Jesus is Rejected | The Wolfe Notes

These notes follow our 7-step rhythm for Bible study. Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotes are from GOD'S WORD translation.

Jesus is Rejected

(From Luke 4:14-30)

Hillside by kazan at Pixabay

1. Summary

After being tempted of Satan, Jesus went throughout Galilee preaching in their synagogues. When He came to His hometown of Nazareth, He read prophecy about Himself from Isaiah - about preaching the good news of God's kingdom, about healing the brokenhearted, about showing captives how to find freedom, about restoring sight to the blind, about liberating the oppressed, and about spreading the news of the year of the Lord's favor. As He closed the scroll and sat down, He said, "This scripture is fulfilled today." In stunned whispers, the residents of Nazareth questioned His declaration and authority. "Isn't He Joseph's son?" Jesus replied, "Next, you'll ask me to prove that what I say is true by performing miracles you've heard rumors of. But I know that no prophet is accepted in His own country. Think on it. Elijah was sent to a widow of another country during the famine, even though there were many in his own country. And Elisha healed a foreign leper, even though there were many lepers in his hometown." The crowd, angered by Jesus' response, forced Him out onto a hilltop with the intent of pushing Him off the edge. But He managed to escape unscathed.

2. N/W/L Statements

1. I NOTICED that:
1. Immediately following His temptation, Jesus starts teaching. 
2. Jesus regularly read at synagogues.
3. His hometown citizens are angry that He didn't come for them. Instead, He came for outsiders. (He mentioned Elijah and Elisha serving people in other countries).
2. I WONDER 
1. Was Jesus actually a rabbi known in His hometown? (Doubtfully. John 7:15 says: The Jews were surprised and asked, "How can this man be so educated when he hasn't gone to school?")
2. What message did He preach at other synagogues?
3. I think God wants us to LEARN that Jesus came to seek and save the lost, and He wants us to support His vision instead of our own.

3. Key Verse

There were also many people with skin diseases in Israel in the prophet Elisha's time. But God cured no one except Naaman from Syria. Luke 4:27 

Jesus uses this example to compare God's actions in the past to God's actions at this time. The same God then is the same God now. God moved to bring everyone to Himself then, He moves to bring everyone to Himself now. God is neither partial to the Israelites, nor to the people in His hometown.

4. God's Character

1. God is for all people, not just the ones we think He should care about. (Jesus came to preach to outsiders, not only to the ones who already claimed Him.)
1. The LORD is good to everyone and has compassion for everything that he has made. Psalm 145:9
2. "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor, and hate your enemy.' But I tell you this: Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you. In this way you show that you are children of your Father in heaven. He makes his sun rise on people whether they are good or evil. He lets rain fall on them whether they are just or unjust. Matthew 5:43-45 (See our Matthew 5 notes.)
3. There will be suffering and distress for every person who does evil, for Jews first and Greeks as well. But there will be glory, honor, and peace for every person who does what is good, for Jews first and Greeks as well. God does not play favorites. Romans 2:9-11
2. God wants us to join Him in the mission of gathering all people to Himself. (Jesus takes the time to explain that God has always moved to draw outsiders to Himself by speaking of Elijah and Elisha. But, His hometown residents don't want to hear it. Will we?)
1. Jonah was very upset [that the Ninevites repented], and he became angry. So he prayed to the LORD, "LORD, isn't this what I said would happen when I was still in my own country? That's why I tried to run to Tarshish in the first place. I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, patient, and always ready to forgive and to reconsider your threats of destruction. So no, LORD, take my life. I'd rather be dead than alive." The LORD asked, "What right do you have to be angry?" Jonah 4:1-4
2. "His older son was in the field. As he was coming back to the house, he heard music and dancing. He called to one of the servants and asked what was happening. "The servant told him, 'Your brother has come home. So your father has killed the fattened calf to celebrate your brother's safe return.' "Then the older son became angry and wouldn't go into the house. His father came out and begged him to come in. But he answered his father, 'All these years I've worked like a slave for you. I've never disobeyed one of your commands. Yet, you've never given me so much as a little goat for a celebration with my friends. But this son of yours spent your money on prostitutes, and when he came home, you killed the fattened calf for him.' "His father said to him, "My child, you're always with me. Everything I have is yours. But we have something to celebrate, something to be happy about. This brother of yours was dead but has come back to life. He was lost but has been found." Luke 15:25-32
3. Whoever is a believer in Christ is a new creation...God has done all this. He restored our relationships with him through Christ, and has given us this ministry of restoring relationships...Therefore, we are Christ's representatives, and through us God is calling you. We beg you on behalf of Christ to become reunited with God. 2 Corinthians 5:17-18, 21

5. Pray

Father God, please give me Your eyes so I can see as You see and Your heart so I can love as You love. Guide me continually to better understand and accept Your ways, as I willingly let go of my own. This is my heartfelt sacrifice to You.

6. Act

• Read God's word with an open mind and heart. Expect the Holy Spirit to teach you something new.
• Partner with God in what He actually wants, not what you think He wants.
• Treat all people with love and mercy. Recognize that everyone has the same right to claim Christ as you do.

7. Annotation Notes

? Denotes a question, * a personal thought, x a cross reference, ! a connection, and italics a referenced source.

1. *Hardship seems to be the theme of this chapter. First Jesus is tempted in the wilderness, then He is rejected by the people He grew up with in His hometown.
2. The routine of synagogue reading mirrors precisely what happened here. A person would be given a scroll to read from, he would stand in the center of the room at the bema seat to read directly from the text, then he would return to his seat and add commentary to what he read. The expected commentary for this passage would be something like, "And we anxiously wait for this day." Not, "This passage came true today when you heard me read it." (Luke 4:16-21; BEMA Discipleship Podcast; The Bible Project; NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible) 
3. x "The Spirit of the Lord is with me." (Luke 4:18)
1. [John the Baptist:] "The person who comes from above is superior to everyone. I, a person from the earth, know nothing but what is on earth, and that's all I can talk about. The person who comes from heaven is superior to everyone and tells what he has seen and heard. Yet, no one accepts what he says...The man whom God has sent speaks God's message. After all, God gives him the Spirit without limit. John 3:31-32, 34
4. x Jesus' reading is from Isaiah 61:1-2 with a line from Isaiah 58:6 added in. (Luke 4:18-19)
1. The Spirit of the Almighty LORD is with me because the LORD has anointed me to deliver good news to humble people. He has sent me to heal those who are brokenhearted, to announce that captives will be set free and prisoners will be released. He has sent me to announce the year of the LORD's good will [*Jesus' reading in Luke ends here] and the day of our God's vengeance, to comfort all those who grieve. Isaiah 61:1-2
1. Though Jesus' reading ends with a message of salvation, listeners know the passage continues to describe judgement. - NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible
2. This is the kind of fasting I have chosen: loosen the chains of wickedness, untie the straps of the yoke, let the oppressed go free, and break every yoke. Isaiah 58:6
2. This reading likely references the year of jubilee described in Leviticus. - NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible 
1. Set apart the fiftieth year as holy, and proclaim liberty to everyone living in the land. This is your jubilee year. Every slave will be freed in order to return to his property and to his family. Leviticus 25:10 
5. ? Was Capernaum a Gentile community? If so, it would fit with the point Jesus was making about Elisha, Elijah, and His hometown people being upset with Him. (Luke 4:23) No. It was a Jewish fishing and agricultural community, but Gentiles were likely stationed there. - Bible Odyssey
1. x  Then they went to Capernaum. On the next day of rest - a holy day, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach...there was a man in the synagogue who was controlled by an evil spirit...Jesus ordered the spirit, "Keep quiet, and come out of him!"...Everyone was stunned...The news about him spread quickly throughout the surrounding region of Galilee. Excerpts from Mark 1:21-28 (See our Mark 1 notes.)
2. x ...Jesus came back to Capernaum...Four men came to him carrying a paralyzed man. Since they could not bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof over the place where Jesus was. Then they lowered the cot on which the paralyzed man was lying. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, "Friend, your sins are forgiven."..."I'm telling you to get up, pick up your cot, and go home!" The man got up, immediately picked up his cot, and walked away while everyone watched. Everyone was amazed and praised God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this." - Excerpts from Mark 2:1-12 (See our Mark 2 notes.)
6. Prophets being rejected in their hometowns is not only mentioned in other parts of scripture but is also added to by Jewish tradition. (Luke 4:24; NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible 
1. Elijah and Elisha's stories highlighted being rejected in their hometowns because they turned to helping outsiders instead. NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible 
1. x Then the LORD spoke his word to Elijah: "Get up, go to Zarephath (which belongs to Sidon), and stay there. I've commanded a widow there to feed you...He called to her, "Please bring me a drink of water."..."Please bring me a piece of bread too." She said, "I solemnly swear, as the LORD your God lives, I didn't bake any bread. I have one handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug...I'm going to prepare something for myself and my son so that we can eat it and then die...Then Elijah told her, "Don't be afraid. Go home, and do as you've said. But first make a small loaf and bring it to me. Then prepare something for yourself and your son. This is what the LORD God of Israel says: Until the LORD sends rain on the land, the jar of flour will never be empty and the jug will always contain oil." She did what Elijah told her...The jar of flour never became empty, and the jug always contained olive oil, as the LORD had promised through Elijah. - Excerpts from I Kings 17:7-16 
1. Sidon was a town noted for its opulence and wickedness. Often linked with Tyre, it is a city that commonly led Israelites astray and received several prophecies against it. (Got Questions)
2. x "How terrible it will be for you, Chorazin! How terrible it will be for you, Bethsaida! If the miracles worked in you had been worked in Tyre and Sidon, they would have changed the way they thought and acted long ago in sackcloth and ashes. Matthew 11:21 (See our Matthew 11 notes.)
2. x Naaman, the commander of the Aramean king's army,...was a good soldier, but he had a skin disease...The girl [they had brought back from Israel] told her mistress, "If only my master were with the prophet in Samaria. Then the prophet could cure him of his skin disease."...Elisha sent a messenger to him. He said, "Wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River, and your skin will be healthy and clean...[Naaman did] as the man of God had instructed him. His skin became healthy again like a little child's skin. 2 Kings 5:1-14
1. Aram is the Hebrew word for Syria. Rebekah, Rachel, and Leah all came from the land of Aram. Jacob himself is known as "a wandering Aramean." Under King David, "the Israelites defeated Aram again and kept them in subjugation." They remained a perpetual thorn in Israel's side. Aram gradually unified under Damascus, the most dominant of the Aramean kingdoms. (Got Questions)
2. x This is what the LORD says: The people of Anathoth [Jeremiah's hometown] want to kill you. They say, "Don't prophesy in the name of the LORD, or we'll kill you." Jeremiah 11:21 (See also Jeremiah 1:1)
7. x Jesus explaining who He came for, reminds me of Matthew's story when He says "I've come to call sinners, not people who think they have God's approval." (Luke 4:25-27; Mark 2:17; See our notes on Mark 2.)
8. Executing, or stoning, Jesus on the Sabbath without a fair trial would be two errors in Jewish law. Clearly, this group was acting as a lynch mob - emotionally instead of fairly. (Luke 4:19; NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible)
1. x While the Israelites were in the desert, they found a man gathering wood on the day of rest - a holy day. Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and the whole community. They kept him in custody until they decided what to do with him. Then the LORD said to Moses, "This man must be put to death. The whole community must take him outside the camp and stone him." So the whole community took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the LORD commanded Moses. Numbers 15:32-36
2. x Jesus escapes the grasp of accusers at least two other times. See John 8:59 and 10:39

Sample these related posts:

• To remember, Jesus came to call the sinners, not the righteous, to repentance.
• To commit to love all people better. 
• To practice surrender.
• To prepare to face rejection.
• To be reassured that in God there is freedom from our sinful reactions.

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