“And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read.”
Luke 4:16
Luke 4 starts with Jesus in the desert being tempted by Satan. After using the word of God to thwart the evil one’s attempts to get Him to sin, verses 14 and 15 say that Jesus went to the synagogues and taught in Galilee, and then in verse 16 He comes to the synagogue in Nazareth, a kind of ‘coming home’ for Jesus – it was where He grew up. The people had known Him for years. Is this coming home important? It seems to be, because it is in 3 of the 4 Gospel accounts, so we take that as something God is telling us that this event is important.
‘And as was His custom’ is a key phrase here. This is something Jesus did as a habit. Paul has the same habit noted in Acts 17:2 – ‘as was his custom.’ So many of us have that ‘custom’ of worship, and that is so helpful in our daily lives. If you do this, you know, and will keep the ‘custom’ for the rest of your life. It is true that God blesses when His people gather.
The reason we get so much out of regular worship is that we too, face a lot of temptations to get distracted by the world and the devil’s schemes so many days of the week. We do well to be renewed and refreshed with a ‘custom’ like the Savior’s – attending the gathering of God’s people on a regular basis. To God be the glory for all we do!