Last updated on August 3, 2022
16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. 17 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” 23 And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘“Physician, heal yourself.” What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’” 24 And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. 25 But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, 26 and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27 And there were many lepers[a] in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” 28 When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. 29 And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. 30 But passing through their midst, he went away.
I want to begin this week by just observing that this whole blogging thing is hard! Trying to find time to write on anything while fulfilling my academic and other responsibilities is no easy task. And while the other subjects I’ve written on have taken a back seat for now, I really want to continue this commentary on Luke which I always wish I could spend more time on. Indeed, it has been interesting how the simple act of reading the Bible with the intention of writing on it has afforded me newer perspectives I had not previously entertained. In other words, while I have read the Gospel of Luke many times, the exercise of reading it and then sharing it has impacted how I read and how it “speaks,” in a sense.
In this week’s passage, unique to Luke’s Gospel, Jesus goes back to his home, Nazareth and observes the Sabbath Day. Here we have the oldest existing record of a synagogue service, and synagogues themselves arose in response to the destruction of the Temple and the needs of Jewish life during and after the Babylonian Exile (I know it’s more complicated than that…). Reading from Isaiah 61:1-2 – a passage Jesus likely chose Himself – he basically says that this passage was talking about Him. He is the Messiah! Significantly, he doesn’t go further into Isaiah 61 which is more about God’s wrath. But the people, though impressed, reject him. How can this be the Messiah? Isn’t this just the boy of that carpenter, Joseph? Then, Jesus, recognizing their animosity calls them out for it. “You, my own people in my own hometown reject me, but the Gentiles have not. Just like the Jews refused to listen to Elijah and Elisha – and who found more sympathetic ears from the Gentiles – so shall it be in these days.” The mob in the synagogue attempts to kill Jesus but, in what appears to be a miracle, Jesus escapes.
To conclude, I’ll share the following interpretations of the second half of the passage from John Calvin:
[Christ] reproaches them, for it was their fault that he did not reveal his power in miracles to them, as he did in other places: people’s unbelief obstructs God’s appearance, and he does not work as it might be wished for their salvation (as in Matthew 13; Mark 6). Therefore Jesus was not able to perform any signs among them, because they did not believe in him. Not that it is within human power to tie up God’s hands, but that he denies the benefits of his works to those who are found to be unworthy because of their unbelief. Likewise, it is as if Christ answered them, “If you wish to have a share in miracles, why do you not give place to God? Or rather, why do you proudly reject the minister of his power? Therefore you receive a just reward for your contempt, when, passing you by, I show by miracles elsewhere that I am the Messiah of God, to whom is appointed the restoration of the church.” And certainly this ingratitude was hardly to be borne, when God had desired that his Son should be brought up in their city, and then they scorned such a foster son. Justly, therefore, he withdrew his hand, that it might not be the object of derision to such impious despisers. But here we learn how much God values his Word, in that in order to punish those who despise it, he takes from their midst those gifts which are testimonies to its presence.
Commentary on a Harmony of the Gospels. Quoted in Reformation Commentary on Scripture, Vol. III: Luke. Ed. By Beth Kreitzer. IVP Academic, 2015. p. 102-103
Let us pray that we never become animated by the same lack of faith exhibited by Jesus’ hometown, full of people he no doubt loved and wish to heal and deliver.
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