Luke 4:21-25
Luke 4:21 (KJB)
And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your
ears.
Here Jesus was now claiming to be the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. These
people in the synagogue were witnesses of the beginning of the ministry of
Jesus. He had fulfilled the Isaiah scripture completely as He did all of those
things such as preach the Gospel to the poor, opened the physical eyes of the
blind and the spiritual eyes of the spiritually blind, etc. This statement would
have caused those people who were in attendance to really sit up and listen.
Luke 4:22 (KJB)
And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out
of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph's son?
They that were there had now begun to wonder at what was being presented to
them. The prophecy of Isaiah had been around about 750 years and no one ever
claimed to be the fulfillment of any part of it until now. The word “wondered”
carries with it the meaning of both to be amazed and to admire. Then as they
were listening, unbelief started to find its way in. They started to ask the
question, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” They could not believe that it was someone
from their hometown who was the prophesied Messiah. Unbelief had blinded their
eyes to the truth before them. They should have adopted the attitude that the
Messiah was coming to Israel and had to be born somewhere in Israel, so why not
their town?
Luke 4:23 (KJB)
And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal
thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy
country.
Then Jesus begins to answer their objections with a proverb which was common at
that time. It would refer to a physician who would cure other people but he
himself would be sick. Basically, they were saying to Him, that since we have
heard that you have done miracles in Capernaum, to save or maintain your
reputation as the Messiah, then you need to do those same miracles here so your
actions would confirm the words that you are speaking. If the physician was
sick, how could others have confidence in his ability to heal? Jesus had grown
up here and lived among them for 30 years without doing any miracles. Now was
the time to prove that He was who He said He was by performing a miracle.
Luke 4:24 (KJB)
And he said, Verily, I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.
Here is something that every Christian has faced down through the ages. Jesus
was not accepted as the Messiah because the people were familiar with Him and to
them, He was just another working man working as a carpenter with His father. He
grew up here which meant He played in the streets with the other children. He
somehow did not conform to the concept of a Messiah that the people were looking
for. It seems that familiarity does breed contempt and non-acceptance. Since the
people of Nazareth were close to Jesus, they did not appreciate His greatness
but they would see greatness in strangers. Christians have experienced the same
thing. When one becomes saved, to their family and friends they are still the
same and if they show great talent or gifts, they are still not accepted as
being a person of Christian character because the family and friends knew him or
her when they were growing up.
Luke 4:25 (KJB)
But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when
the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was
throughout all the land;
In the time of Elijah, a drought on the land came as a judgment upon Ahab and
his subjects. As a result of this drought, there was no food being grown in
Israel resulting in a great famine. (1 Ki 18:1 KJV) And it came to pass
after many days, that the word of the LORD came to Elijah in the third year,
saying, Go, show thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth. At
the time of this drought, there were many widows dwelling In Israel and this
drought and famine was throughout all the land, so no portion escaped.