Bible Sharing from Luke 4: Verse 14 to 30

Verse 17-19: Jesus reads from Isaiah which speaks about the arrival of the Messiah (Isaiah 61:1-2) and stops before reading the portion about judgment of God. Which means that the main purpose of Jesus’ first coming is to bring good news, care for the poor, liberation of the captives (John 8:36, Matthew 11:30), life (John 10:10, 2 Timothy 1:10), healing (1 Peter 2:24, Luke 6:18), deliverance (Matthew 12:22-23; Luke 18:35, Matthew 8:16) and forgiveness of sin (John 20:23, 1 John 1:7-9, 1 John 2:12, Colossians 1:14).

Second part of Isaiah’s prophecy speaks of the Messiah bringing righteous vengeance of God. but it will happen only at the second coming of Jesus (Revelation 19:11-16).

Verse 21-22 : Jesus implied that He is the one about whom Isaiah spoke and the prophecy has fulfilled. The people around reacted with a combination of amazement and doubt, sometimes even his own family (John 7:3-5, Mark 3:21). People often looked at the background of Jesus and resisted to believe that Jesus could really be the Messiah (John 1:46; 6:42; 7:52). 

Verse 23-24: Jews demanded Jesus to show more miracles, signs and to prove himself (John 6:30,Mark 8:11; Luke 11:16). They ignored miracles that were seen infront of them and demanded more, which is stubbornness (Romans 1:18-20; John 5:39-40) and Jesus declined such demands (Matthew 16:4). As per the Jewish leaders, the Messiah’s arrival would be mysterious (John 7:27) and Jesus is merely the son of Mary and Joseph (Matthew 13:55).

Verse 25-26: Jesus points out that Israel has not always listened to God’s messengers and were stubborn. So God had sent those messengers to the gentiles and made miracles happen. Prophet Elijah during a severe drought was sent outside of Israel to perform miracles (1 Kings 17:14–16; 22–24). 

The second example was Elisha and Naaman. Naaman was a gentile, commander of the Syrian army, who had attacked Israel. Despite this, Naaman became the first person healed of leprosy. Rather than bringing a healing to an Israelite, God bestowed it on a gentile (2 Kings 5:1–14). Jesus made these examples to defend the people’s demand that He should perform more miracles and signs for them. 

Verse 27-28: At that time Israel was rudely oppressed by the Roman Empire (gentiles), so any hint that says God could love gentiles was met with resistance and violence (Acts 22:21–22) by the Jews. When Jesus said God would show favor to gentiles with His truth, the people of Nazareth becomes swift and violent and were enraged. 

Verse 29-30: The people attempted to kill Jesus many times before the crucifixion (John 8:59; 10:39), but they never succeeded. Only when the determined time had come Jesus allowed Himself to be taken (Matthew 26:45-47).