Luke 4:22

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? AND ALL BARE HIM WITNESS, AND WONDERED AT THE GRACIOUS WORDS WHICH PROCEEDED OUT OF HIS MOUTH, [ epi (G1909) tois (G3588) logois (G3056) tees (G3588) charitos (G5485)] - 'the words of grace,' referring to the richness of His matter and the sweetness of his manner (Psalms 45:2). AND THEY SAID, IS NOT THIS JOSEPH'S SON? See the no...

22._And all gave testimony to him _Here Luke draws our attention, first, to the truly divine grace, which breathed in the lips of Christ; and then presents a lively picture of the ingratitude of men. Using a Hebrew idiom, he calls them _discourses of grace, _— that is, _discourses _which manifested the power and _grace _of the Holy Spirit. The inhabitants of Nazareth are thus compelled to acknowledge and admire God speaking in Christ; and yet they voluntarily refuse to render to the heavenly doctrine of Christ the honor which it deserves. _Is not this the son of Joseph? _Instead of regarding this circumstance as an additional reason for glorifying God, they bring it forward as an objection, and wickedly make it a ground of offense, that they may have some plausible excuse for rejecting what is said by _the son of Joseph. _Thus we daily see many who, while they are convinced that what the...

14-30 Christ taught in their synagogues, their places of public worship, where they met to read, expound, and apply the word, to pray and praise. All the gifts and graces of the Spirit were upon him and on him, without measure. By Christ, sinners may be loosed from the bonds of guilt, and by his Spirit and grace from the bondage of corruption. He came by the word of his gospel, to bring light to those that sat in the dark, and by the power of his grace, to give sight to those that were blind. And he preached the acceptable year of the Lord. Let sinners attend to the Saviour's invitation when liberty is thus proclaimed. Christ's name was Wonderful; in nothing was he more so than in the word of his grace, and the power that went along with it. We may well wonder that he should speak such words of grace to such graceless wretches as mankind. Some prejudice often furnishes an objection agai...

Verse Luke 4:22. _AT THE GRACIOUS WORDS_] _To the words of grace_, επι τοις λογοις της χαριτος, or the _doctrines of grace_, which he then preached. It is very strange that none of the evangelists give us any account of this sermon! There was certainly _more_ of it than is related in Luke 4:21. _To-day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears_; which seems to have been no more than the first sentence he spoke on the occasion. Had it been necessary for our salvation, it would have been recorded. It was a demonstration to those Jews, that Jesus, who preached to them, was the person of whom the prophet there spoke: it was not designed for _general_ edification. Let us make a good use of what we have got, and we shalt not regret that this sermon is lost. The ear is never satisfied with hearing:...

ALL BARE HIM WITNESS - All were witnesses of the power and truth of what he said. Their reason and conscience approved of it, and they were constrained to admit the force and propriety of it, and on this account they wondered. THEY WONDERED - They were struck with the truth and force of his words; and especially when they remembered that he was a native of their own place, and that they had been long acquainted with him, and that he should “now” claim to be the Messiah, and give so much evidence that he “was” the Christ. THE GRACIOUS WORDS - The words of grace or favor; the kind, affectionate, and tender exposition of the words, and explanation of the design of his coming, and the nature of the plan of redemption. It was so different from the harsh and unfeeling mode of the Pharisees; so different from all their expectations respecting the Messiah, who they su

EXPOSITION LUKE 4:1 THE TEMPTATION. The consecration of our Lord in his baptism was immediately followed by what is known as his temptation. It is, perhaps, the most mysterious and least understood of any of the scenes of the public ministry related by the evangelists. It is related at some length by SS. Matthew and Luke, with very slight difference of detail, the principal one being the order in which the three great temptations occurred. In St. Mark the notice of this strange episode in the life is very short, but harmonizes perfectly with the longer accounts of SS. Matthew and Luke. St John omits it altogether; first, because, with the earlier written Gospels before him, he was aware that the Church of his Master already possessed ample details of the occurrence; and secondly, the

AND ALL BARE HIM WITNESS,.... That he was right in applying the words to the Messiah; but not that he himself was the Messiah, and that he was right in applying them to himself; for they did not believe in him, as appears from what follows AND WONDERED AT THE GRACIOUS WORDS WHICH PROCEEDED OUT OF HIS MOUTH; not so much at the matter, the sum, and substance of them, as expressive of the love, grace, and favour of God shown in the mission and unction of the Messiah, and in that liberty, deliverance, and salvation he was sent to effect and proclaim; as at the graceful manner in which he delivered himself, and the aptness of his words, the propriety of his diction, and the majesty, power, and authority, with which his expressions were clothed; and they were more amazed at all this, since they knew his parentage and education, and in what manner he had been brought up among them; and therefo...

Luke 4:14. _And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee:_ Ah, dear brethren, if our Lord Jesus needed «the power of the Spirit», how much more do you and I need it! We have no power of our own, but he was the Son of God. He was a divine Teacher, and yet, when he went to his work, it was «in the power of the Spirit.» Tarry, brother, till you have that power; it is of no use for you to go without it. Luke 4:14. _And there went out a fame of him through all the region round about. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all._ There was a wondrous power about his teaching: «Never man spake like this man.» Perhaps his hearers did not understand what the power was; but they glorified the new Teacher who had come into their midst....

III. THE MINISTRY IN GALILEE -- CHAPTER 4:14-9:50 CHAPTER 4:14-44 _ 1. In the Synagogue of Nazareth (Luke 4:14)_ 2. Unbelief and Rejection of Christ. (Luke 4:22) 3. A Demon Cast Out in Capernaum (Luke 4:33) 4. Peter's Wife's Mother Healed; Many Healed. (Luke 4:38 .) Luke 4:14 And now the description of the ministry of the Son of Man begins. The beginning is in His own city. How all written here is again in a very human manner. He had been brought up in that city and as His custom was “He went into the synagogue,” and as He had

JESUS IN NAZARETH (Mark 1:14 f.*, Matthew 4:12 *, Mark 6:1 *, Matthew 13:53 *). Lk. brings Jesus to Galilee, but, anxious to make the mission begin in His own town, departs from Mk.'s order (though it leads him into difficulty, see Luke 4:23), and puts the rejection at Nazareth (Mark 6) at the beginning of the ministry. The episode is prophetic of the later and larger rejection. And the activity which Jesus is said to have displayed outside Nazareth (Luke 4:23) is prophetic of the spread of