This section of the Gospel records some of Jesus' initial preaching and various responses to it. Much of the material appears only in Luke. Interspersed are instances of Jesus performing mighty works. Luke, as the other evangelists, stressed the essential message that Jesus proclaimed.
Luke again drew his readers' attention to the fact that Jesus was under the control of the Holy Spirit as He began His public ministry (cf. 1:35; 3:22; 4:1). The Spirit empowered and enabled Jesus in His words and deeds. Luke would stress His teaching ministry. Luke attributed Jesus' success to His orientation to the Spirit, not His essential deity. Consequently He was a model that all believers can and should copy. Luke continued to stress the Holy Spirit's ministry in Acts.
Everyone who had contact with Jesus praised Him, not just the Jews. This was the initial popular response to Him, and it is the normal initial response that Spirit-directed believers experience.
In contrast to most people, the inhabitants of Jesus' hometown did not praise Him. When Jesus began to speak of God extending salvation to the Gentiles, a particular interest of Luke's, the Jews there opposed Him violently. Perhaps Luke meant this incident to represent a classic case of rejection in which Nazareth symbolizes all Israel.154He may also have intended that it become a paradigm of the church's ministry as well as Jesus' ministry.155
Many students of the Synoptics take this pericope as parallel to Matthew 13:53-58 and Mark 6:1-6. However, the differences between Luke's account and that of Matthew and Mark seem to indicate two separate incidents. Luke's incident probably occurred early in Jesus' Galilean ministry whereas the one that Matthew and Mark recorded happened later.
4:16-17 Luke reminded his readers that Jesus had grown up in Nazareth where this incident transpired. He also drew attention to Jesus' piety by noting His regular habit of attending synagogue services, probably to teach. The synagogue ruler may have asked Him to read the Scriptures since Jesus was a popular teacher. Customarily teachers stood to read the Scriptures and then sat down to expound them.156No one knows for sure if someone asked Him to read this particular passage or if He chose to do so, but the context favors the second alternative by stressing Jesus' initiative.
4:18-19 The passage Jesus read was Isaiah 61:1-2a (cf. Isa. 58:6). This passage prophesied the mission of Messiah. It is appropriate that Jesus should have read it at the beginning of His ministry and that Luke should have recorded it here. As the Servant of the Lord, which the context of the Isaiah passage contributes, Messiah would possess the Spirit. He would also be the bearer of good news (1:19; cf. Deut. 18:18; Isa. 40:9; 41:27; 52:7). Luke highlighted Jesus' prophetic ministry of proclamation (v. 24; 7:16, 39; 9:8, 19; 13:33; 24:19). Moreover Messiah would bring release to the oppressed (cf. 7:22).
The reference to the favorable year of the Lord is an allusion to the year of jubilee when all the enslaved in Israel received their freedom (Lev. 25). It points to the messianic kingdom but is more general and includes God's favor on individual Gentiles as well as on Israel nationally.
Jesus stopped reading before He read the words "and the day of vengeance of our God"in Isaiah 61:2b. This is a reference to the Tribulation among other judgments. The omission highlights the gracious nature of Messiah's ministry then compared with its judgmental character in the future.157
4:20 Probably Luke narrated these events step by step because his Gentile readers would have been unfamiliar with synagogue worship. His description also heightens the sense of anticipation in the story. The people present were alert and expectant waiting to hear Jesus' comments on the passage.
4:21 When He announced the fulfillment of this passage, Jesus revealed that He was the predicted Messiah and that the time for God's gracious deliverance had arrived.158This is one of only two instances in which Luke recorded the fulfillment of Scripture by Messiah, the other being in 24:44. These occurred at the beginning and at the end of Jesus' ministry. They constitute an inclusiosuggesting that the whole of Jesus' ministry was a fulfillment of messianic prophecy. Jesus began preaching the gospel that enriches the poor, releases bound people, enlightens the spiritually blind, and gives the downtrodden freedom. He also announced that the kingdom was at hand (cf. Matt. 4:17; Mark 1:15).
4:22 These words about God's grace (cf. Acts 14:3; 20:24) evoked a positive response from Jesus' hearers and amazed them (Gr. ethaumazon). They were glad to hear these things. However they balked at Jesus' claim to be the Messiah. They did not understand how He could be the Messiah since He had grown up with them and seemed so similar to them.
4:23 Evidently Jesus had been ministering in Capernaum before this incident (cf. vv. 14-15).159His decision to refrain from doing miracles in Nazareth apparently led some of the Nazarenes to question His ability to do them at all. This cast further doubt on His messiahship in their minds. They thought that if He was the Messiah He should bring blessing to Nazareth and do signs there too.
4:24 Luke recorded Jesus saying, "Truly I say to you,"or, "I tell you the truth,"six times (4:24; 12:37; 18:17, 29; 21:32; 23:43).160The phrase always introduces a significant and authoritative comment, as in the other Gospels. The Greek word dektos, translated "welcome"or "accepted,"is the same one that occurs in verse 19. Perhaps Jesus used this word in verse 24 to indicate that even though God wanted to accept people they would not accept the prophet whom He had sent to tell them of His grace.161Prophets were not welcome in their hometowns because home folks hardly ever fully trust one of their own who becomes famous and then returns home. In saying what He did Jesus was again claiming to be a prophet.
4:25-27 Jesus did not say that Elijah and Elisha went to Gentiles because the Jews rejected them but because God sent them there. God sent them there even though there were many needy people in Israel. Nevertheless Israel then was in an apostate condition. The three and one-half years was a period of divine judgment on Israel (cf. Dan. 7:25; 12:7; Rev. 11:2-3; 12:6, 14; 13:5). The implication of these two illustrations was that God had sent Jesus to Gentiles as well as to Jews. The Nazarenes, therefore, should not expect preferential treatment. Jesus ministered to Jews first, but He also ministered to Gentiles. These examples would have encouraged Luke's original Gentile readers since they had a similar mission.
"This remark [of Jesus'] is strong for two reasons: (a) It compares the current era to one of the least spiritual periods in Israel's history, and (b) it suggests that Gentiles, who were intensely disliked among the Jews, were more worthy of ministry than they were."162
4:28-30 Jesus allowed the crowd to drive Him out of town and to the brow of the hillside on which Nazareth stood. Later He allowed another crowd to drive Him out of Jerusalem and nail Him to a cross. However this was not the time for Him to die. Luke did not give the details whereby He escaped His neighbors' wrath. We need not suppose that His deliverance came through some supernatural act or intervention. The description of His escape does picture Jesus in sovereign control of the situation, however.
This pattern of violent Jewish rejection continued and mounted through Jesus' ministry. It is significant that it began at the start of His ministry because of a revelation of God's desire to bless His people.
"Thus in the first scene in the narrative of Jesus' mission, Jesus announces words of grace' but encounters the violent rejection which prophets can expect in their homeland. The good news which Jesus preaches is already shadowed by a conflict that will persist to the end of Acts."163
"It is important to appreciate how central good teaching is to ministry. In an era when feelings and interpersonal relationships are high on the agenda, it is wise to reflect on why Jesus spent so much time instructing people."164
The people of Nazareth rejected Jesus because they did not believe that He was the Messiah or the Son of God. Luke next gave many proofs of Jesus' messiahship and deity. He chose incidents from Jesus' ministry in and around Galilee to demonstrate this. The first four incidents happened in Capernaum and its environs. Even though these incidents involved miracles, they occurred in a broader context of teaching.
Luke's account of this incident is the longest of the three. Luke stressed Peter and omitted any reference to Andrew, his brother (Matt. 4:18; Mark 1:16). He characteristically focussed on single individuals that Jesus' touched wherever possible to draw attention to Jesus. He also stressed the sovereignty and holiness of Jesus as well as these disciples' total abandonment of their possessions to follow Jesus. Jesus repeated the lesson of this incident after His resurrection (John 21:1-14).
Luke placed this account in his Gospel after the Capernaum incidents rather than before them as Mark did (Mark 1:21-28). He probably arranged his material this way to stress Jesus' sovereignty over people having established the general program of Jesus' ministry.174The emphasis on Jesus' sovereignty continues through chapter 5. This was not the first time Jesus had talked with Peter and the other disciples mentioned. Andrew had told his brother Peter that he had found the Messiah (cf. John 1:41). However these disciples' thought of the Messiah as their contemporaries did. They expected a political deliverer who was less than God. Jesus had to teach them that He was God as well as Messiah. This lesson and its implications took all of Jesus' ministry to communicate.
5:1-3 These verses give the setting for the incident. Again Luke pointed out that the crowd was listening to the word of God (v. 1; cf. 4:32, 36). The people were so interested that they pressed upon Jesus. Jesus put some distance between them and Himself by teaching from a boat not far off shore.
Luke described the Sea of Galilee as a lake, as most of His readers would have thought of it. Gennesaret was the town and plain on its northwest coast from which it received its name.
Luke's characteristic attention to detail is obvious in that he referred to two boats, setting the stage for verse 7. Evidently the fishermen had used large dragnets (Gr. diktau) when they had fished all night, which Zebedee, James, and John were now washing and mending (Matt. 4:21; Mark 1:19; Luke 5:2). Peter and Andrew were using a smaller round casting net (Gr. amphibleston) throwing it into the water from close to shore (Matt. 4:18; Mark 1:16).
5:4-5 Luke alone specified that Simon and his companions were "fishermen"(Gr. halieus, v. 2). Consequently Jesus' command to launch out into the deep water for another try at fishing contrasts Jesus' authority with the natural ability of these men. Peter's compliance shows his great respect for Jesus that led to obedience and ultimately to a large catch of fish. "Master"(Gr. epistata) is Luke's equivalent for "teacher"or "rabbi."Luke never used the term "rabbi"probably because it would have had little significance for most Greek readers. "Master"is a term that disciples or near disciples used of Jesus (8:24, 45; 9:33, 49), and it indicates submission to authority.
5:6-7 Luke first stressed the gathering of very many fish (cf. John 21:6). The details give the narrative the ring of truth. "Partners"(Gr. metochos) probably refers to partners in business (cf. v. 10; Heb. 1:9; 3:1, 14; 6:4; 12:8).
5:8-10a Luke's other emphasis was Peter's response to this miracle. The catch so amazed (Gr. thambos) Peter that he prostrated himself before Jesus, evidently in the boat. Peter now addressed Jesus as "Lord"(Gr. kyrios) instead of "Master.""Lord"obviously expressed more respect than "Master."In view of later developments in Peter's life, it is difficult to say that Peter viewed Jesus as God when he called Him "Lord"here. He may have done so and then relapsed into thinking of Him as only a mortal later. Nevertheless Peter expressed conviction of sin in Jesus' presence indicating that he realized that Jesus was very different from himself (cf. Isa. 6:5). "Depart from me,"or, "Go away from me,"expresses Peter's feeling of uncleanness in Jesus' presence. Jesus' superior ability caused Peter to sense that he was a sinner, one who fell short. "Sinner"(Gr. hamartolos) is one of Luke's characteristic words. Of the 22 occurrences of this word in the Synoptics, 15 are in Luke.
"Luke does not use the term pejoratively but compassionately, as a common term applied to those who were isolated from Jewish religious circles because of their open sin, their unacceptable occupation or lifestyle, or their paganism. Luke shows that these sinners are the objects of God's grace through the ministry of Jesus."175
"What Peter does not realize is that admitting one's inability and sin is the best prerequisite for service, since then one can depend on God. Peter's confession becomes his résumé for service. Humility is the elevator to spiritual greatness."176
5:10b-11 Jesus does not depart from nor reject sinners who feel conviction because of their sin. He draws them to Himself and sends them out to serve Him. Jesus used the fish to represent people that Peter would draw into the kingdom of God and before that into the church (cf. Acts. 2; 10:9-48). This seems to be a reference to catching in the sense of saving rather than in the sense of judging and destroying. Peter and his three companions immediately abandoned their life as fishermen to become Jesus' disciples full-time (cf. 14:33; 18:22).177It is unlikely that they were able to finance their life as Jesus' disciples with this catch of fish, as one commentator suggested.178
"Luke did not lay particular stress on the thought of giving up all to follow Jesus (Mk. 1:18, 20): the accent is on v. 10 with its call to mission."179
The general emphasis in this incident is on the authority of Jesus. His words had powerful effects. The only proper response to them was submission. Blessing would follow in the form of participation in Jesus' mission.
"The major application in the miracle of the catch of fish centers around Jesus' instructions and Peter's responses. In the midst of teaching many, Jesus calls a few people to more focused service. Peter is one example of such a call. Everyone has a ministry, and all are equal before God, but some are called to serve him directly. Peter has the three necessary qualities Jesus is looking for. He is willing to go where Jesus leads, he is humble, and he is fully committed."180
This whole first section describing Jesus' teaching mission (4:14-5:11) focuses on Jesus' authority and the proper response to it.
