And he said to them, Ye will surely say to me this parable, Physician, heal thyself; whatsoever we have heard has taken place in Capernaum do here also in thine own country.
The scene is the synagogue at Nazareth, where Jesus has just said that Isaiah's words come true in Him. Before anyone can answer, He names the thought in the room: a proverb, and a demand for the works they had heard about at Capernaum.
The proverb was not invented for the occasion. It was already in use, and it outlived that Sabbath in a changed form. The mention of Capernaum also raises a question about where this visit sits in Luke's order of events.
Luke 4:23. — For this proverb ("parable"), see Talmud, "Bereshith Rabba," section 23. It is still current among Jews in the form "He is a physician for others, not for Himself."
"Capernaum." You do not need a critic's training to see that this section is out of chronological order, since it refers to great deeds done there.
He did not wait for them to speak. He answered a wish they had not put into words.
Luke records the first effect on the congregation: they all spoke well of Him and wondered at the gracious words that came from His mouth. Then the Lord told them what they really wanted, because He knew their thoughts. They wished to see works of power, but for the word they had no heart.
Notice how the demand shifts the subject. The words He read were for the poor, the captive and the blind. These hearers did not count themselves in that list. So the only question left was His right to speak at all.
They heard and wondered. They could not deny that these were gracious words. Would they receive them, then? That is a very different thing. They were not the poor, the captive, the blind or the bruised. They were wonderful words indeed from Joseph's son! How had He learned this wisdom? And how did He have the boldness to take such a place as He was taking? After all, the question was about Him and not about them. But they had heard of miracles done at Capernaum. So: let the physician heal himself. What they had heard of elsewhere, let Him repeat in His own city.
He could have settled the matter with a miracle. He answered from Scripture instead.
His answer to their thought was that "no prophet is acceptable in his own country." Still, grace shines out all the more because Christ was rejected. Notice that He does not defend Himself by power. He works no miracle to establish the rights of His own Person. Instead He appeals to the Word of God, the Old Testament Scriptures, for what suited the present time.
Behind their demand lies an assumption about what makes God's power appear.
They expected the same display at home, above all places, of what they had heard of where He was a stranger. But they did not realise that the display of divine power depended on faith, as a moral matter. Once they knew Him as "the son of Joseph," they could not receive Him in the power of His coming. And note this: He did not present Himself to them by general miraculous testimony. He came in Person, offering Himself in grace, in a way fitted to their situation.
They wanted what grace brings, without what grace says about them. Once that was clear, the mood in the room turned. Long familiarity with Him did the rest.
This beautiful picture of grace at work did not suit the people of Nazareth. Gracious words sounded fine as an idea. But the moment they saw that grace assumes those who receive it deserve nothing, they rose up in proud rebellion and great fury. They would have killed Jesus if He had not passed out from among them. The good things that grace brings were acceptable enough. But they did not want them on the ground of grace, since that assumed they were no better than Gentile sinners. Their familiarity with Him acted as a veil over their hearts.
- Proverb — "Physician, heal yourself" was a known Jewish saying, still repeated later as "He is a physician for others, not for Himself."
- Demand — They wondered at His gracious words but wanted works of power. He named the wish before they voiced it.
- Credentials — The quarrel was about His Person, not their need. To them He was Joseph's son, who had to prove Himself first.
- Refusal — He worked no miracle to defend Himself. He answered from Scripture, because God displays His power where there is faith.
- Grace — They welcomed the good things grace brings, but not on the ground of grace, which put them level with Gentile sinners. That is what turned wonder into fury.
And he said, Verily I say to you, that no prophet is acceptable in his [own] country.
Jesus read Isaiah aloud in the Nazareth synagogue and said the words had come true that day. The crowd answered with a shrug: "Is not this Joseph's son?" His reply is a proverb about prophets and home ground. It raises the hardest question in the chapter: why do the people who know a messenger best often receive him least?
The word behind "acceptable" is worth pinning down first. (The commentators quote older English versions, which read "his own country" where the ESV has "his hometown.")
The Greek word dektos (literally 'acceptable,' from dechomai, 'to accept') is another word that older English versions render both 'accepted' and 'acceptable'. It appears with euarestos in Phil. 4:18, where the two are translated 'acceptable' and 'well-pleasing' to God. It has nearly the same force as euarestos, and should be rendered 'acceptable' in Luke 4:24; Acts 10:35; and 2 Cor. 6:2.
The saying is not a random observation. It answers the crowd's remark about His father.
It was a case that fell under a rule you could call unchanging. Men are so alike, and the evil in them so deep-rooted. "No prophet is acceptable in his own country." And this seems to be a comment on their question, "Is not this the son of Joseph?" God acting in a son of Joseph! God speaking with so familiar a voice, and hiding Himself in nature and everyday life! That seems impossible, even self-contradictory. It is startling, because it brings God so near. And, sadly, it is unwelcome in the same measure.
Where this happened matters as much as what He said.
So in a very definite way, people rejected grace the very first time it was preached. This did not happen in Jerusalem among scribes and Pharisees. It happened in the humbler parts of Galilee, in the very place where He had grown up. Their familiarity with Him acted as a veil on their hearts.
Jesus knew what they were really after.
The Lord knew their hearts, and that they were ready to accuse Him of words without power. They had heard of His miracles in Capernaum and were interested, not in His words, but in seeing miracles. So He anticipated what they would say, and adds that "no prophet is accepted in his own country" (vv. 23-24). Such is the sad state of people's hearts that they do not want a prophet who might know them too well.
Notice what Jesus does not do next.
It is remarkable that He does not defend Himself by power. He works no miracle to make good the rights of His own Person, but appeals to the Word of God, the Old Testament Scriptures, for what suited the present time.
The prophets Elijah and Elisha were refused at home too. So where did the fault lie?
Then why was Elijah not accepted in his own country? Why not Elisha? Did the fault lie with the prophets? Could they have been careless about the first claims of their own country? No — but the moral state of the people was such, and their forgetfulness of God so appalling, that God, in His holy government, passed over the people who held the outward place of privilege. Grace can never be idle, so it sought out a Sidonian widow and a Syrian leper as fitting objects for its satisfaction.
The proverb is not the end of the story but the hinge of it.
Here we have the whole history of Christ — the perfect display of grace in the middle of Israel, His land and His people; and they did not know Him. No prophet is accepted in his own country. But this rejection opened the way for a grace that went beyond the limits a rebellious people would set to it. The woman of Sarepta and Naaman were witnesses of this grace.
Luke's wording is not the only form of the proverb.
The proverb as recorded by Matthew and Mark has the added reference to His relatives and to His house. Luke has, "No prophet is acceptable in his hometown" (Luke 4:24). Matthew has, "A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household" (Matt. 13:57). Mark has, "A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household" (Mark 6:4).
The same writer lists other differences. In Luke the Lord is alone and His life is threatened. In Matthew and Mark He is with His disciples, and He heals a few people before leaving.
- Familiar. He grew up there. God speaking "with so familiar a voice" seemed impossible to them, and nearness itself made Him unwelcome.
- Refused. They wanted the Capernaum miracles repeated, not a prophet who might know them too well. Familiarity acted as a veil over their hearts.
- Silent power. He answers with Scripture, not with a display of power to make good the rights of His own Person.
- Passed over. Elijah and Elisha met the same refusal. God passed by those who held the outward place of privilege, and grace found a widow in Sidon and a leper from Syria instead.
- Widened. The rejection at home opened the way for a grace that overran the limits a rebellious people tried to set for it.