Luke 4:26-30
Luke 4:26 (KJB)
But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a
woman that was a widow.
(1 Ki 17:9-10 KJV) Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon,
and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.
{10} So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the
city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to
her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may
drink. It seemed during this time that not one widow in Israel was seeking
the Lord, so the Lord dispatches Elijah to a widow in Zarephath in the region of
Phoenicia, which was between Tyre and Sidon. The Phoenicians were Gentiles which
would have been a “physician heal thyself” moment because Israel claimed to be
of God and yet, their own prophet Elijah was dispatched to a Gentile woman who
did not claim to be of God.
Luke 4:27 (KJB)
And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of
them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian.
Then Jesus brings in a second historical lesson. During the time of Elisha the
prophet, there were also many lepers in Israel and not one of them was cleansed
from their disease. Here too we have the same situation as in Zarephath. Elisha
was not dispatched to any of the lepers in Israel, instead he was dispatched to
heal Naaman the Syrian who were the enemies of Israel. Once again God goes
outside the people who claimed Him as their own and visits the Gentiles. Both of
these events were also precursors of the fact that the true Gospel was going to
go beyond the borders of Israel.
Luke 4:28 (KJB)
And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with
wrath,
Wrath - Great anger or rage
Since the Jews thought they were God’s only people, the idea that the Gentiles
should have a part in God’s work was reprehensible. Jesus was showing them that
because of their unbelief, God went outside Israel to the Phoenician and the
Syrian. Since they were the enemies of Israel, they became indignant at Jesus
for even suggesting such a thing that their God would neglect their own lepers
and widows and deal kindly with those “strangers.” This had caused them to be
filled with great wrath because they believed deeply that the only thing that
the Gentiles should receive from God was great wrath.
Luke 4:29 (KJB)
And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the
hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.
Then those in the synagogue had physically grabbed hold of Jesus and were
leading Him out of the city of Nazareth. (2 Chr 25:12 KJV) And other ten
thousand left alive did the children of Judah carry away captive, and brought
them unto the top of the rock, and cast them down from the top of the rock, that
they all were broken in pieces. It was the same hill where 10,000 of
the children of Seir were thrown off of and killed. (Gen 36:19-20 KJV) These
are the sons of Esau, who is Edom, and these are their dukes. {20} These are the
sons of Seir the Horite, who inhabited the land; Lotan, and Shobal, and Zibeon,
and Anah, These were the sons of Edom who were killed. These people in the
synagogue realized they were told that Israel was God’s chosen people but they
took that too far and thought that meant anything they did was fine with God and
that God would never show any kind of favor toward the Gentiles. They believed
that the Gentiles were created only for the fires of hell and they could not
believe that God would hear the prayers of any Gentiles.
Luke 4:30 (KJB)
But he passing through the midst of them went his way,
They wanted Jesus to do a miracle and here was one. Jesus is in the clutches of
these angry men who wanted to throw Him off a cliff and then all of a sudden
Jesus passes through them. This was definitely some type of blinding miracle
because if you are in the midst of a hundred people or better, and you are the
center of their rage, and they physically have hold of you, they are not going
to lose you. Without a miracle Jesus would not have been able to go through that
crowd unscathed. (Luke 24:16 KJV) But their eyes were holden that they
should not know him. It was also not the time for Jesus to die nor the
place, so His escape was mandatory.