'And He began to say unto them, This day is this
scripture fulfilled In your ears.'--LUKE iv. 21.
This first appearance of our Lord, in His public work at Nazareth,
the home of His childhood, was preceded, as we learn from John's
Gospel, by a somewhat extended ministry in Jerusalem. In the course
of it, He cast the money-changers out of the Temple, did many
miracles, had His conversation with Nicodemus, and on His return
towards Galilee met the woman of Samaria at the well. The report of
these things, no doubt, had preceded Him, and kindled the Nazarenes'
curiosity to see their old companion who had suddenly shot up into a
person of importance, and had even made a sensation in the
metropolis. A great man's neighbours are keen critics of, and slow
believers in, his greatness. So it was natural and very prudent that
Jesus should not begin His ministry in Nazareth.
We can easily imagine the scene that morning in the little village,
nestling among the hills. How many memories would occupy Christ as
He entered the synagogue, where He had so often sat a silent
worshipper! How Mary's eyes would fill with tears if she was there,
and how the companions of His boyhood, who used to play with Him,
would watch Him; all curious, some sympathetic, some jealous, some
contemptuous!
The synagogue service began with prayer and praise. Then followed
two readings, one from the Law, one from the Prophets. When the
latter point was reached, in accordance with usage, Jesus rose,
thereby signifying His desire to be reader of the Prophetic portion.
We can understand how there would be a movement of quickened
attention as the roll was handed to Him and He turned its sheets. He
'found the place'; that looks as if He sought for it; that is to
say, that it was not the appointed lesson for the day--if there was
such--but that it was a passage selected by Himself.
I need not enter upon the divergences between Luke's quotation as
given in our English version and the Hebrew. They are partly due to
the fact that he is quoting from memory the Greek version of the
LXX. He inserts, for instance, one clause which is not found in that
place in Isaiah, but in another part of the same prophet. Having
read standing, as was the usage, in token of reverence for the
Scripture, Jesus resumed His seat, not as having finished, but, as
was the usage, taking the attitude of the teacher, which signified
authority. And then, His very first sentence was the most unlimited
assertion that the great words which He had been reading had reached
their full accomplishment in Himself. They are very familiar to our
ears. If we would understand their startling audacity we must listen
to them with the ears of the Nazarenes, who had known Him ever since
He was a child. 'This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears.'
Now, it seems to me that this first sermon of our Lord's to His old
fellow-townsmen brings into striking prominence some characteristics
of His whole teaching, to which I desire briefly to direct
attention.