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Luke 4 · a question people ask

The multitudes found him and tried to keep him from leaving (4:42). Why didn't he stay with them?

In the text

Luke gives Jesus's own answer. "When it was day, he departed and went into an uninhabited place and the multitudes looked for him, and came to him, and held on to him, so that he wouldn’t go away from them" (4:42). "But he said to them, “I must preach the good news of God’s Kingdom to the other cities also. For this reason I have been sent.”" (4:43) (tap sent). And "He was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee" (4:44). Just before, Luke tells that "When the sun was setting, all those who had any sick with various diseases brought them to him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them" (4:40). These notes give no reason beyond what he said.

The verses

“When the sun was setting, all those who had any sick with various diseases brought them to him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them.”
Luke 4:40 · World English Bible
“When it was day, he departed and went into an uninhabited place and the multitudes looked for him, and came to him, and held on to him, so that he wouldn’t go away from them. But he said to them, “I must preach the good news of God’s Kingdom to the other cities also. For this reason I have been sent.” He was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee.”
Luke 4:42-44 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Luke 4

Luke 4: Today, in your hearing

In Luke 4 the reading in Nazareth has "the acceptable year of the Lord" (4:19), and then Jesus says "no prophet is acceptable in his hometown" (4:24): the same Greek word, the only two times Luke uses it. And at the end of the chapter he says, "For this reason I have been sent" (4:43), with the verb of the reading's "He has sent me" (4:18).

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Last reviewed October 1, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions