‘But he passing through the midst of them went his way.'
Their attempt to kill Him failed. We are not told why. Luke wants us to appreciate that God just would not let it happen, and that in this deliverance the words of Psalms 91:11-12, quoted by the Devil in the final temptation, had proved true for Jesus because He had been faithful and had resisted the temptation. In a sense what the Devil had said was true. Jesus was here as the Son of God and He was thus untouchable until God gave the word. Perhaps some town authority intervened. Perhaps someone talked a bit of sense into enough of them for them to step in and prevent what their fellow townsfolk were doing, pointing out that they would be called to account for it. Perhaps there was a sudden storm. Perhaps Jesus turned and looked at them, and suddenly they were filled with awe, and gave way before Him (compare John 8:59; John 18:6). We do not know what happened, but whichever way it was, God had delivered Him. And the result was that He was able to pass through their midst and go on His way.
The story had great significance for Luke. Firstly because it was a declaration of Who Jesus was, the Anointed Prophet of Isaiah, and therefore on the same plain as the Servant of the Lord and the Davidic King. Secondly because it revealed the aim of His ministry and what He had come to do. Thirdly because it was a clear indication that Jesus saw God's mercy as available to the Gentiles. And fourthly because it bore witness to the fact that Jesus was under divine protection.
It may be noted that there is an interesting parallel here that may or may not have been intentional. Jesus temptations consisted of shortage of food, wrongly used political power and falling from a height to prove God's faithfulness. The widow in Sidon was short of food, and was fed, the Syrian general Naaman was connected with political power, and was cleansed, and the intention of the crowd was to throw Jesus headlong from a height, but He was delivered. It was an indication that Jesus had made the right choice and that what the temptations had been about would be fulfilled, but it would be in God's way.
Another interesting fact about this passage is the way that it summarises the life and purpose of Jesus from the point of view of Luke's writings. It proclaims Him as the Anointed One who has come, it outlines His ministry of proclamation of the Good News and of the deliverance of those held captive, together with the forgiveness of sins, it reveals the growth of opposition, and the intention to put Him to death, from which He escapes in a kind of resurrection, and it reveals that the Good News will finally go to the Gentiles, because Judaism has rejected Him. It is His life in miniature.