He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.
He came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. He entered, as was his custom, into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.
The book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. He opened the book, and found the place where it was written,
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim release to the captives, recovering of sight to the blind, to deliver those who are crushed,
and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began to tell them, “Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
All testified about him, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth, and they said, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”
He said to them, “Doubtless you will tell me this parable, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we have heard done at Capernaum, do also here in your hometown.’ ” He said, “Most certainly I tell you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. But truly I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land. Elijah was sent to none of them, except to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. There were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed, except Naaman, the Syrian.”
They were all filled with wrath in the synagogue, as they heard these things. They rose up, threw him out of the city, and led him to the brow of the hill that their city was built on, that they might throw him off the cliff. But he, passing through the middle of them, went his way.
He came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. He was teaching them on the Sabbath day, and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word was with authority. In the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice,
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv16, 17, 22, 25, 28 Who Christ is, and wherefore he came, he showeth…
Who Christ is, and wherefore he came, he showeth out of the prophet Isaiah.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv15–33 15 And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified…
15 And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.
Ver. 15. Glorified of all] Envy itself was throttled, which yet usually waits upon virtue. Every Zopyrus hath his Zoilus. Lipsius complaineth ( an Iustus ipse viderit) that today men have left off, not only to do things praiseworthy, but also to praise those that do so.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv16, 17, 20, 22, 23, 25, 28, 31, 33 We heard before, Luk 2:39,51, that Christ was brought…
We heard before, Luk 2:39,51, that Christ was brought up at Nazareth; we read of him at Nazareth, Mat 13:54. But I must confess I doubt whether Matthew there, and Luke here, speak of the same time. Of the nature of the Jewish synagogues, and their order of worship there, and the reading of the Scriptures in them, we have spoken before in our notes on Mat 4:23. See Poole on "Mat 4:23".
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On vv22, 25, 28, 31 Observe here, 1. The effect of our Saviour’s ministry…
Observe here, 1. The effect of our Saviour’s ministry at Nazareth: it created wonder, but did not produce faith; they marvelled, but not believed; they admired the wisdom of his discourse, but will not own him to be the promised Messiah, because of the poverty and meanness of Christ’s condition: Is not this Joseph’s son? They expected the son of a prince, not the son of a carpenter to be their Messiah.
Thence note, that the poverty and meanness of Christ’s condition was that which multitudes stumbled at, and which kept many, yea, most, from believing on him. None but a spiritual eye can discern beauty in an humbled and abased Saviour.
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Observe 2. Our Saviour wonders not that so few of his countrymen, among whom he had been bred and brought up, and with whom he had lived most part of his time, did despise his person, and reject his doctrine; he tells them, No prophet has honor in his own country: that is, very seldom has.
Teaching us that usually the ministers of God are most despised where they are most familiarly known; sometimes the remembrance of their mean original and extraction, sometimes the poverty of their parents, sometimes the indecencies of their childhood, sometimes the follies of their youth, sometimes the faults of their families and relations, are ript up, and made occasion of contempt; and therefore that prophet that comes from afar, and has not been much known, gains the greatest reputation amongst a people, who, being ignorant of his extraction, look upon his breeding, as well as his calling to be divine.
This good use ought to be made of our Saviour’s observation, that his ministers be very wise and discreet in conversation with their people, not making themselves cheap and common in every company, nor light and vain in any company; for such familiarity will breed contempt, both of their persons and their doctrine.
But our duty is by strictness and gravity of deportment to keep up an awe and esteem in the consciences of our people; always tempering our gravity with courtesy and a condescending affability. That minister which prostitutes his authority, frustrates the end of his ministry, and is the occasion of his own contempt.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v31 When Christ was expelled Nazareth, he came to Capernaum,…
When Christ was expelled Nazareth, he came to Capernaum, another city of Galilee. The account we have in these verses of his preaching and miracles there we had before, Mar 1:21, etc. Observe,
I. His preaching: He taught them on the sabbath days, Luk 4:31. In hearing the word preached, as an ordinance of God, we worship God, and it is a proper work for sabbath days. Christ's preaching much affected the people (Luk 4:32); they were astonished at his doctrine, there was weight in every word he said, and admirable discoveries were made to them by it. The doctrine itself was astonishing, and not only as it came from one that had not had a liberal education. His word was with power; there was a commanding force in it, and a working power went along with it to the conscience of men. The doctrine Paul preached hereby proved itself to be of God, that it came in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.
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II. His miracles. Of these we have here,
1. Two particularly specified, showing Christ to be,
(1.) A controller and conqueror of Satan, in the world of mankind, and in the souls of people, by his power to cast him out of the bodies of those he had taken possession of; for for this purpose was he manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
Observe, [1.] The devil is an unclean spirit, his nature directly contrary to that of the pure and holy God, and degenerated from what it was at first. [2.] This unclean spirit works in the children of men; in the souls of many, as then in men's bodies. [3.] It is possible that those who are very much under the power and working of Satan may yet be found in the synagogue, among the worshippers of God. [4.] Even the devils know and believe that Jesus Christ is the Holy One of God, is sent of God, and is a Holy One. [5.] They believe and tremble. This unclean spirit cried out with a loud voice, under a certain fearful looking for of judgment, and apprehensive that Christ was now come to destroy him. Unclean spirits are subject to continual frights. [6.] The devils have nothing to do with Jesus Christ, nor desire to have any thing to do with him; for he took not on him the nature of angels. [7.] Christ has the devil under check: He rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace; and this word he spoke with power; phimōthēti - Be muzzled, Christ did not only enjoin him silence, but stopped his mouth, and forced him to be silent against his will. [8.] In the breaking of Satan's power, both the enemy that is conquered shows his malice, and Christ, the conqueror, shows his over-ruling grace. Here, First, The devil showed what he would have done, when he threw the man in the midst, with force and fury, as if he would have dashed him to pieces. But, Secondly, Christ showed what a power he had over him, in that he not only forced him to leave him, but to leave him without so much as hurting him, without giving him a parting blow, a parting gripe. Whom Satan cannot destroy, he will do all the hurt he can to; but this is a comfort, he can harm them no further than Christ permits; nay, he shall not do them any real harm. He came out, and hurt him not; that is, the poor man was perfectly well in an instant, though the devil left him with so much rage that all that were present thought he had torn him to pieces. [9.] Christ's power over devils was universally acknowledged and adored, Luk 4:36. No one doubted the truth of the miracle; it was evident beyond contradiction, nor was any thing suggested to diminish the glory of it, for they were all amazed, saying, What a word is this! They that pretended to cast out devils did it with abundance of charms and spells, to pacify the devil, and lull him asleep, as it were; but Christ commanded them with authority and power, which they could not gainsay or resist. Even the prince of the power of the air is his vassal, and trembles before him. [10.] This, as much as any thing, gained Christ a reputation, and spread his fame. This instance of his power, which many now-a-days make light of, was then, by them that were eye-witnesses of it (and those no fools either, but men of penetration), magnified, and was looked upon as greatly magnifying him (Luk 4:37); upon the account of this, the fame of him went out, more than ever, into every place of the country round about. Our Lord Jesus, when he set out at first in his public ministry, was greatly talked of, more than afterwards, when people's admiration wore off with the novelty of the thing.
(2.) Christ showed himself to be a healer of diseases. In the former, he struck at the root of man's misery, which was Satan's enmity, the origin of all the mischief: in this, he strikes at one of the most spreading branches of it, one of the most common calamities of human life, and that is bodily diseases, which came in with sin, are the most common and sensible corrections for it in this life, and contribute as much as any thing towards the making of our few days full of trouble. These our Lord Jesus came to take away the sting of, and, as an indication of that intention, when he was on earth, chose to confirm his doctrine by such miracles, mostly, as took away the diseases themselves. Of all bodily diseases none are more common or fatal to grown people than fevers; these come suddenly, and suddenly cut off the number of men's months in the midst; they are sometimes epidemical, and slay their thousands in a little time. Now here we have Christ's curing a fever with a word's speaking; the place was in Simon's house, his patient was Simon's wife's mother, Luk 4:38, Luk 4:39. Observe, [1.] Christ is a guest that will pay well for his entertainment; those that bid him welcome into their hearts and houses shall be no losers by him; he comes with healing. [2.] Even families that Christ visits may be visited with sickness. Houses that are blessed with his distinguishing favours are liable to the common calamities of this life. Simon's wife's mother was ill of a fever. Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. [3.] Even good people may sometimes be exercised with the sharpest afflictions, more grievous than others: She was taken with a great fever, very acute, and high, and threatening; perhaps it seized her head, and made her delirious. The most gentle fevers may by degrees prove dangerous; but this was at first a great fever. [4.] No age can exempt from diseases. It is probable that Peter's mother-in-law was in years, and yet in a fever. [5.] When our relations are sick, we ought to apply ourselves to Christ, by faith and prayer, on their account: They besought him for her; and there is a particular promise that the prayer of faith shall benefit the sick. [6.] Christ has a tender concern for his people when they are in sickness and distress: He stood over her, as one concerned for her, and compassionating her case. [7.] Christ had, and still has, a sovereign power over bodily diseases: He rebuked the fever, and with a word's speaking commanded it away, and it left her. He saith to diseases, Go, and they go; Come, and they come; and can still rebuke fevers, even great fevers. [8.] This proves Christ's cures to be miraculous, that they were done in an instant: Immediately she arose. [9.] Where Christ gives a new life, in recovery from sickness, he designs and expects that it should be a new life indeed, spent more than ever in his service, to his glory. If distempers be rebuked, and we arise from a bed of sickness, we must set ourselves to minister to Jesus Christ. [10.] Those that minister to Christ must be ready to minister to all that are his for his sake: She ministered to them, not only to him that had cured her, but to them that had besought him for her. We must study to be grateful to those that have prayed for us.
2. A general account given by wholesale of many other miracles of the same kind, which Christ did.
(1.) He cured many that were diseased, even all without exception that made their application to him, and it was when the sun was setting (Luk 4:40); in the evening of that sabbath day which he had spent in the synagogue. Note, It is good to do a full sabbath day's work, to abound in the work of the day, in some good work or other, even till sun-set; as those that call the sabbath, and the business of it, a delight. Observe, He cured all that were sick, poor as well as rich, and though they were sick of divers diseases; so that there was no room to suspect that he had only a specific for some one disease. He had a remedy for every malady. The sign he used in healing was laying his hands on the sick; not lifting up his hands for them, for he healed as having authority. He healed by his own power. And thus he would put honour upon that sign which was afterwards used in conferring the Holy Ghost.
(2.) He cast the devil out of many that were possessed, Luk 4:41. Confessions were extorted from the demoniacs. They said, Thou art Christ the Son of God, but they said it crying with rage and indignation; it was a confession upon the rack, and therefore was not admitted in evidence. Christ rebuked them, and did not suffer them to say that they knew him to be the Christ, that it might appear, beyond all contradiction, that he had obtained a conquest over them, and not made a compact with them.
3. Here is his removal from Capernaum, Luk 4:42, Luk 4:43.
(1.) He retired for awhile into a place of solitude. It was but a little while that he allowed himself for sleep; not only because a little served him, but because he was content with a little, and never indulged himself in ease; but, when it was day, he went into a desert place, not to live constantly like a hermit, but to be sometimes alone with God, as even those should be, and contrive to be, that are most engaged in public work, or else their work will go on but poorly, and they will find themselves never less alone than when thus alone.
(2.) He returned again to the places of concourse and to the work he had to do there. Though a desert place may be a convenient retreat, yet it is not a convenient residence, because we were not sent into this world to live to ourselves, no, not to the best part of ourselves only, but to glorify God and do good in our generation. [1.] He was earnestly solicited to stay at Capernaum. The people were exceedingly fond of him; I doubt, more because he had healed their sick than because he had preached repentance to them. They sought him, enquired which way he went; and, though it was in a desert place, they came unto him. A desert is no desert if we be with Christ there. They detained him that he should not depart from them, so that if he would go it should not be for want of invitation. His old neighbours at Nazareth had driven him from them, but his new acquaintances at Capernaum were very importunate for his continuance with them. Note, It ought not to discourage the ministers of Christ that some reject them, for they will meet with others that will welcome them and their message. [2.] He chose rather to diffuse the light of his gospel to many places than to fix it to one, that no one might pretend to be a mother-church to the rest. Though he was welcome at Capernaum, and had done abundance of good there, yet he is sent to preach the gospel to other cities also; and Capernaum must not insist upon his stay there. They that enjoy the benefit of the gospel must be willing that others also should share in that benefit, and not covet the monopoly of it; and those ministers who are not driven from one place may yet be drawn to another by a prospect of greater usefulness. Christ, though he preached not in vain in the synagogue at Capernaum, yet would not be tied to that, but preached in the synagogues of Galilee, Luk 4:44. Bonum est sui diffusivum - What is good is self-diffusive. It is well for us that our Lord Jesus has not tied himself to any one place or people, but, wherever two or three are gathered in his name, he will be in the midst of them: and even in Galilee of the Gentiles his special presence is in the Christian synagogues.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv15–33 And he taught in their synagogues,.... In the public…
And he taught in their synagogues,.... In the public places of worship used by the Galilaeans, where they met on sabbath days and weekdays, to read and pray, and hear the Scriptures expounded; and Christ engaging here as a public teacher, was the reason of his fame being spread around the country:
being glorified of all; that heard him: they were astonished at his doctrine; they wondered at his gracious words; they praised him as a preacher; and glorified him, and God for him, because of the mighty works which were done by him.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 30, 31 Being glorified of all - So God usually gives…
Being glorified of all - So God usually gives strong cordials after strong temptations. But neither their approbation continued long, nor the outward calm which he now enjoyed.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Verse 15. And he taught in their synagogues] We…
Verse 15. And he taught in their synagogues] We do not find that even the persecuting Jews ever hindered Christ or his disciples from preaching in their synagogues. Is it the same in every place where even the Christian religion is established by law? Would Jesus, or his apostles, or their most Scriptural representatives, be permitted to preach in one out of a thousand churches, in certain countries, unless they were strictly conformed to their external ecclesiastical customs? Nor even then, unless their doctrine were according to the taste of the managers and of the times.
Glorified of all.] All felt the power of his preaching, and acknowledged the divinity of his mission. The scandal of the cross had not yet taken place.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv17, 20, 22, 23, 25, 28, 31, 33 Luk 4:17-19. There was delivered to him the book…
Luk 4:17-19. There was delivered to him the book of Esaias — A paragraph of the law having, according to custom, been read before. See on Act 13:15. When he had opened the book — Αναπτυξας, having unrolled the volume of the book. The books of the ancients, as is well known, consisted of one long sheet of paper or parchment, which they rolled up neatly on a round piece of wood. When a book of this kind was to be read, they unrolled it gradually as they read it, and put what was read round another piece of wood of the same sort with the former. He found the place — The expression, ευρε τον τοπον, seems to imply, that upon unrolling the book, the passage here mentioned immediately met his eye, by the particular providence of God. Many commentators, however, think, that as the Scriptures were read in order, the passage mentioned was that which fell of course to be read in the synagogue that day. And according to the custom of all the synagogues, this passage was to be read with the fiftieth section of the law, appointed for the last sabbath of the sixth, or the first of the seventh month, answering to our August and September. So that if our Lord read this passage as the ordinary lesson for the day, the chronology of this part of the history is thereby determined. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me — This was said of the prophets, when they were under an immediate afflatus of the Holy Spirit; but it was here, doubtless, primarily meant of the Messiah: because he hath anointed me — That is, hath commissioned me with authority, qualified me with gifts, and set me apart for the important offices here mentioned. The expression is used in allusion to the Jewish prophets, priests, and kings, who were consecrated to their offices by anointing them with oil. The unction of the Messiah was the Holy Spirit, which he had without measure. To preach the gospel to the poor — The reason why I, the Messiah, enjoy so great a degree of inspiration, and am endowed with the power of working such astonishing miracles is, because God hath commissioned me to preach the glad tidings of salvation to the poor, and by so doing, to heal the broken-hearted — That is, to relieve and comfort all those, without distinction, whose hearts are broken by sharp convictions of sin, and fears of future punishment. The passage of Isaiah here quoted, in our translation stands thus: To preach good tidings to the meek — But the word ענוים, signifies more properly persons in a low and afflicted condition. It is certainly an unspeakable recommendation of the gospel dispensation, that it offers the pardon of sin, and salvation, to all on the same terms. The rich, here, have no pre- eminence over the poor; as they seem to have had under the law, which prescribed such costly sacrifices for the atonement of sin as were very burdensome to the poor. The Prophet Isaiah, therefore, in describing the happiness of gospel times, very fitly introduces the Messiah mentioning this as one of the many blessings which would accrue to the world from his coming, that the glad tidings of salvation were to be preached by him and his ministers to the poor, and consequently were to be offered to them without money and without price. To preach deliverance to the captives — To proclaim to the captives of sin and Satan liberty from the power of their tyrannical masters, on the terms of repentance toward God, and faith in the Messiah, now manifested: and to confer that liberty on such as complied with these terms. And recovering of sight to the blind — Not merely to confer bodily sight on a few blind individuals, but to open the eyes of the understanding of millions, and cure their spiritual blindness, by imparting to them the spirit of wisdom and revelation. Thus, Isa 42:6-7, the Messiah is said to be given for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles, to open the blind eyes. And the commission given to Paul, as recorded, Act 26:18, was, I send thee to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light: in both which passages spiritual illumination is undoubtedly solely intended. To set at liberty them that are bruised — With the heavy load of their fetters and chains; with the guilt and power of their iniquities, and the condemnation and wrath due to them on that account. Here is a beautiful gradation, in comparing the spiritual state of man to the miserable state of those captives who were not only cast into prison, but, like Zedekiah, had their eyes put out, and were laden and bruised with chains of iron. To preach the acceptable year of the Lord — To proclaim that happy period of the divine dispensations toward mankind, in which a full and free remission of all their offences was to be offered to them, and which might be fitly represented in prophecy by the Jewish jubilee, wherein debts were forgiven, slaves released, and inheritances restored to their original owners. For a further explanation of this passage, see the notes on Isa 61:1-3; and Isa 42:6-7.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv15–31 Glorified of all - Praised by all; or, all…
Glorified of all - Praised by all; or, all were pleased with his instructions, and admired his wisdom.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 30, 31 As he unfolded the book: and again, (ver. 20)…
As he unfolded the book: and again, (ver. 20) when he had folded the book. Books at that time where not like our now-a-days, but were skins or parchments, rolled or folded up. (Witham) --- Some are of opinion that the Jews of Nazareth, having heard of the miracles and fame of Jesus, and that he was accustomed to teach in the synagogues, though he had never been instructed in any learning, when he rose to speak, purposely gave him the book of Isaias, which was esteemed the most difficult to be explained, in order to try his learning; though it is probable that it was done by the all-directing interposition of Divine Providence. (Maldonatus)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v31 B. Capernaum.—The Prophet mighty in Works and Words before…
B. Capernaum.—The Prophet mighty in Works and Words before God and all the People.
Luk_4:31 to Luk_7:50
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1. The first Settlement, the first miraculous Acts, the first Choice of Apostles at Capernaum.
a. Arrival And Activity At Capernaum, And Excursion From Thence Into The Region Round About (Luk_4:31-44)
31And [he] came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught8 them on the sabbath days. 32And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was withpower. 33And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil,34and cried out with a loud voice, Saying,9 Let us alone [or, Ha!]; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee whothou art; the Holy One of God. 35And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came outof him, and hurt him not. 36And they were all amazed [there came an awe upon all], and [they] spake among themselves, saying, What a word is this! for with authorityand power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out. 37And the fame [a rumor or report, ἦχος] of him went out into every place of the country round about.38And he arose out of the synagogue, and entered into Simon’s house. And Simon’s wife’s mother was taken with [suffering under] a great [severe] fever; and they besought him for her. 39And he stood over her, and rebuked the fever; and it left her:and immediately she arose and ministered unto them. 40Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any [friends] sick with divers [various] diseases brought them untohim; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them. 41And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ10 the Son of God. And he rebuking them suffered them not to speak: for11 they knew that he was Christ.42And when it was day, he departed and went into a desert place: and the people sought him, and came unto him, and stayed him, that he should not depart from 43them. And [But] he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to [the] other cities also: for therefore [thereto] am I sent. 44And he preached in the synagogues of Galilee.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Luk_4:31. And He came down to Capernaum.—Comp. the remarks on Mat_4:13. Plainly enough Luke brings the removal of the Saviour to Capernaum into connection with the unfavorable reception which He finds at Nazareth. Herein he is indirectly supported by Matthew (Luk_4:13), while Mark (Luk_1:21) does not contradict it. John, it is true, gives no account of this settlement of Jesus at Capernaum, but it is known how incomplete his Galilean reports are. That he also knows of an abode of the Saviour at Capernaum, appears from Joh_2:12; Joh_6:59. The suitableness of this dwelling-place for Jesus, nevertheless, strikes the eye at once: He finds Himself here in the centre of a very active traffic, between Tyre, Sidon, Arabia, and Damascus, upon the great road to the Mediterranean, where continually great throngs were streaming together. From here He could easily travel to Judæa, Ituræa, and Upper Galilee, in order to preach the gospel. Here the influence of the sacerdotal party was not so strong as in Jerusalem; here He found, moreover, the dwelling of Simon Peter, a friend’s house, whose hospitable rooms He was doubtless glad to use as His shelter during His sojourn there, even if He did not exactly live in this house, especially as His brothers at Nazareth did not yet believe on Him. If He wished for rest He could find this nowhere better than on the shore of the lake, of whose exquisite environs Rabbinical scholars write: “Seven seas have I created in the Holy Land of Canaan, saith the Lord, but only one of all these have I chosen, namely the Sea of Gennesareth,” and if danger threatened Him, He could at once betake Himself to the opposite jurisdiction of the tetrarch Philip. That the moral wretchedness of the town above many others, might recommend it only the more to the great Physician of sinners, is easily intelligible.
And taught them.—What He preached there is given in Mar_1:15. Particularly in the beginning of His public life does He attach Himself to John the Baptist, yet He distinguishes Himself at once from Him in this, that with the requirement of μετάνοια He connects that of faith on the gospel, and explicitly declares, that the time is not only come near, but is fulfilled.
Luk_4:32. And they were astonished.—The preaching of the Saviour produces, therefore, at Capernaum at once a much deeper impression than at Nazareth (Luk_4:22). A similar explanation to that here, in relation to the might of the word of Jesus in opposition to that of the spiritually dead doctrine of the scribes and Pharisees, is also given by Matthew, Luk_7:28-29.
Luk_4:33. Which had a spirit of an unclean devil—According to Mar_1:21, compared with Luk_4:16-20, this healing took place not before but after the calling of the first four apostles, which Luke does not mention until Luk_5:1-11. Matthew passes over this miracle entirely in silence. As respects the possessed, of whom we here meet one, it will hardly be necessary here again to refute the rationalistic assertion, that the Saviour and His Evangelists, when they speak of demoniacal infirmities, accommodated themselves only to a superstitious popular conception. With everything figurative which they contain, yet expressions such as Luk_11:24-27; Mat_17:21, and other passages, appear to lead to the presupposition that these unhappy ones were actually tormented by demoniacal influence. Modern science has as yet by no means proved that on actual possession, even nowadays, is unheard of and impossible. How much less is it inconceivable in the fulness of time, when the kingdom of darkness concentrated its full power against the kingdom of light!
Here indeed the ontological objection has been brought forward that there are no demons, and that, if there were, the possession of men by them would be utterly impossible. But a modest science would indeed have to take the word “impossible” not quite so quickly upon its lips, and not in its self-conceit to decide in a sphere of which, outside of historic revelation, it knows nothing. The whole connection of our bodily and spiritual nature, as well as the operation of spirit upon spirit, remains for us still, in part, a terra incognita. This we know, however: the soul operates through the nervous system upon the body and receives by the medium of these nerves its impressions from the outer world. Not less certain is it, that the natural connection between the nervous life and consciousness may be relaxed for a shorter or longer time; the magnetic sleep and insanity are witnesses for this. If, therefore, as the Lord Himself declares, demons exist, why should they not be able so to work on the nervous system that the soul subjected to this strange influence is fettered and rendered inactive? Why should we not be able to experience the operation of the world of spirits upon us most strongly just at the time when the regular operation of the world of sense upon us is restrained? Undoubtedly, if we understand such an indwelling of the demons that by it two or three subjects are united in one material organism, we fall into psychological monstrosities. But if we assume a personal operation of evil spirits upon their victims which takes place in a psychical way and does not expel the human spirit but suppresses it, there are then no insurmountable difficulties remaining, even if the demoniacally infirm are not precisely to be called greater sinners than others. Yet there may have been in their own physical or psychical condition a peculiarly great receptivity for the operation of the demons. The accounts which we have of these infirm in the Synoptics give us warrant for such a conception. But as respects the silence of John upon this, we can by no means infer too much from the argument e silentio. Perhaps the Saviour healed fewer possessed in Judæa than in Galilee. Perhaps John considered it unnecessary to amplify the few miracles related by him with reports of this particular character. Perhaps, also, he was disposed to consider the combat between darkness and light more on its ethical than on its metaphysical side. In brief, there is just as little reason for the assumption that he himself was unbelieving in the matter of demonology, as for the assumption that he preferred to pass this Jewish superstition over in silence before his readers in Asia Minor. In order to maintain this assumption, we should be obliged to overlook entirely such passages as 1Jn_3:8; Joh_13:27; Joh_10:20. In the last named passage the word καὶ μαίνεται is by no means synonymous with the preceding δαιμόνιον ἔχει, but this latter is in the opinion of the Jews the ground of the former. In a similar way they connect, Joh_8:48, the charge that Jesus was possessed, with the injurious epithet Samaritan, Comp., moreover, respecting the demoniacs, Lange, Matthew, p. 96; Ideler, Geschichte des religiösen Wahnsinns, I, and the weighty article of Ebrard in Herzog’s Real Encyklopädie, 3. pp. 240–255.
Luk_4:34. What have we.—The demoniac, therefore, knows Jesus in His high dignity, although He had just appeared publicly for the first time in Capernaum. If we have once recognized the possession, there is nothing in this extraordinary. Analogies in abundance are presented by natural presentiments, the gift of second sight, &c. The mystery concealed from the human world of the origin of Jesus and the purpose of His incarnation, is already known to the world of spirits, which almost instinctively is compelled to tremble when it recognizes its future conqueror. Noticeable is the plural in which the demon makes itself heard, although Luke has spoken in the singular of a πνεῦμα δαιμ. ἀκαθ. It is possible that he speaks, as it were, in the name of the whole demon-world, which he feels threatened in himself, or also that he makes himself heard in the name of the whole throng assembled in the synagogue, in the definite purpose of arousing a bitterness against Jesus and bringing His life into danger. Certainly this would have been a worthy attempt for the vassal of the Prince of Hell, since the latter had been so brilliantly beaten back in the wilderness, and was now bent upon vengeance and new assaults. Comp. the Satanology of Boss in Rudelb. and Guerike’s Zeitschrift, 1851, 4, and the prælection of Sartorius upon the Doctrine of Satan in Hengstenberg’s Evang. Kirchenzeitung, 1858, 1.
Luk_4:35. And Jesus rebuked him.—Here also we see at once that in the therapeutics of the heavenly Physician threatening takes a far more important place than sympathizing lamentation. He passes over for a moment the sufferer Himself in order to direct at once His word of might against the evil spirit controlling him. The word of might with which He commands the demon has a noticeable agreement with that with which He afterwards bridles the seas and the winds.
And when the devil had thrown him.—Here also, as often, the most violent paroxysm precedes the healing of the sufferer. To undertake fully to explain such phenomena in sickness is perhaps as foolish as to call them wholly inconceivable. Whoever has understanding will call no philosophical presuppositions to his help in order to judge a priori of facts, but will rather observe facts, in order upon them to build his theories, and, moreover, especially in cases like the present, will be mindful of the word of the English poet-king: “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”—Threw him, ῥίψαν; somewhat stronger Mark: σπαράξαν, quum discerpsisset eum. “Mitiore verbo usus est Lucas, in sensu tamen optime conveniunt, quia uterque docere voluit, violentum fuisse Dœmonis exitum. Sic ergo miserum hominem prostravit, quasi discerpere vellet: irritum tamen fuisse conatum dicit Lucas, non quod impetus ille prorsus absque lœsione fuerit, vel saltem obsque ullo doloris sensu, sed quia integer postea fuit homo a diabolo liberatus.” Calvin.—As to the rest, the ground on which the Saviour imposed silence on the demon strikes us at once. He would not have His Messianic dignity prematurely declared before the ears of all, and repulsed every homage which was offered Him from impure lips or in an equivocal intent. In this last respect, we see Paul following the footsteps of His great Master, Act_16:18. Here also the declaration, Psa_50:16, holds good.
Luk_4:36. What a word is this!—Mark: What sort of new doctrine, καινὴ διδαχή. The newness in this case is found not so much in the matter as in the effect of the words of Jesus.—With authority and power. Authority which endures no contradiction, power which endures no resistance.
Luk_4:38. And He arose.—Comp. Mar_1:29-31. The position of the miracle wrought upon Peter’s mother-in-law in Mark and Luke, immediately after the first casting out of a devil in the synagogue at Capernaum, appears to deserve the preference to that in Matthew (Luk_8:14-17), who mentions this event after the Sermon on the Mount. According to Mark, Andrew also dwelt in this house, who, however, does not, like Simon, appear to have been married. That the sickness of the πενθερὰ was of a serious nature appears not only from the technical expression used by the physician Luke πυρετῷ μεγάλῳ (ses Galen, De diff. febr., I., cited by Wetstein), but also especially from the fact that it hindered her even from entertaining, in a manner somewhat befitting Him, the so greatly desired guest. The εὐθέως of Mark, in his mentioning their prayer for help to the Saviour, belongs again to the pictorial peculiarities of this evangelist.
Luk_4:39. Rebuked the fever.—As just before the demon. According to Matthew and Mark, who omit this circumstance, He lays hold of her hand in order to lift her up. That the one does not exclude the other is easily understood; apparently the Saviour considered this contact as necessary in order to awaken the faith of the sick woman, who was too severely attacked by the fever herself to entreat His help. That she is able at once to rise, bears witness to the completeness of her recovery; that she at once girds herself for serving, shows that the bodily benefit was also sanctified to her heart. As to the rest, this miracle is related by all the Synoptics, not so much because it was remarkable above others, but especially because it belongs to the first period of the Saviour’s activity in Capernaum, and increased enthusiasm to ecstasy. At the same time, also, because it was followed by a series of other miracles in the town and region round about, concerning which there is not more particular mention. Especially was it important as a proof of the particular care which the Saviour devoted to the fashioning and training of Peter for an apostle. Among the twelve there was none whose house, person, boat, in short, whose whole circle of life was so made the theatre of remarkable miracles as that of Peter, who on this day also was bound with new bonds to the Master.
Luk_4:40. Now when the sun was setting.—According to Matthew and Mark: when it had already become late. It is almost as if the Synoptics, even by the choice of their words, wished to put their readers in the position to follow almost step by step the Saviour on the first day of His unwearied and blessed activity at Capernaum. While the sun is going down, the report of two astonishing miracles has caused the light of a new hope for the sick in the town and its vicinity to rise. Among the various infirm of whom Luke gives account, Matthew and Mark mention also many possessed. The former He appears to have healed especially by laying on of hands, the other through His words (Matthew). The graphic trait which Mark adds to this whole representation, Luk_4:33, namely, that the whole city assembled before the door, betrays evidently the influence of Peter, the eye-witness.
Luk_4:42. And when it was day.—According to Mar_1:35, so early that it might well have been called still night. From his account it also appears that the Saviour withdraws Himself into solitude in order in prayer to seek rest for some few moments of the night. Here also, as elsewhere (Mat_14:23), is there the same alternation of prayer and labor in the life of the Saviour, such as in truth might be called a praying without ceasing. This short repose, however, is disturbed by the disciples following Him even here (κατεδίωξαν, Mark), with Peter at their head (Mar_1:36), who do not rest until they have found Him, in order to make known to Him the entreaty of the inhabitants who were waiting for His return.
Luk_4:43. I must preach … to the other cities also.—Δεῖ, of course, not in the sense of an absolute necessity, but of a Divine decorum, of a moral obligation which springs from His very relation as the Messiah of Israel, and not of Capernaum alone. Elsewhere also must He preach the gospel: upon this, not upon doing miracles, does the Saviour here lay the greatest emphasis—For thereto am I sent. That is: “Thereto have I publicly come forward, have been manifested as Divine teacher among My contemporaries,” equivalent to the expression in Mark: “For that have I come out,” ἐξελήλυθα. Here we have no more to understand a proceeding forth from the Father, as in Joh_16:28 (Euthymius, Stier), than a mere going forth from Capernaum. The latter gives an insipid sense—the former, the apostles would now perhaps have understood least of all. The Saviour speaks simply of the purpose for which He now appeared publicly as a teacher.
Luk_4:44. And He preached—According to Mar_1:39, He at the same time casts out devils and traverses all Galilee. This journey appears to have been very extended and to have wound up with the ἑορτὴ τῶν Ἰουδαίων (Joh_5:1).
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. Like the wilderness of Quarantania, so does also the synagogue at Capernaum show the combat of the Lord against the might of hell. Now, when the prince of this world had been repulsed, his satellites assay the assault. At both points Christ triumphs through the might of His word, and the demons’ cries of terror are so many voices to His honor as well as the acclamations of praise of the enthusiastic people. In a striking manner does this narrative already confirm what James (Luk_2:19) says of the faith of devils; but at the same time also by the side of their power, their powerlessness here becomes manifest. Where the demon cannot drive back the Lord, he still seeks to do mischief to the poor man, but he succeeds as little in one as in the other.
2. Word and deed are here, as everywhere, united in Christ. With justice, therefore, says Augustine, Tract. 24 in Joh.: “Interrogamus ipsa miracula, quid nobis loquantur de Christo; habent enim, si intelligamus, linguam suam. Nam quia ipse Christus Verbum est, etiam factum Verbi verbum nobis est.”
3. For the first time in the Gospel of Luke we meet in this passage with a report of miracles. Of course, we cannot here go into any particular investigation respecting these works of the Lord and His apostles, which, indeed, is much the less necessary after the fruitful hints of Lange. Only in general we must recollect in respect to these and all subsequent accounts of miracles: 1. That the impossibility of miracles admits of no proof whatever, either from the empirical, or from the logical, or from the metaphysical side. 2. That the conception: “laws of nature,” which are presumed to be infringed by miracles, is in the nature of the case elastic, so that Goethe is right when he says (Zur Farbenlehre); “As on one side experience is limitless, because ever new and yet newer things can be discovered, so are maxims also, which, if they are not to grow petrified, must not lose the capability of extending themselves and of receiving what is greater, nay, of consuming and losing themselves in a higher view.” 3. That the distinction between miracula and mirabilia will become clearly evident only if we consider the fact not in and of itself, but connected with the moral character of the wonder-worker and of the purpose of his activity. 4. That the miracles of the Saviour are worthily esteemed only as they are in a certain sense regarded as the natural revelations of His divinely human personality, which itself might be called the greatest, the absolute, nay, if one will, the sole miracle. 5. That miracles were in no sense given in order to constrain to faith, but rather in order to take away from unbelief every excuse, Joh_15:24. The direct intention of miracles was to serve as a proof of the Divine mission of the Saviour, Joh_5:36, and so far also to awaken confidence towards His person and His words. That the miracle in and of itself, without any reference to the personality of the doer, is no decisive proof of the inner truth of his preaching, is something which modem Apologetics may frankly concede without losing anything. She may the rather agree with the beautiful expression of Jean Paul: “Miracles on earth are nature in heaven.”
4. The miracle in his dwelling is of special moment for the history of Peter’s apostolic development. Through the first word of the Saviour (Joh_1:43), he becomes His friend; through the miracle of the draught of fishes (Luk_5:1-11), he becomes His apostle; finally, by the miracle wrought on his mother-in-law, the apostle is bound to the Master in thankful affection. That, moreover, the apostle was married, and is not required wholly to break this bond, is evident also from 1Co_9:5. As to the manner in which the Romish Church seeks to wrest the argument against the celibacy of the clergy deduced from these passages, the reader can find much that is interesting in Sepp, Leben Jesu, ii. p. 154. This question itself, however, must not detain us here.
5. Even though Peter had carried away no other remembrances from the life of the Lord than those of this first sojourn at Capernaum and the first visit in the region round about, he would already have had a right to introduce his first preaching to the Gentiles with a ὃς διῆλθεν εὐεργετῶν. The door of his dwelling, besieged by all manner of sick, who offered the Lord not even an hour of praying night-rest, is the worthy theatre of the Christus Consolator, and the citation of Isa_53:4 in Matthew is in this connection one of the most felicitous of the whole sacred history. Comp. Lange on Mat_8:16-17.
6. From the comparison with Mat_4:23-25 it appears how great the impression was which the Saviour already made at His public appearance in Galilee and the region round about. It is so much the more remarkable that He makes no use for Himself of this enthusiasm, and does not so much foster as avoid it, and so soon leaves Capernaum, where yet so many hearts beat for Him. This also is a proof of the truth of Joh_2:23-25, and at the same time a proof of the wisdom of the Saviour in the fashioning of His first disciples. He wishes to call them to self-denial, to accustom them to a life of journeying, and to bridle awakening earthly expectations.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
Jesus’ arrival at Capernaum the fulfilment of the prophetic word, comp. Mat_4:15.—The King of God’s kingdom a preacher of the gospel.—The deep impression of the word of the Lord: 1. Astonishing, 2. explicable, 3. important; a. for faith (apologetically), b. for life (practically).—The One anointed with the Holy Spirit and the one plagued by the evil spirit in the same synagogue together.—The synagogue at Capernaum glorified by the visit of the Lord of the temple.—Capernaum by the coming of the Lord raised even to heaven.—The people that sat in darkness have seen a great light.—The early enthusiasm for the Saviour at Capernaum compared with the subsequent lukewarmness.—Where Jesus comes, the devil cannot possibly abide.—The Son of God appeared that He might destroy the works of the devil.—The power and powerlessness of the kingdom of darkness: 1. Its power: a. to have dominion over men, b. to cast scorn on the Son of Man; 2. its powerlessness: a. to withstand the Lord’s word of command, b. mortally to wound His redeemed; 3. the last revelations of the power of the Evil One precede the exhibitions of his powerlessness.—How the Evil One stands over against Christ and Christ over against the Evil One: 1. The Evil One stands over against Christ with hypocritical homage, irreconcilable hate, and anxious fear; 2. Christ stands over against the Evil One with immovable peace, compassionate love, and triumphant might.—Heaven, hell, and earth meet one another on the same place.—The Stronger who disarms the strong.—The demons wish to have nothing to do with Jesus, but Jesus has all the more, therefore, to do with the demons.—The Saviour’s word of might: 1. Unique in majesty; 2. unique in power.—Before the Lord goes anywhere, the report of Him goes already before Him.—The house of Simon: 1. Chosen by the Messiah, 2. visited by sickness, 3. made glad by Omnipotence, 4. changed by thankfulness into a house of the Lord.—The dwelling of Peter the theatre of great unhappiness, great redemption, great thankfulness.—Grace and gratitude: 1. In order to be able to serve the Lord, we must first have been healed by Him; 2. in order to manifest genuine thanks for His healing love, we must serve Him. No service without a foregoing healing, no healing without subsequent service.—Τhe busy Sabbath rest of the Saviour.—The bright evening after a beautiful day of His life.—Sick ones of many kinds, only one Physician; healings of many kinds, only one miraculous might; voices of many kinds, only one key-note: He has done all things well.—The demons knew Christ even before men knew Him, but what good does this knowing do them?—The solitary prayer of the Saviour: 1. His refreshment after labor, 2. His balsam amid pains, 3. His shield in temptations, 4. His staff for the further journey of life.—Seeking Jesus: 1. In order to find, 2. without finding, 3. till found.—Obedience-the key-note of the Saviour’s free manifestations of love.—John remains long in one place, Jesus must go forth as widely as possible in order to preach the gospel.—The first journey of the Lord a triumphal journey.
Starke:—Whoever has a soul possessed by uncleanness, is much more wretched than he whose body is possessed of the devil.—Bibl. Wirt.:—The devils themselves shame the unbelief of men, Luk_4:34.—The heaviest temptations are sometimes the last ragings of Satan.—Cramer:—The works of Christ are meant to create in us wonder; wonder, inquiry; inquiry, a good report; the report, the knowledge of Christ; the knowledge of Christ, eternal life, Joh_17:3.—Christ does not draw back from going to the sick and visiting them for our reminder and imitation, Mat_25:43.—Quesnel:—A single individual that stands well with God may bring a blessing upon his whole family.—Hedinger:—For health recovered, the best thanks are: with new obedience to serve God.—Osiander:—We should not be angry if now and then some desire our help at inconvenient time, but ascribe it to necessity, or excuse their simplicity.—Brentius:—Christ brings with His word for towns and villages no harm, but pure grace and blessing.—Quesnel:—It is praiseworthy for preachers of the gospel often to betake themselves to solitude (comp. the beautiful meditation of Vinet: La solitude recommandée au pasteur).—Majus:—Jesus, when He hides Himself and appears to be lost, must with all diligence be sought.—Christ is to be preached as well in the schools as in churches, yet when will Christendom be with earnestness intent thereon?
Lisco on Luk_4:31-36 :—The might of the Saviour: 1. It is acknowledged even by the kingdom of darkness; 2. it manifests itself in gracious redemption; 3. it reveals to us the Divine origin and the Divine power of His doctrine.—On Luk_4:38-39 :—Jesus truly our Saviour: 1. He heals of all manner of sickness, 2. He bestows new powers for activity.—Van Oosterzee:—Christ, the Divine physician of souls, how He ever yet: 1. Discovers the same wretchedness, 2. feels the same compassion, 3. desires the same temper of heart, 4. follows the same method of healing, 5. excites the same opposition, 6. deserves the same homage as here at the healing of bodily ills.
Footnotes:
[8]Luk_4:31.—Ἦν διδάσκων, expressing His doing it habitually.—C. C. S.]
[9]Luk_4:34.—Rec.: λέγων before Ἕα. Critically dubious. See Lachmann, ad loc. [Om. inter al. B., L., Sin.—C. C. S.]
[10]Luk_4:41.—Rec.: Ὁ Χριστὸς ὁ υἱὸς, κ.τ.λ.; a somewhat superfluous paraphrase, which is omitted by B., C., [Sin.], D., L., F., X., Vulgata, Origenes, Griesbach, De Wette, Meyer, &c.
[11]Luk_4:41.—Not: “to say that they knew,” &c., λαλεῖν is never to say, but to speak, to discourse. Alford.—C. C. S.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 31, 33 To have fixed on any passage announcing His sufferings…
To have fixed on any passage announcing His sufferings (as Isa 53:1-12), would have been unsuitable at that early stage of His ministry. But He selects a passage announcing the sublime object of His whole mission, its divine character, and His special endowments for it; expressed in the first person, and so singularly adapted to the first opening of the mouth in His prophetic capacity, that it seems as if made expressly for this occasion. It is from the well-known section of Isaiah's prophecies whose burden is that mysterious "SERVANT OF THE LORD," despised of man, abhorred of the nation, but before whom kings on seeing Him are to arise, and princes to worship; in visage more marred than any man and His form than the sons of men, yet sprinkling many nations; laboring seemingly in vain, and spending His strength for naught and in vain, yet Jehovah's Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and be His Salvation to the ends of the earth (Isa. 49:1-26, &c.). The quotation is chiefly from the Septuagint version, used in the synagogues.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 33 15. Taught in their synagogues—This verse covers, as a…
15. Taught in their synagogues—This verse covers, as a summary, the ministry of Jesus in Galilee; omitting the interval of departure to the Passover and of the baptizing in Eastern Judea.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv15–33 15. he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of…
15. he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all] The word ‘He’ is emphatic. ‘He Himself,’ in contrast with the rumour about Him. The word autos in this Gospel comes to mean “the Master,” as a sort of title of honour, as in the “Autos epha”—“the Master said it” of the Pythagoreans. The verse shews that the journey from Sychar to Nazareth was not direct but leisurely; and it is remarkably confirmed by Joh_4:45, who accounts for the favourable reception of Jesus by saying that they had seen “all the things that He did at Jerusalem at the feast.”
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 (15) Being glorified.—The dawn of the day of work…
(15) Being glorified.—The dawn of the day of work was bright. Wonder, admiration, glory, waited on the new Prophet. Soon, however, when His preaching involved a demand on men’s faith and obedience beyond what they had expected, it roused opposition, and the narrative that follows is the first stage of that antagonism.
Again, as in St. Matthew, the reader must be reminded that the narrative of John 2-5 comes in between the Temptation and the commencement of the Galilean ministry.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of…
And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all. His miracles, his words touching and eloquent, perhaps too a dim memory of marvels which had happened years before at his birth, shed round the new Teacher a halo of glory. It was only when, instead of the Messianic hopes of conquest and power which they cherished, a life of brave self-denial and quiet generosity was preached, that the reaction against him set in. The men of Nazareth, with their violent antagonism, which we are about to consider, were only, after all, a few months in advance of the rest of the nation in their rejection of the Messiah.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv16, 18, 22, 26, 28, 31, 32, 33 And He came to Nazareth, where He had been…
Luk_4:16
And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up: and, as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day
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The tides of the Spirit
The moment was overcharged with a certain sad intensity.
Since last He stood upon that spot, a change had passed upon Him; a light, long struggling with the clouds, and often drowned in a golden haze of mystery, had cleared itself within Him; He was no longer at His own disposal, nor free to rest upon the trodden paths; but the sacred dove was ever on the wing before Him; and now alighted on the synagogue of Nazareth, and there, where He naturally fell into the attitude of docility, left Him to speak the word of supernatural power. Never is it so hard to follow and trust a higher inspiration, as amid the crowd of customary things. If ever Jesus could yield to misgivings of what was committed to Him it would be in that place. There, in the presence of those at whose feet He used to sit--there, where He first heard and pondered Israels hope, and watched a holy light on other faces, not knowing that it was reflected from His own--how could He stand up and draw the great words of Isaiah upon Himself, and say aloud, This is the hour. Lo! it is I. But He had emerged from the desert that lay between the old life and the new. The very Spirit of God had driven Him thither to hear what could be said against itself. And now, He was no longer His own. No flitting of the Spirit, off and on. It rested with Him now. And so He could bear those native scenes again, for they lay in another light; the hills of Nazareth were transfigured before Him; from all things round the chill and weary aspect had fled, that makes them press with the weight of usage; and He stood amid the well-known groups, as some immortal friend might return and look in among us here, with unabated love, but with saintly insight into meanings hid from us. Lifted then into the full power of the Spirit, whither, as least congenial, does He take His heavenly point of view? To the village synagogue, on the stated day of rest; nothing newer, nothing higher; but just the place and time which had been sacred to the fathers. The first thing which He did, under freshest inspiration, was to resume the dear old ways, to fall in with the well-known season, to unroll the same venerable page; only to find a new meaning in words that had long carried their rhythm to His heart. We are sustained then by the sympathy of the highest inspiration, when we make it our custom, too, to illuminate in our calendar some holy day, and to raise near every cluster of our dwellings a house where prayer is wont to be made. Against the Christian habit of seasonal and local worship the truth is often urged that God is a Spirit, eternal and omniscient, abiding neither in this mountain nor in that Jerusalem, and bearing equal relation into every mind and moment. In the occasionalism of piety I see, however, not its shame but its distinctive glory. For of all Gods agencies and manifestations, it is the lowest that are least mutable, and most remain the same from first to last; whilst the highest have ever a tidal ebb and flow--moving in waves of time, and surprising hidden inlets of space with their flood. Be assured then that in your ancient usages of seasonal and local worship, in seeking here to meet at intervals the high tides of Gods Spirit, you are in harmony with His sublimest providence--with a law of variation transcending any physical uniformity over which it sweeps. Reverence the holy custom, shelter from heedless slight the living impulse that week by week calls you hither to remember, to aspire, to pray. Bring only the pure, lowly, childlike hearts, tender to everything except the sins you must confess--full of hope for the world and trust in God; spread out an eager and a gentle spirit for the dropping of fruitful seeds from Holy Writ and saintly hymn; freshen the fading vow of self-sacrificing love; and your worship here will not only resemble His who, in fulness of the Spirit, went as His custom was, &c., but prepare for a higher communion where your life is hid with Him in God. (J. Martineau, LL. D.)
Synagogue worship
The Jewish synagogues were open every day for three services, but as those of the afternoon and evening were always joined, there were, in reality, only two. It was the duty of every godly Jew to go to each service, for so sacred was daily attendance that the Rabbis taught that he who practised it saved Israel from the heathen. The two market days, Monday and Thursday, when the country people came into town, and when the courts were held, and the Sabbaths, were the special times of public worship. Feast days and fasts were also marked by similar sacredness. (Dr. Geikie.)
A good example in attending public worship
Of good Archbishop Leighton it is said, that the Sabbath was his delight, and no slight hindrance could detain him from the house of prayer. Upon one occasion, when he was indisposed, the day being stormy, his friends urged him, on account of his health, not to venture to church. Were the weather fair, was the reply, I would stay at home but since it is otherwise, I must go, lest I be thought to countenance by my example, the irreligious practice of allowing trivial hindrances to keep me back from public worship. (Life of Leighton.)
Evil of neglecting public worship
Of the late venerable Dr. Waugh, his biographer records that, in his ministerial visitations, his nationality was often strongly displayed, and this with most beneficial effect, both in sentiment and language. When, without any adequate cause, any of his hearers had failed to attend public ordinances so regularly as he could have wished, and would plead their distance from the chapel as an excuse, he would exclaim in the emphatic northern dialect, which he used on familiar occasions to employ, What, you from Scotland! from Melrose! from Gala Water! from Selkirk! and its a hard matter to walk a mile or two to serve your Maker one day in the week! How many miles did you walk at Selkirk? Five. Five! And can ye no walk twa here? Man!your father walked ten or twal (twelve) out, and as many hame, every Sunday i the year; and your mither too, aften. Ive seen a hunder folk and muir, that aye walked six or seven--men, women, and bairns too: and at the sacraments folk walked fifteen, and some twenty miles. How far will you walk the morn to mak half-a-crown? Fie! fie I But yell be out wi a your household next Sabbath, I ken. O my man, mind the bairns I If you love their souls, dinna let them get into the habit of biding awa In the kirk. All the evils among young folk in London arise from their not attending Gods house. Such remonstrances, it may easily be imagined, were not often urged in vain. (Baxendales Anecdotes.)
The synagogue service
The order of service was certainly fixed and invariable in the time of Christ. The supreme moment of the service was that of the reading of the law, for the great end of meeting was to hear and study the law. Prayer preceded this exercise, and the reading of a passage chosen from the prophets, followed by the benediction, closed the service. In the opening prayer there were several distinct portions. It began with the recitation of the Shema (three passages of the law, viz., Deu_6:4-9; Deu_11:13-21; Num_15:37-41). Then came the eighteen blessings. During this solemn recitation, the people remained standing with their faces turned towards Jerusalem and the Holy Place. The reciter stood before the chest containing the manuscripts. Any member of the assembly could be called on by the president to perform this important duty. Minors alone were excepted, and Christ may have very likely taken His turn in these introductory prayers, both at Nazareth and at Capernaum. The people responded with a loud Amen at the close of each prayer. The reading of the law followed. The Chazzan took the sacred scroll out of the chest, removed its case, and placed it before the first reader. The seven members who had been chosen, rose, and read in turn at least three verses each. The first reader before beginning used a short formula of benediction, which he repeated also at the end. The Torah was divided into one hundred and fifty-three sections. In three years the whole was read through. Subsequently these sections were made three times as long, and the whole law was read through in one year. The Chazzan remained all the time close to the reader, and watched that he made no mistake, and read nothing unsuitable for a general audience. To the reading and its translation was always added a commentary, a sort of homily, to which great importance came to be attached in the Christian Churches, and which subsequently developed into the sermon. The reading of the law being over, the one who had recited the opening prayer read a portion from one of the prophets. This was called the closing lesson, because it completed the service. The reader was chosen by the head of the synagogue. He read three verses in succession, and then translated them (into Aramaic). Christ one day read one of these closing lessons in the synagogue at Nazareth. It is possible, however, that He may have chosen the passage Himself. We notice that it consists of only two verses. This was allowable, because He proposed to make some comment on it. The final benediction was then pronounced, and the assembly broke up. (E. Stapfer, D. D.)
Jesus of Nazareth admired but rejected
If we were to single out one place as illustrating more perhaps than any other place St. Johns remark, He came to His own and His own received Him not, that place would surely be Nazareth.
I. Observe THE VALUE WHICH THE LORD PUTS UPON THE PUBLIC MEANS OF GRACE--As His custom was. Although there was very little life or spirituality in the synagogue services, yet Jesus was a habitual worshipper there. What a lesson for those who excuse themselves on such grounds as that--
1. They can pray as well at home. Do they?
2. The service is not quite to their mind (Heb_10:25).
II. THE ACCOUNT WHICH CHRIST GAVE AT NAZARETH OF HIS OWN OFFICE AND MINISTRY.
III. THE EFFECT PRODUCED BY OUR OURS DISCOURSE AT NAZARETH,
1. Admiration and astonishment.
2. But, mingled with this, contempt.
3. And so Christ and His salvation are rejected. (G. T.Harding, M. A.)
An inaugural discourse
The first sermon of Jesus at Nazareth, a standard for the minister of the gospel at the beginning of His work. The narrative imparts to the minister of the gospel pregnant suggestions.
I. In reference to the POINT OF VIEW from which he is to consider his work.
1. Origin.
2. Matter.
3. Object of preaching.
II. In relation to the MANNER in which he must perform his work. His preaching must be, as here--
1. Grounded on Scripture.
2. Accommodated to the necessity of the hearers.
3. Presented in an attractive manner.
III. In relation to the FRUIT upon which he can reckon in this labour. Nazareth shows us--
1. That blossoms are as yet no certain signs of fruit.
2. That this fruit may be blasted by the most unhappy causes.
3. That the harvest may turn out yet better than at the beginning it appears (there in the synagogue were Mary, and also the Lords brethren, who afterwards believed; and if the Saviour did not work many miracles at Nazareth, He yet wrought some) (Mat_13:58).
IV. In relation to the TEMPER in which he is to begin a new work.
1. With thankful recollections of the past.
2. With holy spiritual might for the present.
3. With joyful hope for the future.
Happy the teacher who is permitted to begin his preaching under more favourable presages than Jesus began His in the city where He was brought up. (J. J. Van Oosterzee, D. D.)
View of Nazareth
Sheets of smooth rock; fields of hinge boulders, between which, at times, there was scarcely room to pass; acres of loose stones of all sizes, no path or track visible--parts so steep that to hold on to the horses mane was a help--everything unspeakably rough and difficult--such was the way up the face of the rocks to get to the tableland on which Nazareth stands. After a time spots of green appeared on the wide, unearthly desolation, and some lean cattle were to be seen picking up poor mouthfuls among the stones. Further on was a larger, but still very small, spot of green. Goats and sheep alone could find sustenance in such a weird place. After an hours ride, during which we passed both camels and donkeys toiling up the face of the hill with heavy loads, we came to a spring at the wayside, now running, but dry in summer. At last, all at once, a small valley opened below, set round with hills, and a pleasant little town appeared to the west. Its straggling houses, of white, soft limestone, and mostly new, rose row over row up the steep slope. A fine large building, with slender cypresses growing around it, stood nearest to us; a minaret looked down a little to the rear. Fig-trees, single and in clumps, were growing here and there in the valley, which was covered with crops of grain, lentils, and beans. Above the town the hills were steep and high, with thin pasture, sheets of rock, fig-trees, and now and then an enclosed spot. The small domed tomb-shrine of a Mahommedan saint crowned the upper end of the western slope. Such was Nazareth, the home of our Lord Numerous hills, not grassy like those of England, but bare, white, and rocky, though here and there faintly green, shut in Nazareth from the outer world; the last heights of Galilee, as they melt away into the plain of Esdraelon. Their long, rounded tops have no wild beauty, and there are no ravines or shady woods to make them romantic or picturesque; indeed, so far as the eye reaches, they are treeless, or very nearly so … The water of Nazareth is mainly derived from rain-cisterns, for there is only one spring, and in autumn its supply is precarious. A momentous interest, however, gathers around this single fountain, for it has been in use for immemorial ages, and, no doubt, often saw the Virgin and her Divine Child among those who frequented it morning and evening, as the mothers of the town, many with children at their side, do now. The water comes through spouts in a stone wall, under an arched recess built for shelter, and falls into a trough at which a dozen persons can stand side by side. Thence it runs into a square stone tank at the side, against which gossips at all hours delight to lean. The water that flows over the top of the trough below the spouts makes a small pool immediately beneath them, and there women wash their linen, and even their children; standing in the water, ankle-deep, their baggy trousers--striped pink or green--tucked between their knees, while those coming for water are continually passing and repassing with their jars, empty or full, on their heads. The spring lies under the town, and as the Nazareth of ancient times, as shown by old cisterns and tombs, was rather higher up the hill than at present, the fountain must in those days have been still farther away from the houses. (C. Geikie, D. D.)
The synagogue
A synagogue generally stood on the highest piece of ground in a city, or near it; it was oblong, and the end opposite to the entrance pointed towards Jerusalem. There were the seats of the elders, and in the midst, at this end, was the ark with a lamp always burning before it, in which was preserved the roll of the Law. Before it also was an eight-branched candlestick, lighted on the highest festivals. A little way down was a raised platform, on which several persons could stand at once, and in the middle rose a pulpit, in which the reader stood to read those lessons which were not from the books of Moses. The roll of the Law was taken with great solemnity out of the ark, and unrolled by the Rabbi, so that the congregation might not look on the writing. The lessons from Moses were so arranged that the books of the Law were read through once in three years. Much less ceremony was shown about the second lesson, which was taken from the prophets and historical books. On week-days, not less than twenty-one verses were read; on the Sabbath, not more than three, five, or seven. After this lesson followed the exposition, or interpretation. The Scriptures were read in Hebrew, but the Hebrew was unintelligible to the Jews after their return from the Babylonish captivity, consequently the interpreter translated or expounded what he had read in the Aramaic or Syro-Chaldee tongue. The reader stood when reading the prophets, but was allowed to sit or stand for the historical books. Originally the prophets and historical books had not been read in the synagogue service, but when Antiochus Epiphanes forbade the reading of the Law, in the services of the Sabbath, the prophets and other books had been substituted for those of Moses, and when this restriction was withdrawn the Jews continued reading the prophets, but read the Law as well, as of old, in the place of honour. (S. Baring. Gould, M. A.)
Christs mission
I. THE GREAT DISTINCTION IN WHICH OUR LORD EXALTED--The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me. As this was what distinguished the Lord, so it ought to distinguish His Church.
II. THE GREAT MESSAGE OUR LORD HAD TO DELIVER--TO preach the gospel to the poor, &c.
III. THE GREAT WORK OUR LORD HAD TO ACCOMPLISH--To heal the broken-hearted, &c. (J. P. Chown.)
The Christ as a preacher
Christ read the appointed lesson for the day (which happened to be the day of Atonement), but not the whole of it. He had not come to proclaim the day of the vengeance of our God. The gospel is primarily a deliverance shadowed by the year of Jubilee; it embraces the physical and social ills of men, and their spiritual ills. The inextricableness with which they are united in the words of Christ suggests the profound mystery of body and spirit, mind and matter, environment and spiritual history. In these words we find a theology and a life, a doctrine and a practice, and that the two are inseparable. Pass now to this preaching of Christ.
I. ITS SUBSTANCE. Without doubt we have here the key-note to His entire teaching. It is the peculiarity of Christs preaching that He pierces at once to the centre of His great delivering system, and plants His ministry upon it. The peculiar feature of this quotation from Isaiah, which Christ makes His own, is its doubleness: poor, captives, blind, bruised physically and morally, but chiefly morally. Let no man think that there is any gospel of deliverance or helpfulness for him, except as it is grounded in a cure of whatever evil there may be in him--evil habits, or selfish aims, or a worldly spirit.
II. ITS PHILOSOPHY. Suppose some questioner had arisen in that synagogue of Nazareth and asked Jesus, not as to the substance of His preaching, for that was plain enough, but what was the ground of it, on what ultimate fact or reason it rested. I think the answer would have been of this sort: I am making in this gospel a revelation of God, showing you His very heart. This is what God feels for you; this is how He loves and pities you; this is what God proposes to do for you, to cheer you with good news, and open your blind eyes, and free your bruised souls and bodies from the captivity of evil.
III. ITS POWER. In one sense its power lay in its substance; m another, in the philosophy or ground of it; but there was more than come from these; there was the power that resided in Him who spoke these truths. In what lay the commanding power which made them wonder at His words? Not in any impressiveness of manner, or felicity of presentation. These are elements of power, but they do not constitute power. The main element of power in one who speaks is, an entire, or the largest possible comprehension of the subject. Here we have the key to the power with which Christ preached. He saw the meaning of the Jewish system. He knew what the acceptable year of the Lord meant. He pierced the whole symbolism to its centre, and drew out its significance. He saw that God was a deliverer from first to last, and measured the significance of the fact. The whole heart and mind of God were open to Him. This was the power of Christs preaching; He saw God; He understood God; He knew what God had done, and would do; the whole purpose and plan of deliverance and redemption lay before Him as an open page. We cannot measure this knowledge of the Christ, we can but faintly conceive it. But the measure of our conception of it is the measure of our spiritual power over others. ( T. T. Munger.)
Jesus at Nazareth
Observe
I. THE PLACE SPECIFIED IN THE TEXT.
1. The obscurity of Christs private life.
2. We see in it Gods estimation of the worlds pomp and glory.
3. We see honest industry honoured by the Saviour.
II. WHAT JESUS DID ON HIS VISIT TO NAZARETH.
1. The place to which He resorted. The synagogue.
2. This place was identified with former associations. As His custom was.
3. The time when Christ went into the synagogue was the Sabbath.
4. What Jesus did in the synagogue.
5. The portion of the Sacred Scriptures which HE read.
Application:
1. Give especial heed, &c., to the Holy Scriptures.
2. Let Scripture be the test of all your views and doctrines, &c.
3. The rule of your life, &c. (J. Burns, D. D.)
Christs first sermon
I. THE ACCOUNT WHICH JESUS GAVE OF HIS MISSION.
1. He refers to His Divine qualification.
(1) The Spirit was upon Him in unbroken plenitude.
(2) He had the Spirit always with Him.
2. He refers to the fulfilment of a striking prophecy. Every word of God is pure, true, unalterable.
3. He declares the character of His work.
(1) To preach the gospel to the poor.
(2) To heal the broken-hearted.
(3) Deliverance to the captives.
(4) Recovering of sight to the blind.
(5) He sets at liberty those that are bruised.
(6) He proclaimed the year of jubilee to the people.
The very reverse of their former state, made known the joyful sound of peace and plenty, of rest and festivity. The gospel era is emphatically the acceptable year of the Lord.
II. THE EFFECT IT PRODUCED UPON HIS AUDITORY.
1. They listened with marked attention. This was proper, necessary, pleasing. Some have their eyes closed in sleep, some gaze about, some look into their Bibles and hymn books; but they fixed their eyes upon the speaker.
2. They were filled with astonishment and wonder. No doubt at His wisdom, but equally so at the tenderness, condescension, and love with which He spake.
3. They were spell-bound, however, by prejudice.
4. They attempted to murder the Son of God. Truth flashed upon their minds, but they hated it; it exasperated them, and they tried to cast the messenger of mercy headlong down the hill, &c.
Application:
1. To you Jesus has come with the message of life.
2. You stand in need of the blessings He bestows.
3. Do not allow prejudice to make Christ a stone of stumbling and rock of offence.
4. Embrace the message, and live.
5. Put on Christ, and profess Him to the world. (J. Burns, D. D.)
Jesus at Nazareth
Let us notice the chief points of interest connected with Christs first appearance as the Messiah, proclaiming the gospel in the home of His childhood.
I. THE PLACE. He was ready to preach where He had been known all His life. Many resolve to become disciples of Christ as soon as they get away among strangers. They say they have not courage to follow Him amongst their own friends. Every one knows their past sins. Their friends would laugh at them. Their changed lives would attract general attention. But, the greater the change, the more reason for showing it at home. Jesus had no past sins laid to His charge when He went back to His own home to preach glad tidings. If your past character has been upright, the remembrance of it will give weight to your testimony as a disciple of Christ. If your past life has been evil, no one will be so moved by the genuineness of the change in you as those who knew you before your conversion.
II. THE ASSOCIATIONS. He preached in the synagogue. It was His custom to attend there. He always worked through the regularly organized channels for religious labour, and among those who professed to be religious. There are those who profess to be followers of Christ, who stand apart from the Churches because of the imperfections of Christians. They cannot work with or enter into fellowship with Christians. But they find no warrant for this in the example of Jesus. The Jewish Church was corrupt; yet He worked in and with and through it, till they cast Him out.
III. THE TIME. He preached on the Sabbath. He used holy time for holy work. His work was always holy, always appropriate to time and place. But He honoured the Sabbath in its true meaning as the day of worship.
IV. THE SUBJECT. It was a text from the Bible. No one ever expounded the Scriptures as He did. He was Himself the Word. God had spoken through the prophets. His Word of old had been the revelation of Himself. Now the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. The living speech and living speaker revealed the mind of God. His words were spirit and life. But they never thrust into the background what had been already spoken. Those who would follow Christ will love the Bible, and will grow holy by receiving and obeying it, and will persuade others through it to believe on Jesus Christ. Without it we are defenceless against the attacks of the adversary.
V. THE SOURCE OF THE PREACHERS POWER. The Spirit of the Lord was upon Him. It empowered Him to make known the gracious message of salvation, and Himself the Saviour. Before leaving the world He bestowed this Divine gift on His disciples, and it is promised to every one who believes on Christ and seeks it. He is ready to anoint every believer for service. Whoever empties himself of pride, self-seeking, all sin, and asks for that gift simply that he may glorify God, will receive it.
VI. THE SERMON. He was Himself the explanation of His text. His presence spoke and made His words luminous.
VII. THE RECEPTION OF THE SERMON. His hearers lacked the sense of the Divine presence. They were filled with worldliness and pride, and could not appreciate the heavenly gifts which Christ brought. With no consciousness of inner want, they sought only outward things. They judged Him first by His personal appearance and manner, and the graciousness of His words; they were pleased. Then they remembered His humble position in society, and their impression began to change. Then they recalled the fame of His miracles, and they began to desire to be entertained by wonders. Then they saw that He was exposing their prevailing sins, and they were enraged. But the truth which He presented they could not discern, and they saw the frame not the picture; the vessel, not the contents. They sought entertainment, flattery, agreement with themselves, not truth. They thrust for ever salvation and their Saviour, with murder in their hearts.
VIII. THE ESCAPE. The only wonder which they would be likely to remember was that by which He separated Himself from them for ever. A mob is always unreasoning. Some sudden feeling or event may change its purpose as quickly as it was started. Many times the courage and firmness of a single man has dispersed enraged multitudes. When Marius, once the honoured consul of Rome, was being dragged to execution by a yelling, cursing crowd, he fixed his eye on the man who came forward to kill him, with the words, Slave I dost thou dare to kill Marius? The soldier dropped his sword and fled, and with him the panic-stricken mob. When Napoleon came back to France from exile, and met the troops sent to oppose him, they, at the sight of him, changed their purpose, and welcomed him as their commander. Jesus, with the majesty of grace and truth, so awed His enemies, that their rage was restrained, and He passed through them unharmed. But oh i had they welcomed the Prince of Peace, even at that last moment, how different their destiny would have been. (A. E. Dunning.)
The new teacher
Jesus emerged from the desert to enter on His great career. The season was the spring. And within as without all was springtime. He returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee, and Galilee felt and owned the Spirit and the power. In the homes of its peasantry and the hamlets of its fishermen, on the shores of its beautiful sea, in the towns and villages that stood on its banks, and were mirrored in its waves, He preached His gospel. Only His own Nazareth refused to hear Him. Thither, indeed, He had gone, had entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, as His custom was, and had stood up to read. To Him the place was full of sacred associations. He had there, as boy and youth and man, listened for hours and days to the voice of God. But others had their associations as well as He, and theirs were not always as sacred as His. The synagogue was often the scene of strife. The conflict of opinion was not unknown there. The men of Nazareth had their personal rivalries and spites, and when One whom they knew, so far as the senses can know, rose and read, and applied to Himself the prophetic words, they received His gracious speech with incredulous wonder. But when He proceeded to speak with authority, to rebuke their unbelief, to quote against them their own proverbs, then they were filled with wrath, &c. And He went His way, and found elsewhere men who heard gladly His words of power. The strange thing about the new Teacher was not His having been untaught and a carpenter. The great creative spirits of Israel had never been the sons of a school. The Rabbi was qualified rather than disqualified for his office by a handicraft. But the strange thing was the new Teacher Himself. He stood distinguished from all the Rabbis who had been, or then were, in Israel. Of the points that made Him pre-eminent and unique, three may be here specified.
1. The relation between His person and His word. The Teacher made the truth He taught. His teaching was His articulated person, His person His incorporated teaching.
2. The consciousness He had of Himself and His truth; its authority and creative energy.
3. His knowledge of His truth and mission, throughout perfect and self-consistent. His first word revealed His purpose, expressed His aim. Had Christ at first a plan? is a question often discussed. Plan is a word too mechanical and pragmatic. Christ had at the beginning the idea He meant to realize. The evidence lives in the phrase most frequent on His lips, the kingdom of heaven. (A. M. Fairbairn, D. D.)
The gospel for the Gentiles
If I read this narrative for the first time I should pause at the words, glorified of all, knowing that there would be a thunderstorm before long. Here is Christ, with more wisdom in Him than all the world besides; and yet, as His custom was, He went into the synagogue, &c. What did He go there for? They could teach Him nothing. Men and women now, on the plea that they learn nothing, that there is nothing fresh to hear or know or learn at church, very seldom come. And many of you who come to hear me, come not to worship God. So I turn and read this history of how Christ, who was the fountain of life, the wisest of the wise, went, as His custom was, &c. He stood up for to read. Here stands a teacher from whose teaching men shall date for all time, and He is about to choose a text. What it was you know. Who could wonder that the eyes of all were fastened upon Him. They had never heard the words read as He read them. They wondered at the gracious words, &c. They found them gracious, and they said, some of them honestly, some of them meanly, Is not this Josephs son? Now watch for the storm. He tells them a terrible truth which they dont like. As long as they thought He was going to preach all these things to the Jewish nation it was all right, but the moment they hear that these things are to be done to the Gentiles, oh! then the storm comes. You know what they had heard--that Gods love was big enough to reach Sarepta. These people had sound right views. Think of that! And what did Christ do to anger them? He told them that Gods love reached even to Sidon; that His heart was deep enough to take in the leprous Naaman. What shocking things to tell the people, werent they? And what effect did they have? They were proud of Him ten minutes ago; but now they are going to throw Him headlong over the brow of the hill. Has there ever been any picture like that?--the sunny morning; the welcome Christ; the teacher kissed; the teacher thrown down the precipice. And what brought it about? He discussed of the largeness of Gods love. I often see these things. It does not belong to this history only. (George Dawson, M. A.)
Habit and holiness
Here, in our text, is one case of Jesus conforming to a good common custom--perhaps not only following the custom, but getting help from it to promote His own spiritual life. From this one well-authenticated custom of Jesus in regard to Sabbath observance, I purpose, in connection with the text, to set before you the value and use of habit, as an aid to holy life and character, placed by Gods providence within our reach, and which we are bound, as wise men, to turn to account. The capacity of forming habits is a very valuable part of human nature, as originally framed by God. By doing a thing often, we come to do it easily, and even to contract a liking and craving to do it. Sometimes this facility and inclination grow up before we are aware of it, in matters where we did not intend it. Moreover, it is a power as ready for bad uses as for good, so that it requires observation and guidance. It is by habit and use that workroom in the various arts and trades learn to manipulate skilfully the various tools and materials which they employ. Similarly, by gradual training, both animal and vegetable natures may be wonderfully modified-by more or less light, water, warmth, food, or motion. It is the alteration of these conditions that determines life and death, beauty and deformity, success and failure. Many of the evils that give us the greatest annoyance in society are largely the result of neglected or misdirected habits or customs. It is no new thing to employ the force of habit in connection with piety; it has already been done very systematically in past ages. In fact, it is only in comparatively recent times, and in connection with Protestant Churches especially, that the power of habit has been neglected. Under the Romish system there was both great use and abuse of habit and custom. At present we are in the midst of a reaction and protest against former abuses. All the details of rule and discipline, as laid down for monks and nuns, had for their aim the utilizing of habit on the side of virtue and holiness. But, in many cases, this was carried to excess, and rules became ridiculous when emphasized as important in themselves, whereas they were only means to an end. Such rules applied to dress, to hours of devotion, to repeating certain formulae, to the period of sleep, to regulation of diet. When this was pushed beyond reasonable bounds, the system was open to ridicule, as an attempt to make virtue by machinery. But these ancient extravagances of certain branches of the Christian Church are no reason why habit should not be studied and utilized for the same purposes within proper limits. Habit, in excess, is formalism or routine, and is near of kin to hypocrisy. This was the besetting sin of the old Pharisees. In the same way, habit or custom, in excess, becomes a system of ceremony, or ritualism, which is just old Pharisaism renewing its youth, but in adaptation to the Christian System. Warned by these errors--but mindful that there is also in habit a mighty power for good--let us consider a few of those matters in which habit is desirable.
1. The instance in the text applicable to Jesus--the custom of being present at public worship every Sabbath. How great an aid is this to everything that is good I It puts us in the way of the chief means of grace; it puts us in the way of the best human companionship.
2. A habit of prayer. The prayer to which I refer specially at present is family and personal prayer. Public or common prayer is implied in Sunday observance and churchgoing. If there is no habit of family prayer, the prayer is not likely to be made at all. All the details of family worship imply arrangement--a certain hour--a fixed place--books at hand--a person responsible for conducting the service. Family worship thus becomes one of the most beautiful features of domestic order in every house where it is duly attended to. Its omission becomes at once a mark and cause of disorder. Personal prayer no less depends on habit and custom for its maintenance.
3. Labour may be the subject of another of those good habits, in a religious point of view. At first sight it might seem as if a habit of labour, while good and useful in itself, had little to do with religion. These idle, aimless existences are the most unhappy condition possible for reasonable beings. Far better is it for a man to hold on steadily in his work to the end, and nobly wear out, than rust wearily and unprofitably. It is a calamity when a man cannot work by reason of old age or sickness. The man who has acquired the habit of labour has got possession of that honest power which will advance him alike in a worldly and moral point of view, and which will keep him out of many temptations.
4. A habit of learning may well form the sequel to a habit of labour. It is in always aiming to learn something new that we secure for ourselves real improvement and progress, carrying the purposes of youth and early manhood into advanced years. There are various ways in which this habit of learning may develop itself. The simplest, perhaps, is obser-ration for ones self; and the next in simplicity, conversation with ones neighbours, so as to add their observation or information to ones own. But far more valuable are books and professed teachers, who have made a specialty of some subject. A habit of spending leisure time in careful, definite reading on matters useful in ordinary life, is one of the most noble exercises in which a man can train himself.
5. The last matter that I shall at present name as a fit subject for a good habit is charity. A custom of this noble sort could not be formed or maintained save by very deliberate effort and self-sacrifice. Thus have we considered the place and utility of habit from a Christian point of view. (J. Rankin, D. D.)
Our Lords visit to Nazareth
I. HIS ARRIVAL AT NAZARETH. He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. A man of reflection and feeling piety will always be affected when he comes to the place where he was brought up.
1. What was Nazareth? It was a small town of the Zebu-lonites, in Galilee, seventy-two miles north of Jerusalem, and west of Mount Tamar. Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?
2. How came He to be brought up here?
3. How was He brought up there?
4. How came He to Nazareth, since He was there brought up? Because He had been absent from the place: He had been to the baptism of John. For a considerable time He visited other places, where He performed His first miracles; and having thus gained a well-deserved renown, this would serve to favour His introduction to His townsmen and His relations: and thus He came to Nazareth where He had been brought up.
II. HIS PRIVATE ENGAGEMENTS THERE BEFORE HE PREACHED--And, as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.
1. The time was the Sabbath.
2. The place was the synagogue. Synagogues were scattered all over Judea, and were in every country where the Jews lived. They were places sacred to devotion and instruction. They were not expressly of Divine appointment, like the Temple, but they arose from the moral exigencies of the people; and were peculiarly serviceable in maintaining and perpetuating the knowledge of Moses and the prophets. They are supposed to have originated in the days of Ezra.
3. The action--He stood up for to read. Bless God that you have the Scriptures in your own hand, and in your own language; and that you are allowed to read them, and that you are commanded to read them.
III. This brings us to HIS PREACHING. And there was delivered unto Him the book of the prophet Esaias; 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 hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor, He hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
1. This was the text.
2. But observe the attention of the audience-- And He closed the book, and gave it again to the minister, and sat down: and the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on Him. It is very desirable to see an audience attentive, as the mind follows the eye, and the eye affecteth the heart.
3. Then observe the sermon itself--And He began to say, This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears.
(1) First, He asserts His qualification for His mission-- The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me.
(2) Then He asserts the design of His office-- He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.
IV. WHAT WAS THE EFFECT OF THE SERMON? They were struck with admiration; but admiration seems to have been all that they felt--And they wondered at the gracious words that proceeded out of His mouth; and they said, Is not this Josephs son? What reception does Jesus Christ meet with from us? (W. Jay.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv15, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 28, 31, 33 15. Taught in their synagogues. See note on Matt.…
15. Taught in their synagogues. See note on Matt. 4:23, for description of synagogues.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v31 Luk_4:31. Came down.—Capernaum being situated on the shore of…
CRITICAL NOTES
Luk_4:31. Came down.—Capernaum being situated on the shore of the Sea of Tiberias, Nazareth being higher on the hills. Taught them on the Sabbath days.—Rather, “He was teaching them on the Sabbath day” (R.V.).
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Luk_4:32. Doctrine.—Rather, teaching: both the manner and substance of His words (cf. Mat_7:28-29). With power.—Rather, “with authority” (R.V.).
Luk_4:33-41 contain a narrative of the events of one particular Sabbath day, from morning to night: see also Mat_8:14-17; Mar_1:21-31.
Luk_4:33. Unclean devil.—The word “unclean” is inserted, either because in Greek “demon” might be good or bad, or because in this special case the effect upon the possessed person made the epithet peculiarly appropriate.
Luk_4:34. Let us alone.—Or, “Ah!” (R.V.), the Greek word ἔα being either the imperative of ἐαῶ to “let alone,” or an interjection.
Luk_4:35. Hold thy peace.—Lit. “be muzzled.”
Luk_4:37. The fame of Him.—Rather, “a rumour concerning Him” (R.V.).
Luk_4:38. A great fever.—This is a technical term used by contemporary Greek physicians. For other examples of minute medical or physiological details given by this Evangelist, see Luk_4:35 (“and hurt him not”), Luk_5:12; Luk_6:6; Luk_22:50-51; Act_3:7-8; Act_4:22; Act_9:33; Act_28:8.
Luk_4:39. He stood over her.—Notice the graphic description; also in Luk_4:40, “He laid His hands on every one of them.”
Luk_4:40. When the sun was setting.—With sunset the Sabbath ended, and the friends of the sick would feel at liberty to carry them into Christ’s presence.
Luk_4:41.—The best MSS. omit “Christ”: omitted in R.V. It is probably a gloss explanatory of “The Son of God.”
Luk_4:43. Preach the kingdom of God.—Rather, “preach the good tidings [gospel] of the kingdom of God” (R.V.).
Luk_4:44. Galilee.—MS. evidence is very strong in favour of Judæa rather than Galilee in this passage. It may be an error of transcription; but the striking fact remains that there was an early Judæan ministry, which is recorded in St. John’s Gospel, but is not directly referred to by the Synoptists, unless it be here.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Luk_4:31-44
A Sabbath in Capernaum.—We here pass from the synagogue at Nazareth, among its hills, to that at Capernaum, on the lake-side, where Jesus was already known as a worker of miracles. The two Sabbaths are in sharp contrast. The issue of the one is a tumult of fury and hate; that of the other, a crowd of suppliants and an eager desire to keep Him with them. The story is in four paragraphs, each showing a new phase of Christ’s power and pity.
I. Christ as the Lord of that dark world of evil (Luk_4:33-37).—The silence of the synagogue was suddenly broken by shrieks of rage and fear coming from a man who had been sitting quietly among the others. Possibly his condition had not been suspected until Christ’s presence roused his dreadful tyrant. Note the rage and terror of the demon. The presence of purity is a sharp pain to impurity, and an evil spirit is stirred to its depths when in contact with Jesus. Observe, too, the unclean spirit’s knowledge of the character and Divine relationship of Jesus. It gives a glimpse into a dim region, and suggests that the counsels of heaven, as effected on earth, are keenly watched and understood by eyes whose gleam is unsoftened by any touch of pity or submission. Observe Christ’s tone of authority and sternness. He had pity for men who were capable of redemption; but His words and demeanour to the evil spirits are always severe. He accepts the most imperfect recognition from men, and often seems as if labouring to evoke it; but He silences the evil spirits’ clear recognition. The confession which is “unto salvation” comes from a heart that loves, not merely from a head that perceives; and Jesus accepts nothing else. He will not have His name soiled by such lips. Note, still further, Christ’s absolute control of the demon. His bare word is sovereign and secures outward obedience, though from an unsubdued and disobedient will. He cannot make the foul creature love, but can make him act. Surely omnipotence speaks, if demons hear and obey. The existence of such spirits suggests the possibility of undying and responsible beings reaching, by continued alienation of heart and will from God, a stage in which they are beyond the capacity of improvement and outside the sweep of Christ’s pity.
II. The gentleness of Christ’s healing power and the immediate service of gratitude to Him (Luk_4:38-39).—Now the Lord’s tenderness shines unmingled with sternness. His pity, that pity which wielded omnipotence, was kindled by the beseeching of sorrowful hearts. And He who moves the forces of Deity still from His throne lets us move His heart by our cry. St. Luke is specially struck with one feature in the case—the immediate return of ordinary strength. The woman is lying, the one minute, pinned down and helpless with “a great fever,” and the next is engaged in her domestic duties. When Christ heals He heals thoroughly, and gives strength as well as healing. What could a woman, who was probably a poor dependant on her son-in-law, do for her Healer? Not much. But she did what she could, and that without delay. The natural impulse of gratitude is to give its best, and the proper use of healing and new strength is to minister to Him. Such a guest made humble household cares worship; and all our poor powers and tasks, consecrated to His praise and become the offerings of grateful hearts, are lifted into greatness and dignity. He did not despise the modest fare hastily dressed for Him; and He still delights in our gifts, though the cattle on a thousand hills are His.
III. The all-sufficiency of Christ’s pity and power (Luk_4:40-41).—As soon as the sinking sun relaxed the sabbatical restrictions, a motley crowd came flocking round the house carrying all the sick that could be lifted, all eager to share in His healing. It did not argue real faith in Him, but it was genuine sense of need, and expectation of blessing from His hand; and the measure of faith was the measure of blessing. They got what they believed He could give. If their faith had been larger, its answers would have been greater. St. Luke makes prominent the inexhaustible fulness of pity and power, which met and satisfied all the petitioners. The misery spoke to Christ’s heart, and He moved among the sad groups, and with gentle touch healed them all. To-day as then, the fountain of His pity and healing power is full, after thousands have drawn from it, and no crowd of suppliants bars our way to His heart or His hands. He has “enough for all, enough for each, enough for evermore.”
IV. Jesus seeking seclusion, but willingly sacrificing it at men’s call (Luk_4:42-44).—He withdraws in early morning, not because His store of power was exhausted, or His pity had tired, but to renew His communion with the Father. He needed solitude and silence, and we need it still more. No work worth doing will ever be done for Him unless we are familiar with some quiet place, where we and God alone together can hold converse, and new strength be poured into our hearts. Our Lord is here our pattern also, of willingly leaving the place of communion when duty calls and men implore. A great solemn “must” ruled His life, as it should do ours, and the fulfilment of that for which He “was sent” ever was His aim, rather than even the blessedness of solitary communion or the repose of the silent hour of prayer.—Maclaren.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON Luk_4:31-44
Luk_4:31-44. A Vivid Glimpse of Christ’s Actual and Active Ministry.—We are enabled to follow His footsteps for nearly twenty-four hours.
I. In the earlier part of the day, He goes to the synagogue, teaches with great impression, and deepens this still further by the first instance of His power over “the possessed.”
II. In the after-part of the day, He raises Simon’s mother-in-law from her fevered bed to perfect health.
III. Later on the same evening, the afflicted people of the whole town are gathered round the door, and He heals them all.
IV. The night’s rest which followed must have been of the briefest, for He rose the next morning long before day broke, and retired into a solitary place for prayer.—Laidlaw.
The Record of a Single Sabbath’s Work.
I. A strange scene in a church.
II. A wonderful transformation in a private house.
III. The house turned into a public hospital from which all the diseased people go away cured.—Hastings.
Christ’s Daily Life.
I. His work of preaching.
II. His work of healing.
III. His hours of retirement.—W. Taylor.
Luk_4:31. “Came down to Capernaum.”—Jesus had before this visited Capernaum and wrought miracles of healing the fame of which had reached Nazareth (Luk_4:23); but now He makes it the headquarters of His work in Galilee. Probably the animosity towards Him manifested by His fellow-townsmen in Nazareth had something to do with His making this change. From Joh_2:12 we should understand that His mother and brethren also removed to Capernaum at the same time. Perhaps the hatred He had incurred was to some extent visited upon them. So intimately was He associated henceforth with Capernaum that it is called “His own city” (Mat_9:1). It is strange that this city which is so much spoken of in the Gospels has completely disappeared; there are three or four theories as to which particular heap of ruins near the Sea of Galilee is to be identified with it. We can scarcely make any mistake in connecting this utter destruction with Christ’s own prophecy concerning the city (Mat_11:23).
“Taught them.”—The substance of His teaching is given in Mar_1:15 : “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.”
Luk_4:32. “His word was with authority” (R.V.).—The teaching of Jesus was different from that to which the people were accustomed:
(1) He spoke as one sent and commissioned by God;
(2) He laid stress upon His own person and claims as “the Word of God made flesh”; and
(3) love for the souls of men shone out in all He said. The general characteristics of Rabbinical teaching have been described as follows: “The scribes varied greatly, like other men, in ability, character, and qualifications; but it would appear that in the time of our Lord the great bulk of them were pedantic in things that were obvious enough, and frivolous and jejune in all things that lay beyond. They were admirable guessers, and mighty in platitudes. They were ingenious in raising microscopic doubts, and perfect adepts in conjuring up conceit to do battle with conceit. They were skilful in splitting hairs to infinity, and proud of their ability to lead their hearers through the endless mazes of the imaginations of preceding rabbis—imaginations that ended in nothing, or in something that was actually worse than nothing. But they had no power, or almost none, to move the conscience toward true goodness, or to stir the heart toward God and toward man. They might speak, indeed, with positiveness enough; but it would not be with moral power. They might assert with dictatorial self-sufficiency; but it would not be with ‘demonstration of the Spirit’—demonstration flashing in conviction even upon reluctant souls” (Morison).
Luk_4:33-36. The Demoniac in the Synagogue.
I. The unhappy worshipper.—We can only conjecture the special meaning of the phrase here employed, “a spirit of an unclean devil.” He had not as yet been excluded from the synagogue worship. Or perhaps he rushed, spirit-driven, into the midst of the worshippers.
II. The sacred Presence provokes a crisis.—There is an unbelief which can never be silent. The demons could never confront Jesus calmly. They resent His interference. They are indignant at His saving work. They make weird, unearthly complaint.
III. Jesus is stern and cold.—He is gentle with sinful men. Not so here. As to a wild beast, He says, “Be muzzled. Come out of him.” Whereupon the evil spirit exhibits at once his ferocity and his defeat.
IV. The spectators draw the proper inference.—A new power implied a new revelation. Something far-reaching and profound might be expected from Him who commanded the unclean spirits with authority and was obeyed. Yet no one was converted by this miracle. All were amazed; but wonder is not self-surrender.—Chadwick.
Luk_4:33. “In the synagogue.”—It is strange to find a man possessed by an unclean spirit among the worshippers in the synagogue, but perhaps he had not before this given any open indication of the spiritual malady from which he was suffering. The excitement connected with the teaching of Christ, and the holiness of His person, may have disturbed the man’s mind and stirred up the rage of the evil spirit.
Luk_4:34. “What have we to do with Thee?”—The unclean spirit is the real speaker; but the utterance is that of the man, who, being in, i.e. possessed by, the evil spirit, becomes its mere instrument. In this respect a specific distinction may be observed in the mode of spiritual action in the case of true prophets: in them inspiration does not supersede personal consciousness; they either speak their own words, or they deliver a message in the name and in the words of the Lord.—Speaker’s Commentary.
“Art Thou come to destroy us?”—The Saviour had not, so far as appears, been formally interfering by a specific action. But His very presence on the scene was felt to be interference. There emanated from Him, round about, an influence that went in upon men blissfully, counteracting all evil influences. The unclean spirit felt the power, and resented it as an interference—an interference not with itself in particular, but with the entire circle of kindred spirits. “Art Thou come to destroy us?”—Morison.
“I know Thee … the Holy One of God.”—Earth has not recognised her King, disguised as He is like one of her own children; but heaven has borne witness to Him (Luk_2:11; Luk_3:22), and now hell must bear its witness too—“the devils believe and tremble.”—Trench.
The Outcry of the Evil Spirit.—Jerome speaks of the outcry of the evil spirit as being like the exclamations of a fugitive slave when he comes face to face with his master and seeks to deprecate his wrath. But it is more probable that on the part of the evil spirit there was a malignant intention to compromise Jesus by bearing testimony in favour of His high claims. The acknowledgment of the supreme power of the Saviour together with a refusal to submit to His rule is an illogical course of procedure we are only too familiar with in our own experience. To many of His professed disciples Jesus may say, “Why call ye Me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?”
Luk_4:35. “Thrown him in the midst.”—The final deliverance of the sufferer from the evil spirit was accompanied by such a sharp paroxysm that evidently those in the synagogue thought that the man was dead. This is vividly indicated by the phrase “came out of him and hurt him not.” “Something similar to this violence of the evil spirit in the hour of its ejectment is evermore finding place; and Satan vexes with temptations and with buffetings none so much as those who are in the act of being delivered from his dominion for ever.” In the man possessed by the evil spirit we have a living picture of our own souls under the dominion of sin; just as in the power of Christ to heal the sufferer we have a proof of His ability to control the powers of darkness and to deliver us from subjection to them.
Luk_4:36-37. “They were all amazed.”—“We can imagine to ourselves the emotion of those assembled in the synagogue who, while they were listening in silence to the teaching of Jesus, saw in an instant such a storm break forth in their midst—an almost visible contest between the two spiritual powers which were disputing with each other for rule over mankind” (Godet). In their presence the prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled: “Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children” (Isa_49:25). The admiration manifested by those who witnessed this miracle and the fame with which the performance of such a work invested the Saviour no doubt indicate that His claim to have been sent from God was pretty widely accepted in the district. Yet after all it was but the springing up of the seed in the rocky ground where there was not sufficient deepness of earth. The words they heard and the mighty works they saw involved all the heavier punishment for their unbelief (Mat_11:23).
Luk_4:38-41. Healing of the Body a Pledge of the healing of the Soul.
I. The fever rebuked.—
1. At the request of those around.
2. Accompanied by a specific action.
3. Followed by a complete recovery.
II. The evening’s work.—He began afresh and carried on probably late into the night His toilsome work. “Disease being the cold shadow of sin, its removal was a kind of sacrament, an outward and visible sign that the Healer of souls was nigh.”—Laidlaw.
Luk_4:38. “Simon’s house.”—Perhaps in the statement that Jesus on leaving the synagogue went to the house of a disciple rather than to that in which His mother and brethren were, we have an indication of an estrangement between Jesus and some of His own family who believed not on Him (cf. Joh_7:5). The fact that Peter was married is, one would think, calculated to disturb those who attach great importance to the doctrine of the celibacy to the clergy. We read of his wife as accompanying him in missionary journeys (1Co_9:5). Clement of Alexandria, in his Miscellanies, tells of her martyrdom in words that are very beautiful and free from exaggerated sentiment. “They say that the blessed Peter, when he saw his wife led away to death, rejoiced that she was graciously called, and was returning to her home, and that, calling her by name, he addressed her in words of encouragement and consolation, ‘Remember thou the Lord.’ Such was the marriage of the saints, and such their perfect state of mind towards their dearest.”
“A great fever.”—I.e. typhoid fever.
“They besought Him for her.”—I.e. evidently Peter and his wife.
Luk_4:39. “Rebuked the fever.”—It is not necessary to understand the word “rebuke” as implying a personification of the fever: it evidently means speaking in a firm, authoritative manner, and tolerating no resistance to His command.
“Rose up and ministered unto them.”—The instantaneousness and completeness of the cure is indicated in the fact that she immediately, on leaving the bed on which sickness had laid her, ministered to the Saviour and the others, i.e. waited upon them at the table. We may apply this circumstance to our spiritual duties. “The first use she made of her recovered strength was to employ it in her Master’s service. And does she not become a pattern therein to Christians, who on their restoration to spiritual health should employ their powers in ministering to Christ in the person of the poorest members of His mystical body?”—Burgon.
Consecration of Renewed Powers.—There is a whole cluster of suggestions here.
I. Every sick person who is restored should hasten to consecrate to God the life that is given back.—Surely it was spared for a purpose.
II. Opportunities to minister to Christ in the persons of His people are at hand and innumerable.—No need to wait for fine and splendid service. True ministry to Christ is doing first and well one’s daily duties.—Miller.
Luk_4:40. “All they that had any sick.”—Observe His Divine power and goodness shining forth in the miraculous cure of all diseases. And whatsoever be thy spiritual maladies, though never so many and so desperate, yet come. Never any came to Him and went away uncured.—Leighton.
“Laid His hands on every one.”—Jesus could certainly have cured by a word (Luk_7:6-10), or even by a simple exercise of will (Joh_4:50). But there is first of all something profoundly human in this act of laying His hand on the head of each one whom He wished to benefit. It was an indication of kindly feeling. Then, too, it was morally significant. Each time that Jesus made use of material means for working a cure, whether it were by the sound of His voice or by the use of clay made with His spittle, His purpose was to establish a personal tie between the sufferer and Himself; for He wished not only to cure, but to lead to God, and to do that by presenting Himself as the organ of Divine grace among mankind. It is this moral purpose which explains the diversity in the means which He employed. If they had been in themselves curative—if, for example, they had been of the nature of magnetic passes—they would not have varied so much. But as they were directed to the heart of the sufferer, they were chosen with special reference to his character or condition. In the case of a deaf-mute, Jesus put His fingers in his ears; He anointed the eyes of a blind man with His spittle, etc. The cure, therefore, was presented to the heart of those healed as an emanation from His person, and attached them to Him by an indissoluble tie.—Godet.
The Miracles of Healing Prophetic.—In the healing of all manner of diseases, Jesus not only gave a proof of His power to cope with all the evils bodily and spiritual that afflict mankind, but gave a prophetic representation of the state of blessedness in the new heavens and earth, from which all that mars our happiness will be for ever excluded. In the miracles of healing we have the first-fruits of that Divine beneficence which will overcome and banish all our sorrows (cf. Rev_21:3-4).
Luk_4:42. Christ in Solitude.—He was continually withdrawing Himself from human sight and contact in those deserts of Palestine and praying. With teaching and healing, prayer divided His life. Have we too no need of like withdrawings after Him and with Him into the wilderness? Are we so intensely spiritual that we need none of that desecularising, decarnalising process of which the desert seclusions of Jesus were the perpetual parable? It is not safe to have the world always with us. The ground “lacks moisture” which has only the glare of day upon it.—Vaughan.
Solitude often Dreaded.—What is it that makes solitude dreadful to some and oppressive to many? Partly
(1) the sense of physical danger, born of helplessness and uncertainty. This Jesus never felt, who knew that He must walk to-day and to-morrow, and on the third day be perfected. And partly
(2) the weight of unwelcome reflection, the rebukes of memory, the fears that come of guilt. Jesus was agitated by no inward discords, upbraided by no remorse. He had probably no reveries; He is never recorded to soliloquise; solitude to Him was but another name for communion with God His Father; He was never alone, for God was with Him.—Chadwick.
Jesus makes Time for Prayer.—Jesus would always find time for prayer, or make time for it. If His days were full of excitement and toil, He would take time out of His nights for communion with God. At least, He never allowed Himself to be robbed of His hours of devotion. Is not His example a solemn rebuke?—Miller.
The Order of these Events.—From St. Mark’s Gospel we get several additional particulars which enable us to understand more clearly the narrative in this place. In the morning, long before the darkness of the night was past, Jesus rose up and left the house of Simon Peter and went into a desert place to pray. When His absence was discovered, Simon Peter and others went in search of Him, and entreated Him not to leave them. The early morning, the silent departure from the house, the purpose for which He sought the solitude of the desert, and the search for Him, form a very striking picture. The active labours of the preceding day caused Jesus to feel the necessity of recruiting His spiritual strength by withdrawing Himself for a time from the turmoil of the world and by holding communion with His heavenly Father. How much more do we need to seek from time to time to collect together our thoughts which are so easily dissipated by our every-day occupations, and to seek from God that spiritual refreshment that will make us strong to serve Him and our fellow-men! For we cannot give out unless we receive from Him.
The Search for Jesus.—Jesus had doubtless enjoyed some uninterrupted hours of such communings with His heavenly Father ere His friends from Capernaum arrived in search of Him. When morning came, Peter, loath to break in upon the repose of his glorious Guest, would await His appearance beyond the usual hour; but at length, wondering at the stillness, and gently coming to see where the Lord lay, he finds it—like the sepulchre afterwards—empty! Speedily a party is made up to go in search of Him, Peter naturally leading the way.—Brown.
Luk_4:43. “I must preach the kingdom of God.”—No doubt those who had witnessed the miracles in Capernaum expected to see a repetition of marvels of the same kind; but in the words in which Jesus replied to their request to remain among them, He lays stress upon preaching “the good tidings of the kingdom of God” as the great work He was sent to do. As the Saviour of Israel, and not merely of Capernaum, a moral obligation lay upon Him to go from city to city. It would no doubt have been pleasanter to remain among those who showed a disposition to pay Him reverence. But “even Christ pleased not Himself.” “The Saviour of the world might, indeed, by abiding in the same place, have drawn all men unto Himself; but He did not do so, because He would give us an example to go about, and seek those who are perishing, as the shepherd his lost sheep.”
“Other cities.”—Jesus went about doing good. He did not confine His blessings to single localities. He sought to reach as many souls as possible. He did not wait for people to come to Him, but carried the good news to their own doors. He thus taught that—
I. His gospel is for all men, and not for any particular place. He taught us also—
II. To make the most of our lives and opportunities, scattering the blessings of grace as widely as possible. He wants His Church to keep on preaching the gospel to “other cities also,” till there is not one left in which it has not been heard.—Miller.
Luk_4:44. “The synagogues of Galilee.”—Our Lord’s procedure in this first missionary journey was therefore to visit various towns, and to preach in synagogues on successive Sabbaths. It has been calculated that the time occupied must have been some four or five months. Galilee at this period was a very populous district. Josephus says that it contained two hundred and four towns, with not less than fifteen thousand inhabitants in each, i.e. more than three million of a population. Even if he has exaggerated the number, it must still have been considerable.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain On v16 Luk 4:16-31; Mat 4:13-16. “He came into Nazareth, where…
JESUS REJECTED AT NAZARETH, MIGRATES TO CAPERNAUM
Luk 4:16-31; Mat 4:13-16. “He came into Nazareth, where he was brought up, and according to the custom to Him on the Sabbath-day, He came into the synagogue, and stood up to read. And the Book of Isaiah the prophet was given unto Him, and opening the book, He found the place where it was written [Isa 61:1], The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel unto the poor; sent Me to heal the broken-hearted; to preach deliverance to the captives, and sight to the blind; to send away with liberty those who are bruised; to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And closing the book, giving it to the officer, He sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were concentrated on Him. And He began to speak to them, This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears.” Isaiah has been denominated the Messianic prophet, because his writings so copiously, brilliantly, and triumphantly set forth the Christ, the Shiloh of prophecy, the Redeemer of Israel, and the Savior of the world. Jesus now preaches to them these Scriptures, assuring them that they are fulfilled. This is to them, not only astounding, but paradoxical. He had spent His life there. They looked upon Him as one of them, and the idea that these grand prophecies are fulfilled in Him is more than they can receive.
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“And all continued to witness to Him and to be astonished at the words of grace which proceeded out of His mouth, and said, Is not this the son of Joseph?” When I was in Nazareth, I visited Joseph’s workshop, and saw, in beautiful and impressive statuary, Joseph and Jesus working at the carpenter’s trade, and Mary sitting by looking at them. The scene was wonderfully sweet and charming, especially the statue of the loving boy Jesus, working with His hands. They had known Him thirty years as the son of the carpenter Joseph. There were no common schools in that country; no educational opportunities except the rabbinical colleges at Jerusalem, the prophetical schools of Elijah and Elisha being institutions of the past. They knew He had never gone away to college. Hence they are astonished, and all eyes centered on Him, and all minds wrapped in bewilderment. The birth of Jesus in Bethlehem symbolizes the regeneration of the human heart by the Holy Spirit, while His induement with the Holy Ghost, immediately after His consecration to the official Messiahship by the baptism of John, responds to our sanctification; as you must bear in mind that the negative work of sin’s removal had no place in His experience as in ours. Hence, He only had the positive side born in Bethlehem, and filled with the Holy Ghost at the Jordan. During the thirty years of His minority at Nazareth, His life was perfectly irreproachable, and He was a paragon saint in His disposition, attending the synagogue worship regularly as a faithful Church member. But now they see a wonderful change in Him. Such is His magnetism that all eyes are centered on Him. While they all know Him, having been acquainted with Him all His life, they can scarcely believe their own eyes and ears when they see such a change in the flash of His eye, the tone of His voice, the character and manner of His speech. What is the solution? Why, He has been filled with the Holy Ghost since they saw Him, so that now His words are like flaming fire, burning their way into the deep interior of all hearts, arousing the carnal mind with rattlesnake venom and retaliation.
Doubtless, during the years of His young manhood, He had taken an active part in the synagogue worship; but never before had they realized those fiery thunderbolts, going down into the deep interior of their spirits, producing heart-ache intolerable, and arousing Adam the First to fight for his life.
“And He said to them, Truly do you speak to Me this parable, Physician, heal thyself; so many things as we have heard having been done in Capernaum, do even so here in Thy own country.” As they had heard of His working mighty miracles in Capernaum (of which we have no record except this terse allusion), now they demand of Him to do the same in Nazareth; and as He is a citizen of Nazareth, the old medical problem, “Physician, heal thyself,” is here applied. “As You are a Nazarene, and in healing the Nazarenes, You would heal Yourself.” “And He said, Truly, I say unto you, A prophet is not acceptable in his own country.” He also said He could not do many mighty works there on account of their unbelief. This illustrates the importance of leaving home, pursuant to the Commission, “Go and preach.” We must not forget, that “Go” is a part of the Commission as well as preach. Even our Savior found it necessary to go away from Nazareth to do His mighty works, as their unbelief laid an incorrigible paralysis even on the ministry of Jesus. Multitudes of good preachers blight their own usefulness by staying where they were brought up, and so frequently by remaining too long at any one place.
“But in truth I say unto you, There were many widows in the days of Elijah in Israel, when heaven was shut up, as there was a great drought on all the land; and Elijah was sent to no one of them except to a widow woman in Sareptah of Sidon. And there were many lepers in Israel in the days of Elisha the prophet; and no one of them was healed except Naaman the Syrian.” Our Lord here sets forth the sovereign, discriminating mercy of God, as illustrated in the case of Elijah and Elisha, the greatest prophets — the one only sent to relieve one widow, and she not an Israelite, but a Gentile; and the other only healing one leper, and he was not an Israelite, but a Syrian. So we really deserve none of God’s mercies. Whatever He does is a sheer gratuity; and if He does not relieve us, we have no right to complain if He simply lets us alone in the sin and misery which we have brought on ourselves.
“And they were all in the synagogue, hearing these things, filled with rage.” They regard His talk as an impudent insinuation against them, as if they were not as good as the people in other cities where He had done these mighty works of philanthropy and benefaction. He had attended service in that synagogue thirty years; they felt that He was one of them; and they had a right to the wonderful benefit of His prophetical services. Now they conclude that He has gotten above them, treated them with contempt, as if they were not as good as other people. Therefore, instead of receiving the truth and getting convicted, they become violently angry.
“And rising up, they were preparing to cast Him out of their city, and were leading Him to the brow of the mountain, on which their city was built, in order to precipitate Him down; and He, going through the midst of them, departed. And He came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee.” When I was in Nazareth, I visited this synagogue, as they claim, yet standing, a venerable stone edifice, where Jesus worshipped during the thirty years of His minority, and where they finally rejected the burning truth which He preached with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, and, rising up, led Him away, to cast Him down from a precipice, and kill Him. The young men went from this synagogue directly to the Mount of Precipitation. They point out two precipices, both claiming to be the height from which they aimed to cast Him. The one more distant from the city is quite a conspicuous mountain, which we had in full view two days in our peregrinations. We see that Jesus changed his residence to Capernaum, where many of the people believed on Him, and He received much appreciation. The people of Nazareth had gotten along with Him, so far as we know, without any trouble all His life till He got sanctified; i.e., filled with the Holy Ghost. Then His words were like forked lightnings, burning them through and through, and utterly intolerable to the carnal mind. Though you have always gotten along pleasantly in your Church till you go away to a holiness camp and get sanctified, — but do not be surprised or discouraged, when you go home, if they reject your testimony, and even get so mad at you that they “cast you out” — i.e., turn you out of the Church — and feel like killing you. This was precisely the history of Jesus. His example is before you. When they rejected His testimony at Nazareth, He went away from His native home, and never lived there any more. At Capernaum, whither He went and fixed His abode, He received much encouragement. Peter, Andrew, James, John, and Philip, noble apostles, and many disciples, He received at Capernaum.
Matthew: “Leaving Nazareth, having come, He dwelt in Capernaum, by the seaside, in the coast of Zebulun and Naphtali; in order that the word spoken by Isaiah the prophet may be fulfilled, Thou land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people sitting in darkness saw a great light; and to those sitting in the valley and shadow of death, light sprang up.” Capernaum is on the northern coast of the Sea of Galilee, in the tribe of Zebulun, but near the border of Naphtali, and a short distance west of the Jordan, which was the boundary of the Jews and Gentiles at that place, the country lying east of the Jordan and the Sea of Galilee being occupied by the Gadarenes and the Decapolis. Hence the fulfillment of this prophecy, as our Savior made Capernaum his headquarters. The wonderful influence of His ministry brought a sunburst on all that country, bringing untold blessings to both Jews and Gentiles.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On vv21, 33
Luke
PREACHING AT NAZARETH
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Luk 4:21.
This first appearance of our Lord, in His public work at Nazareth, the home of His childhood, was preceded, as we learn from John’s Gospel, by a somewhat extended ministry in Jerusalem. In the course of it, He cast the money-changers out of the Temple, did many miracles, had His conversation with Nicodemus, and on His return towards Galilee met the woman of Samaria at the well. The report of these things, no doubt, had preceded Him, and kindled the Nazarenes’ curiosity to see their old companion who had suddenly shot up into a person of importance, and had even made a sensation in the metropolis. A great man’s neighbours are keen critics of, and slow believers in, his greatness. So it was natural and very prudent that Jesus should not begin His ministry in Nazareth.
We can easily imagine the scene that morning in the little village, nestling among the hills. How many memories would occupy Christ as He entered the synagogue, where He had so often sat a silent worshipper! How Mary’s eyes would fill with tears if she was there, and how the companions of His boyhood, who used to play with Him, would watch Him; all curious, some sympathetic, some jealous, some contemptuous!
The synagogue service began with prayer and praise. Then followed two readings, one from the Law, one from the Prophets. When the latter point was reached, in accordance with usage, Jesus rose, thereby signifying His desire to be reader of the Prophetic portion. We can understand how there would be a movement of quickened attention as the roll was handed to Him and He turned its sheets. He ‘found the place’; that looks as if He sought for it; that is to say, that it was not the appointed lesson for the day-if there was such-but that it was a passage selected by Himself.
I need not enter upon the divergences between Luke’s quotation as given in our English version and the Hebrew. They are partly due to the fact that he is quoting from memory the Greek version of the LXX. He inserts, for instance, one clause which is not found in that place in Isaiah, but in another part of the same prophet. Having read standing, as was the usage, in token of reverence for the Scripture, Jesus resumed His seat, not as having finished, but, as was the usage, taking the attitude of the teacher, which signified authority. And then, His very first sentence was the most unlimited assertion that the great words which He had been reading had reached their full accomplishment in Himself. They are very familiar to our ears. If we would understand their startling audacity we must listen to them with the ears of the Nazarenes, who had known Him ever since He was a child. ‘This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears.’ Now, it seems to me that this first sermon of our Lord’s to His old fellow-townsmen brings into striking prominence some characteristics of His whole teaching, to which I desire briefly to direct attention.
I. I note Christ’s self-assertion.
To begin in Nazareth with such words as these in my text was startling enough, but it is in full accord with the whole tone of our Lord’s teaching. If you will carefully search for the most essential characteristics and outstanding differentia of the words of Jesus Christ, even if you make all allowance that some make for the non-historical character of the Gospels, you have this left as the residuum, that the impression which He made upon the men that were nearest to Him, and that caught up most fully the spirit of His teaching, was that the great thing that differentiated it from all other was His unhesitating persistence in pushing into the very forefront, His testimony about Himself. I do not think that there is anything parallel to that anywhere else amongst the men whom the world recognises as being great religious geniuses or great moral teachers. What characterises as perfectly unique our Lord’s teaching is not only the blessed things that He said about God or the deep truths that He said about men and their duty, or the sad things that He said about men and their destiny, or the radiant hopes that He unveiled as to men and their possibility, but what He said about Himself. His message was not so much ‘Believe in God and do right,’ as it was ‘Believe in Me and follow Me.’
I need only point you to the Sermon on the Mount, which is popularly supposed to contain very little of Christ’s reference to Himself, and to remind you how there, in that authoritative proclamation of the laws of the new kingdom, He calmly puts His own utterances as co-ordinate with-nay! as superior to-the utterances of the ancient law, and sweeps aside Moses-though recognising Moses’ divine mission-with an ‘I say unto you.’ I need only remind you, further, how, at the end of that ‘compendium of reasonable morality,’ He lays down this principle-that these sayings of ‘Mine’ are a rock-foundation, on which whoever builds shall never be put to confusion. This is but a specimen of the golden thread, if I may call it so, of self-assertion which runs through the whole of our Lord’s teaching.
Now, I venture to say that this undeniable characteristic is only warranted on the supposition that He is the Son of God, and His work the salvation of the world. If He is so, if ‘He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father,’ if the revelation of Himself which He makes is the Revelation of God, if His death is for the life of the world; and if, when we honour Him, we honour God; when we trust Him, we trust God; when we obey Him we obey God; then I can understand His persistent self-assertion. But otherwise does He not deliberately intercept emotions which are only rightly directed to God? Does He not claim prerogatives, such as forgiveness of sins, bestowal of life, answering of prayer, which are only possessed by the Divine Being?
I know that many who will not go with me in my intellectual formularising of the truth about Christ’s nature do bow to Him with unfeigned reverence. But it seems to me, I humbly confess, that there is no logical basis for such reverence except the full-toned recognition that the mystery of His self-assertion is explained by the mystery of His nature, God manifest in the flesh. I, for my part, do not see how the moral perfectness of Jesus Christ is to be saved, in view of that unmistakable strand in His teaching, unless by such admission. Rather, I feel that the recognition of it brings us face to face with the tremendous alternative, and that the people who were moved to indignation by His self-assertion because they recognised not His divine origin, and said ‘This man blasphemeth’; ‘This deceiver said,’ have more to say in defence of their conclusion than those who bow before Him with reverence, and declare Him to be the pattern of all human perfectness, and yet falter when they are asked to join in the great confession, ‘Thou are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’
II. Secondly, note here our Lord’s sad conception of humanity.
There are, as it were, two strands running through the prophetic passage which He quotes, one in reference to Himself, one in reference to those whom He came to help. To the latter I now turn, to get our Lord’s point of view when He looked upon the facts of human life.
No man will ever do much for the world whose ears have not been opened to hear its sad music. An inadequate conception of its miseries is sure to lead to inadequate prescriptions for their remedy. We must bear upon our own hearts the burdens that we seek to lift off our brothers’ shoulders. There is nothing about the Master’s words concerning mankind more pathetic and more plain than the sad, stern, and yet pitying view which He always took concerning them and their condition.
In the passage on which Jesus based His claims, as given by Luke, one of the clauses is probably not in this place genuine, for ‘the healing of the brokenhearted’ should be struck out of the true text. There are then four symbols employed: the poor, the captives, the blind, the bruised. And these four are representations of the result of one fell cause, and that is-sin.
Sin impoverishes. Our true wealth is God. No man that possesses Him, by love, and trust, and conformity of will and effort to His discerned will, is poor, whatever else he has, whatever else he lacks. And no man who has lost this one durable treasure, the loving communion with, and possession of, God, in mind and heart and will and effort, but is a pauper whatever else he possesses. Wherever a man has sold himself to his own will, and has made himself and his own inclinations and misread good his centre and his aim, which is the definition of sin, there bankruptcy and poverty have come. Thieves sometimes beset travellers from the gold mines, as they are bringing down their dust or their nuggets to market, and empty the pockets of the gold, and fill them up with sand. That is what sin does for us; it takes away our true treasure, and befools us by giving us what seems to be solid till we come to open the bag; and then there is no power in it to buy anything for us. ‘Why will ye spend your labour for that which satisfieth not?’ The one poverty is the impoverishment that lays hold of every soul that wrenches itself, in self-will, apart from God. Sin makes poor.
Sin not only impoverishes, but imprisons ‘the captives.’ Ah! you have only to think of your own experience to find out what that means. Is there nothing in the set of your affections, in the mastery that your passion has over you, in the habits of your lives, which you know as well as God knows it, to be wrong and ruinous, and of which you have tried to get rid? I know the answer, and every one of us, if we will look into our own hearts, knows it: we are ‘tied and bound by the chains of our sin.’ You do not need to go to inebriate homes, where there are people that would cut their right hands off if they could get rid of the craving, and cannot, to find instances of this bondage. We have only to be honest with ourselves, and to try to pull the boat against the stream instead of letting it drift with it, to know the force with which the current runs. A tiny thread like a spider’s draws after it a bit of cotton a little thicker, and knotted to that there is a piece of pack-thread, and after that a two-stranded cord, and then a cable that might hold an ironclad at anchor. That is a parable of how we draw to ourselves, by imperceptible degrees, an ever-thickening set of manacles that bind our wills and make us the servants of sin. ‘His slaves ye are whom ye obey.’ Sin imprisons. That is, your sin-do not let us befool ourselves with abstractions-your sin imprisons you.
Sin blinds. Wherever there comes over a soul the mist of self-will and self-regard, sight fails; and all the greatest things are blurred and blotted. The man that is immersed in his own evil is like one plunged in the ocean. The cold, salt waters are about him, and above him; and to him the glories of the sky, and the brightness of the sun, the tenderness of the colouring, are all blotted out. He who goes through life as some of us do, never seeing God, never seeing the loftiest beauty of goodness, never beholding with any clearness of vision the radiant possibilities of the future and its awful threatenings, may indeed see the things an inch from the point of his nose; but he is blind and cannot see afar off, and can only behold, and that darkly, the insignificances that are around him. Sin blinds.
And sin bruises. It takes all the health out of us, and makes us, from the sole of the foot to the crown of the head, masses of ‘wounds and bruises and putrifying sores.’
The enchantress having worked all this havoc, then gives us a cup of illusion which, when we drink, we know not that there is anything the matter with us. We are like a lunatic in a cell, who thinks himself a prince in a palace, and though living on porridge and milk, fancies that he is partaking of all the dainties of a luxurious table. The deceitfulness of sin is not the least of its tragical consequences.
III. Lastly, we have here our Lord’s conception of Himself and of His own work.
Your time will not allow of my dwelling upon this as I would fain have done, but let me point out one or two of the salient features of this initial programme of His. He claims to be the theme and the fulfilment of prophecy. Now, whatever influences modern notions about the genesis of the Old Testament, and the characteristics of its prophetic utterances may have done, they have not touched, and they never will touch, this one central characteristic of all that old system, that embedded in it there was an onward-looking gaze, anticipatory of a higher fulfilment and a further development of all that it taught. To those of us to whom Christ’s words are the end of all strife I need only point out that, here, He endorses the belief that prophetic utterances, however they may have had, and did have, a lower and immediate meaning, were only realised in the whole sweep and significance in Himself. So He presents Himself before His acquaintances in the little synagogue at Nazareth, and before the whole world to all time, as the centre-point and pivot on which the history of the world, so to speak, revolves; all that was before converging to Him, all that was after flowing down from Him. ‘They that went before, and they that followed after, cried, Hosanna! blessed be He that cometh in the name of the Lord.’
He claims to possess the whole fullness of the divine Spirit: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me.’ That is a reminiscence, no doubt, of the experience by the fords of the Jordan, at the Baptism. But it also opens up a wondrous consciousness, on His part, of a complete and uninterrupted possession of the divine life in all its fullness, which involves an entire separation from the miseries and needs of men. He claims to be the Messiah of the Old Covenant, with all the fullness of meaning, and loftiness of dignity which clustered round that word and that thought. He claims not only to proclaim, but to bestow, the blessings of which He speaks. For He not only comes to ‘preach good tidings to the poor,’ but ‘to heal the broken-hearted,’ and ‘to set at liberty all them that are bound.’ He is the Gospel which He utters. He not merely proclaims the favour of heaven, but He brings ‘the acceptable year of the Lord.’
This, in barest outline-which is all that your time will admit-is the summary of what Jesus Christ, in that first sermon in the synagogue at Nazareth, asserted Himself to be.
He does not detail the means by which He is about to bring the golden year, the year of Jubilee, ‘the acceptable year of the Lord.’ But I venture to say that it is hard to find, in the life of Jesus Christ, that which fulfils Christ’s own programme, as thus announced, unless you bring in His death on the Cross for the abolition of sin, His Resurrection for the abolition of death; His reign in glory for the bestowment on all sinful and bruised souls of the Spirit of healing and of righteousness.
These Nazarenes listened. Their hearts and consciences attested the magnetic power of His personality, and the truth of His word. So do the hearts and consciences of most of us. They wondered at the ‘words of grace’-whose matter was grace, whose manner was gracious-that proceeded from His mouth. So do most of us. But they let the incipient movement of their hearts be arrested by the cold, carping question, ‘Is not this Joseph’s son?’ and all the enthusiasm chilled into indifference; ‘indignation’ followed, and some of those who had almost been drawn to Him, in an hour’s time had their hands on His robe, to cast Him from the brow of the hill on which their village was built. Every man who comes to the point of feeling some emotions towards Christ as his Redeemer, as his King, is at a fork of the road. He may either take to the right, which will lead him to full communion and acceptance; or he may go to the left, which will carry him away out into the desert. The critical hour in the alchemist’s laboratory was when the lead in his crucible began to melt. If a cold current got at it, it resumed its dead solidity, and no gold could be made.
Brother! do not let the world’s cold currents get at your heart and freeze it again, if you feel that in any measure it is beginning to melt into penitence, and to flow with faith. The same voice that in the synagogue of Nazareth said, ‘He hath anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor’ speaks to us to-day from heaven, saying, ‘I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich . . . and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve that thou mayest see.’
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain On vv16, 31 J. W. McGarvey's The Fourfold Gospel [LX. Jesus Visits…
J. W. McGarvey's The Fourfold Gospel [LX. Jesus Visits Nazareth].
LX. JESUS VISITS NAZARETH AND IS REJECTED. aMATT. XIII. 54-58; bMARK VI. 1-6; cLUKE IV. 16-31.
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b1 And he went out from thence [from Capernaum]; and he cometh { aAnd coming binto his own country; and his disciples follow him. c16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up [As to this city, see Mar_1:39, Mar_3:1, Mar_3:2). For comment on this usage of the synagogue see Isa_61:1, Isa_61:2; but the quotation embraces other lines from Isaiah.] where it was written, 18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, Because he anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor [Anointing was the method by which prophets, priests, and kings were consecrated or set apart to their several offices. This prophecy says that the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus because he was appointed to do [358] a work of divine helpfulness]: He hath sent me to preach release to the captives, And recovering of sight to the blind, To set at liberty them that are bruised, 19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. [The prophecy set forth in physical terms what Jesus should perform in both the physical and spiritual realms. The prophecy closes with a reference to the jubilee year, which, being a time of liberation, forgiveness, and fresh starts, was a type of Christ's ministry and kingdom.] 20 And he closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant [This officer corresponded to our sexton. Part of this duty was to take charge of the synagogue rolls], and sat down [Reader and congregation both stood during the reading; then, usually, both sat down to hear the passage explained. They stood out of reverence for God's word]: and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fastened on him. [They had heard of his miracles, and were curious to see what he would say and do.] 21 And he began to say unto them, To-day hath this scripture been fulfilled in your ears. 22 And all bare him witness, and wondered at the words of grace which proceeded out of his mouth [The word grace refers rather to the manner than to the matter. The speech of Jesus flowed easily, and gracefully]: a54 And he taught bbegan to teach athem in their bthe synagogue: ainsomuch that bmany hearing him were astonished, aand said, bsaying, Whence hath this man these things? athis wisdom, and these might works? band, What is the wisdom that is given unto this man, and what mean such mighty works wrought by his hands? [They admitted his marvelous teaching and miraculous works, but were at a loss to account for them because their extreme familiarity with his humanity made it hard for them to believe in his divinity, by which alone his actions would be rightly explained. Twice in the early part of his ministry Jesus had been at Cana, within a few miles of Nazareth, and turning away from it had gone down to Capernaum. He did not call upon his townsmen to believe in him or his divine mission until [359] the evidences were so full that they could not deny them.] 3 Is not this the carpenter, cJoseph's son? athe carpenter's son? bthe son of Mary, and brother of James, and Joses, and Judas, and Simon? ais not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joseph, and Simon, and Judas? 56 And his sisters, are they not all bhere with us? [They brought forth every item of trade and relationship by which they could confirm themselves in their conviction that he was simply a human being like themselves. The question as to his identity, however, suggests that he may have been absent from Nazareth some little time. As to Jesus' kindred, see 1Ki_17:8-16, and the second at 2Ki_5:1-14. Palestine was filled with poor people even in times of plenty, so there must have been large numbers of hungry people during the long-continued period of famine. There has always been a large number of lepers in the land, and surely if any disease ought to prompt a man to lay aside his prejudices that he might obtain healing it was leprosy; but as Nazareth was now rejecting Jesus, so their ancestors had despised the two mighty prophets. Not one of all the hungry would have received bread from Elijah by an act of faith, nor did one of all the lepers ask healing from Elisha.] 28 And they were all filled with wrath in the synagogue, as they heard these things [The Nazarenes were jealous enough of the claims of Jesus when put in their most modest dress; but when Jesus placed himself alongside Elijah and Elisha, and likened his hearers to widows for want, and lepers for uncleanness, they were ready to dash him to pieces]; 29 and they rose up, and cast him forth out of the city, and led him [they evidently had hold of him] unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might throw him down headlong. [Near the eastern end of Nazareth there is a cavern in the rock which forms a precipice down which, if a man were hurled, he would be killed. At the western end there is a perpendicular cliff about forty feet high, with a naked floor of rock at the bottom. To which place they led Jesus we can not decide.] 30 But he passing through the midst of them [361] went his way. [A simple statement of a marvelous fact. Miracles are not explained in the Bible.] b5 And he could there do no mighty work, a58 And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief. bsave that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. 6 And he marvelled because of their unbelief. [As to this statement that Jesus felt surprised, see page 273. "It should also be borne in mind," says Canon Cook, "that surprise at the obtuseness and unreasonableness of sin is constantly attributed to God by the prophets." The statement, therefore, is perfectly consonant with the divinity of Jesus.] c31 And he came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. [We have followed the chronology of Mark, according to which Jesus had already been living in Capernaum for some time. Luke tells of the rejection early in his narrative, and adds this line to show that from the earlier days of his ministry Jesus made Capernaum his headquarters.]
[FFG 358-362]
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv16, 18, 19 came to Nazareth
came to Nazareth
Our Lord visited Nazareth twice after beginning His public ministry. See Mat 13:54-58; Mar 6:1-6.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv16, 20, 23, 28, 33 The visit to Nazareth:
The visit to Nazareth:
v. 16. And 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 for to read.
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v. 17. And there was delivered unto Him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written,
v. 18. The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me because He hath anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
v. 19. to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
In the course of the Galilean travels Jesus came to Nazareth. This little town in the hills of Galilee, situated on the brow of a hill, had been His home for almost thirty years. There He had been brought up; there He had received His education, at least in large part; there He had worked at His trade of carpenter, together with His foster-father Joseph. Now He came in a new capacity, as a teacher or rabbi. When the Sabbath came, He followed His usual custom of going to the synagogue. Note: If Jesus felt the need of regular attendance at church services, it is much more necessary for us to make it a habit to be at church every Sunday and whenever His Word is taught. On the Sabbath of which our text speaks the Lord was present as usual. According to the order of services, the reading of the Law had been done. Next in order came the reading from the prophets. Now the Lord arose to read. It was a courtesy which was willingly granted any visiting rabbis that they could read one of the lessons and append to that reading a few remarks in explanation. This was the meamar, or talk, which served instead of the sermon. When Jesus arose, the servant of the synagogue took out of the ark, or case, in which the sacred writings were kept the roll of parchment on which the prophecies of Isaiah were written. It was a long, narrow strip, fastened at either end to an ornamental rod. As the reading was continued, the parchment was rolled up at the one end and unrolled at the other, only a small space of the written text being visible between the two end rolls, from which space the reader slowly read the Hebrew, which was at once translated into the Aramaic. As Jesus now rolled the parchment apart after the manner just described, He came, either by deliberate choice, or according to the due course of the reading of the lesson of the day, to the text Isa 61:1-2. It was a text which was eminently fitting for an introductory sermon, for it described so exactly the work of the Messiah. The Spirit of the Lord rests upon Jesus, because He has been anointed with the Holy Ghost without measure. He is Jesus the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One, Act 10:38. The preaching of the Gospel is His characteristic work, Isa 48:16. To the poor He preaches the Gospel, to those that feel the depth and hopelessness of their spiritual poverty; with Christ they will find the true riches that last throughout eternity. Jesus has been sent to heal those whose hearts were broken, that felt the wounds of sin with painful vividness, with the balm of Gilead, the Gospel of healing. To preach to the captives deliverance, to those that were held bound by the power of sin and the fear of the devil; He cuts the cords and breaks the fetters with which the enemies have held the souls in their power. He gives sight to the blind, that their eyes may no longer beheld in the darkness of unbelief; He grants the liberty of the children of God to those that were violently abused, that were slaves of their own lusts as they were led. And all of this together meant for all men the acceptable year of the Lord. As when the harvesters rejoice when the last sheaves are safely stored away, so the Lord of mercy is delighted when His harvest is bountiful. It is a year of rejoicing for His Church, Lev 25:10, the year in which all debts of sins and trespasses are remitted, in which all the goods of God’s heritage, which were lost through sin, are recovered, Isa 49:8. "That is His kingdom, that is His office, that we might not be conquered by death, by sin, by the Law, but that He helps us against them that they may also be overcome in us, not by our strength, but through the power of Christ, who triumphs in us through His Word."
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv16, 18, 20, 23, 25, 28, 31, 33 where he had been raised
where he had been raised
"where his parents had raised him" or "where he lived when he was a child" or "where he grew up"
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as was his custom
"as he did each Sabbath." It was his usual practice to go to the synagogue on the Sabbath day.
The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him
This can be stated in active form. AT: "Someone gave him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah" (See: Active or Passive)
scroll of the prophet Isaiah
This refers to the book of Isaiah written on a scroll. Isaiah had written the words many years before, and someone else had copied them onto a scroll.
the place where it was written
"the place in the scroll with these words." This sentence continues on into the next verse.
translationWords
Nazareth
synagogue
Sabbath
word of God
scroll
prophet
Isaiah
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv16, 18, 21, 23, 25, 27, 28, 30, 31, 33 4:16-30 Jesus’ sermon in Nazareth previewed his whole public…
4:16-30 Jesus’ sermon in Nazareth previewed his whole public ministry. Jesus returned to his hometown synagogue to announce the good news that God’s salvation had now arrived. The people were pleased until Jesus reminded them that God reaches out to Gentiles as well as to Jews. The infuriated crowd then attempted to kill him.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.