Jesus's Power Over Storms, Demons, and Death

Continuing a Bible study of the Gospels:

(Luke 8:1) And it came to pass afterward, that He went throughout every city and village, preaching and showing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God, and the twelve were with Him,

At the end of the last chapter, Jesus had been eating a meal with a Pharisee who had invited Him to his house after He had been teaching and curing many people of various sorts of afflictions.  After that episode, He continued teaching throughout every city and village, bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God.  His twelve apostles were with Him.

(2) And certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils, (3) And Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others, who ministered to Him from their substance.

Along with the twelve apostles, there also went with Jesus many women, including Mary Magdalene, out of whom Jesus had cast out seven demon spirits.  There went also Joanna who was the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, which meant he was the manager of the property of Herod Antipas.  Joanna had also been healed by Jesus, but we aren't told if it was from evil spirits or some other infirmity; and it is likely she was now a widow who followed Jesus and ministered to Him out of her substance.  A woman named Susanna was also one who had been healed by Jesus and followed Him, and even though not much is written about her, we might assume she was a woman of means who could afford to minister to Jesus from her substance.

(4) And when many people were gathered together, and had come to Him out of every city, He spoke by a parable.

When many people had gathered together around Jesus from the surrounding cities and villages, He began to teach them with the following parable.

(5) "A sower went out to sow his seed, and as he sowed, some fell by the wayside, and it was trodden down and the fowls of the air devoured it."

Jesus began telling the parable of the sower, which was described in the gospels of both Matthew and Mark.  A sower went out to sow his seed and some of it fell by the wayside, the edges of the field, where it was trodden down by people who walked along those edges of the field, and some was devoured by birds.

(6) "And some fell upon a rock, and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away because it lacked moisture."

Some of the seed fell upon rocks and therefore had no roots in the soil, as the other gospel writers told it.  As soon as it had sprung up, it withered away.

(7) "And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it."

Some of the sower's seed fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with the seed and choked it.

(8) "And other fell on good ground, and sprang up and bore fruit a hundredfold." And when He had said these things, He cried, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

The rest of the seeds fell on good ground, rooted in good soil, and it came up and produced fruit a hundredfold.  Jesus then exhorted His listeners to really hear and understand His parable.

(9) And His disciples asked Him, saying, "What might this parable be?"

Jesus's followers asked Him what His parable meant.

(10) And He said, "To you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to others in parables that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand."

Jesus told His disciples that they were privileged to be able to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God.  It was given to them to understand spiritual things, but to others the parables would not be understood in a spiritual sense.  He referenced Old Testament scripture that spoke of people seeing and hearing, but not understanding (Isaiah 6:9, Jeremiah 5:21).  To those who were being led by the Holy Spirit, they might have the ears to understand.  However, those with no regard for spiritual things would not be able to understand the parables Jesus told.  In that way, the beautiful mysteries of the kingdom of God were hidden from people who had no real desire to understand, and Jesus did not cast His pearls before swine (Matthew 7:6).

(11) "Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God."

Jesus began explaining the parable to His disciples.  The seed represented the word of God.

(12) "Those by the wayside are they who hear; then comes the devil and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved."

The seed that fell by the wayside that was trampled and devoured by birds represented those who heard the word of God, but before they could truly understand and come to salvation, that word was trampled by the world and snatched away by Satan, represented by the birds.  Satan's purpose is to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10), so he must divert the attention of one who has heard the word in any way he can in order to destroy and kill the one who might be otherwise saved if he retained God's word.

(13) "They on the rock, which when they hear, receive the word with joy, but these have no root, who for a while believe and in time of temptation fall away."

The seed that fell on the rocks represented those who heard the word of God and received it with genuine joy, but it was more of a head knowledge and joy, and never became rooted in their hearts.  They believed for awhile, but that belief quickly withered away when temptation came.

(14) "And that which fell among thorns are they who when they have heard, go forth and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to perfection."

The seed that fell among thorns represents probably a huge number of Christians today.  They hear the word and believe it, but it is choked by the busyness of this life, and they bring forth no real fruit of their faith.

(15) "But that on the good ground are those which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience."

The seed that fell on good ground represented the word that was planted in a good and honest heart where it took root and brought forth fruit with endurance and perseverance, which is the more complete definition of the original word "hupomone" that was translated as "patience."  Patience in the Bible is sometimes called longsuffering.  When you think of patience that way, it fits here perfectly.  Bringing forth fruit with patience is bringing it forth even through long suffering with endurance and perseverance.

(16) "No man when he has lit a candle, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but sets it on a candlestand that those who enter in may see the light."

It's as if Jesus was saying, "Let your fruit appear openly."  When that light is lit in our hearts, it should not be hidden there, but should be revealed that those who come in contact with us will see it.

(17) "For nothing is secret that shall not be made manifest, neither hidden that shall not be known and come abroad."

There are no secrets in this world.  God sees all.  There is nothing hidden in the hearts that will not be known and come to light.  Regarding the secret mysteries of the kingdom of God (v. 10), that which was hidden in parables, would come to light abroad in the entire world.  What might seem hidden to the disciples at that time would not remain hidden as nothing remains hidden.

(18) "Take heed therefore how you hear; for whoever has, to him shall be given, and whoever has not, from him shall be taken even that which he seems to have."

Jesus cautioned His disciples to be careful about how they heard the truths and doctrines He would teach, that it not be with a careless ear, for whoever had knowledge of the doctrines of Christ and had spiritual gifts and abilities to spread that knowledge, would be given more knowledge and spiritual gifts.  However, those who did not have true spiritual knowledge would lose even what they thought they had.  That way they could not pass on false spiritual knowledge to others, endangering their souls.

(19) Then came to Him His mother and His brothers and could not come at Him for the press.

Jesus's mother and brothers came seeking Him but could not approach Him because the crowd of people pressed in on Him so.

(20) And it was told Him, saying, "Your mother and your brothers stand outside desiring to see You."

The account in Matthew stated that Jesus had ceased talking to the multitude that had gathered from every city (v. 4) and He had gone into a house where the disciples had then asked Him about the parable of the sower.  Apparently, a crowd had gathered at the house and that is where Mary and Jesus's brothers had come to see Him.  Someone told Jesus that His mother and brothers were outside wishing to see Him.

(21) And He answered and said to them, "My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it."

Jesus took that opportunity to demonstrate that there was no closer bond among men than the one between man and his Lord, when that man embraced Him with true faith and adherence to God's word.  "There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother" (Proverbs 18:24).

(22) Now it came to pass on a certain day that He went into a ship with His disciples, and He said to them, "Let us go over to the other side of the lake." And they launched forth.

On another day Jesus and His disciples boarded a ship where He told them to go over to the other side of the lake, which was Lake Gennesaret or the Sea of Galilee.  They set sail.

(23) But as they sailed, He fell asleep, and there came down a storm of wind on the lake, and they were filled with water and were in jeopardy.

As they sailed to the other side of the lake, Jesus slept.  A windstorm came upon them, and their boat was filling up with water and they were in danger, at least seemingly so.

(24) And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, "Master, Master, we perish!" Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water, and they ceased and there was a calm.

The disciples came to Jesus and woke Him up, declaring they were about to perish.  Jesus rose up, rebuked the wind and the raging sea, and they ceased, and all was calm.

(25) And He said to them, "Where is your faith?" And they being afraid, wondered, saying to one another, "What manner of man is this! For He commands even the wind and water, and they obey Him."

Jesus rebuked His disciples, asking where their faith was.  After all, He had said, "Let us go to the other side."  He didn't say there would be no dangers along the way, but they were going to the other side; Jesus said so.  I love this!  I recently heard a teaching on this that pointed that out.  Jesus said, and there was no need to fear any danger.  "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me..." (Psalm 23:4).  The disciples marveled at Jesus's action in calming the sea for even the winds and the water obeyed Him.

(26) And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee.

Their ship arrived at the country of the Gadarenes which was across the sea from Galilee.

(27) And when He went forth to land, there met Him out of the city a certain man who had devils a long time, and he wore no clothes, neither abode in any house, but in the tombs.

When Jesus stepped on the land from the boat, a man came out of the city to meet Him.  He was a man who had had demons for a long time, and he wore no clothes and didn't live in a house, but among the tombs.

(28) When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before Him, and with a loud voice, said, "What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of God most high? I beseech You, do not torment me!"

When the man saw it was Jesus, possessed by the demon inside of him, he cried out in a loud voice and fell down before Jesus.  The demon recognized Jesus and asked what it had to do with Jesus, admitting He was the Son of the most high God.  Then it begged Jesus not to torment it.

(29) (For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For oftentimes it had caught him, and he was kept bound with chains and in shackles, and he broke the bonds, and was driven by the devil into the wilderness.)

It seems the demon begged Jesus not to torment it when Jesus had commanded it to come out of the man.  The parenthetical statement goes on to tell how powerful it had been against the man it possessed, breaking the chains and shackles that had been used to bind him, and driving him into the wilderness.

(30) And Jesus asked him, saying, "What is your name?" And he said, "Legion," because many devils had entered into him.

Jesus would have certainly already known the name of the demon that possessed the man, but for the sake of the observers, to understand the miserable state of this poor man possessed by such a demon, He asked it its name.  The demon answered "Legion" because there were many demons that had possessed the man.

(31) And they beseeched Him that He would not command them to go out into the deep.

The demons begged Jesus not to send them into the abyss or hell.  They understood that they must obey Him; they had no power against Him, so they begged Him not to send them to hell.

(32) And there was there a herd of many swine feeding on the mountain, and they besought Him that He would allow them to enter into them. And He permitted them.

There was a huge herd of swine there feeding on the mountain, and the demons begged Jesus to allow them to enter into the swine.  Jesus allowed them.  Why would Jesus allow the demons to bargain with Him?  Again, it was for the benefit of the witnesses to see exactly what end there was for those possessed by demons.

(33) Then the devils went out of the man and entered into the swine, and the herd ran violently down a steep place into a lake and were drowned.

Apparently, this bargaining of the demons took place while they were still within the man, beginning when Jesus had commanded them to come out of him.  That shows that it was Jesus Himself who allowed them to bargain and plead, as they would have immediately gone out of the man against their will when Jesus commanded, but He permitted them this for the benefit of the witnesses.  The demons then went out of the man and into the herd of swine, and the herd ran violently over a cliff, into the lake, and were drowned.

(34) When they who fed them saw what was done, they fled and went and told it in the city and in the country.

When those who fed the swine, which totaled about 2000 head, according to the account in Mark, saw what happened to the herd, they ran away and told what had happened far and wide, in the city and in the country.

(35) Then they went out to see what was done and came to Jesus and found the man out of whom the devils were departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind; and they were afraid.

When people heard the story of what had happened, they went out to see for themselves and went to Jesus where they found the man who had been possessed by the demons sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind.  This made them afraid.

(36) They also who saw it told them by what means he who was possessed of the devils was healed.

The eyewitnesses to what had happened told the people who came out to see for themselves, the details of how it was that the man who had been possessed came to be healed.

(37) Then the whole multitude of the country of the Gadarenes all around besought Him to depart from them, for they were taken with great fear; and He went into the ship and returned.

The entire country of the Gadarenes begged Jesus to leave them because they were so afraid.  One can only assume that they feared some great loss as had happened to the herd of swine, for if their fear was a reverential one for this prophet or God, they would have wanted to learn more and see others healed by Him.  They seemed to have more selfish concern for their possessions than they did for the miraculous healing of one of their own.  That may have been another reason why Jesus allowed the demons to have what they wished.  What a vivid example of unrepentant sinners it was that the Gadarenes, when they witnessed an awesome miracle in that Jesus could command devils, and what those devils were able to do to destroy their hosts, and what peace and right-mindedness Jesus gave, they yet chose to drive Him out of their country.  They chose their possessions over the gift of Jesus, and Jesus obliged and returned from whence He came.

(38) Now the man out of whom the devils were departed besought Him that he might be with Him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, (39) "Return to your own house and show what great things God has done to you." And he went his way and published throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done to him.

It seems there was one man in the whole country of the Gadarenes who chose to follow Jesus, the man who had been healed of the demons.  He asked Jesus to allow him to follow Him, but Jesus sent him back to his home to be a witness for Him.  At this time, that was where he could better serve, to give his testimony to all he could reach, for they had rejected Jesus and sent Him away.  The man did just that, reporting all the things Jesus had done for him throughout the city.

(40) And it came to pass that, when Jesus returned, the people welcomed Him, for they were all waiting for Him.

In striking contrast to the Gadarenes, when Jesus returned, those people had been waiting for Him and welcomed Him gladly.

(41) And behold, there came a man named Jairus and he was a ruler of the synagogue; and he fell down at Jesus's feet and besought Him that He would come into his house.

A man named Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, came up to Jesus and fell down at His feet and begged Him to come to his house.

(42) For he had one only daughter about twelve years of age, and she lay dying. But as He went, the people thronged Him.

Jairus asked Jesus to go to his house because there his only daughter, only twelve years old, was dying.  As Jesus went with him toward his house, the multitude of people crowded Him.

(43) And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, who had spent all her living on physicians but could not be healed by any, (44) Came behind and touched the border of His garment, and immediately her issue of blood stopped.

Among the crowd was a woman who had had an issue of blood for twelve years.  She had spent her whole livelihood on doctors, but none had ever healed her.  She came up behind Jesus and touched the border of His garment and immediately her issue of blood stopped.  The account in Mark told us she had purposed to touch Jesus's garment to be healed, and indeed, she was.

(45) And Jesus said, "Who touched Me?" When all denied, Peter and those who were with Him said, "Master, the multitude throngs You and presses You, and You say, 'Who touched Me?'"

Jesus immediately asked who had touched Him.  Everyone denied touching Him, but Peter and those with Him asked how He could ask such a question when it was obvious a crowd of many people pressed in on and touched Him.  Of course, we know that Jesus already knew who had touched Him, but for the benefit of the woman and the witnesses, including Peter and the disciples, He asked the question.

(46) And Jesus said, "Somebody has touched Me, for I perceive that power has gone out of Me."

Jesus said, in an answer to Peter, that He knew someone had touched Him for He felt power going out of Him.  It's not as if Jesus had not willed the power to go forth from Him and heal the woman.  It was not as if His healing power went out from Him just because people touched Him, or else the people who crowded Him would have also been healed.  Jesus said this to make a point and bring everyone's attention to just what had happened.  It was one of those teaching moments of Jesus.

(47) And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before Him, she declared to Him before all the people for what reason she had touched Him, and how she was healed immediately.

When the woman saw that what she had done in secret was not a secret to Jesus, she came to Him, trembling, and fell down before Him.  She confessed the reason she had sought to touch Him and told how she had been healed immediately.

(48) And He said to her, "Daughter, be of good comfort; your faith has made you whole; go in peace."

Jesus told the woman to be at peace; He was not angry with her.  On the contrary, He recognized her faith and told her that is why she had been healed, and she could go in peace.

(49) While He was still speaking, there came one from the ruler of the synagogue's house, saying to him, "Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the Master."

While Jesus was still speaking to the woman, someone came from Jairus's house and told him that his daughter had died, so he should not trouble Jesus.

(50) But when Jesus heard, He answered him, saying, "Fear not; believe only, and she shall be made whole."

I believe it was by design that Jesus tarried with the woman who had the issue of blood.  Not only had valuable lessons been taught with the woman, but now Jesus could show that there was no need to fear even in the most hopeless situation when one had faith in Jesus.  And of course, He would demonstrate His power over death.

(51) And when He came into the house, He permitted no man to go in except Peter, James, John, and the father and the mother of the girl.

When Jesus came to Jairus's house, He only allowed Peter, James, and John, and of course, the parents of the girl, to go into the house.  There was no reason to allow a crowd of people to trample all over Jairus's house, but as was Jesus's usual custom, there would be two or three witnesses to establish a thing as truth (Deuteronomy 19:15, Matthew 18:16).

(52) And all wept and bewailed her, but He said, "Do not weep; she is not dead, but sleeping."

All the people who were already in the house wept and mourned over the girl.  However, Jesus told them not to weep because she was not dead, only sleeping.

(53) And they laughed Him to scorn, knowing that she was dead.

The people in the house only laughed and ridiculed Jesus because they knew the girl was dead.

(54) And He put them all out, and took her by the hand and called, saying, "Maid, arise."

Jesus put all those people out.  It is not helpful to have a bunch of non-believers and naysayers when one is holding onto faith in the seemingly impossible.  Besides, what kind of people were they, who were supposedly mournful over the girl, but then could turn so quickly to laughter and ridicule at so solemn a moment?  They were unworthy to be witnesses of this great miracle.  Jesus did not cast His pearls before swine (Matthew 7:6).  He then took the girl by the hand and called out to her to arise.

(55) And her spirit came again and she arose immediately, and He commanded to give her food.

The girl's soul and life returned to her, and she rose up from her bed immediately.  Jesus commanded her parents to give her some nourishment.

(56) And her parents were astonished, but He charged them that they should tell no one what was done.

The girl's parents were obviously amazed, but Jesus told them not to publish far and wide what was done there in private.  Of course, everyone could see that the girl was now alive, but after all, Jesus had said she was only sleeping.  There was no need to publish the details of this miracle and bring about the wrath of the Pharisees before the proper time.

This chapter began with Jesus preaching and teaching, and culminated with his restoring life to a dead girl.  That is, of course, the reason He came, to give us life, and life more abundantly (John 10:10).

Jesus's Miraculous Healings and His Commendation of John and a Sorrowful Penitent Woman

Continuing a Bible study of the Gospels:

(Luke 7:1) Now when He had ended all His sayings in the audience of the people, He entered Capernaum.

When Jesus had finished speaking all the sayings and teachings He had been giving the people in chapter 6, He then went to Capernaum.

(2) And a certain centurion's servant who was dear to him, was sick and ready to die.

There in Capernaum was a centurion who had a servant who was very dear to him, and that servant was very sick and on the verge of death.

(3) And when he heard of Jesus, he sent to Him the elders of the Jews, beseeching Him to come and heal his servant.

When the centurion heard that Jesus had come into Capernaum or perhaps meaning that he had heard the fame of Jesus as well, he sent Jewish elders to Jesus asking Him to come heal his servant.  The centurion, being a Roman officer and a Gentile, either felt unworthy to confront Jesus himself, or perhaps he thought it would be of more help to his servant if Jewish elders pled his case rather than a Gentile.

(4) And when they came to Jesus, they besought Him instantly, saying that he was worthy, the one for whom He should do this, (5) "For he loves our nation, and he has built us a synagogue."

When the Jewish elders came to Jesus, they immediately pleaded with Him to help the centurion's servant, telling Him that this Roman centurion was a good man deserving of Jesus's mercy in healing his servant because he loved the Jewish nation and had built them a synagogue.

(6) Then Jesus went with them. And when He was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to Him, saying to Him, "Lord, do not trouble Yourself, for I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof."

Jesus went with the elders to the centurion's house.  However, when he neared the house, the centurion sent his friends out to meet Jesus to tell Him that he was unworthy to have Jesus enter his house.  That confirms the reason the centurion sent the Jewish elders in the first place.

(7) "Therefore, neither did I think myself worthy to come to You, but say the word, and my servant shall be healed."

The centurion confirmed to Jesus through his friends the reason he had not gone to Jesus Himself, that he had felt unworthy, but he had the faith to know that if Jesus only said the word, his servant would be healed.

(8) "For I also am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers, and I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes, and to another, 'Come,' and he comes, and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."

The centurion in a way compared himself to Jesus in that he was also one in authority, having soldiers under him that did whatever he commanded.  He saw Jesus as one in authority who merely needed to command with the words, and it would be done.

(9) When Jesus heard these things, He marveled at him and turned Himself around, and said to the people who followed Him, "I say to you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel."

Jesus marveled at the faith of that Gentile centurion and turned back to the people who followed Him, and told them He had not seen in all of Israel so great a faith as was in this Gentile centurion.

(10) And they who were sent, returning to the house, found the servant whole who had been sick.

When the Jewish elders returned to the centurion's house, they found his servant completely well and whole.

(11) And it came to pass the day after that He went into a city called Nain, and many of His disciples went with Him, and many people.

The next day Jesus went into the city of Nain, followed by many of His disciples and many other people.

(12) Now when He came near to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and many people of the city were with her.

As Jesus neared the gate of the city of Nain, there was a dead man being carried out of the gates.  He was the only son of a widow, and many people of the city were with her.

(13) And when the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her, and said to her, "Do not weep."

When Jesus saw the grieving widow, He had compassion for her, and told her not to weep.  How sweet is our Lord that He has such love and compassion for us!  He didn't wait until He was asked to help; He didn't wait until He saw proof of the widow's faith.  He felt compassion for her and wanted to help her.  The Lord shows mercy for whomever He wants (Romans 9:18).

(14) And He came and touched the bier, and they who carried him stood still. And He said, "Young man, I say to you, arise."

Jesus came and touched the bier, the frame that was holding the dead man, and those who carried the bier stopped and stood still.  Jesus spoke to the dead man and told him to rise up.

(15) And he who was dead sat up and began to speak.  And He delivered him to his mother.

The young man who had been dead sat up and began to speak, proving he was indeed alive.  Jesus delivered him to his mother.

(16) And there came a fear on all, and they glorified God, saying, "A great prophet is risen up among us," and "God has visited His people."

All the people were awestruck and filled with a reverential fear because they knew they were witnessing God in action.  They recognized that God had been with them to miraculously bring the young man back to life and they glorified Him.  They called Jesus a great prophet raised up by God.  More than just any prophet, they likely saw Him as the great Prophet that Moses had written about, who would be raised up from the midst of Israel (Deuteronomy 18:15).

(17) And this rumor of Him went forth throughout all Judea and throughout all the region round about.

The report of this miracle went out through all Judea and the surrounding region as the many witnesses told others about what had happened.

(18) And the disciples of John told him of all these things.

The disciples of John the Baptist, who was in prison at the time, told him all about the miracles that Jesus had been performing.

(19) And John, calling two of his disciples, sent them to Jesus, saying, "Are You He who is to come, or do we look for another?"

John called two of his disciples to send them to Jesus to ask if He was the promised Messiah or should they be looking for another.  John, of course, had seen and known Jesus as the Messiah, but he could not see him for himself at that point to confirm to his disciples that it was indeed the promised One.  For their sake and confirmation, he sent them to ask Jesus directly if He was the One.

(20) When the men had come to Him, they said, "John the Baptist has sent us to You, saying, 'Are You He who is to come, or do we look for another?'"

When John's disciples came to Jesus they told Him that John the Baptist had sent them to ask if He was the promised Messiah or if they should be looking for someone else, just as John had told them to say.

(21) And in that same hour He cured many of infirmities and plagues and evil spirits, and to many blind, He gave sight.

At that same time that John's disciples had come to Jesus, He was curing many people of infirmities, sicknesses, and evil spirits, and he was restoring sight to the blind.

(22) Then Jesus answering, said to them, "Go your way and tell John what things you have seen and heard, how the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached."

Jesus then answered John's disciples, telling them to go back to John and tell him about the things they had seen and heard, that the blind could then see, the lame could walk, lepers were cleansed, the deaf could hear, even the dead were raised from the dead, and the gospel was preached to the poor.  In telling them these precise things, He was actually quoting prophetic scriptures that proved He was indeed the promised Messiah.  Isaiah 35:5-6 spoke of how the blind would see, the deaf would hear, and the lame would jump.  Isaiah 42:7 said the Messiah would bring out the prisoners, all those imprisoned by one affliction or another.  Isaiah 61:1 said God had sent Him to preach the gospel to the meek.

(23) "And blessed is whoever shall not be offended in Me."

Jesus also told John's disciples that whoever was not offended by Him would be blessed.  Those who saw the truth in His words and actions and were not ashamed to call Him who He was, would be blessed.  That may have been a hint from prophecy, as well, as Isaiah 8:14-15 said He would be a stumbling rock of offense and many would stumble and fall.  They were encouraged to see the truth and not stumble and fall.

(24) And when the messengers of John were departed, He began to speak to the people concerning John, "What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?"

When John's disciples left Jesus, He began to speak to the people about John.  He asked them what they had gone into the wilderness to see, with regard to John.  Had they troubled themselves to go out there to see someone wavering and unstable, what He called a reed shaken by the wind?

(25) "But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Behold, they who are gorgeously appareled and live delicately are in kings' courts."

Had the people gone out in the wilderness to see a man finely dressed living in luxury as if he belonged in a king's court?

(26) "But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and much more than a prophet."

Had the people gone out to see John because he was a prophet?  Jesus answered that He knew they did, but He was there to tell them that John was much more than a prophet.

(27) "This is of whom it is written, 'Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who shall prepare Your way before You.'"

Jesus told the people that John was the one who had been prophesied in Malachi 3:1, "Behold, I will send My messenger, and he shall prepare the way before Me..."

(28) "For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist, but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he."

Jesus told the people that there had been no greater prophet than John born on earth.  However, He went on to say that the very least of those in the kingdom of God would be greater than John the Baptist.  That is because they had Jesus Himself whom they would witness dying on the cross and rising again.  John had only the promise of that.  Jesus would teach a new covenant, whereas John had only the old and a promise of the new to come.  After Jesus ascended into heaven after His death, He would send the Holy Spirit to His people.  John baptized only with water, but men afterward would be baptized with water and with fire; the Holy Spirit would come to live within them.

(29) And all the people who heard, including the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John.

There are two ways to interpret this.  All the people who heard the words of Jesus, even tax collectors and the worst of characters, after being baptized by John, declared God to be just and righteous.  Albert Barnes, in his Notes on the Bible, wrote that these were the continued words of Jesus, that all the people who heard John the Baptist, including the least, the lowliest characters on earth, proved God just and righteous when they had been baptized by John, following through with what had been ordained, repentance and baptism.

(30) But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, not being baptized by him.

The scribes and Pharisees on the whole, perhaps with a few exceptions, rejected God's plan to the detriment of themselves, by not being baptized by John.  Again, these might have been the words of Jesus, according to Albert Barnes, first qualifying His statement about whom might be considered the least in the kingdom of God (v. 29) and disqualifying those who rejected John's message and his baptism.

(31) And the Lord said, "To what then shall I liken the men of this generation, and what are they like?"

Jesus asked the people to what He should liken the people of His generation.  That question does seem to logically follow a statement about those who rejected John's message and baptism.  Additionally, most Biblical manuscripts omitted the words "And the Lord said."  It's as if the scribe who added them did so to return the reader back to what Jesus said after the parenthetical statements in verse 29 and 30.  However, knowing they probably were not in the original manuscripts, that fact lends credence to the fact that verses 29 and 30 were the continued words of Jesus. 

(32) "They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling one to another, and saying, 'We have piped to you, and you have not danced; we have mourned to you, and you have not wept.'"

Jesus's point was that that present generation was like a people who ignored the calls of the children.  They were neither happy with the piped music nor were they mournful when they were among those who mourned; they could not be pleased.  John Gill, in his Exposition of the Bible pointed out something I did not see the first time I read this account in Matthew.  The children who imitated the pipers represented Christ and His disciples who delivered the joyful sound of the Gospel.  The children who acted as the mourners represented John the Baptist who preached the doctrine of repentance.  The other children who responded to neither were like the scribes and Pharisees of that present generation who were moved by neither John nor Jesus.

(33) "For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, 'He has a devil.'"

Jesus pointed out that John the Baptist came, represented by the children who played the mourners, in an austere solemn manner calling people to recognize their sins and repent, but the people of that generation called him mad and demon possessed.

(34) "The Son of man has come eating and drinking, and you say, 'Behold, a gluttonous man and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners!'"

However, when Jesus came in the opposite manner, eating and drinking and fellowshipping with the common people, then they called Him an immoral man who gave Himself up to sinful pleasures like eating and drinking too much and palling around with sinners.  These people would not be pleased any way.

(35) "But wisdom is justified by all her children."

Jesus said that wisdom was justified or proven by its fruits, called its children.  Or perhaps the meaning is that wisdom would be justified by the children of God who submitted to His wisdom.  In the end, regardless of what the scribes and Pharisees thought, the wisdom of Christ would be proven right.

(36) And one of the Pharisees desired Him to eat with him. And He went into the Pharisee's house and sat down to the meal.

One of the Pharisees invited Jesus to his house to eat with him, and Jesus graciously accepted.  At this point, it's hard to know if the Pharisee had genuine interest in Jesus and His message or if he was looking for another reason to accuse Him.

(37) And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the meal in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, (38) And stood at His feet behind weeping, and began to wash His feet with tears and wiped them with the hair of her head, and kissed His feet and anointed them with the ointment.

There was a woman in that city, called a sinner, who heard that Jesus was eating a meal at the Pharisee's house, and she went there, bringing an alabaster box of ointment.  She stood behind Jesus at His feet and cried many tears with which she began to wash His feet and then dried them with her hair.  She kissed His feet and anointed them with the ointment from the alabaster box.

(39) Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw it, he spoke within himself, saying, "This man, if He were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman it is who touched Him, for she is a sinner."

The Pharisee who had invited Jesus to eat with him witnessed this action of the woman and thought to himself that if Jesus were really a prophet, he would have known what sort of woman was touching Him, a sinner.

(40) And Jesus answering, said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." And he said, "Master, say on."

Jesus, of course, knew the Pharisee's thoughts, and calling him by name, Simon, told him He had something to say to him.  Simon asked Him to go ahead and tell him.

(41) "There was a certain creditor who had two debtors; the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty."

Jesus began a parable saying that there was a creditor who had two debtors, one owing him 500 pence and the other owing 50.

(42) "And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?"

Jesus continued His parable saying that neither of the debtors had the money to repay the creditor, and he graciously and gratuitously, which is the more complete definition of the original word used here, forgave them both.  He then posed the question to Simon, asking which of the debtors would love the creditor the most.

(43) Simon answered and said, "I suppose, to whom he forgave most." And He said to him, "You have rightly judged."

Simon answered Jesus's question by saying that he assumed that the debtor who had been forgiven the most would likely love the creditor most, and Jesus told him he had judged correctly.

(44) And He turned to the woman, and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered into your house, you gave Me no water for my feet, but she has washed My feet with tears and wiped them with the hairs of her head."

Jesus turned back to the woman, but speaking to Simon, asked him to see and consider the woman.  Jesus said He had entered into Simon's house and he had given Him no water to wash His feet as was the customary gesture offered by a host.  Once again, it's hard to know if this was simple forgetfulness or contempt.  However, Jesus told Simon, this sinner, as Simon had called her, had washed his feet with her tears and dried them with her hair.

(45) "You gave Me no kiss, but this woman since the time I came in has not ceased to kiss My feet."

Jesus told Simon that he had not kissed Jesus which was a usual sign of salutation or affection used by men, and would have been an appropriate gesture to someone he had invited into his home to eat.  However, this sinful woman had not ceased kissing Jesus's feet ever since she came in.  That is the proper pronoun that should be used here, as the woman was not there when Jesus arrived, but came in after Him when she realized He was there.

(46) "You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with ointment."

Jesus told Simon he had not anointed His head with oil, as was another common custom among the Jews.  However, this woman had anointed Jesus's feet with the ointment in her alabaster box that was surely more precious and costly than the oil regularly used would be.

(47) "Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much; but to whom little is forgiven, he loves little."

Jesus told Simon that the woman's sins were forgiven and that is why she loved Him so much.  She knew the fame of Jesus and that is why she went into the house when she knew He was there.  Jesus knew her heart and she showed it by her sorrowful tears and her servant like ministry to Him.  By her great love, she demonstrated her great faith, and because she knew how great her sins were, her love was therefore greater.  However, someone who had been forgiven very little would not feel the same great amount of love and would therefore not demonstrate that love as he loved little.

(48) And He said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."

Jesus told the woman that her many sins were forgiven.

(49) And they who sat at the meal with Him began to say within themselves, "Who is this who forgives sins, also?"

The other people who sat at Simon's table with them began to ponder within themselves who this man could possibly be who forgave sins.  They could have been awestruck in a good way by the thought that no one but God could forgive sins, but probably were more likely offended by His apparent blasphemy, apparent to their blind eyes, that is.

(50) And He said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

Jesus went on to tell the woman that her faith in Him had saved her and for her to go in peace.  That confirmed to her that her sins were forgiven as her faith had saved her from righteous judgment and punishment for her sins.  Therefore, she could now go in peace with that knowledge.

In this chapter, Jesus continued His miracles of healing, and to a greater extent.  He healed from a distance and He raised a man from the dead.  He also gave a great commendation of John the Baptist, but as great as he was, Jesus said the least in the kingdom of God would be greater than him.  Then He appeared to prove His statement by forgiving the sins of a sinful woman who displayed great love, sorrow, and repentance, and He enumerated her loving and faithful actions to judgmental Simon who had denied Jesus even the most common courtesies.  

The Teachings of Jesus

Continuing a Bible study of the Gospels:

(Luke 6:1) And it came to pass that on the second Sabbath after the first, that He went through the corn fields, and His disciples plucked the ears of corn and ate, rubbing them in their hands.

By the end of the last chapter, Jesus had called His first disciples, Simon Peter, Andrew, James, John, and Matthew.  It came to pass that on a Sabbath Day, He and His disciples went through a corn field.  There is much long discussion among commentators about what is meant by the second Sabbath after the first.  I don't think it is necessary to know for certain that detail.  Apparently, the Jews counted their Sabbaths from the Passover to the Pentecost.  This may have been the second Sabbath after the Passover, or perhaps it was the second Sabbath during Passover.  Luke may have mentioned it to intimate that it was a special Sabbath, or perhaps to denote the time of year when the corn was nearly ripe.  Whenever it was, Jesus and His disciples walked through the corn fields and His disciples plucked ears of corn, rubbed them in their hands, and ate the kernels.

(2) And certain of the Pharisees said to them, "Why do you do that which is unlawful to do on the Sabbath days?"

There were some Pharisees who observed them.  The accounts in Matthew and Mark state that the Pharisees asked the question to Jesus Himself, but it's quite reasonable to assume they had asked both Jesus and His disciples.  They demanded to know why they did what was unlawful to do on the Sabbath, gathering ears of corn and eating them.

(3) And Jesus answering them, said, "Have you not read so much as this, what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him?"

Jesus posed a question back to the Pharisees, asking if they had read in scripture about the time when David and those with him were hungry, and what they did.

(4) "How he went into the house of God, took and ate the showbread, and also gave to them who were with him, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests alone?"

Jesus continued telling them what David had done, how he went into the temple and he and those with him ate the showbread that had been before the Lord (1 Samuel 21:6).  According to the law, it was unlawful for them to have done that, as that bread was for the priests only.

(5) And He said to them, "That the Son of man is also Lord of the Sabbath."

As David, a man after God's own heart (1 Samuel 13:14), was not condemned for having eaten holy bread, Jesus, as Lord of the Sabbath, was not guilty of any wrongdoing.  Jesus, as God then in human form, had created the Sabbath and knew the heart of the law of the Sabbath.  In the account in Mark, Jesus had added that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.  The Sabbath was intended to help people, not burden them.  Under the law, the people were commanded to take a full day of rest from their labor on the Sabbath.  Plucking an ear of corn to satisfy hunger was not harvesting the corn as the Pharisees had made it in their strict interpretation of the law.

(6) And it came to pass also on another Sabbath, that He entered into the synagogue and taught; and there was a man whose right hand was withered.

Then on another Sabbath Jesus went into the synagogue and taught, and a man with a withered right hand was there.

(7) And the scribes and Pharisees watched Him, whether He would heal on the Sabbath day, that they might find an accusation against Him.

The scribes and the Pharisees watched to see what Jesus would do, whether or not He would heal the man with the withered hand.  They had so twisted the law to include healing as work and forbidden on the Sabbath.  Imagine if no doctor could treat a patient on the Sabbath!  But the scribes and Pharisees wanted to catch Jesus doing something unlawful of which they could accuse Him.

(8) But He knew their thoughts, and said to the man who had the withered hand, "Rise up and stand forth in the midst." And he arose and stood there.

Jesus knew what the scribes and Pharisees were thinking, even though they had not spoken it.  He told the man with the withered hand to get up and stand in the midst of the congregation, which the man did.

(9) Then Jesus said to them, "I will ask you one thing; is it lawful on the Sabbath days to do good or to do evil? To save life or to destroy it?"

Jesus then spoke to the scribes and Pharisees and asked them if it was lawful to do good on the Sabbath, or to do evil.  Of course, His point was that it would be evil to not heal the man when it was in His power to do so, and He should therefore do good on the Sabbath, and they, too, should desire that.  Would it be lawful to save a life or to not save it, thereby destroying it?

(10) And looking round about upon them all, He said to the man, "Stretch forth your hand." And he did so and his hand was restored whole as the other.

Jesus, looking around at all of them, then told the man to stretch forth his hand.  When he did, his right hand was restored and as good as his other hand.

(11) And they were filled with madness and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.

Despite Jesus's question to them about doing good on the Sabbath, the scribes and Pharisees were filled with rage that He had healed the man and they discussed among themselves what they should do about Jesus.

(12) And it came to pass in those days that He went out on a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.

Jesus then went out to a mountain to pray.  He spent the entire night in prayer to God, as He routinely sought communion with God, but probably also seeking divine wisdom and guidance in the decision He would make the next day.

(13) And when it was day, He called His disciples, and from them He chose twelve, whom He also named apostles.

The next day Jesus called all His disciples to Himself, that is, all His followers.  From them He chose twelve disciples to be His apostles.  An apostle was one sent forth with a mission who had the authority of Jesus.  An apostle was a disciple also, but not all disciples were apostles; at this point there were only Jesus's chosen twelve.

(14) Simon (whom He also named Peter), and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, (15) Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called the Zealot, (16) And Judas the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, who also was the traitor.

Jesus had already called Simon Peter, Andrew, James, John, and Matthew.  In addition to them He called Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Simon the Zealot, and James, the son of Alphaeus, sometimes called James the Less, or "little" James to distinguish him from James the brother of John.  Little James's brother was Judas or Thaddeus as he was also called, and Jesus chose him also.  And finally, He chose Judas Iscariot, who of course, was the one to betray Him.

(17) And He came down with them and stood in the plain, and the company of His disciples and a great multitude of people out of all Judea and Jerusalem and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases.

Jesus came down from the mountain with His apostles and stood in a plain, accompanied by His other followers and a great multitude of people from Jerusalem, all Judea, and the seacoasts of Tyre and Sidon, who had come to hear Him and to be healed by Him.

(18) And they who were vexed with unclean spirits; and they were healed.

Also among the multitude were those who had unclean spirits, and as this was a continuation of verse 17, we can correctly assume that all people were healed by him, those with diseases and those with demons.

(19) And the whole multitude sought to touch Him for there went power out of Him and healed them all.

It seems the entire multitude sought to touch Jesus, not just the sick and possessed.  There was a spiritual power that went out of Jesus that everyone wanted to touch.  We can assuredly know that that power spiritually healed those who did not even know they were sick.  The verse says Jesus healed them all!

(20) And He lifted up His eyes on His disciples and said, "Blessed you poor, for yours is the kingdom of heaven."

Jesus lifted up His eyes on all His disciples as He began what is known as the Beatitudes.  Luke paraphrased the first one as blessed are the poor, whereas Matthew had said the poor in spirit.  Both are true; those who were poor, having given up all for the Lord, or those who were poor but still glorified God, would see the kingdom of heaven, as well as the poor in spirit, those humble in spirit, realizing they have no righteousness in and of themselves but looked to God as Savior.

(21) "Blessed you who hunger now, for you shall be filled. Blessed you who weep now, for you shall laugh."

Luke said those who hungered would be filled, but in Matthew's account, he said that those who hungered and thirsted after righteousness would be filled.  Again, both are true.  Obviously, those hungering and thirsting after righteousness would be filled, but those who were physically hungry would be filled, as well.  If not with immediate food, they would be filled with something far more precious and life-sustaining.  Those who wept or mourned as Matthew stated it, would not only be comforted, as Matthew said, but would laugh!  They would be filled with spiritual joy in spite of physical afflictions and pressures of life.

(22) Blessed are you when men shall hate you and when they shall exclude you and shall revile you and cast out your name as evil for the Son of man's sake."

Jesus said to count it as blessing when men hated them, excluded them, reviled them, called their names as evil, generally persecuted them, as the account in Matthew stated, because they were His followers.

(23) "Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For behold, your reward is great in heaven, for in like manner their fathers did to the prophets."

As Matthew had stated also, Jesus said to rejoice and count it as joy if they were so persecuted as they were in great company with the prophets before them who had also been persecuted by the fathers of those who persecuted them now, and their reward in heaven would be great.

(24) "But woe to you who are rich for you have received your consolation."

In Luke's retelling of the Beatitudes, he added something that Matthew did not, sort of opposite woes to the blessings of the Beatitudes.  Jesus proclaimed woe to the rich because they had already received their reward, meaning if that is what they solely sought in life and achieved it, then that was their reward, their riches.  They had no other reward in heaven to look forward to.

(25) "Woe to you who are full! For you shall hunger. Woe to you who laugh now! For you shall mourn and weep."

Jesus proclaimed woe to those who were full, that is, those who were filled and satisfied with all the material things in life, for they would one day hunger for Jesus and His salvation, for nothing on earth can fill the empty soul but Jesus.  In the same sense, woe to those who were happy with material things and the filling of their lustful desires, for they would one day mourn when it was not enough to save their eternal souls.

(26) "Woe to you when all men shall speak well of you! For so did their fathers to the false prophets."

Woe to those whom all men like and speak well of.  If you are shallow and sit on the fence, trying to please all, then you are really good for nothing.  Jesus compared that kind of people to false prophets, those who told people what they wanted to hear, rather than the truth.  In 2 Timothy 4:3-4, Paul condemned those who looked for teachers who would tell them good things they wanted to hear and turned from the truth.  In Revelation 3:16, God said He wanted to spew the lukewarm, those who were neither hot nor cold, who stood for nothing, out of His mouth!

(27) "But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to them who hate you."

Jesus went on to tell His disciples and the multitude with them, to all who had ears to hear and understand, that they should love their enemies and do good to those who hated them.  When you think of your enemy as a poor lost soul who is trying to fill his life with all the wrong things and will ultimately burn eternally in hell, it becomes easy to pity him and love him.

(28) "Bless those who curse you and pray for those who spitefully use you."

In the same way, love and pray for those who curse you and use you, for as St. Paul would later explain to us, "we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."  These people are being led by demonic spirits, and Satan himself, and for that reason, we should pity them and love them and pray for them.

(29) "And to him who strikes you on the cheek offer also the other, and to him who takes away your cloak do not forbid your coat also."

Jesus said if someone struck you on the cheek, you should offer your other cheek as well, rather than react in kind.  With this example, He taught us patience in bearing attacks and injuries, not to seek private revenge nor to indulge a hot temper.  In like manner, if someone takes something from you, don't respond in anger and revenge, but rather do good to them and offer them something else they might need.

(30) "Give to every man who asks of you, and of him who takes away your goods do not ask them back."

Jesus instructed us to give to everyone who asked of us and not to ask for it or anything they took back.  I'm sure there are limits to this.  I can't imagine Jesus intended to have us let someone take advantage and constantly take from us and our needs.  However, it is for God to judge the heart.  The point is we must be willing to do good and to give within our power to do so, even to our enemies, and should never ask anything in return.  Give graciously and generously, expecting nothing in return.

(31) "And as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise."

If only we always followed that one simple rule!  If we merely treated others as we wished to be treated in similar circumstances, that could cure almost every problem in the world today!

(32) "For if you love those who love you, what good is that? For sinners also love those who love them."

Loving people who love you is a given, even among sinners, so that is nothing worthy of notice or reward.

(33) "And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit have you? For sinners also do the same."

Likewise, doing good to those people who do good to you is easy and of no particular merit, for everyone, including sinners, can easily do that.

(34) "And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit have you? For sinners also lend to sinners to receive as much again."

Lending or giving to someone from whom you expect to get something in return is of no special credit, for all people, including sinners, will give if they know they will get back.

(35) "But love your enemies and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return, and your reward shall be great and you shall be the children of the Highest for He is kind to the unthankful and the evil."

Jesus summarized all His previous examples of doing good by saying that we are to love our enemies and do good to them and lend or give to them, expecting nothing in return.  That is true giving and worthy of reward from God and we will show the world we belong to Him, the Most High, and He is a loving God who gives to all.

(36) "Therefore be merciful as your Father also is merciful."

Jesus instructed us to be merciful to others just as He is merciful to us.  How much have we received that we did not deserve?  As Christians, we should seek to be Christ-like and merciful to all whether they "deserve" it or not.

(37) "Judge not and you shall not be judged; condemn not and you shall not be condemned; forgive and you shall be forgiven."

Jesus told us not to judge others and we wouldn't be likewise judged.  He was not talking about judgment according to the law.  If a man kills another, we can certainly judge that as wrong.  However, we cannot judge the motives of another.  The old adage about not judging until you have walked in the same shoes truly applies here.  It's easy to judge outward signs as not right according to how we think they should be, and therefore equally easy for us to be therefore judged as hypocrites for none of us is perfect.  However, that is not to say that we don't have the right to judge policies that are anti-God, but we should be careful not to judge the person who may follow some of those policies, not knowing their hearts and why they think the way they do.  People judge for themselves based on their life experiences and what they see and hear.  And some of those judgments may be morally wrong, but it is not up to us to judge another's heart and motives.  An action may be deemed wrong and I believe can be lovingly discussed, but we must always be careful not to judge a person's motives for why they think the way they do.  A perfect personal lived example of this was when people said the only reason I could not support Barack Obama was because he was black.  They would judge me racist and that was not true in the slightest way.  I didn't support him, just as I don't support Joe Biden, a white man, or Hillary Clinton, a white woman, and that is because of their Godless policies alone.  I fully support Justice Clarence Thomas and Dr. Ben Carson and Colonel Allen West.  I voted for Allen West in the Texas governor's Republican primary against a very popular incumbent.  I feel like I have achieved Martin Luther King's dream of man being judged by the content of his character and not by the color of his skin.  I'm afraid it's because of the racism of those judging me that they are only seeing color.  But that is a topic for another time.

Jesus also said not to condemn others.  That would be to take judgment to another level, not merely judging a person's actions, but totally condemning the whole person prejudicedly based on their actions, self-righteously dismissing others because they don't measure up to our standards.  We can so likely be condemned by others for the exact same reasons.  Finally, we are to forgive others and we shall be forgiven.  We are forgiven!  By our heavenly Father, although we don't deserve it in the slightest, so we must be willing to forgive others even if we think they don't "deserve" it.  Elsewhere, when teaching us how to pray, Jesus said in Matthew 6:15 that if you don't forgive others, your heavenly Father will not forgive you.  God so loved us that even when we were sinners against Him, He sent Christ to die for us (Romans 5:8).  Likewise, we are to love those who sinned against us and forgive them.  If we have no love for our brother, we cannot know God, for God is love (1 John 4:8).

(38) "Give and it shall be given to you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom.  For with the same measure that you use it shall be measured back to you."

Jesus said to give liberally and you would receive back so much blessing that if it were something to be measured that you were holding, it would be pressed down and shaken to allow more, and it would be running over into your lap.  He said the same either generous or stingy measure by which we used to give, that is how it would be measured back to us.  Therefore, give liberally!

(39) And He spoke a parable to them, "Can the blind lead the blind? Shall they not both fall into the ditch?"

Jesus then spoke a proverb or saying, called a parable, asking if the blind could truly lead the blind.  Wouldn't they both fall into the ditch, He reasoned.  He meant that one could not teach what he himself did not know.  One who was not guided by the Holy Spirit and the wisdom of God certainly could not judge another in spiritual matters.  One in spiritual darkness himself would only lead both himself and the one he judged and sought to counsel into further darkness, endangering both souls with eternal damnation.  

(40) "The disciple is not above his master, but everyone who is perfect will be as his master."

Jesus's point was that no student was more knowledgeable than his teacher.  If his teacher was ignorant, then the student would learn those same ignorant ways.  Everyone who was a perfect student would be as his teacher was.  The spiritually blind teacher would lead the spiritually blind student into further spiritual darkness, eventually falling into the ditch of hell.

(41) "And why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the beam that is in your own eye?"

Jesus asked why it was that we, all His listeners and even His readers today, are so quick to spot the small sin in another, but so blind to our own big sins.  

(42) "Or how can you say to your brother, "Brother, let me pull out the speck that is in your eye," when you yourself do not see the beam that is in your own eye? You hypocrite! First cast the beam out of your own eye and then you will see clearly to pull out the speck that is in your brother's eye."

How can we possibly see clearly enough to correct someone's small sin when we ourselves are so clouded by our own huge sins?  Jesus called us hypocrites who do that.  We must first reform ourselves before we can see clearly to ever help others.  While all sins are equal in that they all separate us from God, there are some sins that are worse than others in God's eyes, and one of the worst is pride, as we read in many places in scripture.  Proverbs 16:5 says, "Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord," but there are many others.  Enter pride and proud into a search of the Bible and you'll come up with about a hundred such verses.  Pride in ourselves to think we know the spiritual answers in order to judge the sins of another is a perfect example of a log in our eyes trying to remove the speck in others'.

(43) "For a good tree does not bring forth corrupt fruit, neither does a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit."

As a good tree will not bring forth rotten fruit, so a righteous man will not bring forth fruit of judgment, gossip, and censure of the faults of others.  A bad tree cannot bring forth good fruit just as the blind cannot lead the blind and a corrupt man cannot righteously lead another.

(44) "For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush."

A tree is known by its fruits.  When one sees a healthy tree with lots of apples, he knows right away it's an apple tree, not so much when he sees an unhealthy one with no fruit.  When he sees a tree full of thorns, he does not expect to find good apples.

(45) "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth that which is evil; for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks."

As a tree is known by its fruits, so a man will be known by his.  A good man out of the good treasure of his heart will bring forth good things and an evil man out of what is in his heart will bring forth evil.  A man's mouth will speak what is in his heart.

(46) "And why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do the things which I say?"

However, people might use empty words; Jesus asked why they would call Him Lord but not do what He taught.  God judges the heart and the fruit or actions of a person, not just his words.

(47) "Whoever comes to Me and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like. (48) He is like a man who built a house and dug deep and laid the foundation on a rock; and when the flood arose the stream beat vehemently on that house and could not shake it for it was founded on a rock."

Jesus compared a person who came to Him, listened to Him, and did what He said, to a person who built his home with a deep foundation in rock.  When a flood came and rushing water beat against his house, it could not shake it because of its foundation in rock.  That person who took the time to dig deep into Christ's word and to plant it deep in his heart, doing what He said, would be providing a firm foundation that would withstand the flood of evil that might come his way.

(49) "But he who hears and does not do is like a man who without a foundation built a house on the earth, against which the stream beat vehemently and immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great."

On the other hand, one who heard Christ's word but did not do what He said was like a man who built his house on the dirt with no foundation.  When the flood came upon that house, it immediately fell and was completely destroyed.  When there is no strong foundation in Christ, the flood of evil that will surely come will destroy us.  Standing firm on the rock Jesus Christ, we will be able to ride out every storm of evil that comes our way and find refuge, rest, and peace in Jesus.

The Calling of the First Disciples

Continuing a Bible study of the Gospels:

(Luke 5:1) And it came to pass that as the people pressed upon Him to hear the Word of God, He stood by the lake of Gennesaret.

In the last chapter of Luke, Jesus had begun His ministry and was teaching throughout Galilee.  On this occasion, He was teaching by the lake of Gennesaret which was also called the Sea of Galilee.  The people were pressing in on Him to hear the Word of God.

(2) And saw two ships standing by the lake, but the fishermen were gone out of them and were washing their nets.

As Jesus was being pressed into the sea, He saw two ships anchored at the seashore.  The fishermen had left their ships and were washing their fishing nets.

(3) And He entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and asked him to thrust out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the people out of the ship.

Jesus boarded one of the ships and asked its owner, Simon, who must have been very close by washing his nets, to move the boat out into the water away from the land a little.  There Jesus sat and taught the people from the boat.

(4) Now when He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, "Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch."

When Jesus had finished teaching the people, He spoke to Simon, and told him to launch out into the deeper water and let down their nets there for a catch of fish.

(5) And Simon, answering, said to Him, "Master, we have toiled all night and have taken nothing. Nevertheless, at Your word, I will let down the net."

Simon told Jesus that they had been fishing all night long and didn't catch anything, but he would go ahead and do what Jesus said.

(6) And when they had done this, they caught a great multitude of fish, and their net broke.

When Simon, and whoever was helping him, probably his brother Andrew and perhaps a servant or two, had done as Jesus had told them, they took up such a huge multitude of fish, that it broke their net.

(7) And they beckoned to their partners who were in the other ship to come and help them. And they came and filled both the ships so that they began to sink.

Simon's crew called out to the crew in the other ship to help them with their catch, and there were so many fish that they filled both boats so much that they began to sink.

(8) When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus's knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord."

When Simon saw the fish and what the Lord had done for him, he fell at Jesus's feet, asking that He leave him, for he was a sinful man not worthy to even be in His presence, not to mention worthy of what the Lord Jesus had done for him.

(9) For he was astonished, and all who were with him, at the catch of fish which they had taken, (10) And so were also James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, "Fear not, from henceforth you will catch men."

Not only was Simon completely awestruck at the catch of fish they had brought in, but all who were with him, including James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were his partners in the other ship.  Jesus told Simon at His feet not to be afraid, for he was going to thenceforth catch men.

(11) And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all and followed Him.

When they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all, leaving their boats and nets and livelihood, and followed Jesus.  The accounts in Matthew and Mark do not go into detail about how Jesus first encountered them that day when He used Simon's boat to teach from and then gave them the boatloads of fish, and finally telling Simon He would make him a fisher of men.  Knowing all this occurred first, it's easy to see how when Jesus officially called them to follow Him, they all willingly forsook all and followed.

(12) And it came to pass when He was in a certain city, behold, a man full of leprosy seeing Jesus, fell on his face and besought Him, saying, "Lord, if You will, You can make me clean."

When Jesus had gone into a city, there was a man there full of leprosy who when he saw Jesus fell on his face and made an appeal to Him.  He acknowledged that Jesus was Lord and seemed to know that He could indeed heal him if it was His will to do so.

(13) And He put forth His hand and touched him, saying, "I will; be clean." And immediately the leprosy departed from him.

Jesus put forth His hand and actually touched the man, showing that no disease or sin was too filthy to bring to Him.  He told the man He was indeed willing, and He commanded that he be clean.  Immediately the leprosy left the man.

(14) And He charged him to tell no man, "But go and show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing, according as Moses commanded, for a testimony to them."

Jesus told the man not to tell anyone of his healing by Him, but told him to go directly to the priest to be declared clean and offer his offering as prescribed by Moses in the law.  I always felt that Jesus didn't want people advertising His healings because for one, He wasn't about vainglory and praise, and also because He didn't want too much attention brought to Him too soon before His time.  However, Matthew Henry, in his Commentary on the Whole Bible, brought up another point.  He believed that Jesus didn't forbid the man from ever letting it be known that He had healed him, but rather His meaning was that he should not go about bragging about it for his own honor, but be humble and thankful, and know that it was not because he was particularly great and important that Jesus should choose to heal him.

(15) But so much more went there abroad a fame of Him, and great multitudes came together to hear and to be healed by Him of their infirmities.

However, the account in Mark states that the man went out and "began to publish it much and blaze the matter abroad," so that Jesus's fame grew and great multitudes of people came together to hear Him and to be healed by Him.

(16) And He withdrew Himself into the wilderness and prayed.

The general consensus of the Bible commentators I study is that this doesn't mean that Jesus withdrew Himself right away from the multitudes seeking His word and healing, ignoring their requests, but that He frequently took breaks away from the multitudes to pray.  He was so constantly thronged by people that He would have to withdraw from them on occasions for solitude, rest, and prayer.

(17) And it came to pass on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was present to heal them.

It came to pass that one day when Jesus was teaching, Pharisees and doctors or scribes of the law were sitting by to observe Jesus.  The original statement is a bit awkwardly written but the meaning is that people came from all around, from the towns of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem, to hear Jesus's teaching, and the power of the Lord was present to heal them, not the Pharisees and scribes, who just happened to be sitting by and observed, but certainly weren't there to be healed by Him.

(18) And behold, men brought in a bed a man who was taken with a palsy, and they sought means to bring him in and to lay him before Him.

The account in Mark stated that Jesus was teaching in a house, so when some men brought a man lying on a bed who was paralyzed to bring before Jesus, they had difficulty finding room in the house to do so.

(19) And when they could not find how they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went on the housetop and let him down through the tiling into the midst before Jesus.

When the men carrying the paralyzed man on the cot could not find their way into the house because of the crowd of people, they went on top of the house and let the cot down through the tiling of the roof, either by removing a few tiles or perhaps through a trapdoor in the midst of the tiles that was usually found on Jewish flat-roofed houses.  They dropped the man on his cot into the midst of the crowd before Jesus.

(20) And when He saw their faith, He said to him, "Man, your sins are forgiven you."

Jesus saw that the men must have had great faith in Him to go through all the trouble they did to get their paralyzed friend to Him, and He told the man on the cot that his sins had been forgiven.

(21) And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, "Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?"

The scribes and Pharisees who were sitting among the crowd began to reason among themselves that Jesus spoke blasphemies because no one could forgive sins except God alone.

(22) But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, He answering, said to them, "Why do you reason in your hearts? (23) Which is easier to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you' or to say, 'Rise up and walk.'?"

Jesus knew what the scribes and Pharisees were reasoning in their hearts and minds, and asked them why it was that they did.  He asked them which was easier for Him to have said, that the man's sins were forgiven him, or to get up and walk.

(24) "But that you may know that the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins," He said to the man sick of the palsy, "I say to you, arise and take up your cot and go to your house."

To the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus said that so they would know that He, the Son of man, had power on earth to forgive sins, He turned His attention to the paralyzed man and told him to rise up, take his cot, and go to his house.

(25) And immediately he rose up before them and took up what he had been lying on and departed to his own house, glorifying God.

Immediately the paralyzed man rose up before the crowd, took up his cot, and departed to his own house, glorifying God for his healing.

(26) And they were all amazed and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, "We have seen strange things today."

All who witnessed the miraculous healing were amazed and they, too, glorified God.  However, they were also filled with a reverential fear for the divine Being in their presence and acknowledged they had seen things they had never seen before.

(27) And after these things He went forth and saw a publican named Levi sitting at the receipt of custom, and He said to him, "Follow Me."

Jesus left the house and as He went, He saw a tax collector named Levi, who was also called Matthew, sitting at the booth or office where taxes were collected.  Jesus told Matthew to follow Him.  How wonderful it is that Jesus calls the lowliest people to Him.  It should give us all hope and assurance that wherever we are in life, we can go to Him.  He called lowly fishermen and a hated tax collector to be His closest followers.  He humbled Himself to be among the lowliest of men in order to save all of us, no matter what our circumstances.  The Holy God who cannot be in the presence of sin humbled Himself to come to earth as a man and surrounded Himself with the lowliest men of rank and reputation.  Can there be any more loving and gracious act?

(28) And he left all, rose up, and followed Him.

Levi, or Matthew, immediately followed Jesus, leaving all his business behind him.  One can imagine there were many other tax collectors in Matthew's presence at his office or with their own booths.  But Jesus called only Matthew.  Jesus judges the heart of man and surely saw the good in Matthew.  Matthew, likewise, knowing there had to be something better, being drawn by the Holy Spirit of God, willingly left everything to follow Jesus.  However, I could be giving Matthew more credit than he deserves at this point.  Jesus's calling of Matthew could be 100% His power to soften a hard heart and draw its owner to follow Him, something Matthew may have been completely uninclined to do on his own, but Jesus saw the truth in Matthew and saw him as he would become.

(29) And Levi made Him a great feast in his own house, and there was a great company of publicans and others who sat down with them.

Levi, or Matthew, made a great feast in Jesus's honor at his home.  As he was a tax collector, it is easy to understand why his friends would be tax collectors as well, and these people and others sat with Jesus and Matthew.

(30) But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against His disciples, saying, "Why do you eat and drink with publicans and sinners?"

However, the scribes and the Pharisees among the people murmured against Jesus's followers and asked why they would partake of a feast with tax collectors and sinners.

(31) And Jesus answering, said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. (32) I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

Jesus, knowing their thoughts, although they didn't speak directly to Him, spoke directly to them and told them that people who are well don't need a physician; only those who are sick need one.  Likewise, the righteous didn't necessarily need Him at this point, but sinners needed Him desperately and He came for them.

(33) And they said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers, and likewise those of the Pharisees, but Yours eat and drink?"

The account in Matthew states that it was the disciples of John who posed this question to Jesus.  It could be they were among the scribes and Pharisees or any others who had witnessed Jesus and His disciples at the feast.  It could have been discussed aloud and any one of them may have posed a sincere question to Jesus.  They asked Him why it was that religious followers like the disciples of John and also of the scribes and Pharisees fasted often and made prayers while Jesus's disciples ate and drank.

(34) And He said to them, "Can you make the children of the bridechamber fast while the bridegroom is with them?"

Jesus answered their question with a question as He so often did.  Just as the friends and family at a wedding could not be expected to fast and mourn while the wedding party was among them, neither could Jesus's disciples be expected to fast and pray while He was with them.

(35) "But the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days."

Jesus continued, telling them that there would come a time when their bridegroom, Jesus, would be taken away from them, and then it would be the time for fasting and prayer.

(36) And He spoke also a parable to them, "No man puts a piece of a new garment on an old, otherwise the new makes a tear and the piece out of the new does not match the old."

Jesus then gave them an illustration of His point.  One would not take a piece out of a new garment to patch an old one.  It would tear and ruin the new garment, and the patch would not match the old garment and would pull and possibly tear it when washed.  The new and old do not fit together.  Jesus would not take His new disciples and try to put them into the old religion of men of strictness and legalism.  Jesus came to teach the heart of the law of God and this new way, although not really new at all, but new to the old religious leaders who had lost their way, would pull at and disrupt the old ways.  Also it would detract from the heart of the law of God to take from their new way and force them back to a legalistic view.

(37) "And no man puts new wine into old bottles, else the new wine will burst the bottles and will be spilled and the bottles will perish."

Likewise, no man would put new wine in an old bottle as the old bottle of skin would not be able to stand the fermentation of the new wine and would give way, spilling the wine and destroying the bottle.  So the new wine of Gospel grace would not be put into the old Pharisee bottles as they would not be able to receive and bear it and would literally perish with wrath and indignation of the new, spilling it out to no avail.

(38) "But new wine must be put into new bottles, and both are preserved."

The new Gospel way of thinking must be given to new baby Christians whose hearts have not been hardened by legalistic rules and customs of man.  That way both the new Christians like Jesus's disciples would be preserved as well as the Gospel of God.

(39) "And no man also having drunk old immediately desires new, for he says, "The old is better."

Jesus went on to add that no man having been accustomed to the old would immediately desire the new, for he would think the old that he was used to was the better way.  New baby Christians would more readily accept the new Gospel than would the old religious leaders who were comfortable in their old ways believing they were the best.

The Temptation of Jesus and the Beginning of His Ministry

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.