one of them; and they had a right to the wonderful benefit of His prophetical services. Now they conclude that He has gotten above them, treated them with contempt, as if they were not as good as other people. Therefore, instead of receiving the truth and getting convicted, they become violently angry.
And rising up, they were preparing to cast Him out of their city, and were leading Him to the brow of the mountain, on which their city was built, in order to precipitate Him down; and He, going through the midst of them, departed. And He came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. When I was in Nazareth, I visited this synagogue, as they claim, yet standing, a venerable stone edifice, where Jesus worshipped during the thirty years of His minority, and where they finally rejected the burning truth which He preached with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, and, rising up, led Him away, to cast Him down from a precipice, and kill Him. The young men went from this synagogue directly to the Mount of Precipitation. They point out two precipices, both claiming to be the height from which they aimed to cast Him. The one more distant from the city is quite a conspicuous mountain, which we had in full view two days in our peregrinations. We see that Jesus changed his residence to Capernaum, where many of the people believed on Him, and He received much appreciation. The people of Nazareth had gotten along with Him, so far as we know, without any trouble all His life till He got sanctified; i.e., filled with the Holy Ghost. Then His words were like forked lightnings, burning them through and through, and utterly intolerable to the carnal mind. Though you have always gotten along pleasantly in your Church till you go away to a holiness camp and get sanctified, but do not be surprised or discouraged, when you go home, if they reject your testimony, and even get so mad at you that they cast you out i.e., turn you out of the Church and feel like killing you. This was precisely the history of Jesus. His example is before you. When they rejected His testimony at Nazareth, He went away from His native home, and never lived there any more. At Capernaum, whither He went and fixed His abode, He received much encouragement. Peter, Andrew, James, John, and Philip, noble apostles, and many disciples, He received at Capernaum.
Matthew: Leaving Nazareth, having come, He dwelt in Capernaum, by the seaside, in the coast of Zebulun and Naphtali; in order that the word spoken by Isaiah the prophet may be fulfilled, Thou land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people sitting in darkness saw a great light; and to those sitting in the valley and shadow of death, light sprang up. Capernaum is on the northern coast of the Sea of Galilee, in the tribe of Zebulun, but near the border of Naphtali, and a short distance west of the Jordan, which was the boundary of the Jews and Gentiles at that place, the country lying east of the Jordan and the Sea of Galilee being occupied by the Gadarenes and the Decapolis. Hence the fulfillment of this prophecy, as our Savior made Capernaum his headquarters. The wonderful influence of His ministry brought a sunburst on all that country, bringing untold blessings to both Jews and Gentiles.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
4:16 {3} And 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 for to read.
(3) Who Christ is and for what reason he came he shows from the prophet Isaiah.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
2. Jesus’ teaching in Nazareth 4:16-30
In contrast to most people, the inhabitants of Jesus’ hometown did not praise Him. When Jesus began to speak of God extending salvation to the Gentiles, a particular interest of Luke’s, the Jews there opposed Him violently. Perhaps Luke meant this incident to represent a classic case of rejection in which Nazareth symbolizes all Israel. [Note: Marshall, The Gospel . . ., p. 178.] If so, this is another instance of metonymy. He may also have intended that it become a paradigm of the church’s ministry as well as Jesus’ ministry. [Note: Bo Reicke, "Jesus in Nazareth – Lk 4, 14-30," in Das Wort und die Wörter, pp. 51-53.]
Many students of the Synoptics take this pericope as parallel to Mat 13:53-58 and Mar 6:1-6. However, the differences between Luke’s account and that of Matthew and Mark seem to indicate two separate incidents. Luke’s incident probably occurred early in Jesus’ Galilean ministry whereas the one that Matthew and Mark recorded happened later.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Luke reminded his readers that Jesus had grown up in Nazareth where this incident took place. He also drew attention to Jesus’ piety by noting His regular habit of attending synagogue services, probably to teach as well as to worship. This was the synagogue that the Roman centurion, whose beloved servant Jesus later healed, had built for the Jews of Capernaum (cf. Luk 7:2-10).
"It was our Lord’s custom to attend public worship, a custom His followers should imitate today (Heb 10:24-25). He might have argued that the ’religious system’ was corrupt, or that He didn’t need the instruction; but instead, He made His way on the Sabbath to the place of prayer." [Note: Wiersbe, 1:184.]
One of the synagogue rulers (Jairus? cf. Mar 5:22; Luk 8:41) may have asked Jesus to read the Scriptures since Jesus was a popular teacher. Customarily Jewish teachers stood to read the Scriptures, out of respect for them, and then sat down to expound them. [Note: Martin, p. 214. See Edersheim, 1:430-50, for explanation of synagogue worship and arrangements.] No one knows for sure if someone asked Him to read this particular passage or if He chose to do so, but the context favors the second alternative by stressing Jesus’ initiative.