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Luke 4

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The Temptation of Jesus 1–13

1
And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led in the Spirit in the wilderness ​
2
during forty days, being tempted of the devil. And he did eat nothing in those days: and when they were completed, he hungered. ​
3
And the devil said unto him, If thou art the Son of God, command this stone that it become bread.
4
And Jesus answered unto him, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone. ​
5
And he led him up, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. ​
6
And the devil said unto him, To thee will I give all this authority, and the glory of them: for it hath been delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.
7
If thou therefore wilt worship before me, it shall all be thine.
8
And Jesus answered and said unto him, It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. ​
9
And he led him to Jerusalem, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou art the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: ​
10
for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee, to guard thee:
11
and, On their hands they shall bear thee up, Lest haply thou dash thy foot against a stone.
12
And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not make trial of the Lord thy God. ​
13
And when the devil had completed every temptation, he departed from him for a season. ​

Jesus Begins Ministry in Galilee 14–15

14
And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and a fame went out concerning him through all the region round about. ​
15
And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.

The Rejection at Nazareth 16–30

16
And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and he entered, as his custom was, into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up to read. ​
17
And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And he opened the book, and found the place where it was written, ​
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The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, Because he anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor: He hath sent me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovering of sight to the blind, To set at liberty them that are bruised, ​
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To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. ​
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And he closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down: and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fastened on him.
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And he began to say unto them, To-day hath this scripture been fulfilled in your ears. ​
22
And all bare him witness, and wondered at the words of grace which proceeded out of his mouth: and they said, Is not this Joseph’s son? ​
23
And he said unto them, Doubtless ye will say unto me this parable, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done at Capernaum, do also here in thine own country.
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And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is acceptable in his own country. ​
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But of a truth I say unto you, There were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when there came a great famine over all the land; ​
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and unto none of them was Elijah sent, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow.
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And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.
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And they were all filled with wrath in the synagogue, as they heard these things;
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and they rose up, and cast him forth out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might throw him down headlong. ​
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But he passing through the midst of them went his way. ​

Ministry in Capernaum 31–44

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And he came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And he was teaching them on the sabbath day: ​
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and they were astonished at his teaching; for his word was with authority. ​
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And in the synagogue there was a man, that had a spirit of an unclean demon; and he cried out with a loud voice,
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Ah! what have we to do with thee, Jesus thou Nazarene? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. ​
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And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the demon had thrown him down in the midst, he came out of him, having done him no hurt.
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And amazement came upon all, and they spake together, one with another, saying, What is this word? for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out.
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And there went forth a rumor concerning him into every place of the region round about.
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And he rose up from the synagogue, and entered into the house of Simon. And Simon’s wife’s mother was holden with a great fever; and they besought him for her. ​
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And he stood over her, and rebuked the fever; and it left her: and immediately she rose up and ministered unto them. ​
40
And when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them. ​
41
And demons also came out from many, crying out, and saying, Thou art the Son of God. And rebuking them, he suffered them not to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ. ​
42
And when it was day, he came out and went into a desert place: and the multitudes sought after him, and came unto him, and would have stayed him, that he should not go from them.
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But he said unto them, I must preach the good tidings of the kingdom of God to the other cities also: for therefore was I sent. ​
44
And he was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Luke 4

Verse 1

full of the Holy Ghost — Pleres, full: Luke uses it again of Stephen (Acts 7:55) and Barnabas (Acts 11:24). Jesus comes straight from the Jordan, where the Holy Ghost descended on him and the voice said 'Thou art my beloved Son' (Luke 3:22). Matthew has him 'led up of the Spirit… to be tempted' (Matt 4:1); the Spirit leads him in.

Verse 2

forty days tempted — Peirazo, to put to the test. Moses was 'there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water' (Ex 34:28), and Israel was led 'forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee' (Deut 8:2). The words Jesus quotes in v.4 come from that chapter. He 'afterward hungered'.

Verse 4

It is written — The answer is Deut 8:3, Moses' reminder that the LORD 'suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna… that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only'. All three replies in this chapter are from Deuteronomy: 8:3 here, 6:13 in v.8, and 6:16 in v.12.

Verse 5

in a moment of time — Stigme, a point of time, found only here in the New Testament. Luke's order differs from Matthew's: the kingdoms come second, and the temple last (Matt 4:5–10). The kingdoms are the Son's by the Father's promise: 'Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance' (Ps 2:8).

Verse 8

him only shalt thou serve — The command is Deut 6:13, 'Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him'; 'only' (monos) gives the sense of 1 Sam 7:3, 'serve him only'. 'Satan' is the Hebrew word for adversary, as in Zech 3:1, where he stands 'to resist' Joshua the high priest.

Verse 9

a pinnacle of the temple — Pterugion, literally 'little wing', found elsewhere only in Matt 4:5. 'If thou be the Son of God' repeats the devil's opening of v.3, spoken after the voice at the Jordan, 'Thou art my beloved Son' (Luke 3:22). Verses 10–11 quote Scripture to him in turn.

Verse 12

Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God — Deut 6:16 in full: 'as ye tempted him in Massah'. 'Tempt' is ekpeirazo, to test thoroughly, a stronger form of the verb of v.2, where the devil tempts him. Paul uses it of Israel in 1 Cor 10:9: 'Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted'.

Verse 13

for a season — Kairos, a fitting time. The devil 'ended all the temptation' (peirasmos) and left until another opportunity. Luke's later narrative has it: 'Then entered Satan into Judas' (Luke 22:3), and at the arrest, 'this is your hour, and the power of darkness' (Luke 22:53).

Verse 14

in the power of the Spirit — The wilderness began 'full of the Holy Ghost' (v.1); Galilee begins in the 'power' (dunamis) of the Spirit. Acts 10:38 joins the two: 'God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power'. The 'fame' (pheme) of him goes out, and again in v.37 ('the fame', echos, a rumour).

Verse 16

as his custom was — The words mean what was habitual; Paul's practice is described alike, 'as his manner was' (Acts 17:2). Nazareth is where Jesus 'was subject' to Mary and Joseph (Luke 2:51). In the synagogue he 'stood up for to read', and after the reading he sat down (v.20) to speak.

Verse 17

the book of the prophet Esaias — Biblion, a roll. 'Opened' is anaptusso, to unroll, found only here in the New Testament. He 'found the place', which is Isa 61:1–2. 'Esaias' is the Greek form of Isaiah.

Verse 18

he hath anointed me — Echrisen, from the root of Christos, the Anointed. The reading is Isa 61:1, with a line from Isa 58:6, 'to let the oppressed go free', in 'set at liberty them that are bruised'. 'Deliverance' and 'liberty' are one Greek word, aphesis, elsewhere 'remission' (Luke 24:47). Cf. Acts 10:38.

Verse 19

the acceptable year of the Lord — Dektos, accepted, favourable. The line is Isa 61:2, which goes on 'and the day of vengeance of our God'; the reading stops before those words (v.20). The phrase recalls the jubilee of Lev 25:10, 'proclaim liberty throughout all the land… ye shall return every man unto his possession'.

Verse 21

This day is this scripture fulfilled — Semeron, today, a word Luke repeats at the great moments: 'unto you is born this day… a Saviour' (Luke 2:11); 'This day is salvation come to this house' (19:9); 'To day shalt thou be with me in paradise' (23:43). 'In your ears' places the fulfilment in what they have just heard.

Verse 22

gracious words — Literally 'words of grace' (charis), as in Ps 45:2, 'grace is poured into thy lips'. They 'bare him witness' and 'wondered', yet ask 'Is not this Joseph's son?'. Luke has said Jesus was 'as was supposed, the son of Joseph' (Luke 3:23); John 6:42 records the same question from a Galilean crowd.

Verse 24

No prophet is accepted — Dektos, the word behind 'acceptable' in v.19: the year the LORD accepts meets a country that does not accept the prophet. 'Verily' is amen. The same saying stands in Matt 13:57 and John 4:44. Two cases from Israel's own history follow, Elijah and Elisha (vv.25–27).

Verse 25

three years and six months — The length is not stated in 1 Kings, which says only 'the third year' (18:1), but James 5:17 gives it: 'it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months'. 'Elias' is Elijah. 'Shut up' is the heaven closed at his word; the 'many widows' in Israel frame the one to whom he was sent (v.26).

Verse 29

cast him down headlong — Katakremnizo, to throw over a steep, and 'brow' is ophrus, the eyebrow, hence the edge of a hill; both words are found only here in the New Testament. The congregation that 'bare him witness' (v.22) now thrusts him 'out of the city', as was done later to Stephen (Acts 7:58).

Verse 30

passing through the midst of them — Luke does not say how he escaped, and records only that he 'went his way'. The hour is not theirs to set: 'no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come' (John 7:30). John records like escapes: when they 'took up stones' (John 8:59) and when 'they sought again to take him' (John 10:39).

Verse 31

came down to Capernaum — Katerchomai, to go down. Capernaum is 'upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim', and Matthew sees his dwelling there as the fulfilment of Isaiah (Matt 4:13–14). He 'taught them on the sabbath days' there too, as at Nazareth (v.16).

Verse 32

his word was with power — 'Power' here is exousia, authority, the word of Matt 7:29, 'as one having authority, and not as the scribes'. 'Astonished' is ekplesso, struck out of oneself. Luke 4:36 repeats it: 'with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out'.

Verse 34

the Holy One of God — The spirit speaks in the plural, 'us' and 'we', and gives him a title, as in Acts 3:14, 'the Holy One and the Just'. James 2:19 says 'the devils also believe, and tremble'. Jesus answers with the rebuke of v.35, 'Hold thy peace, and come out of him'.

Verse 38

Simon's wife's mother — Penthera, mother-in-law. Paul later asks, 'Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as… Cephas?' (1 Cor 9:5): Simon is married. Mark 1:29 calls the dwelling 'the house of Simon and Andrew'. 'Taken with a great fever' is held fast by it, and 'they besought him for her'.

Verse 39

rebuked the fever — Epitimao, the verb of Jesus' rebuke to the unclean spirit (v.35), and again to the devils (v.41) and to the wind and the water (Luke 8:24). She 'immediately… arose and ministered' (diakoneo), as the women of Luke 8:3 who 'ministered unto him of their substance'.

Verse 40

he laid his hands on every one — They come at sunset, the sabbath of v.31 now ended; Mark 1:32 says 'at even, when the sun did set'. He heals 'every one', one by one, by touch. Matthew sees Isa 53:4 fulfilled in such healings: 'Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses' (Matt 8:17).

Verse 41

suffered them not to speak — The devils name him 'Christ the Son of God'. 'Son' is the title of the voice at the Jordan (Luke 3:22) and of the devil's test (vv.3, 9); Luke adds that 'they knew that he was Christ'. He rebukes them, as the spirit in v.35. Paul silences a spirit that cried out true words (Acts 16:17–18).

Verse 43

I must preach the kingdom of God — Dei, 'it is necessary'. The verbs are those of v.18: 'preach' is euaggelizo, 'to preach the gospel', and 'sent' is apostello, 'he hath sent me'. What was read at Nazareth is what he does in 'other cities also'. Mark 1:38 gives the same purpose: 'therefore came I forth'.

Verse 44

the synagogues of Galilee — 'Preached' is kerusso, to herald, the verb of 'to preach deliverance' (v.18) and 'to preach the acceptable year' (v.19). Matt 4:23 gives the same round: 'teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness'. The chapter ends in Galilee, where v.14 began.