Luke 4:25

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; 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. So , including perhaps the six months after the last fall of rain, when there would be little or none at any rate; whereas in , which says the rain returned "in the third year," that period is probably not reckoned. WHEN GREAT FAMINE WAS THROUGHOUT ALL THE LAND;...

25._There were many widows _After throwing back upon themselves the blame of their being deprived of miracles, he produces two examples to prove, that they ought not to think it strange, if God prefers strangers to the inhabitants of the country, and that they ought not to find fault with him for obeying the call of God, as was formerly done by Elijah and Elisha. He throws out an indirect hint as to their vanity and presumption, in entertaining a dislike of him, because he had been brought up among them. _When there was a great famine for three years and a half, there were many widows in Israel, _whose want of food Elijah was not commanded to relieve, but _he was sent to a woman, _who belonged to a foreign nation, _Zidon, _(1 Kings 17:9.) In like manner, _Elisha _healed no _lepers _among his countrymen, but he healed _Naaman, a Syrian, _...

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 25. _IN THE DAYS OF ELIAS_] See this history, 1 Kings 17:1, compared with 1 Kings 18:1. This was evidently a miraculous interference, as no rain fell for three years and six months, even in the rainy seasons. There were two of these in Judea, called the _first_ and the _latter_ rains; the _first_ fell in _October_, the _latter_ in _April_: the first prepared the ground for the seed, the latter ripened the harvest. As both these rains were withheld, consequently _there was a great famine throughout all the land_....

OF A TRUTH - Truly, and therefore worthy of your credit. He calls attention to two cases where “acknowledged” prophets had so little honor in their own nation that they bestowed their favors on foreigners. So, says he, such is the want of faith in my own country, that I shall work no miracles here, but shall give the evidence of my divine mission to others. IN ISRAEL - In the land of Israel, or Judea. It was therefore the more remarkable, since there were so many in his own country whom he might have helped, that the prophet should have gone to a pagan city and aided a poor widow there. THE DAYS OF ELIAS - The days of Elijah. See the account of this in 1 Kings 17:8. THREE YEARS AND SIX MONTHS - From 1Ki 18

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

BUT I TELL YOU OF A TRUTH,.... Or in truth: it answers to באמת, a phrase often used by the Jewish writers o; and, which, they say p, wherever, and of whatsoever it is spoken, it signifies a tradition of Moses from Mount Sinai, and so that which is most true, sure, and firm, and to be depended on; and such is what our Lord hereafter delivers; yea, the word, הימנותא, "truth", or "of a truth", and which is the same as "in truth", is used by the Jews q, as לשון שבועה, "the form of an oath": so that these words of Christ are a strong asseveration, and amount to a solemn oath with respect to what follows: MANY WIDOWS WERE IN ISRAEL IN THE DAYS OF ELIAS; or Elijah, the prophet; that is, there were many that were not only widows, but poor widows, and in very famishing circumstances in the land of Israel, when Elijah was the prophet of the Lord to that people: AND WHEN THE HEAVEN WAS SHUT UP T...

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