Why is jesus rejected in nazareth

Were the rumors about His eloquence correct? From the best information that we have, it appears that the worship service started with thanksgiving, and was followed by a prayer, seven short public readings from the Pentateuch Genesis — Deuteronomy , a reading from the Prophets, a sermon, and then a benediction.

The benediction was from Numbers ,. Numbers When it was time for Jesus to stand and read from the Prophets, the attendant or the minister of the synagogue took the scroll that had been selected for the morning, removed it from its cloth covering, and handed it to Him.

And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. Jesus unrolled the scroll and read only a portion of Isaiah The passage was about Him.

As we have already discovered, the Spirit of the Lord was constantly upon Him for ministry. This was the pattern of His life Luke ; , He had been called to preach to the poor and helpless, and He did so throughout His ministry Luke He came proclaiming that the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand Matthew Their freedom from sin was near.

He healed many and set free those who were oppressed by demon possession and disease. Jesus did all of these things, and they had heard the amazing reports, which claimed that He did. And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. Their eyes were fixed on Him. He was the fulfillment of the prophecy in Isaiah He was the promised One — the Messiah! As we will discover in a minute, the men and women in that synagogue were thrilled with His eloquence but not His message.

He was a wonderful preacher. They had responded emotionally. They were like many down through time that are more interested in an emotional religious experience than in really knowing God.

As a pattern of life, they looked for eloquence in their speakers. The early church father Origen writes these words,. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. When you direct the principle power of seeing in your heart. I wish that the eyes of all.

Homilies on the Gospel of Luke. Are you seeking after Jesus or an emotional experience? The prophet Jeremiah records these words from our God. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.

And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you. If you really want to know God, then you need to constantly seek Him with all your heart. Only then will God reveal Himself to you. The men and women in that synagogue discovered that Jesus was indeed a powerful and wonderful teacher, for the next verse tells us,.

This verse is poorly translated in most English Bibles. That is, they were talking among themselves about His sermon. Have you ever left a worship service and talked about the preacher and his sermon? That is exactly what they were doing. He was a great speaker! Those were the positive comments. There were also some negative comments.

He is just one of us. He was once just a carpenter. He has not done any miracles here in Nazareth like the ones we have heard about in Capernaum. All we received this morning was gracious words and claims. This verse strongly suggests that Jesus had not peformed any public miracles as a boy.

They did not know that Jesus could do miracles or that He was a great teacher. The familiar got in the way of their believing in Him. Whatever we heard was done at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.

Mark 1 He went away from there and came to his own country; and his disciples followed him. What is the wisdom given to him? What mighty works are wrought by his hands! Luke 16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up; and he went to the synagogue, as his custom was, on the Sabbath day. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.

Jesus rejected in Nazareth. Questions for Bible study groups What happened when Jesus arrived in Nazareth, the town where he had grown up? Why did the people of Nazareth take exception to Jesus? How did Jesus respond? Why was this story reassuring for the early Christians?

Returning home Nazareth would have looked something like thisNazareth is famous for one thing, and one thing only: it was the home town of Jesus. Mary may have been a widow; she seems to have been head of the family. Read the blue text at end of page. At first, a positive reaction The adult Jesus must have returned to his village a number of times to see his family, but this time there was an incident recorded in all three Synoptic gospels Matthew, Mark and Luke.

Read green text at end of page. Nazareth rejects Jesus But then things turned sour. They had heard he cured the sick in nearby Capernaum. Let him do the same here in Nazareth. Read the red text in Gospel passages at end of page. The effects of their unbelief But Jesus was not a magician doing tricks to amuse the crowd. His miracles relied on the inter-related power of God the saving presence of Jesus unconditional faith on the part of the person who wished to be cured.

Read the black text in gospel passages at end of page. Extra information: the synagogue at nearby Capernaum Excavated ruins of the synagogue at Capernaum Jesus was based at Capernaum during his ministry to Galilee, but the synagogue pictured above is from a later century — Jesus did not teach in this building.

And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,.

And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.

And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. But passing through their midst, he went away. Within our present text, Luke begins to describe the earthly ministry of Jesus. Following the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness, He returns to Galilee in the power of the Spirit. This power was evident to all who encountered Him since we are told also that a report of Him spread throughout the surrounding country.

The ministry of Christ would be relatively brief, only about three years, and yet this man from Nazareth would irrevocably change the world. Significantly, that impact was felt from the very beginning of His ministry. Many leaders claimed to be the Messiah throughout the years, but Jesus alone had the power of God to reinforce His claim. We tend to think first of His many miracles and healings, yet Jesus will explicitly state those to be of secondary importance at the end of this chapter As an itinerant minister, Jesus would travel from town to town, teaching the Scriptures within their synagogues.

This is crucial for us to understand. The miracles and healings of Jesus were always intended to affirm His words and message; they were never an end unto themselves. They reinforced the gospel He preached and pointed toward our true healing from the disease of sin. It is also worth noting, especially given the events that transpire in the following verses, that the working of the Spirit always causes a reaction.

When the Spirit empowers the proclamation of the gospel, a reaction, even if a subtle one, is guaranteed. But a reply must be made. Picture the scene with me. Jesus, being about thirty now , returns home from being publicly baptized by John the Baptist the most divisive religious figure at the time and from spending forty days fasting in the wilderness alone. This is profound. Jesus returns to the town where he grew up and starts a public ministry. One Saturday, he goes to the front of the synagogue — the Jewish house of worship where he spent many Saturdays as a kid -- and reads a famous Messianic passage from the Prophet Isaiah.

He finishes the prophecy — one that Jewish people had read for nearly years — by identifying himself as the one spoken of by Isaiah. Can you imagine? You were in woodshop together at school. Needless to say, the people were a bit skeptical.

Then, Jesus calls them out and challenges their doubt. He points to past Hebrew generations that also doubted the scriptures and the prophets. Ultimately, the townspeople get angry and even try to kill Jesus by throwing him off a local hillside. All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this.