Continuing a Bible study of the Gospels:
(Luke 4:1) And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost, returned from Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
After a rather long interlude of reciting Jesus's ancestry all the way back to Adam, Luke 4:1 picks up after Luke 3:22 after Jesus had been baptized by John and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him like a dove. He then, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River where he had been baptized and was led into the wilderness.
(2) Being forty days tempted by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and when they were ended, He was afterward hungry.
The translation is lacking somewhat. The correct sense is that Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness for forty days to be tempted by the devil. He was not tempted for forty days, but not until the end of it, when He would have been His weakest. That's the way the devil likes to catch us. Jesus had fasted those forty days and was afterward quite hungry.
(3) And the devil said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command this stone to be made bread."
Knowing that God had just professed Jesus to be His Son, the devil tempted Jesus, trying to get Him to distrust God's word. It was the same old lie from the Garden of Eden, "Did God really say that?" He told Jesus if God had really told the truth about Jesus being His Son, then Jesus could command a stone be made into bread. The devil knew Jesus was very hungry and at His weakest because He was so hungry, that perhaps he could make Him distrust God and take matters into His own hands.
(4) And Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written that 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.'"
Jesus answered the devil, quoting scripture, specifically Deuteronomy 8:3, "...man does not live by bread only, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord does man live." Man does not have to depend only on actual physical bread for his salvation, especially not when offered by the devil who surely has ulterior motives. Man is to look to the Lord only for his needs and He will supply them. It so happens that my memory verse for today fits in perfectly here: "Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." (Matthew 6:31-33)
(5) And the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
The devil also took Jesus up on a high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world all at once. The account in Matthew made this the third temptation of the devil, and that order makes more sense. Matthew uses "then" and "again" suggesting the exact order, whereas Luke doesn't suggest a chronological order but just tells of the devil's three different temptations. Some commentators suggest that that phrase "moment of time" which meant "instant" meant that the devil was able to give Jesus a momentary glimpse of the entire world all at once. I wonder about that. Why would the devil have to take Jesus up on a high mountain if he was able to simply produce an apparition of the entire world? I believe he took Jesus up on the high mountain so that He would have a panoramic view of the world as far as the eye could see, and He could see all directions at one time from that peak.
(6) And the devil said to Him, "All this power will I give you, and the glory of them, for that has been delivered to me and to whomever I will give it. (7) If You, therefore, will worship me, all shall be yours."
The devil said that he would give Jesus all the power over the world and all the glory and riches that came with it if He would worship him. It's true that Satan is the god of this world, little "g" god, but that power wasn't exactly delivered to him. It's more like he took it by lying about the true nature of God. At best, God gives him permission to have limited power over the world. So yes, by his lies and temptations, he could get someone to the top to rule the world, but "what shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" (Mark 8:36)
(8) And Jesus answered and said to him, "Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.'"
It seems proper that this was the last of the three temptations by the devil at this time as Matthew ordered them, for it seems that Jesus told Satan with disgust and finality to get behind Him, a dismissive "away with you" for proposing such a ridiculous notion. Jesus quoted scripture, a combination of a paraphrased Deuteronomy 6:13 and the first and second of the Ten Commandments: "You shall fear the Lord your God and serve Him..." (Deuteronomy 6:13) "Thou shall have no other gods before Me." (Exodus 20:3) "You shall not bow down to them or serve them..." (Exodus 20:5)
(9) And he brought Him to Jerusalem and set Him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, cast Yourself down from here, (10) For it is written, 'He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you,' (11) And 'In their hands they shall bear you up, lest at any time you dash your foot against a stone.'"
Satan also took Jesus to Jerusalem and set Him on a pinnacle of the temple and told Him if He was the Son of God, He could safely jump. Then Satan actually quoted scripture, Psalm 91:11, "For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways," and Psalm 91:12, "They shall bear you up in their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone." This is why it is vitally important to know the word of God because Satan knows it quite well, too, and will seek to use it against us. Usually, Satan perverts the Word in a small way, using mostly truth so that we may fall for his tricks. In this case, he left out the part about the Lord's angels keeping us in all our ways. The Lord protects us and keeps us on the right track. He's not there to keep us from every foolish thing we on our own decide to do when we veer off His chosen path for us.
(12) And Jesus answering, said to him, "It is said, 'You shall not tempt the Lord your God.'"
Jesus answered Satan, also with scripture, precisely quoting Deuteronomy 6:16, that we are not to tempt or test the Lord, as in foolishly jumping off a high building to see if He will save us from our own stupidity.
(13) And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from Him for a while.
After tempting the Lord Jesus three times, and three times failing, Satan left Jesus for a time. However, he would rear his ugly head again.
In retrospect, I may not have admitted how much power Satan may have. Perhaps he was able to produce an apparition of the entire world in an instant in verse 5. He may have used some supernatural powers to whisk Jesus into different places. Otherwise, Jesus would have had to follow Satan all the way up a mountain and into Jerusalem to the pinnacle of the temple. I just don't think Jesus would have humored Satan for that long to give him that opportunity. We know from the Old Testament that sorcerers and magicians did have some supernatural powers with their dark arts. Jesus said in Mark 13:22 that false Christs and prophets would arise showing signs and wonders in order to lead astray the very elect, if it were possible. So I admit that Satan has some supernatural power, and in this case against Jesus, I believe God used it to teach us how Satan works, and how we should respond.
(14) And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee; and there went out a fame of Him through all the surrounding region.
Jesus returned to Galilee from His time in the wilderness, strong in the power of the Holy Spirit. Is it possible that it might also mean that after Satan had supernaturally whisked Jesus to the top of a mountain and then left Him there when he was done with his temptations, that the Holy Spirit returned Him to Galilee? We were told in the account in Matthew that angels came and ministered to Jesus after Satan left Him, so we know He did receive some supernatural aid. The fame of Jesus spread all around the region, perhaps initially because of John's prophecy, acknowledgement, and baptism of Him, and then because of Jesus's own doctrine and miracles that came when He started His ministry there in Galilee.
(15) And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.
Jesus taught in the synagogues in Galilee and was praised and glorified by all who heard Him.
(16) And He came to Nazareth where He had been brought up, and as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read.
Jesus went to Nazareth where He had been brought up, and as His custom was to frequent the synagogues, probably especially on the Sabbath, He went into the synagogue in Nazareth on the Sabbath day and stood up to read.
(17) And there was delivered to Him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written, (18) "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are bruised, (19) To preach the acceptable year of the Lord."
Jesus was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. He opened it or perhaps more likely, He unrolled a scroll. The scripture says that Jesus "found the place." Whether Jesus was looking for the particular scripture or whether He just happened to open and find it, you can be sure that it was by the providence of God that Jesus read that particular prophecy of Isaiah. Jesus began reading Isaiah 61:1, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me," which of course, referred to Jesus the Son of God Himself, "because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor." The actual words in Isaiah 61:1 are "because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the meek." Whether this was due to a slightly different translation in the time of Jesus, or perhaps the memory of Luke in reciting just what Jesus read, the meaning is the same. The gospel or "good news" was going to be preached to the poor and meek. "He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted," was a definite purpose of Jesus. "To preach deliverance to the captives" or as our version of Isaiah says, "to proclaim liberty to the captives," of course means the same thing; Jesus came to proclaim that captives could be set free. "And recovering of sight to the blind" actually does not appear in our version of Isaiah 61:1. However, the sentiment is repeated several times in other parts of Isaiah. So whether it was a part of this synagogue's reading of Isaiah, or whether Jesus skipped from one verse to another, again it makes little difference, as all these things mean the same thing and all refer to Jesus; Isaiah 29:18 states, "And in that day...the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness," which means they will see the truth. "To set at liberty those who are bruised," or as Isaiah 61:1 states, "And the opening of the prison to those who are bound," means essentially the same thing, those bound and broken will be set free. "To preach the acceptable year of the Lord" is written as "To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord" in Isaiah 61:2, basically the very same thing, Jesus would proclaim that it was now with His arrival, acceptable to the Lord to receive guilty sinners and to offer redemption to all.
(20) And He closed the book and He gave it back to the minister and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him.
Jesus then closed the book or rolled it back up and gave it back to the minister who had handed Him the book. He sat back down, and all eyes of those in the synagogue were upon Him. The people knew the passage Jesus had read referred to their anticipated Messiah, and perhaps had heard the fame of Him that He might be the Messiah, but knowing Him as they did as He had grown up among them, probably wondered just what He would say about that passage.
(21) And He began to say to them, "This day this scripture is fulfilled in your ears."
Jesus told the congregation that the scripture He had just read and they had just heard had been fulfilled. He meant that the Messiah the scripture spoke about had come, and of course, He was the One.
(22) And all bore witness to Him and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, "Is this not Joseph's son?"
Certainly, all in attendance witnessed Jesus and what He said. Something inside of them obviously stirred at the words He spoke. The word "charis" that was translated as "gracious" actually means so much more than merely kind and courteous. Strong's defines it as "graciousness of manner or act...especially the divine influence upon the heart and its reflection in the life." Something within them bore witness to the truth He spoke, but they were also confused by Him because they knew His parentage and His upbringing and education, or perhaps, lack of formal education.
(23) And He said to them, "You will surely say to Me this proverb, '"Physician, heal yourself!" Whatever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in Your country.'"
Jesus, knowing their thoughts, told the people that they would probably use the proverbial expression, "Physician, heal yourself," against Him, meaning that if what He insinuated was true, then He should have started with His home and His neighborhood. He should have done the miracles they had heard of being done in Capernaum there in His own country.
(24) And He said, "Verily, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country."
Jesus told them that the truth was that no prophet was accepted in his own country, or neighborhood. That is because it was so much harder for the people who had seen the prophet grow up in his meager surroundings among them to believe he could actually be as important as a prophet of God.
(25) "But I tell you a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land."
Jesus went on to share a fact with them, that during the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up and there was no rain for three and a half years, and there was great famine throughout all the land, there were many poor widows in Israel.
(26) "But to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath of Sidon, to a woman, a widow."
Jesus told them that Elijah was not sent to any of the poor widows in Israel, but rather to a Gentile widow in Zarephath in Sidon. His point was that historically God bestowed favors on people in other places apart from His own chosen people. Therefore, they should not wonder why Jesus would choose to perform miracles in other places than His own hometown, especially since as He had just told them, He would not be accepted as readily in His own neighborhood as He would be elsewhere.
(27) "And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian."
Jesus provided another example of God's sovereignty in choosing to whom He desired to show mercy. During the time of Elisha the prophet, there were many lepers in Israel, but Elisha did not heal any of them, but rather he healed Naaman, a Syrian, not an Israelite.
(28) And all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, (29) And rose up and thrust Him out of the city and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might cast Him down headlong.
All those in the synagogue who had just been stirred within by Jesus's words, were now enraged by these examples of God preferring to show mercy to Gentiles rather than to His own people, comparing them to the Israelites in the time of the wicked Ahab and Jezebel. That was too much for them and they threw Jesus out of the synagogue and even led Him to the edge of the hill upon which their city had been built, for the purpose of throwing Him off the cliff.
(30) But He, passing through the midst of them, went His way.
However, Jesus, probably by divine supernatural power, was able to pass right through the midst of the mob and go His own way.
(31) And came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days.
Jesus left Nazareth and went to Capernaum in Galilee, and there He taught the people on the sabbath days.
(32) And they were astonished at His doctrine, for His word was with power.
The people of Capernaum were amazed at Jesus's doctrine because He spoke the Word with authority, not with indifference as someone just reading text might.
(33) And in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean devil, and he cried out with a loud voice.
There in the synagogue where Jesus was teaching was a man who was possessed by a demon. He cried out with a loud voice.
(34) Saying, "Let us alone; what have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did you come to destroy us? I know who You are, the Holy One of God!"
The demon spirit, speaking through the man, acknowledged Jesus by name and told Him to leave them alone, plural. I don't necessarily think it means in this case that there were multiple demons possessing this man because he returns to the singular. I believe the question was, why was Jesus bothering all demon spirits possessing different people; did He come to destroy all demon spirits? This particular spirit said that he knew who Jesus was, the Holy One of God.
(35) And Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Hold your peace, and come out of him." And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him and did not hurt him.
Jesus rebuked the spirit and silenced it and commanded it come out of the man. With one more act of thrusting the man down in the midst of the people, the demon came out of him and did not hurt him.
(36) And they were all amazed and spoke among themselves, saying, "What a word this! For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits and they come out!"
The people were truly amazed at this and spoke among themselves. His word had more power and authority than they had realized when He taught; He was able to command demon spirits and they obeyed Him.
(37) And the fame of Him went out into every place of the country round about.
The fame of Jesus spread even more far and wide into every corner of Galilee and all around it.
(38) And He arose out of the synagogue and entered into Simon's house. And Simon's wife's mother was taken with a great fever and they besought Him for her.
Jesus then left the synagogue and went to Simon's house. This is Simon who was called Peter who would later become a disciple of Jesus. At this point, Simon was merely showing hospitality to Jesus as he was surely drawn to Jesus's teaching and invited Him to his house. There Simon's mother-in-law was ill with a high fever, and those in the house asked Jesus to help her.
(39) And He stood over her and rebuked the fever and it left her, and immediately she arose and ministered to them.
Jesus stood over Simon's mother-in-law and rebuked the fever, and with just His word, it left her. Immediately she rose up and being completely healed, she began to serve those in the house.
(40) Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any sick with diverse diseases brought them to Him and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them.
This being the Sabbath Day, it wasn't until the sun was setting and Sabbath was over that all those in Capernaum who had any sick people among them, people with various types of illnesses, brought those sick to Jesus. He laid hands on them and healed every person brought to Him.
(41) And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, "You are Christ, the Son of God!" And He, rebuking them, did not allow them to speak for they knew that He was the Christ.
Among the healings Jesus did that evening, there were those who had demons cast out of them. The demons recognized Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God. However, Jesus silenced them and did not allow them to speak for it was not the time and they were not the proper witnesses. Jesus was not about vainglory and certainly didn't need demons to publicize that fact. The Pharisees would surely have loved to connect Him with demons.
(42) And when it was day He departed and went into a desert place, and the people sought Him and came to Him and stopped Him, that He should not depart from them.
When it came daylight, Jesus left the house and went to a deserted place. However, the people searched after Him, and when they came to Him tried to stop Him from leaving them.
(43) And He said to them, "I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also, for that is why I am sent."
However, Jesus told the crowd that He had to go and preach the kingdom of God to other cities, not just theirs, because that is why He had been sent.
(44) And He preached in the synagogues of Galilee.
Jesus indeed went on preaching in all the synagogues of Galilee.
In this chapter, we see Jesus beginning His ministry. He was baptized by John in the last chapter, tempted by the devil to be distracted from His purpose in this chapter, but He began it wholeheartedly. Jesus was well known and had accomplished much before He ever called the first of His disciples.
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