Jews And Gentiles

Jesus said to the people in the synagogue at Nazareth: “Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place. Indeed, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah when the sky was closed for three and a half years and a severe famine spread over the entire land. It was to none of these that Elijah was sent, but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon. Again, there were many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet; yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”

When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury. They rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong. But he passed through the midst of them and went away. (Luke 4:24-30)

A widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon and Naaman the Syrian were visited by Elijah.  Israel’s widows and lepers were not visited, all according to Jesus.  Seems a bit strange; however, these passages and history were written by Luke, quite a bit later than when Elijah lived and many decades after Jesus.  So, what’s Luke’s point? 

Nazareth was not a village.  As noted by William Barclay, Nazareth was a town or city and may have had a population of 20,000.  Jesus, as a boy, could have climbed the lower slopes of Galilee above the town/city to see an amazing vista for miles around.  Three great roads skirted Nazareth.  There was the road to the south carrying pilgrims to Jerusalem.  There was the great way of the sea which led from Egypt to Damascus with laden caravans.  There was a great road to the east bearing caravans from Arabia and Roman legions marching out to the eastern frontiers of the Empire.  Barclay notes that “it would be wrong to think of Jesus as being brought up in a backwater.  He was brought up in a town on sight of history and with the traffic of the world almost at its doors.”

Jesus’ favoring of the widow and Syrian would have angered the Jews in the synagogue because he complimented gentiles.  He preached that the gentiles were specifically favored by God.  Note: let’s remember that Luke’s work focused on the expansion of the Jesus movement into the Gentile world.  In fact, Luke’s story of Jesus begins with the rejection of “those in the synagogue.” This is a key point.  The division between Judaism and early Christianity was well under way.  Many Christians during the time of Luke and his Acts of the Apostles were Jewish in origin.

So, Luke having Jesus being set upon by Jews in the synagogue to be “hurled down a hill” makes sense, especially in light of the hills surrounding Nazareth.  Moreover, Jesus "passing through the midst of them and going away" also makes sense because this Lucan episode has Jesus falsely leaving his Jewishness behind.  Again, Luke highlighted this division between Jews and Christians.  Intentionally or not, the writer of Luke helped demonize the Jewish people.  The rest is disturbing history.

Deacon David Pierce