Luke 4:14-30
Jesus Rejected at Nazareth
14Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. 15He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.
16He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. 17The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
18"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 proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
19to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
20Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, 21and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."
22All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. "Isn't this Joseph's son?" they asked.
23Jesus said to them, "Surely you will quote this proverb to me: 'Physician, heal yourself! Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.' "
24"I tell you the truth," he continued, "no prophet is accepted in his hometown. 25I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah's time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. 26Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. 27And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian."
28All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. 29They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff. 30But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.
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One thing that we often forget about the Gospels is that they aren't a full account of Jesus' life. We don't have a record of every single thing he did. So it's quite likely that his ministry was in full swing by this point.
Different rabbis were assigned readings and teachings on different days, I believe. So on Jesus' day to teach, he gets up and reads the passage from Isaiah. He might have chosen the passage himself, or it might have been that day's reading, I'm not sure. Traditionally, a rabbi will stand to read scriptures, and sit down to teach.
So as he begins his teaching time, he pretty much tells everyone that he is the fulfillment of these old ancient prophecies.
Note what Jesus' ministry is all about: Good news for the poor, freedom for prisoners, sight for the blind, release for the oppressed. Notice a theme? Also, I love the phrase "the year of the Lord's favor." Many Christians these days don't live like they are in the year of the Lord's favor. They are stressed, humorless, and joyless. But we are living in the year of the Lord's favor! What better reason to live a life of joy?
The people were a little astonished to hear this son of a carpenter talk this way. Sure, he was a rabbi. But he was talking with much more authority than just a rabbi. He managed to make the crowd pretty angry, and they drove him out of town. They were even going to kill him, because he's being heretical. He's comparing himself to Elijah, who was a total Jewish legend.
I was just back in my hometown, and I can't say as that I was received like a king or anything. But no one drove me out of town and tried to throw me off a cliff.
Sorry for the long delay in getting this post up.
posted by FTN @ 4:19 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
A couple thoughts occur to me here, FTN.
First, I'm not sure that they were ready to kill Jesus because he's being 'heretical', exactly; I'm not sure the concept of 'heresy' was around in that time/place. 'Impious' is perhaps more to the point; dissing Elijah, and all that. Or maybe they picked up on the vibe that he was dissing them, and it made 'em mad.
And, I'm not sure exactly what it means to say that Jesus was a 'rabbi'. It certainly didn't mean what it means today, in terms of years of education, etc. I'm not certain that one didn't become a 'rabbi' just by hanging out a shingle and starting to teach. Anybody got more insight into that?
The gospels seem to say that, even among 'rabbis', Jesus was somehow unique, possessing an 'authority' (tho, what that 'authority' consisted of is not exactly clear) - somehow, the way Jesus taught the Scriptures was clearer, more penetrating, more powerful, than your basic average rabbi.
Desmond: Good point. Heretical was probably not the best word. But they were pretty pissed at him.
As for the "rabbi" thing... What does it mean to say that Jesus was a rabbi? It means that Jesus was a rabbi. I'm not sure what you are getting at. No, not the same as a rabbi today, but a rabbi nonetheless. We know that people called him rabbi. I wrote about the education that Jesus most likely received back in this post.
And yes, among rabbis, he was surely unique. He was teaching a different yoke than other rabbis, and his message was not just more clear and powerful, but radically different from what many others were teaching.
Just a bit of background to add...
The year that Jesus read this was 27AD and was indeed a Jubilee year. This was referred to in the common vernacular of the day as "The acceptable year of the Lord". There was also a long-known connection between a Jubilee year and Moschiach. They were very interconnected in the Hebrew mind. Moshiach would be revealed on a year of Jubilee.
So what astounded them was not (IMO) that Yeshua compared himself to Elijah, etc. But that He was stating that He was the Moshiach.
"But, isn't this Joseph's son?"
When He pushed the matter, they were forced to choose a side...
It is interesting to note that this is considered by many scholars to indeed be the "inauguration" (if you will) of Jesus' ministry. Which makes sense that He would go to His hometown to begin His ministry. I wonder what His family felt as they sat there? Did they squirm in their seats and get all hot and red with embarrassment? Were they frustrated with the people who refused to see past the boy they had known? Could *they* see past the image of the boy they had known?? Lots to ponder.
FTN, you were on the money about the reading. Yeshua would have been introduced to the congregation by the shammash (minister) as "Yeshua ben Yosef" and the portion he read was from the "Haftarah" readings... a weekly selection from the Prophetic writings that follows the Torah reading for the week. The reading of the Haftarah was often given to a visiting rabbi, after which he would have time to sit and teach.
I want to throw out something for thought. Yeshua's teaching didn't really differ greatly from the rabbis of His day. In fact, you can find astounding parallels between His teaching and the thoughts of Hillel (a famous influential rabbi of the day). In fact, at that time there were two "camps" of thought: Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai. (House of Rabbi Hillel and Rabbi Shammai, respectively). Beit Hillel was much more widely accepted in that day and likely the yeshiva that Yeshua attended was influenced by either of the Houses of thought. Beyond that, His teachings widely borrow from the Talmudic references of the day.
Where He did differ greatly and often grievously was with the religious/political power of the day -- the Pharisees. These guys didn't teach Torah... they skewed Torah for their own political and monetary benefit and enforced it upon the people, holding it over their heads to be allowed part of the Temple worship.
And He did teach with authority. The Sermon on the Mount is a perfect example of this authority. The "you have heard it said...but I say to you..." format of His teaching is a familiar midrashic teaching technique used in Yeshivas. By proclaiming His teaching in this fashion, he was not only affirming His views as superior to the most influential,learned rabbis, but also "trumping" Moses... you can imagine the look on people's faces!
Anyway, sorry so long... this is a well-loved topic of mine, Jesus in a Jewish context.
Flutter, this is amazing stuff. Thanks for sharing it. . .
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