Luke 4:16

Luke 4:16. Nazareth, where he had been brought up. Comp. chap. Luke 2:40; Luke 2:51-52.

As his custom was. This refers only to His going into the synagogue; probably in this case the place of worship He had attended as a youth. Even though it were His custom to stand up and read, Luke's words do not necessarily imply this, and hence do not prove that the visit occurred later in His ministry. He had never before taught in that synagogue, and hence the allusion to His early habits of piety is more suggestive.

And stood up to read. The ruler of the synagogue usually called upon persons of learning or note to read and explain, and respectable strangers were sometimes invited to give a word of exhortation (Acts 13:15). The exercises were under proper control. Our Lord thus asked the privilege, which was the more readily granted, as those present evidently knew of His previous activity elsewhere. This first appearance of Jesus, as a public instructor, in the synagogue He had attended in youth, before those among whom He had been brought up, assures His sympathy to those placed in similar circumstances.