Jesus Preaching at Nazareth

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Jesus Preaching at Nazareth

• Analyzing Biblical Intertextuality through
• Isaiah 611-11
• 1 Kings 171-24
• 2 Kings 51-19
• Nicole Harris April 18, 2007 Fr. Just

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What is Happening in Luke 414-30

• Jesus goes to Galilee and teaches at a synagogue
  in Nazareth.
• What He says upsets the people at the synagogue
  and ran Jesus out of the city
• ..why does this happen, and why is
  this significant?

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Luke 416And he came to Nazareth, where he had
been brought up and as he went to the synagogue,
as his custom was, on the sabbath day. And he
stood up to read

• Why important?
• Places Jesus in Nazareth, which is where He grew
  up. Therefore, He is speaking to the people He
  has grown up with and around

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Luke 417-19 Isaiah 611-2
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Luke 418The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me to preach good news to
the poor

• Meaning of the word anointed
• Greek Christós (???st??) literally means
• The Anointed One
• Christós translated in Hebrew
• Maía? (????????)Messiah

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Why is this important?

• When Isaiah said this long before Jesus time, he
  was referring to the coming Messiah.
• Because Jesus is exactly quoting Isaiahs
  prophecy, and He says that He was ANOINTED by
  God, Jesus is in essence referring to Himself as
  the Messiah that Isaiah was referring to.

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Luke 421And he began to say to them, Today
this scripture has been fulfilled in your
hearing.

• Extremely important verse!
• Jesus is saying that Isaiahs prophecy was coming
  true at that moment, therefore boldly insinuating
  that He is the Messiah that Isaiah had said would
  come.

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Luke 422And all spoke well of him, and
wondered at the gracious words which proceeded
out of his mouth, and they said, Is not this
Josephs son?

• To the people at the synagogue, Jesus is just
  one of them, a local who they have grown up
  knowing.
• The concept of Jesus being the Messiah catches
  them off guard because, to them, He is just a
  normal person

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Luke 424Truly, I say to you, no prophet is
acceptable in his own country

• No matter what message He shares, they wont
  accept Him because He is just a local
• This is supported by Jesus referring to Elijah
  because he, as well as other prophets, werent
  accepted by many while alive.

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Luke 42525 But in truth, I tell you, there
were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah,
when the heaven was shut up three years and six
months, when there came a great famine over all
the land 26 and Elijah was sent to none of them
but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a
woman who was a widow.

• Look at 1 Kings 177-24
• Tells how Elijah provided a woman from Sidon and
  her family sustenance in a time of famine and
  healed her dying son.

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Luke 427And there were many lepers in Israel
in the time of the prophet Elisha and none of
them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.

• Look at 2 Kings 51-19
• Tells the story of Naaman, a leper, who Elisha
  leads to call on God and is cleansed of leprosy

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What do the widow from Sidon and Naaman from
Syria have in common?

• Theyre both foreigners!
• Just like Jesus said in Luke 423-24, the
  prophets Elijah and Elisha werent accepted by
  their own people, so instead of helping the
  people of Israel, helped foreigners instead.
• Who does Jesus help? The tax collectors,
  foreigners, and those on the outskirts of society
• Jesus referring to these two stories makes the
  people of Nazareth angry because Jesus had just
  alluded to being The Anointed One, the Messiah
  who is supposed to lead the people of Israel, yet
  directly follows by saying that like prophets
  before Him, He has compassion for foreigners,
  enemies of Israel.

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Why do the people in the synagogue get so mad?
-Elijah says that the Messiah will have vengeance
on Israels enemies. While Jesus quotes many
statements that Elijah made, he does not refer to
Gods vengeance. -Therefore, this entire
interaction at the Synagogue presents 1. Jesus
insinuates that he is the Messiah 2. Jesus, if
the Messiah, will not only not claim vengeance on
Israels behalf, but will even HELP
foreigners
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• Therefore, the people of Nazareth react like
  this
• Luke 428-30
• 28 When they heard this, all in the synagogue
  were filled with wrath. 29 And they rose up and
  put him out of the city, and led him to the brow
  of the hill on which their city was built, that
  they might throw him down headlong. 30 But
  passing through the midst of them he went away.
• One more thing important to note Both Mark and
  Matthew refer to Jesus trip to Galilee and
  teaching at a synagogue in Nazareth, yet Luke is
  the only one who speaks of Elijah and Elisha