049. Chapter 28 - The First Rejection at Nazareth

Chapter 28 - The First Rejection at Nazareth

Luke 4:16-30 Warnings of Tragedy A prophet without honor in his own country. The Son of God scorned and assaulted in His own home town! And this the reward of thirty years of quiet, obscure, loving service to His fellow townsmen! Intimations of tragedy are given by John even in the first verses of his Gospel: “And the light shineth in the darkness; and the darkness apprehended it not….He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and they that were his own received him not” (John 1:5, John 1:10, John 1:11).

All this is poignantly illustrated at Nazareth. He had been in Nazareth through the silent years of His youth, and Nazareth “knew him not.” Now that He comes unto His own, they receive Him not. What a contrast between the enthusiasm and rejoicing at Sychar and the fierce resentment at Nazareth! Although John does not record the latter, he shows that Jesus, as He entered into His Galilean campaign, issued the sad warning: “A prophet hath no honor in his own country” (John 4:44). This may mean: Jesus had no honor at Jerusalem, where the temple is (His own country), but will be welcomed in Galilee; or the enthusiastic reception from the Samaritans will be sharply contrasted with the attitude of the Galileans (His own country); or the friendly reception of Galilee, in general, will be reversed by the rejection at Nazareth (His own country). This last interpretation seems most probable: a warning to the disciples of the rejection by His home town.

Two Visits to Nazareth

Matthew and Mark describe a visit to Nazareth at a later time in the Galilean ministry, and scholars differ as to whether this is the same incident as is recorded in Luke immediately following Jesus’ entry into Galilee (and to be placed following the healing of the nobleman’s son recorded in John). Formerly the incidents were identified, but the present tendency of conservative scholars is to accept both Luke, and Matthew and Mark, as chronological in their arrangement of rejections at Nazareth.

Those who have attempted to identify the visits, point out that all three accounts declare Jesus preached in the synagogue, was scorned by the people, and quoted in return this famous saying that a prophet hath no honor in his own country. But if there were two rejections, this is just what would be expected, and the differences in the accounts are very striking. In Luke we have an extended description of the synagogue service, the text of Jesus, the first favorable effect of His amazing sermon, the rising tide of scorn, Jesus’ speech in reply, and the riot in which they attempted to kill Him. There is none of this in Matthew and Mark. Moreover, Luke makes clear that Jesus worked no miracle on this first visit. Matthew and Mark declare that He healed a few sick people. The disciples were evidently not present at the time of this first visit, but Matthew and Mark show they are with Him at the second rejection. Some argue that Jesus would not be likely to return to Nazareth a second time after so violent a rejection, but Jesus went repeatedly to Jerusalem and elsewhere after the inhabitants had sought to kill Him, and it is more in harmony with His character and ministry if He made a second effort to win His home town than otherwise. Those who hold to an identification of the scenes argue that this arrangement is not chronological, but that Luke places at the first of his record of the Galilean ministry a dramatic illustration: an unfavorable reception (Nazareth) and a favorable one (Capernaum). But the differences in the narratives and the whole course of the Galilean ministry favor the view that there were two visits at Nazareth.

Why Return to Nazareth

Why should Jesus have returned to Nazareth at all? Consider its insignificance, its poverty and wickedness. How often we falter and lose heart when we are asked to preach to a group too small to seem to justify our efforts. But why, then, did Jesus come to earth at all? How many of His most wonderful messages were delivered to single individuals! No finer statement of Jesus’ motives in coming back to preach at obscure Nazareth, instead of remaining exclusively at Jerusalem or working in Tiberias or Caesarea, can be found than the text which Jesus chose for His sermon on this occasion: “The poor have the gospel preached unto them.” What matter if they be few and poor? God is eager that all come to repentance. What if they be wicked and finally reject? God’s gracious invitations must be delivered to them. Their blood, then, is upon their own heads, if they refuse. The Setting The marvelous reports about Jesus’ preaching and miracles at Capernaum and at Jerusalem have stirred even stolid, self-satisfied Nazareth. The one synagogue of which the little village boasts is thronged on this Sabbath. It has been Jesus’ custom to attend the service in this rude, rectangular structure each Sabbath in His youth (Luke 4:16). Here are the rough seats for the men on one side and the women on the other. Yonder, the ark of painted wood which contains the library of sacred scrolls of the Pentateuch and the prophets — the most precious possession of the synagogue. Here, the pulpit where the reader and the interpreter stand to read, first from the law and then from the prophets, pausing after each verse of the law and every third verse in the prophets to permit the interpreter to translate from Hebrew into Aramaic (the dialect spoken in Palestine after the captivity). The rulers of the synagogue, the scholarly leaders of the congregation, are in their accustomed seats, facing the crowd. It is their work to read and interpret the lessons from the law and the prophets, and to take turns preaching to the congregation. But a visiting rabbi is usually invited to be the speaker of the day, and in their midst today is One whose fame has been heralded throughout the nation. The hush of pent-up expectation and excitement pervades the early portion of the service as the verses from the law are read. The Scripture

Then Jesus “stood up to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And he opened the book, and found the place where it is written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, Because he anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor” (Luke 4:17, Luke 4:18). How appropriate that Jesus should ask the attendant to bring to Him the scroll of Isaiah, the prophet who most clearly and beautifully predicts both the sufferings and the divine glories of the Messiah! And the passage He reads pictures the Messiah, not as a mighty temporal ruler, holding sway by force of arms, but as a Minister to the sick and afflicted, and a Teacher of the neglected, and a Saviour and Comforter of the oppressed. The passage read is at once a reply to the false, worldly notions of His hearers as to what the Messiah is to be and to do, and also a description of that very program of Jesus. The reading of so brief and significant a passage, and the peculiarly profound emphasis with which He reads, create further excitement. (Did Jesus lay particular stress on the pronoun “me”? The declaration of Himself as the Messiah or Anointed One suggested in the verb “he anointed me” would become very pointed with such emphasis: “He hath sent me...to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”) The Sermon

“The eyes of all in the synagogue” are fastened on Him as He sits down to begin His sermon. His opening sentence boldly unveils the Messianic claim implicit in the passage: “Today hath this scripture been fulfilled in your ears.” An animated buzz of whispers follows His sermon as the hearers turn to one another in astonishment “at the words of grace which proceeded out of his mouth.” Uplifted into momentary ecstasy by the divine eloquence, they quickly lapse back into the churlish and critical mood which pervades the town. “Is not this Joseph’s son?” “How can it be that such incomprehensible power should be found in this man?” “No royal blood in His veins; no palace for a home; no famed philosophers as instructors of His youth; no wealth or worldly pomp in His manhood.” “What inconceivable impertinence that He should claim to be the fulfillment of Isaiah’s holy vision!” “But what of the reports of miracles at Cana and in Jerusalem, and this recent account of a nobleman’s son healed at Capernaum?” The Popular Reaction

Suddenly the growing turbulence of the discussion among the audience is hushed as He speaks again. His driving analysis of their whispered objections first freezes the crowd into paralyzed silence and then fires them into wild, unreasoning rage. “Physician, heal thyself.” Yes, this was the heart of their objection. “Show Messianic glory after the worldly manner of David and Solomon.” “If you are the Messiah, why are you so poor and humble?” “Work in our midst the mighty works reported from Capernaum and thus ‘heal thyself’: improve your place in our midst by replacing the unbelief with faith.” Their scornful resentment has been summed up in a proverb: “The Messiah, a Physician? What folly!” Recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised?...Physician, heal thyself.” The Reply And now Jesus gives another proverb in reply, explaining their unbelief: “No prophet is acceptable in his own country.” It is they who are blind, but they do not even desire to see. A slashing attack on their unbelief follows in two surprising citations from the Old Testament: Israel in the throes of apostasy and famine; many widows; Elijah sent of God to a Gentile home for shelter; the widow of Sarepta honored by such a guest as Elijah, because she had the faith to share even the last morsel of meal and oil with God’s prophet. Elisha, God’s prophet and mighty worker of miracles in the midst of the nation; many Jewish lepers suffering and dying within reach of Elisha; Naaman, the Syrian, alone healed: the man who had faith to come and ask, and to humble himself in obedience. The Messiah rejected of His own people, but received and honored by the Gentiles. The blessings of God poured forth on the Gentiles, since the Jews scorn Him in unbelief. This is the clear implication of His illustrations, and the crowd, in wild rage at His analysis of their unbelief, cry out against what they hold to be a betrayal of Israel, the chosen of God. The Mob

They form a swirling mob about Him. Fiercer and more deadly grows their hate as they push through the narrow streets, bent on casting Him headlong from “the brow of the hill whereon their city was built.” And now the critical moment has come. Here yawns the precipice! A momentary hesitation. Who shall be the first to lay hold of Him to destroy Him? A strange, unaccountable calm instantly succeeds the whirlwind. The violent tumult of voices and passions is stilled. The lowly Nazarene whom men may deny and reject, but whom they cannot restrain or destroy, is in their midst. Blind to the grace and beauty of His humble youth, they had scorned His arresting manhood. Blind to the truth of His unfolding of the Old Testament, and His uncovering of the baseness of their own hearts, they had sought to destroy Him. Their Failure But the Lamb of God, before whose wrathful face the kings and mighty heroes of earth shall one day flee in terror and cry for the rocks and the mountains to fall on them that they may not be compelled to stand in His presence, reveals to the murderous mob at Nazareth a glimpse of His heavenly majesty, and they draw back in awe and dismay. He walks from their midst. They do not follow. Of what do they think or speak as they walk home dazed and subdued? Of what does the Master think as He climbs in lonely majesty the winding path to the mountain top and turns to cast one last, heartbroken glance at the little village where He had lived, loved, and served in His youth, and where He now had preached and been rejected? (McGarvey, Lands of the Bible, p. 317).

Reasons for Rejection The divine love revealed in the effort of Jesus to save the people of Nazareth is matched by the human baseness shown in their rejection. Why did they reject Jesus? (1) It was the natural enmity of those who are wicked against One who had achieved supreme and spotless virtue. He had been in their midst, but He had refused to share their worldliness. Their own sinful lives provoked them to hate One whose very goodness revealed their wickedness. (2) Jealousy, the curse of man’s darkened heart, was another cause. They were jealous because One, who had been constantly in their midst and whose quiet, obscure life had caused them to overlook the real mystery and power of His personality, should gain such fame in Israel and should even dare to claim that Isaiah predicted His present ministry. All of their false ideas of a worldly Messiah multiplied this lurking resentment when Jesus presented Himself as a humble, ministering Messiah. False pride could afflict villagers of Nazareth as well as scholars and statesmen in Jerusalem. (3) Human ingratitude, the most common and worst of crimes, must have influenced the people: ingratitude for all the kindness and gracious, loving service He must have rendered to all about Him during His youth. It is often true that the more that is done for unworthy people, the less they appreciate it and the more they presume on the generosity of others and grow in the false grandeur of their own conceit. (4) Familiarity with Jesus as a child, a youth and a man, caused them to stumble now at the evidence of His deity as seen in His very Person, His teachings and His miracles. That they should have doubted His power to work miracles, and demanded that He work for their satisfaction the mighty works they had heard reported from Capernaum, is not more surprising than the repeated demand of the Pharisees for “a sign from heaven,” and not more difficult to understand than the general scorn of Nazareth for Him, in spite of His youth spent in their midst.

Reason for Their Failure

Why did they fail to destroy Him? Here, as elsewhere, the repeated efforts to assassinate Jesus failed because of that same mysterious, divine power which was revealed on occasions to thwart such attempts until the day of the Lord’s final gift of love to a sinful world lifted up the Son of man on the cross. It was not cowardice that caused Jesus to retreat from their midst. He did not finally avoid death. “I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.” The attack of the mob at Nazareth does not seem to have been thwarted by a direct miracle, but by a revelation of His inner majesty which left them powerless. His Refusal to Defend Himself

Why Jesus did not resist them as they offered physical violence to Him in thrusting Him through the streets of the city and to the edge of the precipice, is no more difficult to explain than His entire effort to save Nazareth. He might have escaped this whole heartbreaking experience by avoiding Nazareth, where the rejection by the nation at large found its first dramatic climax. But Christ did not choose to avoid the humiliation and suffering entailed in this scene. It was only when God’s will was about to be thwarted by the premature death of Jesus here at Nazareth, instead of on the cross at Jerusalem, that He resisted their violence by a flaming look and a gesture that left them helpless.