NOTES for Luk 4:32

Why were people astonished? Well are there not many words said by the Prophets and by the teachers of the Books of the Bible in what Jesus was talking about? There were other teachers in Israel in that period; it is especially clear after the discoveries of the Red Sea also called Qumran. By what Jesus Christ was different from the others? Here is given the solution: "His message was with authority ". Or as it is written in the Gospel of Matthew: " He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes" (Matt. 7:29). A huge tradition of teaching and of interpretation of the Scripture already existed by that time; Israelis teachers spoke with a lot of caution, referring constantly to the authorities, as if screening themselves behind their backs.

Jesus does not hide. He also speaks without fear, quite as Israel great prophets. He does not even refer to the authority of Moses the legislator, and allows Himself expression such as "It was spoken to Moses but I speak to you ". It is not a matter of authoritative tone of His words, nor of His ego trip - there is neither of them in His thoughts - but rather is a matter of His listeners who feel a full conformity between This Man and what He speaks about. Love and truth are always united in His teachings, and that is effectively why people found that He has the right to teach them.

We meet sometimes in our way people in whom we feel the same power of love and the same power of truth, then something touches our heart, because an unquenchable thirst of love and truth lives in the kernel of the personality of every human being.