Bible Study Moment

Luke gives his first details of Jesus’ ministry in Luke 4:14-30. There is mention of previous activities of Jesus in Capernaum, but now Jesus is in his hometown of Nazareth and in the synagogue.

Evidently if a man wanted to speak in the worship service he would stand to indicate that. Jesus stands up and is handed the scroll of Isaiah. He reads from Isaiah 61.

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
    because the Lord has anointed me.
He has sent me to preach good news to the poor,
    to proclaim release to the prisoners
    and recovery of sight to the blind,
    to liberate the oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Then Jesus sits down and proclaims, “Today, this scripture has been fulfilled just as you heard it.”

At first they are impressed with Jesus but then he starts saying things they don’t like, enough so that they try to throw him off the nearby cliff, but he slips away!

The part I was most familiar with in this passage is “Physician, Heal Thyself” which is a proverb Jesus quotes in verse 23.

Included in the parts that got those in the synagogue mad are from stories that indicate that even though God is known primarily in Jewish history, God is much more than just a Jewish god.

Mark Phillips