Why did these people try to throw Jesus off a cliff?

Question

I'm puzzled by a passage at Luke 4:14-30. It says that Jesus was teaching in a synagogue at Nazareth when the people became so angry at him that they tried to throw him off a cliff.

Here is what it says:

"All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff. But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way."

But I can't figure out what Jesus said that made everyone so angry. Can someone please explain this to me?

Thank you.

Answer 1

I wonder if it was because HE pointed out that a prophet is never accepted in his own country then goes on to tell them that Elias was sent to a widow in Sarepta (in Sidon) and another prophet, Eliseus, was to cleanse a leper from Syria rather than either of these works being done among the ppl of Israel ?
People who think themselves to be better than and more Holy than others cannot accept it when GOD shows favor to others.
(I in NO WAY mean this as a put down to any people group!!)

Answer 2

Jesus performed a long-distance miraculous cure of the son of a member of the royal court of Herod Antipas, the sick child being healed in Capernaum though about 26 km (16 mi) away from Cana. (Joh 4:46-54) The news of this miracle evidently spread quickly to the neighboring towns so that, when Jesus moved on from Cana to his hometown of Nazareth, he could say to his listeners in that city that they would likely ask him to do in Nazareth.

“No doubt you will apply this illustration to me, ‘Physician, cure yourself; the things we heard as having happened in Capernaum do also here in your home territory.’” Evidently, Jesus’ former neighbors feel that healing should begin at home, for the benefit of his own people first. So they feel they have been slighted by Jesus.

Realizing their thinking, Jesus relates some applicable history. There were many widows in Israel during the days of Elijah, he notes, but Elijah was sent to none of those. Rather, he went to a non-Israelite widow in Sidon, where he performed a lifesaving miracle. And in the days of Elisha, there were many lepers, but Elisha cleansed only Naaman from Syria.

Angered by these unfavorable historical comparisons that expose their selfishness and lack of faith, those in the synagogue rise up and rush Jesus outside the city.

Answer 3

Excellent question. The people that Jesus disturbed to this extent were Pharisees, a sect of Judaism at the time and the scribes, the teachers of the Mosaic Law. These people believed that the way to justify yourself before God was to obey the Law. They believed that anyone who would identify himself as the Son of God was a blasphemer, one who was arrogant towards God, and the Mosaic Law called for that person to be stoned. Jesus identified himself as the Son of God and told these teachers that the Scripture he read to them in the Synagogue was fulfilled through him. These were considered good enough reasons to kill Jesus.

Answer 4

They were upset because he applied the Messianic prophesies of Isaiah to himself, implying that he was the Messiah.

But they weren't trying to kill him. Words like "mountain," "cliff," "hill," etc. are ambiguous in Greek. The folks who translated that verse into English were unfamiliar with Galilean geography. Nazareth was set in a depression surrounded by low hills. They escorted him to the top of the nearest hill and planned to "roll" him right out of town.

Answer 5

Well, when someone goes to a Synagogue when Judaism is in power and tell them they're all wrong, I think that explains their anger.

Answer 6

Jesus declared that He was the one that Isaiah was talking about. He was claiming that he was the Anointed One, the Messiah.

grace2u

Answer 7

He said
"You are all a bunch of punks, I dare you to pretend to try to throw me off a cliff, but then save me at the last minute!!"
Sound silly to you? So does the entire NT to me.

Answer 8

he was preaching to them. The people new they were wrong, and like a cornered animal, knew no other way to respond than to attack!