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Epiphany Season · Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany · Year C

Luke 4:21-30

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

January 30, 2028

The Brow of the Hill near Nazareth, James Tissot
The Brow of the Hill near Nazareth, James Tissot, 1886–1896Brooklyn Museum, New York
An angry crowd surges along a steep rocky path toward the edge of the cliff above Nazareth.They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.James TissotA French society painter who turned to religion and travelled to Palestine to paint the life of Christ where it happened.Brooklyn Museum, New YorkNew York’s second largest museum, holding a celebrated Egyptian collection and Tissot’s entire Bible series.Brooklyn Museum, New York
Revised Common Lectionary
GospelLuke 4:21-30Lk 4:21-30
Epistle1 Cor. 13:1-131 Cor 13:1-13
Old TestamentJer. 1:4-10Jer 1:4-10
PsalterPs. 71:1-6Ps 71:1-6

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 4:21-30Commentary on Lk 4:21-30 Working Preacher

The RCL's own preaching commentary on the exact pericope for this Sunday.

Luke 4:21-30 CommentaryLk 4:21-30 Commentary Center for Excellence in Preaching

A Reformed preaching-focused reading of Jesus' rejection at Nazareth.

Luke 4:21-30 CommentaryLk 4:21-30 Commentary Enduring Word · David Guzik

A verse-by-verse evangelical study of Jesus' hometown sermon and its violent reception.

Luke 4 Commentaries and SermonsLk 4 Commentaries and Sermons Precept Austin

An inductive study gateway with word studies and cross references across the chapter.

Luke 4:21 CommentariesLk 4:21 Commentaries BibleHub

Classic commentaries gathered verse by verse on the crowd's turn from praise to rage.

Luke 4 Verse-by-Verse CommentaryLk 4 Verse-by-Verse Commentary StudyLight

Gill's Exposition read straight through the chapter for a further expositional voice.

We Are His, Epiphany 4 (C) Sermons That Work · Episcopal Church

An Anglican preaching voice on Jesus' rejection and the church's call to belong to him anyway.

Background & Word Study

Luke 4:21 InterlinearLk 4:21 Interlinear BibleHub

The Greek of the passage word by word with parsing and lexical helps.

Book of Luke Overview (Ch. 1-9)Book of Lk Overview (Ch. 1-9) BibleProject

An animated overview of the first half of Luke, including Jesus' Nazareth sermon.

The Church Fathers

Luke 4 (Catena)Lk 4 (Catena) Catena

Patristic comments verse by verse on Jesus' rejection in his hometown synagogue.

Worship & Prayers

Fourth Sunday after Epiphany, Year C The Lectionary Page

The full set of appointed RCL readings for the day in a clean Anglican reference layout.

Podcast

Sermon Brainwave Podcast Working Preacher

The weekly lectionary preaching podcast that discusses this Sunday's texts aloud.

Art & Music

Art in the Christian Tradition Vanderbilt

A curated index of images for this Sunday's readings across the history of Christian art.

Study Hub

Luke 4:21-30Lk 4:21-30 Textweek

A comprehensive lectionary link aggregator for this Gospel passage.

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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