Epiphany Season · Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time · Year C
Luke 4:21-30
Jesus Rejected at Nazareth
January 30, 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.
From Sermons.com: Join Today to access the most scholarly & well written preaching resources anywhere.
Take it further
Commentary
Commentary on Luke 4:21-30 Working Preacher
Luther Seminary commentary on why the hometown crowd's welcome curdles into rage once Jesus names God's mercy for outsiders.
Luke 4:21-30 Commentary Center for Excellence in Preaching
Reformed preaching commentary on Jesus as the rejected prophet who fulfills Israel's pattern of resisting God's messengers.
Luke 4 Commentary Enduring Word · David Guzik
David Guzik's verse by verse exposition of the Nazareth sermon and the attempt on Jesus' life.
Luke 4:24 Commentaries BibleHub
Aggregated classic commentary on the proverb that no prophet is accepted in his own country.
Luke 4 - Barnes' Notes StudyLight
Barnes' Notes verse by verse on the synagogue reading and the crowd's turn toward violence.
The Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C Catholic Productions · Brant Pitre
Dr. Brant Pitre's Catholic exegesis connecting Jesus' rejection to the pattern of Elijah and Elisha's ministry to Gentiles.
Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C Loyola Press · Sunday Connection
Loyola Press background, reflection questions, and family prayer for the Sunday Gospel.
Luke 4 Word on Fire · Bishop Barron
Bishop Barron's Catholic reflection on the universal call to prophetic witness that this Gospel raises.
Background & Word Study
Luke 4:24 Interlinear BibleHub
Greek word by word with parsing for prophet, accepted, and hometown.
Luke 1-9 Overview BibleProject
Animated literary overview of Luke's first half, tracing Jesus' Spirit-anointed mission from Nazareth outward.
Enter the Bible: Luke Enter the Bible
Luther Seminary background on Luke's structure, sources, and theology of Jesus' universal mission.
The Church Fathers
Worship & Prayers
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.
Prep at sermons.com
Ready to write?
- Full sermons on Luke 4:21-30
- Illustrations cleared for use in worship
- Commentary, quotes, and Bible dictionary
Trusted by pastors since 1995.
Free every Tuesday
Illustrations & Sermon Prep in your inbox
The coming Sunday’s readings, a cleared-for-use illustration, and a sermon-prep head start. One email, free.