Holy Week · Holy Thursday: Chrism Mass · Year C
Luke 4:16-21
Jesus Rejected at Nazareth
April 13, 2028
Overview & Insights
“Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:21)
Jesus’s return from the wilderness area marks the beginning of his public ministry, which will be focused in his home province of Galilee until he sets off for Jerusalem in 9:51. Mark and Matthew record a single visit to Nazareth, which they place later in their narratives. Luke not only tells the story in much more detail, and with his typical focus on Jesus’s mission of deliverance, but also has inserted it at the very beginning of his account of Jesus’s public preaching to act as a sort of frontispiece (a decorative illustration facing a book’s title page) for Jesus’s ministry as a whole. The themes of deliverance, of good news for the poor, and of the universal scope of Jesus’s mission set the tone for all that is to follow. The hostility of Jesus’s own fellow villagers serves as a warning of the opposition that his ministry will provoke from conservative Jewish interests.
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Commentary
Commentary on Luke 4:14-21 Working Preacher
Luther Seminary commentary on the Nazareth synagogue scene, the RCL Epiphany 3C reading that covers the Chrism Gospel.
Luke 4 Commentary: Jesus in Nazareth and Capernaum Enduring Word · David Guzik
David Guzik walks verse by verse through Jesus reading Isaiah and announcing the year of the Lord's favor.
Luke 4 Commentary Precept Austin
Deep verse-by-verse compilation of classic and modern notes on Luke 4.
Luke 4:16 Commentaries BibleHub
Aggregated classic commentaries on Jesus entering the synagogue as was his custom.
Luke 4:14-21 Commentary Center for Excellence in Preaching
Reformed preaching commentary from the Center for Excellence in Preaching on Jesus' inaugural sermon.
Holy Thursday Chrism Mass (Cycles ABC) Agape Bible Study
Catholic study connecting all four Chrism Mass readings, including Jesus proclaiming Isaiah's anointing fulfilled.
Background & Word Study
Luke - Enter the Bible Enter the Bible
Luther Seminary background on the authorship, structure, and themes of Luke's Gospel.
Gospel of Luke Summary (Overview Video) BibleProject
Animated overview of Luke's Gospel and its emphasis on Jesus and the poor.
Luke 4:16 Interlinear BibleHub
Greek word-by-word study of the synagogue scene.
The Church Fathers
Sermons & Reflections
Questions preachers ask
What happens when Jesus preaches at Nazareth?
Reading Isaiah's promise of good news to the poor, Jesus declares it fulfilled in himself, and the hometown crowd's wonder turns to fury.
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