Nazareth Rejects Jesus

Luke 4:14-30

15 And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all.

16 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.

17 And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written,

18 “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,

19 TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.”

20 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.

21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

22 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?”

23 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.’”

24 And He said, “Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown.

25 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;

26 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.

27 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.”

28 And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things;

29 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.

30 But passing through their midst, He went His way.

Jesus, the "Hometown Boy"

Rejection from Nazareth

In almost all walks of life, save a few, people who come from a small town and make a name for themselves elsewhere are still thought of by their friends, relatives and townspeople as the farmer's son, daughter of a coal miner, etc. so Jesus was not alone in the rejection from the people of Nazareth.

The Carpenter's Son

People knew that Jesus was the son of Joseph - and Jesus was a carpenter himself up until around the age of 30 when he began his ministry. This cast a shadow on who he really was and the people did not even consider him a rabbi.

The Angry Mob

The fact that Jesus was a hometown boy who had come back to preach was not the reason the people became filled with anger. In his statement after the reading of the Scripture, Jesus remarked in verse 27 that God reached out to a non Jew - a gentile implying that the people in the synagogue did not believe his words just as northern Israel in the time of Elijah and Elisha.

There are many lessons we can learn here and certainly it is astonishing that Jesus was rejected in his hometown but greater is the lesson that God decided to freely give his word to all people - not just the Jews. This enabled you and I to receive the life everlasting God promised through Jesus Christ. But, the decision to accept him is still ours.

Love in Christ

- Bob

Luke 3:1-18 - John the Baptist Preaches Repentance - Coming of Christ