Luke 4:16

Luke 4:16

And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read.

1. “And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up…”

a. When Joseph and Mary returned from Egypt after Herod’s death, God eventually led them to live in Nazareth.

1). Matthew 2:19-23 “But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,
Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child's life.
And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel.
But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee:
And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.”

b. Another witness.

1). Luke 2:39 “And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city of Nazareth.”

c. Jesus had returned to Nazareth and went into the synagogue.

2. “…and as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day…”

a. Jesus was a Torah observant Jew and as a Jew, he would be at the synagogue on the Sabbath, in obedience to the Law.

3. “…and stood up for to read.”

a. The Life And Times Of Jesus The Messiah, Alfred Edersheim. “It is difficult to understand how, either on historical grounds, or after study of the character of Christ, the idea could have arisen that Jesus had offered, [by standing up]…to teach on that Sabbath in the Synagogue of Narareth. Had he attempted what, alike in spirit and form, was so contrary to all Jewish notions, the whole character of the act would have been changed.” We take it for granted, that what had so lately taken place in Cana, at only four miles distance, or to speak more accurately, in Capernaum, had become known in Narareth. It raised to the highest pitch of expectancy the interest and curiosity previously awakened by the reports, which the Galileans had brought from Jerusalem, and by the general fame which had spread about Jesus.”

1). In light of that, it seems reasonable that they offered Jesus the opportunity to read.

b. The traditional pattern in synagogues on the Sabbath day there is a reading of a portion of the Law (the Torah), with the goal or reading through the whole five books of Moses in one year. In earlier Jewish history three year were taken to read through it. Then there is a second reading called the ‘haftarah’ (conclusion), and it was portions of the Prophets and the Writings related to the Torah portion of the week. It is probable that Jesus was offered to read the “haftarah” of the service.