2BeLikeChrist Bible Commentary - Luke Chapter 4
Commentary - Luke Chapter 4
Luke 4:1-2
Luk 4:1 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness
Luk 4:2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry.
Take a moment and reflect on the significant work of the Holy Spirit highlighted in the opening chapters of Luke’s gospel.
John was filled with the Holy Spirit (1:15).
The Holy Spirit created Jesus inside Mary miraculously (1:35).
Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit when blessing Mary (1:41).
Although not stated specifically, I believe it is implied the Holy Spirit filled Mary as she spoke of the future work of John and Jesus (1:46-55).
Zechariah prophesied when filled with the Holy Spirit (1:67).
Simeon was filled with the Holy Spirit (2:25).
Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit (3:16).
The Holy Spirit descended on Jesus in the form of a dove (3:22).
Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit after His baptism (4:1).
In a lot of our discussions, the Holy Spirit seems to take a back seat to the other two members of the Trinity (God the Father and Jesus), but Luke places Him right up front as a key figure in the opening of His gospel.
After His baptism, Jesus went out into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil.
Jesus was God, but He was also a man.
As far as we know, He had passions and desires and cravings like any man.
He was tempted in the same ways we are tempted (Hebrews 4:15).
Satan wanted Jesus to give into temptation so He couldn’t give Himself as the perfect sinless sacrifice for the world.
APPLICATION:
In other religions, it might be possible to believe your god/gods don’t understand what it’s like to be human.
A person could accuse their god/gods of being unreasonable in their demands and asking too much from their human subjects.
You can imagine someone saying, “It’s easy for you to sit up in heaven and demand things not knowing what its like to be human!”
But no one can make that accusation about Jesus.
He came to the earth, lived among the people He created, and experienced their difficulties and sufferings.
APPLICATION:
Some religions consider the idea of God coming down to earth and becoming a man equivalent to blasphemy.
But when one understands it as God coming into our world to relate to us and to love us, it becomes something beautiful.
Don’t you want to serve a God who knows what it’s like to be you?
Consider your boss at work.
You don’t want a boss who sits far away in a corner office, never talks to you or gets your input, yet makes rules that directly relate to your work.
You want a boss who knows what it’s like to be in your position, knows the challenges you face, and knows how to help you.
Jesus wasn’t a distant deity; He was a relatable Savior.
Jesus fasted for 40 days in the wilderness, seemingly in preparation for His temptation.
The New Testament doesn’t give us any specific commands to fast, but it does imply there are benefits to fasting.
Fasting and prayer are often coupled together in scripture.
Notice how verse 2 specifically says that Jesus was hungry (as if we couldn’t have guessed).
APPLICATION:
Physical strength is not equivalent to spiritual strength.
You see how Jesus’ sacrificed physical health to prepare Himself spiritually for what was coming.
While I don’t think the Bible is calling us to fast 40 days, I wonder how many of us have even once made that trade?
We are all busy, and that busyness often leaves us with little time in our days for spiritual study, application, and prayer.
We would be wise to skip a meal to feed ourselves spiritually. We would be wise to skip the gym to make time for prayer.
How often do our lives acknowledge what Jesus’ life acknowledged here? That provision for spiritual battle should take priority over provision for the physical.
Luke 4:3-4
Luk 4:3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”
Luk 4:4 And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’”
The very first things Satan did was question God’s authority.
At Jesus’ baptism in Luke 3:22, God made it very clear Jesus was His “beloved Son.”
A voice had come from heaven and announced it.
The Holy Spirit confirmed it with His presence.
But here, Satan wanted to call it into question.
It is interesting that Satan doesn’t directly contradict God by saying, “You aren’t the Son of God.”
He used this approach with Adam and Eve.
He asked questions in hope the one being tempted would begin to doubt God.
The serpent in the Garden of Eden succeeded in getting Adam and Eve to doubt God’s integrity.
APPLICATION:
• Satan’s tactics haven’t changed.
• He spends all his time trying to get people to doubt God’s words.
• “God’s word can’t be trusted.”
• “It isn’t historically accurate.”
• “It isn’t scientifically accurate.”
• “It isn’t rational.”
• “God keeps you from having fun and having what satisfies you.”
• “He is trying to hold you back.”
• “The world is all you need.”
• “Satisfy your desires here on earth.”
• “This is the only life you are going to get.”
• “Live for now.”
• “Don’t listen to the fairy tales about life after death.”
• “Real life is experienced is this world.”
APPLICATION:
• It is also important to identify this as a question attacking Jesus’ identity.
• Temptation is always a question of identity.
• Who do we serve?
• Ourselves? Like Satan convinced Adam and Eve.
• Or God? We are His children and serve Him.
• Satan attacks identity effectively in our culture.
• If he can get a university professor to convince a student of the truth of evolutionary biology, he doesn’t even need to bother with the authority of the words of God.
• That student has lost their true identity.
• They’ve gone from being a designed marvel made in the image of God to a wildly improbable chemistry accident.
• Your identity makes a huge difference when it comes to the way you see the world.
Interestingly, Jesus didn’t feel the need to prove God’s word, instead He reaffirmed His belief in its validity by quoting it in His rebuttal to Satan.
The verse referenced by Jesus is Deuteronomy 8:3.
Deu 8:3 - And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.
APPLICATION:
Satan would not have confessed Jesus, even if He had turned the stones to bread.
Jesus did far more marvelous works during His ministry than turning stones to bread, yet the devil didn’t believe.
Some questions aren’t worth answering.
Some questioners have no interest in proof and evidence.
Their hearts aren’t open to accepting anything other than what they already believe.
Luke 4:5-8
Luk 4:5 And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time,
Luk 4:6 and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will.
Luk 4:7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.”
Luk 4:8 And Jesus answered him, “It is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’”
Satan’s second temptation was not a challenge but an offer.
Christ was going to be glorified in heaven with His Father, but that wasn’t going to happen until after a three-year ministry and significant suffering.
Satan offered Jesus something immediate.
All of the kingdoms of the world could be His if He bowed to Satan.
APPLICATION:
For many years, I looked at this temptation almost as if it wasn’t a temptation at all.
Jesus was literally the king of the universe. Why would He ever be tempted with such a lousy offer from Satan?
All the kingdoms of the earth were only a small portion of what He already possessed as universal King.
How was Satan’s offer enticing?
But I was wrong about the effectiveness of Satan’s tactic.
I know I was wrong because this is the temptation I fall prey to on a daily basis.
I know who God says I am (my identity).
A child of His…
Justified through Christ to spend eternity with Him…
To be an heir with the universal King…
2 Tim 2:12 - if we endure, we will also reign with Him
It is an astounding reality!
But Satan comes to me with a small pleasure.
He whispers in my ear, “You aren’t glorified in Heaven YET!”
“There is still a lifetime of difficulty ahead!”
“I’ve got a pleasure you can have RIGHT NOW!”
Human beings are big fans of having what they want RIGHT NOW!
What is astounding is that Satan can win us over with a much weaker offer than what He offered the Lord.
Have you ever been offered the throne of the world?
Me neither! It’s usually something a lot smaller.
If Satan can’t convince us the word of God is false, he may attempt to win us over with immediate pleasure.
He makes an offer to our eyes for the ownership of our heart.
Luckily for us, Satan’s offer failed to shake Jesus’ conviction.
He once again denied Satan and affirmed His contentment in the promise of God by quoting the Scriptures.
Luke 4:9-13
Luk 4:9 And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here,
Luk 4:10 for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’
Luk 4:11 and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”
Luk 4:12 And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
Luk 4:13 And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.
Again, Satan questioned the word of God by asking for proof of Jesus’ identity.
He asked Him to throw Himself off the pinnacle of the temple.
He even quoted a scripture.
Psalm 91:11-12 - For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.
APPLICATION:
We shouldn’t take someone’s advice just because they quote a scripture to go along with it.
There are many people who misuse Bible passages to support things God would never support.
Too often, passages are stripped from their context and used in ways they were never intended.
Jesus responded to Satan by quoting God’s word back to him.
He quoted from Deuteronomy 6:16.
Deu 6:16 - “You shall not put the LORD your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah.”
Jesus’ quotation showed the complete hypocrisy and ridiculousness of Satan’s request.
Satan was asking Jesus to put God to the test, while he was putting God (Jesus) to the test.
These three temptations are mentioned by Luke and Matthew.
We don’t know if there were other temptations that aren’t recorded.
What is important to see is that Jesus went through this process and came out the victor on the other side.
He retained His sinlessness.
We know these weren’t the only temptations Jesus faced in His life.
Verse 13 tells us Satan departed until an “opportune time” in the future.
APPLICATION:
This tells us something of the craftiness of Satan.
He stalks his pray waiting for “opportune moments.”
This is why we need to always be on guard.
Personally, I know there are times in my life when I let my guard down.
For example, when I haven’t fallen to a particular temptation in a while, I won’t be as vigilant at avoiding it and killing it when I feel the temptation rise in my heart.
I won’t wake up with my eyes peeled watching for its appearing on the horizon.
And then I’ll find it snuck up on me and I’m in danger.
We need to train our hearts to be on guard all the time (which isn’t easy).
Because Satan is stalking in anticipation of the “opportune time.”
Luke 4:14-15
Luk 4:14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country.
Luk 4:15 And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.
Following His temptation, Jesus returned to Galilee where He taught in the synagogues and was well received by the people.
What is a synagogue?
The synagogue was the center of Jewish community life.
Whenever a community had a significant number of Jews they sometimes built a synagogue as a place for them to stay connect to their faith and as a place for communal events and discussions.
In some ways, the synagogue was similar to modern Christian church buildings.
The Jews met in the synagogues on the Sabbath (Saturday) to hear a reading from the Old Testament Law and have it explained by their religious leaders.
They may have also met there for communal meals and political meetings.
The Greek word translated “synagogue” means “an assembly of people.”
The synagogue was a place of ritual cleansing. Many included a Mikveh (ceremonial washing pool).
The origins of the synagogue are obscure, but many believe they got their start when the Jews were taken into Babylonian captivity and needed a place of cultural gathering and worship.
The Pharisees and scribes had a significant number of rules for how Jews were supposed to behave within the synagogue and when it was/wasn’t appropriate for someone to enter the synagogue.
Josephus, a Jewish historian, mentions at least 18 cities in the Roman Empire with a synagogue.
Luke 4:16-19
Luk 4:16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read.
Luk 4:17 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,
Luk 4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
Luk 4:19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”
After spending some time teaching in the synagogues of Galilee, Jesus went to His hometown.
On the Sabbath day, He went to the synagogue and stood up to read a passage of scripture from the Old Testament prophet Isaiah.
The text came from Isaiah 61:1-2.
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.”
The Holy Spirit was empowering Jesus.
In ancient days, new kings and priests were anointed with oil as a sign they had been chosen to fill a special role.
The Holy Spirit had symbolically anointed Jesus as the Messiah when He descended at Jesus’ baptism.
Acts 10:37-38 – You yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.
God didn’t pour oil down from heaven on Jesus’ head, instead He spoke from heaven announcing Jesus and sent the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove to testify to Jesus’ identity as King and “Christ.”
Christ means “anointed.”
Most kings and priests in the Old Testament were anointed with oil by a prophet or representative of God.
God personally anointed Jesus.
Jesus Christ = Jesus the anointed of God.
Jesus was the anointed One who was sent to “proclaim good news to the poor.”
Jesus was definitely an ally of the monetarily poor.
But more than that, He came to proclaim good news to those spiritually poor, poor in spirit.
Mat 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
The Kingdom of Heaven is for those who realized their spiritual poverty.
Those who had no hope of lifting themselves out of their current spiritual condition.
Those who put their trust in God to pay the redeeming price for their soul because they didn’t have any way of doing it.
Jesus was the Redeemer who could pay the price and that was “good news.”
“He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.”
In 2 Timothy, Paul described those in sin as having been taken captive by the devil.
He’s tricked them.
He’s fooled them into doing his work.
Paul said they must “come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.”
Paul said those in sin needed to “come to their senses.”
Isaiah’s prophecy speaks of one who will recover the sense of sight for those who have gone blind.
This is a big theme in John’s gospel.
Jesus is light in the darkness to give sight to the blind.
Jesus will give liberty to the oppressed.
APPLICATION:
Satan does a good job at getting us to think religion and God are the oppressors.
He tells people, “A life without God and all of His rules is freedom.”
“God is holding you back from real living”
Isn’t that what the serpent told Eve?
In contrast, God tells us sin and Satan are the oppressors and true freedom is found in Him.
How do we know who to believe, God or Satan?
One of those two was willing to put their money where their mouth was.
There is love in one of the two narratives.
One of those two was willing to make a big self-sacrifice to show He really cared about human freedom, while the other one wasn’t.
Jesus went to the cross to set men free.
Satan just spews lies from the sideline at no personal expense to himself.
Anyone can have a narrative until it requires self-sacrifice.
Self-sacrifice will sift the genuine from the liars.
“to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
A year or a time was coming when God would bless the Jews.
It would be the year of His favor.
That year began when the Messiah arrived.
God had favor on His people and sent them the solution to their previously inescapable problem.
This “year” may be alluding to the year of jubilee.
The year of jubilee was a special year for the Jews and occurred every 50 years.
It was part of God’s Old Testament Law (Leviticus 25-8-13).
On the year of jubilee debts were forgiven, slaves were set free, and lands were restored to their original tribal owners.
It was a year of celebration and was eagerly awaited by many.
With similar happy anticipation, the Jews had been waiting for the Messiah to liberate them from oppression.
The time had finally come.
Luke 4:20-21
Luk 4:20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.
Luk 4:21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
When Jesus had finished His reading, He rolled up the scroll and sat down.
When I first read this, I thought Jesus was taking His seat in the audience after finishing His scripture reading.
But that was not the case.
It was customary for the teacher to sit before expounding on the words of scripture.
This explains why the people’s attention was still fixed on Him even after He sat down. They wanted to know what Jesus had to say about Isaiah’s prophetic words.
APPLICATION:
This is a good example of why we need to be careful before we interpret the action of an ancient person based on modern customs.
In our culture, a person sits down when they’ve finished teaching.
In 1st Century Jewish culture, a person sat down when they were about to start teaching.
Customs, traditions, and practices vary across cultures and a wise Bible interpreter will be careful not to interpret the ancient world through modern customs.
The people’s attention was fixed on the sitting Jesus.
They were waiting on Him to expand on the concept of the scripture He just read.
Jesus told them Isaiah’s words were being fulfilled that same day.
There may have been more to Jesus’ lesson than Luke records.
Luke 4:22-24
Luk 4:22 And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph's son?”
Luk 4:23 And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘“Physician, heal yourself.” What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’”
Luk 4:24 And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown.
Jesus’ message was well received.
All of the Jews looked forward to the restoration of their nation by the Messiah and to hear the time had arrived would have come as a welcome surprise.
Matthew and Mark use the word “astonished” to capture the people’s response.
They acknowledged the “wisdom” (Mat 13:54) in Jesus’ words, but they had doubts about the messenger who brought them.
They began saying amongst themselves, “Is not this Joseph’s son?”
They thought they knew Jesus.
They knew His mother and His brothers.
This assumption, that they knew who Jesus was and where He came from, was a problem.
In truth, Jesus was not Joseph’s son.
If they believed He was, they would never come to understand His true identity, the one proclaimed at His baptism by His real Father.
He was not the son of a carpenter, He was the Son of God.
APPLICATION:
Be careful what you assume.
Be careful about what you think you know without thorough investigation.
I can’t help but believe Mary would have told people her story if they had asked.
I can’t imagine she would lie and tell people Jesus had been naturally conceived by Joseph.
But how many people believed her?
How many assumed she was lying?
How many didn’t take time to inquire?
What they thought they knew was about to misguide them.
They allowed their assumptions about Jesus to rule Him out as the Messiah before they ever investigated His claim.
Jesus said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘“Physician, heal yourself.” What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’”
This proverb must have been in circulation in Jesus’ day.
It isn’t difficult to take a guess at the meaning:
A physician (doctor) is someone who claims to have training and skill to assist in the healing of certain illnesses or injuries.
If a doctor claims to be able to heal someone of a certain ailment but can’t heal themselves of that same ailment, are you going to take them seriously?
Probably not, right?
You would want proof and you would assume if they had the skill to heal they would have healed themselves first.
This was what the people of Nazareth wanted to see.
Jesus had reportedly performed miracles in other towns, miracles that were meant to prove He was the Son of God.
So, why had He not performed many in His own hometown?
They wanted some evidence.
You may be able to pull the wool over the eyes of strangers, but fooling the people who know you best isn’t so easy.
Was the request of the Nazarenes unreasonable?
I don’t think so…
But Jesus knew something about their hearts.
Mat 13:58 And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.
Even if He performed miracles, He knew they would not believe.
This, at least in part, was due to the fact that they already believed they knew Him.
They weren’t ready to accept Him as anything more than Joseph’s son.
This is what prompted Jesus to say, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown.”
The phenomenon leading to their unbelief is not an uncommon one.
When you grow up around someone and you watch them mature from being a child to an adult, you view them differently than people you are less familiar with.
Even when the world views them as an adult, maybe even an adult who is worthy of some respect or honor, you still view them as the kid who grew up down the street.
It is difficult to grow up in the eyes of those who are most intimately acquainted with us.
I am 29 years old at the time of writing this (almost the age of Jesus when teaching in the synagogue).
People who meet me for the first time usually treat me like a grown adult.
But I’m still a young kid in the eyes of some older people who watched me grow up.
Familiarity changes your perception.
Jesus knew the people in His hometown wouldn’t accept Him as the Messiah even if He performed great miracles because they thought they already knew everything about Him.
APPLICATION:
The Nazarenes rejected Jesus because their familiarity blinded them to His true identity.
The ideas/teachings/doctrines most familiar to us from our upbringing must be critically examined so we can embrace the true Christ, not just the familiar Christ.
Luke 4:25-30
Luk 4:25 But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land,
Luk 4:26 and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.
Luk 4:27 And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”
Luk 4:28 When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath.
Luk 4:29 And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff.
Luk 4:30 But passing through their midst, he went away.
Jesus’ fellow countrymen had doubts about Him, a hometown boy, being the prophesiedMessiah.
In response, He reminded them of their nations history.
In times past, recorded in the scriptures the people of Nazareth held sacred, God’s blessings had been given to those who were not among God’s people (Jews).
Jesus gave two examples:
During a time of famine in Israel, God sent the prophet Elijah to Zarephath to care for a Gentile widow woman (1 Kings 17).
For 3+ years God stopped the rain from falling on Israel because of their wickedness.
There were plenty of Jewish widows who could have used assistance during that 3 year period.
But God chose the woman from Zarephath to be the recipient of His blessing.
In 2 Kings 5, God used His prophet Elisha to heal a man with leprosy.
There were many Jews with leprosy at the time.
But God selected Naaman, the commander of the Syrian army, to receive the blessing.
When God’s people were not faithful, God had no problem sharing His mercies with others.
In parallel, when Jesus’ people, those of His hometown, were unwilling to believe (Mat 13:58), Jesus decided to share His mercies and wonderful works with others.
Jesus didn’t perform miracles just to show off His power.
He performed miracles so people would believe that He came from heaven and would know there was truth in His message.
If a group of people had already closed their minds to the possibility of Jesus being anything more than a hometown boy, there was little point in a miraculous display.
When the Nazarenes heard and understood Jesus’ rebuke, they were furious at Him.
He was telling them the condition of their hearts didn’t merit Him showing them the signs He had shown other towns.
You can imagine how that would be received.
Imagine how your hometown friends and acquaintances would respond if you came home and told them they weren’t worthy of the privilege of witnessing your ability.
“Who does this kid think he is?!”
“We raised this kid.”
“He went off and got a big head and forgot his roots!”
“Who does he think he is snubbing us?!”
“Are we going to let this arrogant brat condemn us and act like he knows what’s in our hearts.”
There was such an outrage, the people of the city “drove Him out of the town” to a tower on a hill.
Their intention was to take Him up the tower and throw Him off.
But Jesus escaped miraculously by “passing through their midst.”
APPLICATION:
It’s hard to speak hard truths to people.
Sometimes the hardest people to talk to about spiritual truths are those we know the best.
Luke 4:31-32
Luk 4:31 And he went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And he was teaching them on the Sabbath,
Luk 4:32 and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word possessed authority.
After escaping down the hill, Jesus went to Capernaum.
Matthew 4:13 tells us Jesus lived in Capernaum. He left Nazareth after hearing Herod had arrested John.
On the Sabbath day, Jesus was teaching the people and they too were “astonished at his teaching.”
Luke says His words possessed authority.
Unfortunately, we won’t ever get to hear Jesus explain the Old Testament Law in person to us in a synagogue.
But the people of Capernaum did.
Jesus could give supernatural commentary on the Law and its origins flowing out of the heart of God.
It would have been a special privilege to hear Jesus expound on scripture.
Even though we can’t listen to Jesus speak on the Law, we can all recognize someone who teaches with a sense of authority.
There is a big difference between a teacher with a shallow grasp of their subject matter and one with a command and mastery of the subject.
No doubt, in synagogues of the 1st Century, as in churches in the 21st Century, there were those who filled the role of “teacher” but weren’t particularly skilled at handling the scriptures.
There have been several times during this study I’ve used phrases like, “I think”, “I suppose”, “I imagine”, “I believe the text implies”, “possibly”, etc…
Hearing a teacher who never had to speak in uncertain terms, who had an ocean’s depth of knowledge on every Old Testament passage, who was certain of the accuracy of His interpretation of every statement of God, who knew with perfect clarity the hearts of each Old Testament character, and who intimately knew the God He came from and each person He had created throughout history… you wouldn’t be able to walk away from that teacher without being “astonished at His teaching.”
Jesus, as God, could speak about the Law as the Law Giver.
He didn’t need the interpretations of the rabbis to speak about the heart of the Law.
He articulated it to the people as its Author.
APPLICATION:
Evaluation of age is not an evaluation of truth.
Jesus was around 30 years old when He stood up to teach in the synagogue.
In the world of religious scholarship, 30 was and is considered pretty young.
Many probably dismissed Jesus without even evaluating His teaching, saying to themselves, “Why would I listen to this young man when Rabbi Shemiel has been studying the Law for 50 years and teaches something different.”
We have a tendency to judge the truth of someone’s message based on their age.
The old dismiss the young.
The young dismiss the old.
We should avoid both biases.
Truth is truth no matter where it comes from and ideas should be evaluated on their claims, not on the age of the presenter.
Luke 4:33-37
Luk 4:33 And in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice,
Luk 4:34 “Ha! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.”
Luk 4:35 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm.
Luk 4:36 And they were all amazed and said to one another, “What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!”
Luk 4:37 And reports about him went out into every place in the surrounding region.
Many of the Jews may have questioned Jesus’ authority to speak with such boldness about the Law.
He was not a trained scribe or rabbi.
What made Him think He had insights into the Law their respected scholarly leaders didn’t?
The proof of Jesus’ authenticity was about to be provided!
A man with an unclean spirit was in the synagogue.
The spirit cried out, announcing Jesus’ identity to the attendants, “The Holy One of God.”
He told the demon to “be silent.”
Jesus’ evidence of authority was to be made known through power, not the word of a demon.
Jesus then commanded the spirit to come out of the man, which it obediently did.
Jesus’ words had authority in the spiritual world.
The Jews had exorcists, but none had the power to command demons with a word. This was clear to the Jews (verse 36).
The scribes had religious training and they knew about the Law, but they didn’t have power like Jesus.
This occurrence should have been a lesson to the Jewish religious leaders that it was their turn to be students instead of teachers.
The rest of the gospels reveal they failed to learn that lesson.
Their pride wouldn’t let them relinquish the teaching position.
Luke 4:38-41
Luk 4:38 And he arose and left the synagogue and entered Simon's house. Now Simon's mother-in-law was ill with a high fever, and they appealed to him on her behalf.
Luk 4:39 And he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her, and immediately she rose and began to serve them.
Luk 4:40 Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them.
Luk 4:41 And demons also came out of many, crying, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ.
Jesus left the synagogue and went to Simon’s house (Simon = Apostle Peter).
Simon’s mother-in-law was sick with a fever and Jesus healed her.
It is interesting to me that Jesus “rebuked” the fever just like He “rebuked” the unclean spirit. I’m not sure if there is anything to the use of the same word (English and Greek).
When the sun started to go down, all the people started bringing their sick friends and family to Jesus to be healed.
They brought those with demons.
They brought those with “various diseases.”
Jesus laid His hands on them and healed all of them.
Just as He had in the synagogue, He silenced the evil spirits, prohibiting them from revealing Him as the “Son of God.”
We will discuss “demons” and “evil spirits” more in Luke 8.
Why did the people wait until sundown to bring their sick to Jesus?
Probably because the Sabbath day ended at sundown.
The Jewish day ran from sundown to sundown.
Sabbath law restricted them from walking more than a short distance or carrying burdens.
When the sun went down, those restrictions were lifted and they came out with their sick friends to find Jesus.
The Bible says the whole city was at the door (Mark 1:33).
Jesus was running a world changing operation out of a fisherman’s house. Probably the most normal and unremarkable house ever.
That is weird! Who on earth would have expected it to be that way?
Imagine if someone came up to you and said, “The Messiah is staying two blocks down in your neighborhood!” (Think about how ridiculous that would sound).
Deity could be found in a normal home accessible to everyone, not an exclusive palace sealed off to all but a few.
I think this is one of the most beautiful things about God’s plan.
God’s truth can be found in the most ordinary places and it is sometimes encountered unintentionally in places one would never expect.
On the most ordinary day, a person with open ears can encounter life changing truth.
God’s good news moves through the ordinary in an extraordinary way.
APPLICATION:
This ought to be a lesson to us not to discard truth because we deem its origin too ordinary.
One might think, “This person doesn’t have anything to teach me!”
“This person isn’t as educated as me! They have nothing to tell me.”
Either of those attitudes would have pushed Christ aside as “too common.”
How many people do you think thought the most important news in the history of the world, the news that would affect the souls of all men, past, present, and future, would show up first in a fisherman’s house in average old Capernaum?
The delivery of the gospel has to be one of its most shocking attributes
Luke 4:42-44
Luk 4:42 And when it was day, he departed and went into a desolate place. And the people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them,
Luk 4:43 but he said to them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.”
Luk 4:44 And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.
Here we find Jesus, after a long night of helping needy people, rising early in the morning to be with His Father (Mark 1:35-39 is a parallel passage).
He was probably tired, but He made prayer a priority.
APPLICATION:
There are times when we need to sacrifice physically to make sure our souls are healthy.
I don’t think that is a very widely practiced spiritual discipline.
What does this precedent do to our excuses for not praying, studying, attending worship, or being present to help our brothers and sisters?
“I was too tired.”
“I was too busy.”
“I did a lot of good work already today.”
Jesus didn’t neglect His time with God or His time helping those who needed Him.
Obviously, this can be taken to extremes, but I think Jesus example here is something we could all do a little bit better at.
According to Mark, when Jesus’ disciples found Him they wanted Him to return to the crowd of people waiting for Him.
“Everyone is looking for you”, they said (Mark 1:37).
Luke tells us the people “came to Him, and would have kept Him from leaving them” (Luke 4:42).
The Apostles were probably thinking, “What are you doing!? You’ve got a whole crowd of people down there anxiously waiting to see you.”
A thought:
Why do so many well-known preachers fall into sin?
Because they spend too much time with the crowds of people and too little time alone with God.
The same is true for any Christian.
We can get so busy, even busy with “good works,” that we unknowingly drift away from God because we aren’t being intentional about drawing near to Him.
Jesus’ response is curious and worth considering.
When His Apostles told Him the crowds were waiting for Him, He told them they weren’t going back down to the adoring crowds.
Why?
Because the gospel needed preaching in other places.
Question: Weren’t there more sick people that needed healed down in
Capernaum?
Yes!
Wasn’t that a good work?
Yes!
But Jesus had priorities.
Healing sick people was a good thing, but preaching was a better thing.
The message of salvation needed to be preached.
APPLICATION:
I think this is an important lesson for the modern Church and modern Christians.
There is a difference between good and better.
It is a good thing to go to the lake with your family and appreciate the creation of God.
It is a good thing to devote time to learn to play an instrument.
It is a good thing to go to the gym and lift weights and be healthy.
It is a good thing to put your kids in sports and help them develop as players.
It is a good thing to have a hobby.
All of those things are good and there is nothing inherently sinful about any of them.
But maybe the Church is struggling because Christians are spending a lot of time doing those good things and not enough time pursuing the BETTER things.
In this text, we see Jesus turning down a good thing to accomplish His better and ultimate purpose.
As followers of Christ we have been given a similar better and ultimate purpose.
Many of the decisions we face are between good and better!
How often do you choose the “good” option over the “better” option?
Just because we aren’t choosing to sin, doesn’t mean we are being everything God has called us to be.
The Christian life is not always a choice between black and white, good and bad, right and wrong, it is often a choice between good and better.
Jesus then took His disciples and began a short preaching tour in the cities and synagogues of Judea.
Chapter 4 highlights Jesus’ practice of entering synagogues to teach.
Jesus knew where to find people who were interested in spiritual things and He sought them out.
We should think about places we can find spiritually minded people or people whose hearts may be ready to start thinking spiritually.
Then we should make an effort to reach them.
No doubt, we will encounter our own Nazareths and Capernaums.
Places the message is rejected.
Places the message is received.
