Matthew
4:13-16; Luke 4:16-30[1]
So 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 to read. And He
was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. 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 has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the
LORD.”
Then He closed the book, and
gave it back to the attendant
and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him.
And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your
hearing.”
So all bore witness to Him,
and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they
said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”
He said to them, “You will
surely say this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we have
heard done in Capernaum, do also here in Your country.’ ”
Then He said, “Assuredly, I
say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country. But I tell you truly,
many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three
years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land; but
to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath, in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel in the time of
Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”
So all those in the synagogue,
when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, and rose up and thrust
Him out of the city; and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their
city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff. Then passing
through the midst of them, He went His way.
And leaving Nazareth, He came
and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and
Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet,
saying:
“The land of Zebulun
and the land of Naphtali,
By
the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee
of the Gentiles:
The
people who sat in darkness have seen a great light,
And
upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death
Light has
dawned.”
A
Little Background
Elijah
and Elisha were both prophets who ministered in the northern kingdom (Israel)
of a split nation. Israel had no kings who followed God. Because Jereboam had
divided the nation and set up his own worship system, the Israelites were given
over to false worship and idolatry. Their act of leaving the faith is called
apostasy. In each of these situations, the miracle performed by the prophets
was for the benefit of pagans who were not Israelites, God’s chosen people.
The
frenzied anger of the Nazarenes[2]
was extreme. By taking Jesus to the edge of the cliff, they were preparing to
stone Him. The first step was to throw the victim over the cliff. Next they
would have thrown huge rocks at him with the intent to crack his skull until it
split open and the brains gushed out. But it was not yet Jesus’ time to die. He
miraculously slipped through the angry mob.
The
second quote is from Isaiah 9:1, again prophesying about the reach of Messiah’s
ministry. Zebulon and Naphtali were two of Jacob’s sons, and thus the names of
two tribes of Israel. Their lots of land were on the far northern border of
Israel. When the Jews returned from exile in Babylon, the people that settled
in these regions soon mixed with the Gentile nations bordering them. In
contrast to the Samaritans who also mixed with pagans, these mixed-race Jews
adopted Judaism more for political purposes than religious. A people
religiously Jewish would be loyal to Israel.
Jesus would go to these Jews who lived beyond Judea to light their way
to His salvation.
Some
Explanation
When
Jesus was born, an angel told Joseph in a dream to leave Israel and take the
family to Egypt to escape Herod’s murderous reach. Later, an angel again
appeared to Joseph when Herod the Great was dead. But as they traveled back
(apparently to settle near Jerusalem), Joseph heard that Herod’s son (Archelaus) had
taken his place so Joseph took the family to the obscure little town of
Nazareth. This put plenty of distance between the family and Herod. It would
have been to their advantage not to tell the stories of Jesus’
birth. Would Jesus have done miracles as a boy? Not likely; why draw
unnecessary attention? No doubt Jesus grew up like every other boy in Nazareth.
And wasn’t that part of His purpose—to grow up experiencing life just as we all
do without miraculous advantages?
Still,
the shepherds told of their experience seeing and hearing the angels that
wonder-filled night: “Now when they had
seen Him, they made widely
known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all those who
heard it marveled at those
things which were told them by the shepherds. ...Then the shepherds returned,
glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as
it was told them.” (Luke 2:17-20)
Anna had also spread the word about who the baby was. (Luke 2:38) Surely
these rumors were still floating around and would have easily confirmed the
fishermen’s stories from Capernaum who had met the Messiah while following
John.
“‘Physician, heal yourself!
Whatever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in Your country.’” Now the people of Nazareth were hearing that this
same Jesus who had grown up in their village was preaching, healing, and
performing many signs and wonders in Jerusalem and nearby Galilee. Why didn’t He
come to His own people if all the hype were true?
Observations
and Insights
At
first the response of the people at the synagogue was to marvel at Jesus’
gracious words until they realized, “Hey, isn’t this just the carpenter’s son
we’ve always known?” Who did He think He was making the claim that He was the
fulfilment of Messianic prophecies? He wasn’t doing any miracles for them.
He should prove Himself to them.
When
Jesus read their hearts’ motive, His response enraged them even more. He hit a
nerve. How dare He suggest that uncircumcised pagans were more deserving of
miracles than they were! The Nazerenes did not respond to Jesus in faith, but
in doubt. And their pride was wounded. The issue was really about them!
Oh,
how this passage hits home with me, too! I am pained to admit how often I’ve
felt jealousy at another’s testimony. Someone else had a prayer answered when
mine are not. Another person shares some blessing that I have not known.
Regardless of the others’ circumstances, my first heart response often puts me
into a tailspin. Why doesn’t that happen to me? Does God really care? Suddenly
the issue is about me, and my wicked heart is revealed. In some cases, I’ve sat
in that sewage for many years. How ironic that I choose the bondage of self-pity
when my Jubilee has set me free!
Then,
in His sovereign faithfulness, God often brings a trial into my life to show me
the depravity of my heart. I need this favor of His grace. If I
could only learn to see my heavenly Father’s loving discipline to focus my
heart’s attention back to Jesus. Instead, I reject Him, and there’s the rub.
Oh, sure, I’ve put on my Christian happy face and say all the right words. I
even learned how to pray the “right” words, and gin up faith for “my miracle”. It’s
a lovely mask to hide my jealous heart.
He
came to His own and His own did not receive Him, John 1:11 tells us. Jesus put
on human flesh, but mankind rejects Him; the Jews reject Him; the Nazerenes
rejected Him. Sometimes, I still reject Him. It has taken me too long to learn
this lesson, but I am brought to tears when I think of all the “no’s” God has
blessed me with. How thankful I am that God does not always give me the things
I want.
Jesus is my Jubilee. May I trust Him more and love Him more until the day I see
Him face to face.
Next reading: Matthew 4:18-22; Mark 1:16-20; Luke 5:1-11
Next reading: Matthew 4:18-22; Mark 1:16-20; Luke 5:1-11
[1]
Note:
Much of the Harmony readings will be pieced together like a puzzle putting the
four Gospels together into one narrative. I am copying the order or
format from A Simplified Harmony of the Gospels,
George W. Wright, Holman Bible Publishers, 2001. However, I am using the
New King James rather than the HCSB. This order is from the research of
Wright and is open to discussion. Of course, you can also read the
passages side by side separately if you prefer.
[2]
Not
to be confused with “Nazirites”. A “Nazirite” was not associated with any town,
but was a person who took a particular vow as described in Numbers 6. The vow
and the town have nothing to do with one another.
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