Please find my comments in bold purple beneath the verses.
Luke 4
New Living Translation (NLT)
The Temptation of Jesus
4 Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness,[a] 2 where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. Jesus ate nothing all that time and became very hungry.
The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness, knowing Jesus would be tempted by the devil. However, I note that as the Spirit led Jesus, Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit. He was prepared to face what was ahead. Even so, 40 days of temptation is a long time!
4 But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone.’[b]”
Okay, so after 40 days of no food, I'm sure Jesus was very hungry. A loaf of bread must have sounded good to Him. Yet He was wise enough to put God first in His life, not physical desires. He relied on God's Word to see Him through this temptation. We have that same Word available to us today.
5 Then the devil took him up and revealed to him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 “I will give you the glory of these kingdoms and authority over them,” the devil said, “because they are mine to give to anyone I please. 7 I will give it all to you if you will worship me.”
8 Jesus replied, “The Scriptures say,
‘You must worship the Lord your God
and serve only him.’[c]”
and serve only him.’[c]”
How is it that the devil owns all the kingdoms of the world...were they not God's to give...did not Jesus already have full authority over them through His Father? I am guessing the key lies in that they are "kingdoms of the world"...the corrupt world, the evil world, not the created world. It's more about the "kingdoms" than the creation. But what a subtle temptation! If Jesus would bow down to satan, He could have authority over all those kingdoms...yet He himself would be under the authority of satan. I'm so glad He could see through this one!
9 Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! 10 For the Scriptures say,
‘He will order his angels to protect and guard you.
11 And they will hold you up with their hands
so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’[d]”
11 And they will hold you up with their hands
so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’[d]”
12 Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’[e]”
13 When the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left him until the next opportunity came.Now satan is trying to make a fool out of Jesus...asking Him to do a circus act, to act like Superman. Jesus basically told him to knock it off...satan was way out of line trying to tempt the Son of God. So satan leaves...but notice, he wasn't finished with Jesus yet. He would be watching for his next opportunity, for the devil had declared war against Jesus. He was not going to give up!
Jesus Rejected at Nazareth
14 Then Jesus returned to Galilee, filled with the Holy Spirit’s power. Reports about him spread quickly through the whole region. 15 He taught regularly in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.
16 When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures. 17 The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released,
that the blind will see,
that the oppressed will be set free,
and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.[f]”
for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released,
that the blind will see,
that the oppressed will be set free,
and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.[f]”
20 He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently. 21 Then he began to speak to them. “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!”
22 Everyone spoke well of him and was amazed by the gracious words that came from his lips. “How can this be?” they asked. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”23 Then he said, “You will undoubtedly quote me this proverb: ‘Physician, heal yourself’—meaning, ‘Do miracles here in your hometown like those you did in Capernaum.’ 24 But I tell you the truth, no prophet is accepted in his own hometown.
25 “Certainly there were many needy widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the heavens were closed for three and a half years, and a severe famine devastated the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them. He was sent instead to a foreigner—a widow of Zarephath in the land of Sidon. 27 And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, but the only one healed was Naaman, a Syrian.”
28 When they heard this, the people in the synagogue were furious. 29 Jumping up, they mobbed him and forced him to the edge of the hill on which the town was built. They intended to push him over the cliff, 30 but he passed right through the crowd and went on his way.
The public ministry of Jesus has begun. He starts in His own home town, but He confronts them with the truth...they wanted signs from Him, but they did not believe Him to be the Son of God. They wanted entertainment, a home town hero they could boast about, but they did want someone who was going to call a spade a spade and walk away from them. He got their ire up a little bit! How was it that He was able to walk away right through the crowd itself? Remember, He was filled with the Holy Spirit...the power of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus Casts Out a Demon
31 Then Jesus went to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and taught there in the synagogue every Sabbath day.32 There, too, the people were amazed at his teaching, for he spoke with authority.
33 Once when he was in the synagogue, a man possessed by a demon—an evil[g] spirit—began shouting at Jesus, 34 “Go away! Why are you interfering with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”35 Jesus cut him short. “Be quiet! Come out of the man,” he ordered. At that, the demon threw the man to the floor as the crowd watched; then it came out of him without hurting him further.
36 Amazed, the people exclaimed, “What authority and power this man’s words possess! Even evil spirits obey him, and they flee at his command!” 37 The news about Jesus spread through every village in the entire region.
Jesus, who did not bow to satan's authority, is now demanding the evil spirits of satan to obey Him. They had to flee at the command of Jesus. People had never seen this kind of authority before. Where were these people when Jesus was being crucified three years later? Were they there at the cross? Were they part of the fickle crowd that changed their opinion of Jesus at every wind? Yes, no doubt.
Jesus Heals Many People
38 After leaving the synagogue that day, Jesus went to Simon’s home, where he found Simon’s mother-in-law very sick with a high fever. “Please heal her,” everyone begged. 39 Standing at her bedside, he rebuked the fever, and it left her. And she got up at once and prepared a meal for them.
40 As the sun went down that evening, people throughout the village brought sick family members to Jesus. No matter what their diseases were, the touch of his hand healed every one. 41 Many were possessed by demons; and the demons came out at his command, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But because they knew he was the Messiah, he rebuked them and refused to let them speak.Jesus heals by His touch, and He expels demons at His command. He is living proof that He truly is the Son of God. He walked among men, showing them a better way, showing them the Power of God. This was His time be on our earth and demonstrate God's love, and God's justice. He had a mission to accomplish, and He knew His time was short.
Jesus Continues to Preach
42 Early the next morning Jesus went out to an isolated place. The crowds searched everywhere for him, and when they finally found him, they begged him not to leave them. 43 But he replied, “I must preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God in other towns, too, because that is why I was sent.” 44 So he continued to travel around, preaching in synagogues throughout Judea.[h]
Those times of isolation were times of renewal for Jesus. He knew He needed to be in touch with His Father, He needed the power of the Holy Spirit. He was not on this mission by Himself, nor could He make it on His own. This is hard to comprehend, for if He was God, and He is God, why couldn't He just do everything in His own power? How do you explain the Triune Godhead? I cannot, but I can tell you this. If Jesus needed times of isolation to be alone with God, so do I, all the more. I cannot give out of my own strength, but only what I have been given from my heavenly Father. "I am weak, but He is strong!" (Jesus Loves Me).
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