Passage Viewer - Bible Claret

Luke 4:16-30

Chapter 4

When Jesus arrived in Nazareth, where he had grown up, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath as he usually did.

He stood up to read, and they handed him the book of the prophet Isaiah.

Jesus then unrolled the scroll and found the place where it is written:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.

He has anointed me

to bring good news to the poor;

to proclaim liberty to captives,

and give sight to the blind;

to free the oppressed;

and to announce

the Lord’s year of mercy.”

Jesus then rolled up the scroll, handed it to the attendant, and sat down; everyone’s eyes in the synagogue were fixed on him.

Then he said to them:

“Today, these prophetic words are coming true right before your eyes.”

Everyone agreed with him and ware amazed as he spoke of God’s grace. Still, they asked, “Who is this but Joseph’s Son?”

So he replied, “Doubtless you will quote me the saying: Doctor, heal yourself! Do here, in your town, what they say you did in Capernaum.”

Jesus added:

“No prophet is honored in his own country.

Truly, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel during the days of Elijah when the sky was shut and there was no rain for three years and six months, and a severe famine spread across the land.

Yet, Elijah was not sent to any of them but to a widow in Zarephath, in the land of Sidon.

There were also many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them were healed except Naaman the Syrian.”

Upon hearing these words, the entire crowd became angry.

They stood up and took him out of the town, heading to the edge of the hill where Nazareth is located, planning to throw him off the cliff.

But he moved through their midst and continued on his way.

Commentaries

4:14 - 4:30

Begins His Proclamation – In the Synagogue of Nazareth.

The Holy Spirit and the Word are the sparks that ignite the fire of Jesus’ mission. However, other aspects will always be present, as Luke reveals in this passage: rejection, which initially begins as sympathy and admiration but later turns into antipathy caused by doubt about his person (22) and his power (23); and subsequent hostility (28ff), which prompts him to declare the universality of his mission: if the people of Israel reject it, others who are not Israelites will be willing to accept it.