Luke 4:18
Ver. 18. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,.... By whom is meant, the third person in the Trinity; so called, to distinguish him from all other spirits; and who was given to Christ as man, without measure, whereby he was qualified for his great work: and intends the Spirit of Jehovah, with all his gifts and graces, who was, and abode on Christ, as a Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, of counsel and of might, of knowledge, and of the fear of the Lord; he was upon him, and in him, the first moment of his conception, which was by his power; and he visibly descended on him at his baptism; and the phrase denotes the permanency and continuance of him with him:
because he hath anointed me; or "that he might anoint me": the Ethiopic version renders it, "by whom he hath anointed me"; for it was with the Holy Ghost he was anointed, as to be king and priest, so likewise to be a prophet: hence he has the name Messiah, which signifies anointed: and this unction he had, in order to preach the Gospel to the poor: in Isaiah it is, "to the meek"; which design the same persons, and mean such as are poor in spirit, and are sensible of their spiritual poverty; have low and humble thoughts of themselves, and of their own righteousness; and seek to Christ for durable riches and true righteousness, and frankly acknowledge that all they have and are, is owing to the grace of God: and generally speaking, these are the poor of this world, and poor in their intellectuals, who have but a small degree of natural wisdom and knowledge: to these the Gospel, or glad tidings of the love, grace, and mercy of God in Christ, of peace, pardon, righteousness, life and salvation by Christ, were preached by him; and that in so clear a manner, and with such power and authority, as never was before, or since; and for this purpose was he anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows:he hath sent me to heal the broken hearted; whose hearts are broken, and made contrite by the word of God, under the influence of the Spirit of God, and with a sense of sin; and are wounded with it, and are humbled for it; and are in great pain and distress, and even inconsolable, and ready to faint and die; for a wounded spirit who can bear? now Christ was sent to heal such persons by his own stripes, by binding up their wounds, by the application of his blood to them, which is a sovereign balm for every wound; by the discoveries of pardoning grace to their souls, and by opening and applying the comfortable promises of the Gospel, by his Spirit, to them:to preach deliverance to the captives; who are captives to sin, Satan, and the law; from which, there is only deliverance by him; who saves his people from their sins, redeems them from the law, and leads captivity captive; and which liberty and deliverance are preached and published in the Gospel, and by Christ the author of them:and recovering of sight to the blind; which in the prophet is, "and the opening of the prison to them that are bound"; and which the Septuagint render, as here in Luke, and the Chaldee paraphrase in part agrees with it, interpreting it thus, "to the prisoners", rwhnlwlgta, "be ye revealed to the light" now because persons in prison are in darkness, and see no light, therefore they are represented as blind; and both are the case of sinners, they are in the prison of sin and of the law, and are blind, ignorant, and insensible of their state; until Christ both opens the prison, and sets them free, and opens their eyes, and gives them spiritual sight; when he says to the prisoners go forth, to them that are in darkness show yourselves, Isa 49:9To set at liberty them that are bruised: these words are not in Isa 61:1 but in the Septuagint version of Isa 58:6 from whence they seem to be taken, or else from Isa 42:7 it being allowable for a reader in the prophets, to skip from place to place, which our Lord here did, in order to explain this passage more fully. Luke 4:19Ver. 19. To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. The time which he willed and fixed for the redemption of his people, and in which he showed his goodwill and pleasure unto sinful men, in the gift of his Son to them, and for them; and which, as the Arabic and Syriac versions render it, was a time "acceptable to the Lord": the sufferings of Christ were according to his will; his sacrifice was of a sweet smelling savour to him; his righteousness he was well pleased with; and the satisfaction and atonement for sin he made was a plenary and complete one: all Christ did, and suffered, were grateful to God, because hereby his perfections were glorified, his purposes, counsel, and covenant were accomplished, and his people saved. The Persic version renders it, "to preach the law acceptable to God", neither agreeable to the original text, nor its sense; for Christ was sent to preach the Gospel, and not the law. In the Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions is added, "and the day of vengeance", out of the prophecy in Isa 61:2 but is not in any of the copies, or other versions. Our Lord did not read through all the three verses in the prophet, as it might be thought he would, and which was agreeable to the Jewish canon {c}:"he that reads in the law may not read less than three verses, and he may not read to an interpreter more than one verse, and in a prophet three; and if those three are three sections, they read everyone; they skip in a prophet, but they do not skip in the law.''This last our Lord did, though he did not strictly attend to the former. Indeed, their rule, as elsewhere {d} given, obliged to read one and twenty verses; but this was not always observed; for"if on a sabbath day there was an interpreter, or a preacher, they read in a prophet three verses, or five, or seven, and were not solicitous about twenty and one {e}''{c} Misn. Megilia, c. 4. sect. 4. Massechet Sopherim, c. 11. sect. 1. {d} Piske Harosh Megilla, c. 3. art. 6. {e} Massechet Sopherim, c. 12. sect. 7. Luke 4:20Ver. 20. And he closed the book,.... "Or rolled it up"; and so the high priest did, after he read in the book of the law, on the day of atonement, all that was necessary to be read, hrwt rpo llwg, "he rolled the book of the law", and put it in his bosom {f}:and he gave it again to the minister; the Chazan {g}, who was the minister, or servant of the congregation, who had the affairs of it upon him, to let in, and bring out, and to order all things; and particularly to take care of the book of the law, and the chest, or ark in which it was. If the same rule was observed giving and taking the book of any prophet, as the book of the law; then Christ gave it to the minister, and he received it with his right hand: for so it is said {h},"he that gives the book of the law to his friend, may not give it but with the right hand; and he that receives it may not receive it but with the right hand; for so was the giving of it on Mount Sinai, according to De 33:2.''And sat down; as was the manner of the Jews, when they taught, or preached; See Gill on "Mt 5:1".and the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him: they looked very wistly at him, and were very attentive to what he should say, upon such a passage of Scripture, which they knew referred to the Messiah; and the rather, as they had known him formerly, and had heard that he was said to be the Messiah.{f} Misn. Yoma, c. 7. sect. 1. {g} Bartenora in Misn. Sota, c. 7. sect. 7. {h} Massechet Sopherirn, c. 3. sect. 10. Luke 4:21Ver. 21. And he began to say unto them,.... To preach from those words; the explanation of which he gave, though not here recorded, and applied them to himself, to whom they belonged, saying:this day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears; which is as if he should say, I am the person here spoken of; and at this present time the Spirit of God is upon me; I am anointed with the Holy Ghost, and now preach glad tidings to you, and all the good things here mentioned, and for the several ends proposed; and this Scripture has its full accomplishment which has been read unto you, and you have heard this day. So the Syriac version renders it, Nwkyndabd, "which is in your ears"; that is, which you have now heard. The Jews themselves acknowledge, that these words are spoken of the Messiah. One of their writers {i} says,"these are the words of the prophet with respect to the Messiah; for the Messiah shall say so, "because the Lord hath anointed me", &c.''And so said the true Messiah Jesus. Another of them expresses himself thus {k}:"these are the words of the prophet with respect to the Messiah; for the Messiah shall say thus, "because the Lord hath anointed me", &c. or they are the words of the prophet concerning himself.''And elsewhere it is said by them {l},"the holy, blessed God, will send his Messiah to us, and he shall be worthy of this, (i.e. the character of a meek person) as it is said, Isa 61:1 "he hath sent me to preach glad tidings to the meek."''{i} Kimchi in Sepher Shorash. rad. xvm {k} R. Sol. Hamelec in Miclol Yophi in loc. {l} Juchaain, fol. 69. 1. Luke 4:22Ver. 22. And all bare him witness,.... That he was right in applying the words to the Messiah; but not that he himself was the Messiah, and that he was right in applying them to himself; for they did not believe in him, as appears from what followsand wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth; not so much at the matter, the sum, and substance of them, as expressive of the love, grace, and favour of God shown in the mission and unction of the Messiah, and in that liberty, deliverance, and salvation he was sent to effect and proclaim; as at the graceful manner in which he delivered himself, and the aptness of his words, the propriety of his diction, and the majesty, power, and authority, with which his expressions were clothed; and they were more amazed at all this, since they knew his parentage and education, and in what manner he had been brought up among them; and therefore it was astonishing to them, where he had his learning, knowledge, and wisdom:and they said, is not this Joseph's son? the carpenter, and who was brought up, by him, to his trade, and never learned letters; from whom had he this doctrine? of whom has he learned this way of address, and to speak with so much eloquence and propriety, since his education was mean, and he has never been at the feet of any of the doctors, or has been brought up in any of the academies and schools of learning? Luke 4:23Ver. 23. And he said unto them, ye will surely say unto me this proverb,.... Or "parable"; for any pithy sentence, or proverbial expression, was, by the Jews, called a parable:physician heal thyself; and which was a proverb in use with the Jews; and which is sometimes expressed thus, Kvpn yoa lyz, "go heal thyself" {m}; and sometimes in this form, Ktrgx yoa ayoa, "physician, heal thy lameness" {n}: the meaning of which is, that a man ought to look at home, and take care of himself, and of those that belonged to him; and Christ was aware that his townsmen would object this to him, that if he was the person he was said to be, and could do the miracles and cures which were ascribed to him, he ought to do something of this kind at home, among them, who were his townsmen, neighbours, relations, and acquaintance; that is, heal their sick, lame, blind, leprous, deaf, and dumb: and that this is the sense of it, is manifest from what follows,whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum: a place where Christ often was, and where he cured the centurion's servant of the palsy, and Peter's wife's mother of a fever, and another man sick of a palsy, and the woman of her bloody issue, and a man that had a withered hand, and where he raised Jairus's daughter from the dead:do also here in thy country; or city, as the Syriac, Arabic, Persic, and Ethiopic versions render it: hence it appears, that this was not the first of our Lord's ministry; he had preached elsewhere, and wrought miracles before he came to Nazareth, and of which his townsmen had heard; and therefore were desirous that he would do the like among them, if he was able, for they seem to be very incredulous, and to question the reports of him, and his ability to perform such things; however, if he could, they thought they had as good a right to his favours and benefits, as any, this being his native place.{m} Zohar in Exod. fol. 31. 2. {n} Bereshit Rabba, sect. 23. fol. 20. 4. Luke 4:24Ver. 24. And he said, verily I say unto you,.... Another proverb in use among them, the meaning of which was well known to them, and was very appropriate to the present case:no prophet is accepted in his own country; See Gill on "Mt 13:57" Luke 4:25Ver. 25. But I tell you of a truth,.... Or in truth: it answers totmab, a phrase often used by the Jewish writers {o}; and, which, they say {p}, wherever, and of whatsoever it is spoken, it signifies a tradition of Moses from Mount Sinai, and so that which is most true, sure, and firm, and to be depended on; and such is what our Lord hereafter delivers; yea, the word, atwnmyh, "truth", or "of a truth", and which is the same as "in truth", is used by the Jews {q}, as hewbv Nwvl, "the form of an oath": so that these words of Christ are a strong asseveration, and amount to a solemn oath with respect to what follows:many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias; or Elijah, the prophet; that is, there were many that were not only widows, but poor widows, and in very famishing circumstances in the land of Israel, when Elijah was the prophet of the Lord to that people:and when the heaven was shut up three years and six months; so that no rain descended all that time: the same is observed by Jas 5:17 and though the space of time, in which there was no rain, is not so clear from the history of it in the book of Kings; yet, as this is fixed by Christ, and his apostle, and there is nothing in the history that contradicts it, it is to be received without scruple:when great famine was throughout all the land of Israel; and which so long a drought must needs bring.{o} Misn. Sabbat, c. 1. sect. 3. Trumot, c. 2. sect. 1. {p} T. Hieros. Sabbat, fol. 3. 2. & 12. 1. Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Trumot, c. 3. sect. 1. {q} T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 55. 1. & Gloss. in ib. Luke 4:26Ver. 26. But unto none of them was Elias sent,.... That is, to none of the poor widows in the land of Israel was the prophet sent, to supply them with food, and relieve them in their famishing circumstances, as might most reasonably have been expected:save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon; which in 1Ki 17:10 is called "Zarephath"; and by the Septuagint there, "Sarepta of Sidon", as here. Pliny {r} speaks of it by the same name, and reckons it to Sidon:unto a woman that was a widow: she is said by the Jews {s}, to be the mother of Jonah the prophet. Our Lord meant to observe, by this instance, as by the following, that God bestows his favours on persons in a sovereign way, and sometimes upon the most unlikely; as in a time of famine, he overlooked the poor widows in Israel, his peculiar people, and sent his prophet to a Gentile woman in one of the cities of Sidon; and therefore they should cease to wonder if he wrought his miracles in other places, and not in his own country; since this was agreeable to the divine procedure in other cases, especially since they were a cavilling and unbelieving people. The Jews say {t}, that in all that generation there was not found any one that was worthy, as this woman.{r} L. 5. c. 19. {s} Pirke Eliezer, c. 33. {t} Zohar in Exod. fol. 89. 2. Luke 4:27Ver. 27. And many lepers were in Israel,.... The leprosy was a disease very common among the Jews; hence those laws concerning it in Le 13:1 and it seems by this account, that it was very prevalent,in the time of Eliseus the prophet; that is, the prophet Elisha; who, by the Septuagint, in 1Ki 19:16 and, in other places, is called "Elisaie": and none of them was cleansed; from their leprosy, by any direction of the prophet,saving Naaman, the Syrian: or but Naaman, who was not an Israelite, but a Syrian: he was cleansed and cured of his leprosy, being ordered by Elisha to dip himself seven times in Jordan, which he did, and was healed, 2Ki 5:14. Luke 4:28Ver. 28. And all they in the synagogue,.... The ruler and minister, and the whole multitude of the common people that were met together there for worship; and who before were amazed at his eloquence, and the gracefulness of his delivery; and could not but approve of his ministry, though they could not account for it, how he should come by his qualifications for it:when they heard these things; these two instances of Elijah and Elisha, the one supplying the wants of a Sidonian woman, and the other healing a Syrian leper, when no notice were taken by them of poor widows and lepers in Israel:were filled with wrath; for by these instances they perceived, that they were compared to the Israelites in the times of wicked Ahab and Jezebel; and that no miracles were to be wrought among them, or benefits conferred on them, though they were his townsmen; yea, that the Gentiles were preferred unto them: and indeed the calling of the Gentiles was here plainly intimated, which was always ungrateful and provoking to the Jews; and it was suggested, that the favours of God, and grace of the Messiah, are dispensed in a sovereign and discriminating way, than which nothing is more offensive to carnal minds. Luke 4:29Ver. 29. And rose up,.... In great wrath, and, in a noisy and tumultuous manner, before the service was well over, and without being regularly dismissed:and thrust him out of the city; first out of the synagogue, and then out of their city, as unworthy to be in it, though an inhabitant of it; and as if he had done something deserving of death; and therefore to be punished as a malefactor without the city:and led him unto the brow of the hill; the edge of it, where it run out, and hung over the precipice:whereon their city was built; so that it was a city upon an hill, and very visible, to which Christ may allude in Mt 5:14. That they might cast him down headlong; and break him to pieces: in this manner ten thousand Edomites were destroyed by the Jews, in the times of Amaziah, 2Ch 25:12 though this was not an usual way with the Jews of putting persons to death, as with some other nations {u}; their four capital punishments were stoning, strangling, burning, and killing with the sword {w}: nor did the inhabitants of Nazareth proceed in any judicial manner with Christ, but hurried him away, in order to destroy him, without any formal process, in the manner the zealots did; though to put any man to death, or to inflict any punishment on a person on the sabbath day, as this was, was contrary to their own canon, which runs thus {x};"they do not inflict punishment on the sabbath day, even though it is the punishment of an affirmative precept; they do not beat one that is guilty, nor put to death, as it is said, Ex 35:3 "ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day": this is a caution to the sanhedrim, that they do not burn on the sabbath day he that is condemned to burning; and this is the law with respect to any one that is liable to the other punishments.''But these men, without any regard to the place where they were, and the worship they were concerned in, and the day of the sabbath which then was, rise up in great wrath and fury, and without any show of justice, and in the most brutish and barbarous manner attempt to take away the life of Christ.{u} Vid. Rycquium de Capitol. Born. c. 4. {w} Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 7. sect. 1. {x} Moses Kotseneis Mitzvot Tora, pr. neg. 67. Luke 4:30Ver. 30. But he passing through the midst of them,.... Either in so strong and powerful a manner, and with so much swiftness, that being once out of their hands, they could not lay hold on him again; or else he put on another form, or made himself invisible to them; or he held their eyes that they could not see him, or know him, as in Lu 24:16 however it was, he made use of, and showed his divine power; and which he did, because his time to die was not yet come, nor was he to die such a death: and this also shows, that when he did die, he laid down his life freely and voluntarily, since he could then have exerted his power, and delivered himself out of the hands of his enemies, as now: andwent his way; from Nazareth elsewhere; nor do we read of his returning there any more. Luke 4:31Ver. 31. And came down to Capernaum,.... Which was, as Dr. Lightfoot thinks, sixteen miles or more from Nazareth; and Christ may be said to "come down" to it, because of the situation of Nazareth, which was upon an hill:a city of Galilee: of lower Galilee, near the sea of Galilee:and taught them on the sabbath days: that is, he went into the synagogue at Capernaum, on the sabbath days, whenever he was there, and taught the inhabitants, explained some passage or other in the Old Testament, as he had done at Nazareth and instructed them in the doctrines of the Gospel. Luke 4:32Ver. 32. And they were astonished at his doctrine,.... At the matter of it, as well as the manner in which it was delivered, it being so different from the Scribes and Pharisees, they had been used to:for his word was with power: he spake with great fervency, majesty, and authority, and not with coldness and indifference, and dependence on the sense and authority of others, as their teachers did; and besides, such power went along with the word, that it reached their hearts; and as the Persic version renders it, "he penetrated them with it"; and he also confirmed it by powerful operations, by miraculous works, such as casting out devils, and healing diseases, of which an account follows. Luke 4:33Ver. 33. And in the synagogue there was a man,.... That is, in the synagogue at Capernaum, as Christ was there teaching, on one of the sabbath days before mentioned; there was a certain man,which had a spirit of an unclean devil: who was possessed with the devil, who is by nature and practice unclean; and was filled with the spirit of the devil, with a spirit of divination, and was acted by him, to impose upon the people; he influenced his mind as an enthusiast, as well as possessed his body: and this was on the sabbath day; whereas the Jews say {y}, that"Satan and the evil demon flee on the sabbath day to the mountains of darkness, and do not appear all the sabbath day, because that day is holy, and they are "unclean"; but in the evening of the sabbath they prepare themselves, and meet the children of men, and hurt them.''And cried out with a loud voice;See Gill on "Mr 1:23".{y} Ib pr. affirm, 29. Luke 4:34Ver. 34. Saying, let us alone,.... Not that there were more spirits in him than one, as the whole account shows; but he includes the rest of the devils in that country; See Gill on "Mr 1:24". Luke 4:35Ver. 35. And Jesus rebuked him,.... Not the man, but the unclean spirit: or "that demon", as the Persic version reads it:saying, hold thy peace, or "be thou muzzled", as the word signifies,and come out of him;See Gill on "Mt 1:25".and when the devil had thrown him in the midst; in the "midst of them", as the Arabic version adds; that is, in the midst of the people that were in the synagogue; or, as the Ethiopic version reads, "in the midst of the synagogue", where he threw him into convulsive fits, and left him:he came out of him, and hurt him not; though he sadly convulsed him, and put him to great pain, yet he did not wound him in any part of his body, or take away the use of any of his limbs; and much less hurt his soul so as to destroy it; all which was desired and intended by him, but was hindered by Christ; See Gill on "Mr 1:26". Luke 4:36Ver. 36. And they were all amazed,.... The people in the synagogue; they were astonished at his doctrine before, and now at his miracles:and spake among themselves; as they were in the synagogue,what a word is this? meaning, either what sort of doctrine is this which is attended with such power and miracles; or what a word of command is this, "hold thy peace, and come out of him?" and so the Ethiopic version renders it, "what is this mandatory", or "commanding word?" to which agrees the Syriac version, rendering it with the following clause thus; "what is this word", that "with authority and power it commands the unclean spirits, and they come out?" See Gill on "Mr 1:27". Luke 4:37Ver 37. And the fame of him went out,.... From hence on account of his dispossessing this unclean spirit, which seems to be the first instance of this kind:into every place in the country round about; into every city, town, and village in Galilee, and even into all places round about Galilee; Mr 1:28. Luke 4:38Ver. 38. And he arose out of the synagogue,.... That is, when he had dispossessed the unclean spirit, he rose up, and went out of the synagogue:and entered into Simon's house; the house of Simon Peter, and which was also Andrew's; and in Beza's ancient copy, and in one of Stephens's, it is added, "and of Andrew"; who, though they were both natives of Bethsaida, yet, it seems, had an house at Capernaum, whither Christ went of his own accord, or by an invitation given him:and Simons wife's mother was taken with a great fever. The Vulgate Latin version reads, "with great fevers". The fever is"a disease, or rather a class of diseases, whose characteristic is a preternatural heat felt through the whole body, or, at least, the principal parts thereof, attended with other symptoms----"One" defines a fever, a strenuous endeavour, or effort of nature to throw off some morbific matter, that greatly incommodes the body.---- "Another", an augmented velocity of the blood; others, a fermentation of the blood; accompanied with a quick pulse and excessive heat.----The causes of fevers are innumerable, and the disease even often arises in the soundest bodies, where there was no previous morbific apparatus, as cachochymia, plethora, &c. but merely from a change of air, food, or other alteration in the non-naturals. A fever, "one" observes, is an inseparable companion of an inflammation. The symptoms are many: every fever, arising from any internal cause, is attended with a quick pulse, and unusual heat at different times, and in different degrees. Where these are intense, the fever is acute, where remiss, slow. The disease begins almost always with a sense of; chillness, and in its progress is chiefly distinguished by the velocity of the pulse: so that a too quick contraction of the heart, with an increased resistance, or impulse against the capillaries, furnishes the proper idea of a fever {z}.''The fever Peter's wife's mother lay ill of, is said to be a "great one"; which circumstance is the rather mentioned, to illustrate the miraculous cure of it by Christ; See Gill on "Mt 8:14".And they besought him for her; either his disciples Peter, Andrew, James, and John, who were all present, or the other relations and friends of the sick person, which were in the house; who having heard of his casting out the unclean spirit in the synagogue, believed that he had power to heal this disease; and therefore intreat him, for her sake, and upon her account, that he would restore her health.{z} See Chambers's Cyclopaedia in the word "Fever". Luke 4:39Ver. 39. And he stood over her,.... "At her head", as the Persic version reads: he inclined himself towards her, to see how she did, and to take her by the hand, and lift her up;and rebuked the fever. The Syriac and Persic versions read, "her fever", that which was upon her;and it left her, as Mark says, "immediately"; as soon as ever he had touched her hand, and rebuked the fever, and bid it be gone:and immediately she arose, and ministered unto them;See Gill on "Mt 8:15". Luke 4:40Ver. 40. Now when the sun was setting,.... And so the sabbath was over; See Gill on "Mt 8:16".all they that had any sick, with divers diseases, brought them unto him; that is, as many of the inhabitants of Capernaum as had sick persons in their houses, let their diseases be what they would, brought them to Christ in Simon's house; which, sabbath being over, they might do consistent with their laws, and the traditions of the elders, and without any just offence to the Scribes and Pharisees, who were tenacious of them; and they were encouraged to do so, partly through the dispossessing the unclean spirit in their synagogue that day, which many of them had been witnesses of; and partly through the cure of Peter's wife's mother, which they had heard of:and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them; without the use of medicine, by the mere imposition of his hands; which was accompanied with such power and virtue from him, as to remove, at once, every disease; nor did he refuse any person, how unworthy soever they might be in themselves, and how obstinate their disease might be. Luke 4:41Ver. 41 And devils also came out of many,.... Not willingly, nor of themselves, but at the word and command of Christ, who ordered them to depart,crying out and saying; as they left the bodies, of men, and not with any goodwill to Christ:thou art Christ; the true Messiah, that was of old promised and prophesied of, and has been long expected to come:the Son of God; the only begotten Son of God, possessed of the same perfections with God his Father; and particularly of almighty power, of which they were convinced by his dispossessing them;and he rebuking them, suffered them not to speak; for he needed not their testimony, nor did he choose to be made known by them:for they knew that he was Christ, or "that they knew that he was Christ"; so the Syriac version: they certainly did know that he was the Messiah, partly by the voice from heaven at his baptism, and partly by his power over them: but Christ would not suffer them to say that he was the Messiah, or that they knew him to be so; either because the time was not come for such a declaration to be made, or they were not the proper persons to make it; and lest such a publication, by them, should be made a handle of by the Scribes and Pharisees, to say that he had society with devils, and by them cast them out. Luke 4:42Ver. 42. And when it was day,.... The "day after", as the Persic version renders it;at the dawning, or "break of day", as the Syriac. He rose a great while before it was day, as Mark says, Mr 1:35 but did not go out till it was day, or till day was coming on, whenhe departed from Peter's house, and from Capernaum:and went into a desert place; for the sake of solitude, that he might be retired from company, and have an opportunity of privately praying to God:and the people sought, and came unto him: they first went to Simon's house, and not finding him there, sought for him elsewhere: and when they understood where he was, they came to him,and stayed him that he should not depart from them; they laid hold on him, and held him, and did all they could to persuade him, to abide with them constantly, and not think of removing from them: though perhaps this was not so much from love to Christ's person and presence, or any regard to his ministry, and the good and welfare of their immortal souls, as on account of the miracles he wrought, and the corporal benefits he bestowed on them. Luke 4:43Ver. 43. And he said unto them,.... In answer to their importunate requests:I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also; as well as to Capernaum; and though they did not express their desire of his continuance with them, in order to preach the Gospel to them; yet Christ signifies, that a principal part of his work lay in preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, the Gospel dispensation on earth, the doctrines and ordinances of it, as well as the things which relate to the kingdom of glory; as what is the saints meetness for it, their regeneration, and their right unto it, which lies in his righteousness: and that as he had preached these things at Capernaum, there was a necessity upon him to preach them in other cities of Galilee and Judea: for therefore am I sent; as he was by his heavenly Father, and had himself also undertook and engaged to do it. Luke 4:44Ver. 44. And he preached in the synagogues of Galilee. In the several synagogues that were in different cities and towns throughout all Galilee.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.