Day 48 – Friday, March 7, 2025

One Year Journey Through the New Testament

Luke 4

Welcome to our journey through the New Testament!

The Temptation of Christ

Matt. 4:1-11; Mark 1:12, 13

1 Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, ² being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.

³ And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”

⁴ But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’ ”

⁵ Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. ⁶ And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. ⁷ Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”

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 you shall serve.’ ”

⁹ Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw 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 you dash your foot against a stone.’ ”

¹² And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ”

¹³ Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time. 

Luke 4:1–13, NKJV

Points to Ponder:

• After Jesus’ Baptism, the Spirit led Him into the wilderness. He was tempted or tested for forty days by the devil. He ate nothing, fasting for the forty days
• He was hungry, and the devil encouraged Him (tempted Him) to turn stone into bread. He then tempted Him to worship the devil, and he would give Him all the kingdoms of the world, which Satan claimed to have authority over. Finally, He tested Jesus by challenging Him to leap off the highest point of the temple to show that He was God, because the angels would catch Him to protect Him.
• In each case, Jesus responded to the devil with Scripture as to why the request was not reasonable. Deutereonomy 8:3 – “Man shall not live by bread alone.” Deuteronomy 6:13 – “You shall worship the LORD you God, and Him only….” Deuteronomy 6:16 – “You shall not tempt the LORD your God….” After this testing, the devil left Jesus.

Acceptance Throughout Galilee

Matt. 4:12; Mark 1:14

¹⁴ Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. ¹⁵ And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. 

Luke 4:14–15, NKJV

Points to Ponder:

• After the temptation and fasting, Jesus came into Galilee, walking in the power of the Holy Spirit.
• He taught, and His fame spread throughout the region.

Rejection at Nazareth

¹⁶ So 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. ¹⁷ And He was handed 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 proclaim liberty to the captives

And recovery of sight to the blind,

To set at liberty those who are oppressed;

¹⁹ To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

²⁰ Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. ²¹ And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” ²² So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”

²³ He said to them, “You will surely say this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in Your country.’ ” ²⁴ Then He said, “Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country. ²⁵ But I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land; ²⁶ but to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath, in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. ²⁷ And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”

²⁸ So 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 they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff. ³⁰ Then passing through the midst of them, He went His way. 

Luke 4:16–30, NKJV

Points to Ponder:

• This passage, unique to Luke, shows the reaction to Jesus in His home town.
• He went into the synagogue to read Scripture. They handed Him the scroll of Isaiah. He opened the book and turned to a specific passage is Isaiah 61.
• Jesus reads this passage that describes a preacher, a messenger of good news to those in desperate need of such. It was almost Messianic in nature. Once He gave back the scroll to the attendant, He declared that this Scripture was fulfilled and insinuated that the fulfillment came through Him.
• The people began to question where Jesus thought His authority came from. He was the carpenter’s son, they knew Him since childhood.
• Jesus responded to them by condemning them for not believing. They would not receive Him because He was from their own country. He reminded them of those in Elijah’s day and Elisha’s day that did not receive blessings because they did not believe.
• They reacted poorly to His rebuke, and sought to push Him off a cliff. But Jesus simply passed through the midst of them and went His way. This was not His time to die.

Demons are Cast Out

Mark 1:21-18

³¹ Then He went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbaths. ³² And they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was with authority. ³³ Now in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon. And 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!”

³⁵ But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him in their midst, it came out of him and did not hurt him. ³⁶ Then they were all amazed and spoke among themselves, saying, “What a word this is! For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.” ³⁷ And the report about Him went out into every place in the surrounding region. 

Luke 4:31–37, NKJV

Points to Ponder:

• Jesus went down to Capernaum, and taught on the Sabbaths regularly. They were amazed at the authority of His teachings.
• A man with an unclean spirit was there. The spirit asked Jesus to leave him alone and identified Him as “the Holy One of God.”
• Jesus rebuked him and cast him out of the man. He obeyed.
• The people were amazed and shocked at the authority and power of Jesus.
• His fame spread even more in the region of Galilee.

Peter’s Mother-in-Law Healed

Matt. 8:14-15; Mark 1:29-31

³⁸ Now He arose from the synagogue and entered Simon’s house. But Simon’s wife’s mother was sick with a high fever, and they made request of Him concerning her. ³⁹ So He stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. And immediately she arose and served them. 

Luke 4:38–39, NKJV

Points to Ponder:

• When Jesus left the synagogue, he entered Simon’s house. His wife’s mother was sick and had a high fever.
• They asked Jesus to help her. He stood over her, rebuked the fever, and she was made well.
• She rose up and began to serve everyone in the house.

Jesus Ministers Throughout Galilee

Matt. 4:23-25; 8:16-17; Mark 1:32-39

⁴⁰ When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them. ⁴¹ And demons also came out of many, crying out and saying, “You are the Christ, the Son of God!”

And He, rebuking them, did not allow them to speak, for they knew that He was the Christ.

⁴² Now when it was day, He departed and went into a deserted place. And the crowd sought Him and came to Him, and tried to keep Him from leaving them; ⁴³ but He said to them, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent.” ⁴⁴ And He was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee. 

Luke 4:40–44, NKJV

Points to Ponder:

• At this point, Luke has not made mention of the twelve disciples. He did not include that narrative, but it does appear that Jesus already has a connection with Simon Peter.
• After the news of Jesus healing and ministry in Capernaum, great crowds brought their sick to Him. He laid hands on each one and healed them.
• People were delivered from demons as well, and the spirits identified Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God. He rebuked them, but the word was getting out.
• Jesus left them the next morning and went to a deserted place. The crowds followed Him, asking Him to stay in Capernaum, but He told them that He needed to preach the kingdom of God in other cities, too. He traveled all over Galilee, teaching in their synagogues.
• This initial record of Jesus’ ministry does not give all the facts that Matthew and Mark did, but does give additional information. The beauty of the four gospels is that they each have a unique perspective and even purpose for which God inspired them to write. Through the eyes and ears of the four gospels writers, we get a more complete picture of who Jesus was that we could if just one author had, through divine inspiration, given us their record.

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All Scriptures from New King James Version unless otherwise noted.

Join us this afternoon at 5:00 pm for a discussion of this chapter live online. Live@5 with Dr. Greg Sloop can be found on Facebook on the Dr. Greg Sloop page or on the Kannapolis Church of God Facebook page or Youtube page. Another blog will be posted each weekday at 6:00 a.m.