Bible Study series: Luke 4:21-30. What changed their minds? He had a miraculous escape.
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In the next link to the original chapter, I comment more and offer the Greek text. At the bottom you will find a “Summary and Conclusion” section geared toward discipleship. Check it out!
In this post, links are provided for further study.
Let’s begin.
Scripture: Luke 4:22-30
22 Everyone spoke favorably of him and marveled at the words of grace that came out of his mouth and were saying, “Isn’t this man Joseph’s son?” 23 And he said to them, “You will probably tell me this proverb, ‘Doctor, heal yourself! Whatever we have heard happened in Capernaum do also here in your hometown!’” 24 But he said, “I tell you the truth: no prophet is welcome in his hometown. 25 Truthfully, I tell you that many widows were in the days of Elijah, when heaven was shut for three years and six months, while a severe famine came on all the earth. 26 And Elijah was sent to no one of them except to a widow woman of Zarephath in Sidon. 27 And many with skin diseases were in Israel at the time of Elisha the prophet, and not one of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian. 28 And everyone in the synagogue was filled with anger when they heard these things. 29 They got up and drove him out of the town and led him up to the edge of the hill on which their town had been built, to throw him off. 30 But he passed through the middle of them and left. (Mark 4:16-30)
Comments:
22:
He is still in Nazareth.
“spoke favorably”: the modifier “favorably” is added because of the context. At first they liked their hometown hero. In just a few verses, however, they are about to change their mind radically, as soon as he pokes at their arrogance of being God’s Chosen People.
“words of grace”: for “words,” I believe the context is charged with the Spirit’s anointing and power, so I like the translation I chose. But you can choose the other translations, if you like.
“The word ‘grace’ is also used in the sense of ‘power’ in Luke-Acts (cf. Ac 6:8), and the reaction of the audience may therefore be caused by the power of Jesus’ message ….” (comment on v. 22).
“Isn’t this man Joseph’s son?”: Are they asking skeptically or wondrously? Skeptically: “What? Really? Isn’t this man merely Joseph’s son? How can the son of a tradesman be so amazing?” Wondrously: “It is marvelous that this man, a son of Joseph, a tradesman, is doing such great things!”
23:
“Doctor, heal yourself”: this means that charity begins at home. Don’t show your charity outside your own household. Do what you did elsewhere right here and now. It looks like he had success in Capernaum, Jesus’s chosen ministry base (Mark 2:1). Green writes of the widespread saying: “In effect, Jesus addresses the parochial vision of his townspeople directly, countering their assumptions that, as Joseph’s son, he will be especially for them a source of God’s favor” (p. 217). That is, do us a favor since you are our hometown boy. Do in Nazareth what you are about to do in Capernaum. Or you can’t benefit others and refuse to benefit us. However, as we see in Matthew 13:53-58 and Mark 6:1-6, the Nazarenes do not have it in them to receive his message.
The Nazarenes asked for a sign, and God is not a performing animal in a circus. Jesus rejects their request and goes further in his mission. Soon enough God will bless the Gentiles, which began in Luke 24:47 and Acts 1:8.
Simeon prophesied that Jesus would reveal thoughts in the hearts of many (2:35; see also 5:21), and here Jesus is doing that. The Nazarenes reacted strongly–badly. Maybe the wonderment in v. 22 was really doubt and low-level hostility that here erupted into violent hostility.
24:
“I tell you the truth”: Jesus’s faith in his own words is remarkable and points to his unique calling. In the OT and later Jewish writings is indicates a solemn pronouncement. It means we must pay attention to it, for it is authoritative. He is about to declare an important and solemn message or statement. The clause appears only on the lips of Jesus.
“welcome” As a prophet he was not acceptable to his hometown. God accepts and welcomes people (on their repentance), but people do not welcome or accept God’s Messiah.
Mark 6:1-6 says that he went into his hometown at another time and did a few miracles, but he marveled at their unbelief.
25-27:
“many with skin diseases” Usually the translation is “lepers”; however, this is a general term for various skin diseases.
“truthfully”: this is slightly different from “truly.” It literally reads, “upon a truth.” It is another way to introduce a serious and solemn statement. “Pay attention to what I (Jesus) am about to say!”
Jesus gives two instances of Gentiles who were not part of the Chosen People, but God sent his prophets to minister to them. (Gentiles are non-Jews.)
Gentile widow of Zarephath of Sidon, north of Israel: 1 Kings 17:7-24
Gentile Naaman the Syrian: 2 Kings 5:1-14
Israelite lepers were not healed.
Jesus was saying that the Nazarenes were worse than these Gentiles. And he said this in their synagogue—Gentiles were better than Jews. Imagine a restrictive Baptist pastor, who denies the spiritual gifts, saying in his restrictive home church, “The Pentecostals are better off and godlier and God-approved than you are! The Pentecostals are right!” It is a sure thing that he would be called before the board of elders and possibly get fired a short time later.
“filled with anger”: Luke likes the “filling” verbs, but here it is the wrong spirit. They were filled with anger or wrath. And this outrage happened in their synagogue, a sacred space. This is a subtle point that soon the synagogue will be left behind, which happened over the decades, and was slightly visible even in the Book of Acts. Slightly? Paul went to the synagogues, but often the people there rejected him as they did to Jesus right here (see Luke 11:20 and Matt. 10:17).
The widow of Zarephath was a Gentile. Naaman was a Gentile enemy commander. Jesus is telling the people of Nazareth that the gospel will reach out to the Gentiles and maybe even bypass the Chosen People, if they are not careful. This enrages the Chosen People, which explains why they suddenly turned on him (Garland, comment on 4:28).
28-29:
“in the synagogue”: it appears at the end of the sentence, so it could be translated: “Everyone was filled with anger when they heard these things in the synagogue.” Once again, they did not like those words in their sacred space. They were not used to hearing about Gentiles being blessed by God. Jesus truly was a revolutionary, counter-cultural. If Mary and her other children were there, I wonder how she would have felt about this?
Bock: “Jesus’ comparison to the ministries of Elijah and Elisha did not bring a positive reaction. The crowd knew their biblical history and got the point. In effect, Jesus was saying that the Nazarenes were worse than the Syrian lepers and Phoenician widows … Like Paul’s message about going to the Gentiles, this warning also left its audience displeased (Acts 13:46, 50; 22:21-22). … Outsiders may end up being blessed, while insiders are left out” (p. 419).
Luke introduces a series of action verbs (in various forms): “got up … drove out … led … throw off.” They must have had physical contact with him, pushing or driving him out of town and leading him up a cliff right up to the edge. (This cliff is real. You can google it.)
Was Mary shouting to her fellow-Nazarenes to stop? Were her other sons intervening to stop them? The text, of course, is silent, but it is hard to imagine that his family would not have done those things. But let’s not make too much of the silence of the text.
30:
Then God said that was enough. Jesus simply walked away right in their midst and went on his way. Clearly the anointing and Spirit surged in him and made them back away and lose their power, so he could move on. This was another miracle.
I agree with Morris: “The identity of the spot is not easy, but the general meaning is plain enough. He simply passed through the midst of them and went away. He spoke no angry word, nor did he work any spectacular miracle. He simply walked through the mob. Some have felt that this was itself a miracle—though not the kind of miracle the Nazarenes wanted! As far as is known, Jesus never returned to Nazareth. Rejection can be final” (comments on vv. 28-30).
Jesus may have gone back at other times, but Morris’ main point is excellent.
GrowApp for Luke 4:22-30
1. While in their synagogue the Nazarenes were filled with anger and almost threw Jesus off a cliff. Have you ever been rejected by religious people, even inside the church?
2. If so, what did you do about it? If not, how would you counsel someone who has?
RELATED
11. Eyewitness Testimony in Luke’s Gospel
3. Church Fathers and Luke’s Gospel
2. Archaeology and the Synoptic Gospels
1. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels: Introduction to Series
SOURCES
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