Get to Know Bible Places: Nazareth
Nazareth was still a small village in the first century. Jesus was raised in this location and was known among the Jews of this area as they would have been a small tight-knit group in a small village. The lack of notoriety of Nazareth as was referenced earlier led to a disdain or discrediting of the location. Perhaps this is one of the reasons that Jesus received the reaction He did in the synagogue at Nazareth.
Luke 4:16-19
And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and he entered, as his custom was, into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And he opened the book, and found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, Because he anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor: He hath sent me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovering of sight to the blind, To set at liberty them that are bruised, To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. (ASV-1901).
Jesus, as was His custom, entered the synagogue. The synagogue means the assembly or the congregation and is applied both to a religious gathering and one having certain judicial powers. (Luke 8:41; 12:11; 21:12; Acts 9:2). This was the place where Jews met for their public worship. The Jews met on the Sabbath, on feast days, and afterward on the second and fifth days of the week. So Jesus, a good Jew stood up to read.
In the synagogue, the Law and the Prophets were read and expounded upon by the ruler of the synagogue and others. According to the custom of the Jews, seven men could read every Sabbath. 1 priest, 2 Levites, and 4 Israelites. The law was read and then the prophets. The books of the ancients were rolls of parchment, papyrus, linen, or other flexible material with were rolled on a stick and, upon reading, were gradually rolled around another of equal size. As Jesus unrolled the scroll, He found the place of a Messianic prophecy from Isaiah 61:1-2.
The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah is upon me; because Jehovah hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the year of Jehovah's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
The Jews understood this prophecy to be referring to the Messiah. It was appropriate for Jesus to read this at the outset of His teachings in Nazareth. Was Jesus just claiming to be a miracle worker? That is secondary to the fact that He is the Messiah, He is the Christ, He is the Son of the Most High God. The Spirit of the Lord has surely been abiding in Him and that is what He proclaims. The Messiah came to preach the Gospel to the poor, those who were spiritually bankrupt. Lost in the despair of their sin. The Messiah came to release those who were imprisoned in bondage to sin and thus separated from the freedom that is found in a right relationship with God. The Messiah will make the blind to see the truth; He will help those who have been oppressed by the false teachings of the Jewish sects. He will give the people something to cheer, something to look forward to, and something that will save their souls.
Luke 4:20-30
And he closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down: and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, To-day hath this scripture been fulfilled in your ears. And all bare him witness, and wondered at the words of grace which proceeded out of his mouth: and they said, Is not this Joseph's son? And he said unto them, Doubtless ye will say unto me this parable, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done at Capernaum, do also here in thine own country. And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is acceptable in his own country. But of a truth I say unto you, There were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when there came a great famine over all the land; and unto none of them was Elijah sent, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. 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. And they were all filled with wrath in the synagogue, as they heard these things; and they rose up, and cast him forth out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might throw him down headlong. But he passing through the midst of them went his way. After reading, He closed the book, that is he rolled up the scroll and gave it to the attendant who had brought it to Him.
Jesus sat down taking the posture of a teacher. The custom was to stand to read and sit to teach. Jesus was ready to teach and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. There was something about how Jesus just read the words of Isaiah that would not allow the people to take their eyes off of Him. It appears they were hanging on every word, interested to see what He might say about the Scripture. Jesus said to them “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” At this very time with their own ears, they heard the good news that Jesus had announced that He was the Messiah. Since Jews understand the Isaiah passage as Messianic, they would certainly understand what Jesus was saying. They understood Him alright, but did they believe Him? By all accounts, all who listened to His teaching gave favorable testimony of His subject and manner. There was no false reasoning in it, and neither were there any false or unfounded assumptions. All said good things about Him, and wondered at the gracious words that were falling from His lips. Their wonder and admiration soon began to yield to a feeling of contempt for His statements.
They showed this by their next statement: Is this not Joseph’s son? In His hometown, it was harder to be recognized for who He is. All they can see is who they perceived He was. The Jews at Nazareth would only recognize that Jesus is the son of a working class, for lack of a better term, average Joe. He was from a small little village that was not one that would be associated with much good, let alone the Messiah. That is if they forgot the prophecy that the Messiah shall be called a Nazarene (Matt. 2:23; possibly from Isa. 11:1 the Hebrew netzer (נֵצֶר), which means branch, this word may be the origin of the name of Nazareth).
Jesus had not received training from the elite rabbis, so how in the world is He saying these things in that way? Those present simply found it unbelievable. They wanted more evidence to corroborate His claims. The proverb, “Physician heal yourself” was a common adage among the Jews and meant if you make claims, then show us. Perhaps they wanted to see what they heard He did for that boy in Capernaum. The people of Nazareth wanted Jesus to confirm His testimony by the miraculous.
Jesus, however, goes back to the Scripture to point out that their motives were not in line with people who truly were seeking the Messiah. Here Jesus goes to the Word and shows that His conduct was in harmony with that of two of the greatest prophets. First, He gives the instance of Elijah as commanded by God in 1 Kings 17:1-9. There were hundreds of suffering widows in Israel. Yet, God sent him to one in the heathen city of Sidon; you know, the one that along with Tyre is usually a statement of judgment. Secondly, He surmises there were many lepers in Israel when Elisha was a prophet and performing numerous miracles, but not one was healed except for Naaman of Aram, the enemy of Israel.
It is so easy to forget the things that are not convenient for our preconceived notions, right? Many will create and bind things and when confronted with Scriptural evidence of God’s action, they are not too happy. Luke says that all the people were filled with wrath in the synagogue. That Sabbath, Jesus showed the assembly their danger. Instead of graciously accepting the warning, they were enraged. They got up and drove Him out of the city. Much like the many men who charged against Stephen in Acts 7:57-58, they were blinded by their rage. They drove Jesus to the brow, or the projection of the city over a hill, with the intent of casting Him off a cliff. However, it was not the Lord’s time and remarkably He escaped. Jesus simply walked though their midst and He goes on His way. We don’t know how He did this, but He simply did.
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