Luke-I Don't Know How But He Walked Through That Crowd

By Mary Vee
Luke 4

From Luke's Journal 

Photo by Mary Vee
To the right of the tree in the middle there is one
hill in the distance with a city. It is the
expanded/upper portions of Nazareth. Zoom in
to see a tiny piece of the city.

My name is Luke, I am a disciple of Jesus and a physician. I am here to tell you about the days I spent with Jesus. 

The last time I wrote, we were in the Nazareth synagogue. Jesus read the word's from the scroll chosen for the day. The words were from Isaiah and talked about the anointed one who would save.

The men had a lot of questions thinking Jesus would be the one who would lead a rebellion that would conquer the Romans. Then they realized who he was. They suddenly remembered him as a child and said, "Isn't this Joseph's son?"

Even I could see their meaning. They wanted him to go about healing people, but not listen to his words. They thought only of themselves.

Jesus said, "The next thing you'll say, I'm sure is the proverb: "Physician heal yourself. Do here in your hometown what we heard you did in Capernaum.'

Jesus stood, "What I'm about to say is true. There isn't a prophet who has been accepted in his hometown. Back in the day of Elijah, there were widows living in all Israel. The sky didn't rain for three and a half years and a severe famine hit every household. You read and know what happened. Elijah was not sent to any of those widows for bread. He was sent to a widow in Zarephath over on the Great Sea to the north of Tyre in the region of Sidon.

"And what about Elisha? You've heard of him? Many with leprosy lived in the land of Israel and not one made whole, except the man Naaman, the Syrian. A captain of his army. An enemy."

The words were true and the men listening knew it, but they didn't want to hear it. He didn't sound like a conquerer they wanted. One that would stomp on the Romans and drive them out. Their anger grew into rage. They stood and raised their fists. A few grabbed him and pushed him toward the cliff. 

I thought they would throw him over. Right before my eyes, he walked through the angry men like water through a crack in a rock, away from the cliff. He kept walking, away from Nazareth. The other disciples and I ran to catch up with him, a bit confused I'll admit. How did he got away from that angry crowd?

Come back to read the next story.

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sources: 
*A Harmony of the Gospels for Historical Study, An Analytical Synopsis of the Four Gospels by William Arnold Stevens and Ernest DeWitt Burton, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York 1932
*New International Version, New King James Version. 
*My Bible College training.
*My notes and walk through classes I've taught in Children's church. Answers to student questions, etc.
*Pastoral sermons on this time
*Matthew Henry Commentary
*F. LaGard Smith Commentary
*My notes from my trip to Israel.