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.

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