Luke 4:20-22 20And after rolling up the scroll and returning it to the attendant, he sat down; and the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were staring at him. 21And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22And all were witnessing about him, and wondering at the words of grace that came out of his mouth and were saying, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”
The people who gathered in the Nazareth synagogue on that Sabbath were impressed with Jesus. There must have been a murmur among the people as Jesus rolled up the scroll and returned it to the attendant. All eyes watched him find his seat. It is possible that some of Jesus’ family was present in the synagogue on that day, especially since Luke gives more insights than the other Synoptic Gospels and may have gotten his information firsthand from Mary or one of Jesus’ brothers or sisters. The words from Isaiah use the first person singular. By reading these words, Jesus was putting himself in the position of fulfillment. These words were about him. To make that point explicit and clear to the people, he pronounced the fulfillment of these words in their midst. Often, after the reading of Scripture, there was some form of sermon. Jesus at first gave a simple statement but expands that in verses 23-27.
The situation called for a response from the synagogue crowd. Verse 22 can be interpreted in two ways. Most translations take it positively as the people marveling at the wonderful words Jesus had told them. This interpretation is based on a certain reading of two words: witnessing (emartyroun), which simply means to confirm something based on observation or knowledge, and wondering (ethaumazon), which can mean to be impressed or marvel at something. These words can be used in a positive sense or negative. It makes more sense to interpret the crowd’s reaction in a negative way because of what Jesus says to them in the following verses. They were impressed with the announcement of grace because it expressed what most of them wanted and needed. The part that bothered them was that it came from Joseph’s son. They could not reconcile the idea that Jesus, one of their own, was the fulfillment of this prophecy. Thus, their reaction may not have been a positive one but one filled with potential confusion bordering on ridicule. Jesus perceived that, and so in the next passage, calls them on their wrong thinking about him and his mission.
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