Luke · chapter 4 of 24
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Luke 4 shows Jesus full of the Spirit, tempted forty days by the devil in the wilderness and victorious through Scripture. In the Nazareth synagogue he reads Isaiah and declares that prophecy fulfilled today, but his neighbors reject him. In Capernaum he casts out a demon, heals Simon's mother-in-law and many sick people, and keeps proclaiming the kingdom of God.
After the baptism and the genealogy, Jesus begins his ministry with a test and with a program. Luke 4 shows what kind of Messiah he is: obedient where Israel and Adam failed, anointed to bring good news to the poor, and rejected by his own before being received by others.
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, is led into the wilderness, where he fasts for forty days and the devil tempts him. First he proposes that Jesus turn a stone into bread; then he offers the kingdoms of the world in exchange for worship; and finally he takes him to the top of the temple to throw himself down, quoting a psalm. To each temptation Jesus answers with Scripture, and the devil departs from him for a time.
Jesus returns to Galilee in the power of the Spirit and comes to Nazareth, where he was raised. In the synagogue he receives the scroll of Isaiah and reads the passage about the anointed one who brings good news to the poor, freedom to captives, sight to the blind and the year of the Lord's favor. He says that today this Scripture is fulfilled. The people are impressed at first, but Jesus reminds them that no prophet is accepted in his hometown and mentions Elijah and the widow of Zarephath, and Elisha and Naaman the Syrian, both foreigners. Enraged, they try to throw him off a cliff, but he passes through their midst and goes on his way.
In Capernaum he teaches with authority on the Sabbath and casts an unclean spirit out of a man in the synagogue. Then he heals Simon's mother-in-law of a high fever, and at evening he heals all the sick brought to him and casts out demons, who recognize him as the Son of God. At daybreak he withdraws to a solitary place, but the crowd looks for him. Jesus says he must proclaim the kingdom of God in other towns too, and he keeps preaching in the synagogues of Judea.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Jesus answers the temptation about bread by saying that man does not live on bread alone. He quotes Deuteronomy: life depends on God's word, and Jesus trusts the Father even while hungry.
Jesus reads in Isaiah that the Spirit of the Lord is on him to bring good news to the poor, free prisoners, give sight to the blind and proclaim the year of favor. It is the program of his ministry.
Jesus says that today this Scripture is fulfilled in their hearing. He presents himself as the fulfillment of the promise, and that claim is what divides those who listen.
Jesus says he must proclaim the kingdom of God to other towns also, because that is why he was sent. His healings point to the message of the kingdom, and he does not want to stay only with those who already know him.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Forty days; he was tempted by the devil and ate nothing during those days. — Luke 4:1-2
Answer: Turn a stone into bread, receive the world's kingdoms by worshiping the devil, and throw himself down from the temple. — Luke 4:3-12
Answer: A text from Isaiah about the Spirit of the Lord anointing him to bring good news to the poor. — Luke 4:17-19
Answer: That today this Scripture was fulfilled in their hearing. — Luke 4:21
Answer: The widow of Zarephath, in Elijah's time, and Naaman the Syrian, in Elisha's time. — Luke 4:25-27
Answer: He rebuked the fever and she got up and served them. — Luke 4:38-39
Luke 4 teaches us to face temptation with Scripture, not with our own arguments. Jesus knows the Word and trusts it when hungry, when power is within reach and under spiritual pressure. In a class you can ask each person to memorize a verse for their weakest point.
The rejection at Nazareth warns us about the danger of becoming used to Jesus. Those who knew him as a child did not receive him, while foreigners would. Ask yourself whether it is hard for you to receive what God says through familiar people or places. And Jesus' example of withdrawing to pray reminds us that service needs time alone with God.
Luke 4 closes with Jesus going through the synagogues and proclaiming the kingdom of God in word and deed. In Luke 5 he begins to gather his first disciples by the lake, and his authority shows in a catch of fish beyond all expectation.
The devil quotes a psalm about the angels' protection, but he uses it to push Jesus into testing God. Jesus answers with another text from Deuteronomy: the Lord is not to be put to the test. Quoting correctly is not the same as using correctly; every passage must be read in context.
They first praised him, but grew angry when he suggested God would bless foreigners over Israel, as he did with the widow of Zarephath and Naaman. What offended them was the idea that God's grace is not theirs to command. Luke thus foreshadows the rejection Jesus would suffer in Jerusalem.
It is an expression from Isaiah 61 that recalls the year of jubilee, when debts were forgiven and slaves were freed. Jesus uses it to describe the time of grace his ministry opens: liberation, forgiveness and good news for the poor.