Daily Bible Reading (Wednesday, March 7th)

9

Luke 4 (ESV)

 

The Temptation of Jesus

And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’” And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, 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. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written,

“‘You shall worship the Lord your God,
    and him only shall you serve.’”

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, 10 for it is written,

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
    to guard you,’

11 and

“‘On their hands they will bear you up,
    lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

12 And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 13 And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.

Jesus Begins His Ministry

14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. 15 And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

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.17 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

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,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”

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. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 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?” 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.’” 24 And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. 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, 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. 27 And there were many lepers[a] in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”28 When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. 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. 30 But passing through their midst, he went away.

Jesus Heals a Man with an Unclean Demon

31 And he went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And he was teaching them on the Sabbath, 32 and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word possessed authority. 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, 34 “Ha![b] 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.” 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. 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!” 37 And reports about him went out into every place in the surrounding region.

Jesus Heals Many

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.39 And he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her, and immediately she rose and began to serve them.

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. 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 Preaches in Synagogues

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,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.” 44 And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.[c]

Footnotes:

  1. Luke 4:27 Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13
  2. Luke 4:34 Or Leave us alone
  3. Luke 4:44 Some manuscripts Galilee

9 Comments

Amazingly, the same Holy Spirit mentioned in verse 1, is the same Holy Spirit that dwells in every believer.! We are truly brorthes and sisters of Christ.

Every day we get up and read amazing words of our great God. We think, Oh how interesting! Then we ponder the words as we rush into the business of life. Today we find that at the end of the day Jesus was still teaching and healing people. To my amazement and ponderings of this event, even the people with demons came to Jesus. I would naturally think that the demons would drive them away from such an encounter, but they came. They acknowledged that they knew that Jesus was the Holy one of God. In their rebellion against God they still had to bow down before the Holy one of God. They did it in fear. As for humanity we are still ignoring Jesus. Praise be to God that he has not ignored us. He has called us in Christ that we be his children by faith. We are his ambassadors.

It struck me how Jesus knew the thoughts of those he grew up around, and what their hearts meant when they said 'hey, isn't this Joseph's son'. I didn't read it as prideful and greedy, but when Jesus gives the example of Isiah and who was/wasn't served by him, he is making the point that just because he is from them, they don't have a right to claim/expect healing from him. It reminds me of families of the rich and famous today that want to use closeness to their own advantage both financially and for a sense of self-importance. I can just imagine their further outrage when the people from Capernaum came later and told the people of Nazareth what amazing healings were taking place there.

If we think of who Christ is, the son of God, the fact that the devil tried to tempt Him is quite ridiculous. Christ is Lord of creation and had unimaginable joy waiting for Him at the right hand of the father...yet Satan still tried to tempt Him. If we think about it, we have the power of God in us (the Holy Spirit) and we have unimaginable joy to look forward to in the presence of our Lord..yet so often we fall to temptations. This just highlights our weakness and how much we need God.

The contrast between the large crowds following Jesus as he was healing their earthly maladies while no one spoke up for him when Pilate presented him as an option for pardon is something we should be aware of. Many will claim to follow Christ, thinking that it will solve their earthly problems, but fall away when following him causes them inconvenience. I pray that none of our Brothers and Sisters at Believers are living according to this false belief. I also pray that we would all be convicted of our need to be involved with each other to exhort and encourage one another to seek assurance that our faith is genuine, and then to persevere until the end, as we live out God’s call on our lives.

Don’t know if I’ve thought about this reading this passage before, but I was struck by the incredible patience and willingness to submit to his Father’s will in timing in these last few chapters. He was obviously very passionate about the Scripture and doing the will of his Father (and ultimately as God his own will of course), just looking at his behavior as a boy in the temple. Even then people marveled at his teaching, but still he waited *18 years* to begin his formal ministry. Then after getting a very public endorsement at His baptism, proceeds to get delayed by another 40 days, during which He willingly submits to being harassed personally by Satan without normal sustenance for His body. I have a hard time imagining myself not being frustrated by just the delay, let alone the temptations. What an example! How great is our God, even in the form of a man.

In every way Christ was tempted, but he was full of and lead by the Holy Spirit. In the same way Christians today are afforded the same opportunity! This message is convicting because as I reflect on my life I recognize where I fail to trust the Spirits leading. Christ obeyed, followed and trusted perfectly. God, you are holy and sovereign, I thank you for sending your Son so that all who believe will have eternal life.

Satan slightly changed scripture, yet Jesus knew it perfectly. The deceiver couldn't find the "crack to enter" and in v. 13, "departed from him until an opportune time". Satan will never rest and we must know his tricks and be prepared for them. And one sure way is having scripture written in our hearts and abide in it.

Jesus was tempted in every way Satan could think of, and yet He was completely sinless. This is the power at work within us! I praise you, Father, that you show your strength in my weakness.

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