Luke 4, a visual study from The Lampstand Project.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.
Jesus is tempted in the wilderness for forty days. He returns to Galilee in the power of the Spirit. In the synagogue at Nazareth he reads Isaiah and says: today this scripture is fulfilled. The hometown tries to throw him off a cliff.
Three movements. Temptation, proclamation, rejection.
Luke 4 is the opening of the public ministry, framed by wilderness and rejection. The temptation tests the identity declared at the baptism. The Nazareth sermon reveals the content of the mission: good news to the poor, sight to the blind, liberty to the oppressed. The response of the hometown shows the cost of that mission from the very beginning.
A chapter in 3 movements.
Tap any numbered marker to read its part
“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.”
Forty days in the wilderness. Three temptations.
Full of the Holy Spirit, Jesus is led in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. He eats nothing. The three temptations are systematic: command this stone to become bread; I will give you all the kingdoms of the world if you worship me; throw yourself down and the angels will catch you. Each one targets the identity declared at the baptism: if you are the Son of God.
Jesus answers each temptation with Deuteronomy. Man shall not live by bread alone. You shall worship the Lord your God and serve him only. You shall not put the Lord your God to the test. Where Israel failed for forty years, and where Adam failed in the garden, he holds. When every temptation is finished, the devil departs until an opportune time.
“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.”
The Nazareth synagogue. Isaiah read. Today.
Jesus returns to Galilee in the power of the Spirit. He comes to Nazareth and enters the synagogue on the Sabbath. He stands to read. He is given the scroll of Isaiah. He finds the place: the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. He rolls up the scroll, sits down. Every eye is fixed on him.
He says: today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. They marvel and wonder at the gracious words. Then: is this not Joseph’s son? He answers: no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. He cites Elijah sent to a Gentile widow, and Elisha healing Naaman the Syrian. The mood turns. They rise up and drive him to the brow of the hill. He passes through their midst and goes away.
“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
“I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.”
Capernaum. Authority over demons. A fever rebuked.
Jesus goes to Capernaum and teaches on the Sabbath. They are astonished at his teaching because his word has authority. A man with an unclean spirit cries out: what have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? I know who you are — the Holy One of God. Jesus rebukes it: be silent and come out. The demon throws the man down and comes out without harming him. All are amazed.
He enters Simon’s house. Simon’s mother-in-law is ill with a high fever. He stands over her and rebukes the fever and it leaves her. Immediately she rises and begins to serve them. As the sun sets, all who are sick are brought to him and he heals them. He departs to a desolate place. The crowds seek him. He says: I must preach to the other towns also. That is why I was sent.
“And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom.”
Jesus reads Isaiah 61 in the synagogue and sits down. Every eye is fixed on him. He says: today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. It is the most concentrated Christological claim in Luke — the anointed one has arrived, standing right here. The crowd moves from wonder to rage in a single paragraph when he implies the blessing will go to Gentiles.
The chapter of the mission declared.
The Spirit that descended at the baptism now leads Jesus into the wilderness, where he is tempted for forty days. Each temptation attacks the identity declared at the baptism: if you are the Son of God. Each is a distortion of real goods. Jesus answers each with scripture. The devil departs until an opportune time.
Jesus returns to Galilee in the power of the Spirit. In Nazareth he opens the Isaiah scroll: the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He sits down. Today this is fulfilled. At first they marvel. Then: is this not Joseph’s son? He answers with two OT examples of God blessing Gentiles. They drive him to a cliff. He passes through and goes away.
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.”Luke 4:18 ESV
All scripture quoted from the English Standard Version (ESV). A study from The Lampstand Project.