“Luke 4:14-30”

Monday, May 18, 2020

“And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through all the surrounding district. And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all. And 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. And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written, ‘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, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.’ And 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. And He began to say to them, ;Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’ And 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?’ And 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.”’ And He said, ‘Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown. But 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; and yet Elijah was sent to none of them, 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.’ And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things; and 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. But passing through their midst, He went His way.”

---End of Scripture Verses---

By the verses…

Verse 16 – It was Jesus’ custom to assemble with God’s people on the Sabbath when they worshiped the Lord. From a child, Jesus’ parents took Him to synagogue with regularity. When He became an adult He willingly continued this practice. When in the assembly He would not just sit by idly but actively participated in worship services. He relished opportunities to read the Holy Scriptures publicly. Where do you think Jesus wants to find His followers come Sunday morning and what do you think He wants them to be engaged in? Do you think He would willingly forsake church services?

Verse 21 – Jesus told His hometown family and friends that the prophecies quoted from Isaiah 61:1-2 were all about Him. It was well accepted among the Jewish rabbis that these words were written about the Messiah who was to come into the world and save God’s people. Jesus was claiming to be the Messiah but that may have escaped their immediate notice.

Verse 22 – Familiarity breeds contempt. Although they were impressed by the power and eloquence with which Jesus spoke, they knew that He was merely the son of a local carpenter and had received no formal education or training. They just knew Jesus too well to believe what they were seeing with their own eyes, and hearing with their own ears. Sometimes our past experiences can prejudice our minds and impede our future progress.

Verses 28-29 – Why were the people from Jesus’ own backyard filled with so much rage that they would try to push Him off a high cliff and kill Him? For one thing, Jesus called himself a prophet (verse 24), while mentioning himself in the same breath with Elijah and Elisha. That certainly didn’t sit well with them. He also reminded them that God favored the Gentiles over His own people by using two of their greatest prophets to bless some foreigners living in heathen lands (verses 25-27). They definitely didn’t like that. In doing so Jesus also implied that they weren’t any better than the Israelites that lived during the reign of the wicked king Ahab and his deplorable wife Jezebel. Sometimes when a preacher tells us the truth about ourselves, we prefer to blame the messenger rather than allow the inspired message to change us into the kind of people that God wants us to be.

Verse 30 – Jesus escaped their grasp and went on His way to preach the truth in other places. The Gospel message marches on (verse 43). God won’t force any of us to embrace His Son or the saving truth that He preaches. If we continually resist God’s will for us, He will let us have our own way and leave us to our own demise. The blessed Gospel is for all…but few there be that truly cherish it (Matthew 7:13-14, 21-23).

Please read Luke 6:12-16 for tomorrow – Jesus calls His Apostles.

Have a blessed day!

-Louie Taylor

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