Luke 4:33-37 In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an evil spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice, 34 “Ha! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are — the Holy One of God!” 35 “Be quiet!” Jesus said sternly. “Come out of him!” 36 All the people were amazed and said to each other, “What is this teaching? With authority and power, he gives orders to evil spirits, and they come out!” 37 And the news about him spread throughout the surrounding area.
 
THE gospels often record Jesus’ encounters with demons. We don’t understand this spiritual warfare as we do sin and various physical and mental illnesses. But we must know that demon possession is real. The apostle Paul writes a very definitive summary of Jesus’ victory over spiritual warfare in Romans 8:38-39 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
   Demons also hold captive many people throughout the world as they draw people into the dark chains of materialism, animism, witchcraft, Satanism, astrology and many man-made religions. We have witnessed demonic forces “throwing down” people in our ministry. Many ministers and missionaries speak sobering accounts of visible demonic influence.
   Jesus’ work here is one way he lived into his anointing purpose declared in Luke 4:18 “to proclaim freedom for the prisoners…to release the oppressed.” In his power, the Holy One of God broke the demon’s imprisoning, oppressing chains over the man’s body. As the demon confessed Jesus’ identity, it must obey. It knows who is Lord. Indeed, nothing can resist the Living God’s authority.
   There is another form of possession here. Note that this healing is in Capernaum’s synagogue, inferring this occurred on a Sabbath. Luke four times records Jesus healing on the Sabbath day. Likely there were more because he often taught in synagogues. These Sabbath healings are one way Jesus persistently moved throughout his ministry to release his people from the bondage of religious rules. Then and now, Christ’s church too easily becomes possessed with rules, preferences and worship formulas. Our Lord knows such “religious chains” prevent us from experiencing “the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
   Yes, God’s Word commands an appropriate order of worship and humble, loving approach to him. But we must not be so fettered with religion and form we forget Jesus’ love and grace. Remember, the Holy One of God is a term that refers to Jesus’ special relationship with the Father in the Spirit’s power. Be truly amazed! Know the Triune God has come in his fullness to command sin, “Come out of him!” His word unchains his own forever.
 
Prayer: Unchain my heart, Lord, from anything that binds me from truly worshiping you. Thank you, Jesus, for delivering me from evil. Amen.   

Luke 4:28-32 All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. 29 They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff. 30 But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way. 31 Then he went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath began to teach the people. 32 They were amazed at his teaching, because his message had authority.
 
DO you see him? Lurking in the shadows is Jesus’ enemy. The devil is prowling “around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8) How do we know? He’s not named here.
   Remember Jesus’ temptation in the desert. Luke records that the devil “left him until an opportune time.” (Luke 4:13) Some say that the next opportune time was in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus prayed to be delivered from the cross. But we can be assured the Tempter takes no such 3-year break from his destructive desires against our Lord. Here is such an “opportune time” in Nazareth and its synagogue.
   What else but evil could cause the Jews to be “furious” when they heard Jesus judging their disobedient hearts? To be furious is to be all-out, energetic and passionate against something. Furious can even be out of control. Yes, the Jews were amazed (see how often Luke uses that word) at Jesus’ teaching until he spoke the truth of their unbelieving hearts. All-out, the people of Jesus’ hometown moved to throw him over a cliff to his death. The killer Satan would have rejoiced if that had happened. There would have been no sacrificial altar for the Christ. He would die at the hands of a mob, not in the way the Father had planned. The prowling devil, indeed, was moving against the Holy God through his own people, just as he did in Eden and he has throughout world history.
   But as in the desert, Jesus prevailed. Certainly he walked through that crowd in the Spirit’s power. That day was not the day for Jesus to die. He had preaching to do that he might demonstrate the Father’ love for the world. The Father had planned the time and method for Jesus to live and to die, to rise and to ascend. God’s will is done here. The Spirit empowers, and the Son moves on.
   Always remember that evil is furious against God. In response we be furious to serve the Lord with all our heart, mind and soul against sin. Passionately, we must call on God to lead us through dark valleys of opposition and into the Father’s will. That’s what Jesus did. Deliberately, furiously for the Father, our Lord kept his eyes toward the cross. He moved past the furious crowd to passionately preach all-out for the gospel in Capernaum. 
  
Prayer: Heavenly Father, teach me to be furious against sin and to live all out for you. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen. 

Luke 4:23-27 Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself! Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’ 24 “I tell you the truth,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown. 25 I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. 27 And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed — only Naaman the Syrian.”
 
THIS is a good point to be reminded that a Christ-follower may not be effective at home. Jesus, speaking to people who watched him grow up, makes this point with Elijah’s and Elisha’s ministries. Do you remember these? Elijah’s life was threatened in Israel, the home of God’s own people. He went to Zarephath, a foreign land. That is where God used Elijah to supply the “daily bread” for a widow and her son who had one meal left when Elijah came to them (1 Kings 17:13). Elisha, too, was often rejected and threatened in Israel. It was Naaman, a Syrian officer, God healed of leprosy. (2 Kings 5) This “at home” lack of faith is much too common in God’s Story. His own people continually rejected and even killed God’s prophets.
   In a like manner, people closest to you will often reject your attempts to share the gospel. You may have experienced this. As you speak to them of sin, salvation, love, forgiveness and God’s promises, they might look at you with contempt or say outright, “Who made you God?” Of course, you could respond, “The Holy Spirit has saved me to be a child of God.” But that might be a little too much for an unbeliever. A better response might be, “I certainly am not God, but I love you so much, I want you to know him as I do.”
   As you will see, Jesus was rejected in his hometown just as the prophets were and just as you are. The Jews had a two-edged response to Jesus’ teachings. They loved his words, but they refused to believe he is the Living Word, who fulfilled God’s prophetic words of ages past.
   As you experience people rejecting God’s Word, be as Jesus. Know that your responsibility is to first speak of God and his favor to draw mankind to him. And then second, you must live in God’s ways as closely as you can. Be a living example that God has set you apart, so you can draw people to him.
   Pray, too, for your own
heart to continually receive Jesus’ teachings. There is much noise in the world to turn you away from the truth. Pray for your family and friends in the same way. Remember that true belief ultimately occurs when the Spirit opens eyes, ears, hearts and minds to the gospel.
 
Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for your great words to teach me of sin and salvation. In Jesus’ name, humble my heart, Holy Spirit, to hear and live your truth. Amen.   

Luke 4:22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked.
 
AGAIN, we repeat a verse from the previous reading. In that lesson, we focused on Jesus’ gracious words to his hometown people. Now let’s consider the question, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”
   The question can be heard in two ways. First, we may interpret the people as saying something like this: “Isn’t this a great thing that Jesus grew up among us? We know his father and mother! Did you ever believe one of our own would speak such words?” The second way to hear this could be, “Really? Jesus grew up working with his dad in stone and wood construction. How could ‘this Scripture be fulfilled’ through this uneducated man whose parents are ordinary laborers?”
   This second attitude apparently was the attitude in the Nazareth synagogue that day. There is further evidence in Matthew 13:54-57a Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked. “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” And they took offense at him.
   The anger against Jesus was beginning to build. Jesus’ gracious words offended them! They didn’t trust his wisdom. There was no understanding that he had any special knowledge to fulfill any Scripture! That’s a hard response to the Lord’s grace, isn’t it? But this two-edge response to Jesus wasn’t isolated here.
   The gospels often describe two things were true about those who heard Jesus’ teach and preach. First, they were amazed at what he taught them. Matthew 7:28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching. Second, they found reasons to doubt, negate and ignore the teachings. John 5:43 “I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him.”  
   This attitude, of course, remains today. How many times have people – perhaps you – said to a pastor, “Good sermon. That’s just what I needed to hear.” Perhaps the person was understanding that his life needed to be more Christ-like. But pastors quickly tire of such language because most people walk out the door and step directly into the way they were before the preaching.
   Remember, it’s not a good sermon until you become as God teaches you to be. The Jews were eager to hear good, grace-filled teaching – especially teaching that may have condemned the Romans or the restrictive rules over their lives. But very few entered into Jesus’ teaching to become his disciples.
   Sin opened the door very wide to welcome disobedience into the human soul. It has remained, even as a welcome guest to form our minds toward our own desires and away from God.
   The truth is all of us need to change. Living into God’s Word really does change us. It’s time we believe him and become the people God teaches us to be.
 
Prayer: I pray, Lord, I will truly live Psalms 119:2 Blessed are they who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart.  In the Spirit’s power I pray, amen.
 
 

Luke 4:18-22 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, 21 and he began by saying to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked.
 
WE repeat verses 18-21 from the previous lesson for two reasons. The first is to see this Scripture as Jesus’ fundamental mission statement. Jesus spoke to the Jews of his God-anointed mission to proclaim the gospel. As we learned, Jesus read Isaiah 61:1-2. He did so purposefully to say, “This tells you who I am and why I am here.”
   Second, we read in verse 22 that Luke describes the Jews as amazed and heard Jesus’ words as “gracious words that came from his lips.” Isaiah 61 prophesied the time of grace would come. Jesus then spoke the gracious text to tell his hometown that God’s grace had come! This would be extraordinary news to God’s people.
   The Jews needed to know God’s grace. The Pharisee system designed to protect God’s laws from pagan rule had created its own restrictions. There was a long list of insurmountable rules beyond God’s comprehensive law. Judaism had become a system of corruption from within, pointing more to the Jews’ ruling establishment than to God. Grace was silent. God became impossible to know from beneath the Pharisees’ heavy yoke. Jesus came to free his people from sin, and he came to open the Jews’ eyes to the false “rules only” religion. Jesus taught this also in Matthew 11:29-30 “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  He was urging the Jews to the way to God is through a grace-based relationship.
   This “grace truth” is a repetitive, necessary teaching in the New Testament epistles. The apostles urged the converted Jews and Gentiles to believe and know such teachings as Ephesians 2:4-5 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions –  it is by grace you have been saved.
   The challenge remains. Our sin-based nature does not fully understand repentance, forgiveness and restoration. The gospel message is an easy yoke – a gracious teaching – if we allow Jesus’ mercy to penetrate our hearts. What do you believe? Do you think you must do more and more to be saved, to be good in God’s sight, so you are welcomed into God’s Heaven? Or do you trust confession of sin and of Christ will release you from sin’s bondage? Do you rejoice and rest faithfully in God’s grace?
 

Luke 4:16-21 Jesus went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. 17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, 21 and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
 
JESUS is preaching and teaching. Returning to his hometown, he faithfully went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day. They were eager to hear him because of his reputation for healing and teaching. Certainly the Holy Spirit empowered the leader to give the Word of God to the Son of God. The Spirit did so in order to further reveal the true Messiah to Israel and to us.
   To begin, Jesus read what we know today as Isaiah 61:1-2a. It is important, as you will see, to note Luke did not record he read the second clause of Isaiah 61:2. Eight hundred years prior to this moment, the Spirit had inspired Isaiah to speak and to write God’s promise to send a Messiah to Israel. Knowing the entire Bible, we know the Spirit described the Messiah as one who would reveal God’s favor in the form of the gospel. This is the good news of God’s grace, love, forgiveness and eternal life to free his chosen people from sin’s imprisonment, blindness and oppression. Jesus, the Messiah, came in God’s favor to live, die, rise and ascend, so our sins would be removed.
   But the Jews viewed Isaiah’s prophecy as God’s promise to send a warrior king in the way David’s rule had established Israel as a mighty world power. The Jews’ believed the Messiah would free them from physical oppression and bondage to reign on Israel’s throne forever.
   Anticipation, then, was high in the synagogue that day. When Jesus said, “Today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” the faithful Jews should have fallen on their knees to worship the King. But sadly, and soon, the people of Nazareth would find the reality of God’s favor upon them to be unfavorable to their point-of-view. God’s favor would require them to confront their sin, their man-made laws and their faith-stifling religious traditions. Their anticipation would become a deadly rage.
   How about you? Do you see the favor of God’s justice, mercy, grace and salvation as favorable for your life? I pray so. I pray you see Jesus as the true Messiah, who has come to open your eyes to your sin and set you free from sin’s oppression.
   Now, see the second clause of Isaiah 61:2. This promises the Messiah will proclaim “the day of vengeance of our God.” Be thankful Jesus did not proclaim his judgment that day in Nazareth. Rejoice the Messiah first came “not to judge the world, but to save it.” (John 12:47b) Then keep reading. Be prepared. Understand all of Jesus. For the Savior has given you another promise in John 12:48 There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day.        Know all of God’s Word. Reading and listening to only the parts that please you will never free you into God’s full favor.  
 
Prayer: O Lord, may your Scripture be fulfilled in my life each day. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Luke 4:14-15 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. 15 He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.
 
JESUS is moving. The Holy Spirit baptized him in the Jordan River near Jerusalem. His battle with Satan was about twenty miles north of there in the Judean desert. And then he traveled about another 60 miles as he “returned to Galilee in the power of the Holy Spirit.” Luke doesn’t tell us where he first ministered in Galilee, his home territory. But we know he chose most of his disciples in Capernaum and Bethsaida, two fishing villages on the north side of the Sea of Galilee. He is about to return to Nazareth, his hometown.
   These two verses may be one of the most peaceful, unifying two verses in the Bible since Genesis 2:2-3 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. All was at peace in God’s creation.
          We can understand a similar peace in Luke 4:14-15 as we witness a communion of God the Father, Son and Spirit with God’s people on earth. The Holy Trinity rested in his creation, counting it all very good as God joined with Adam and Eve. Surely God rested for a moment in the beginning of his new creation, the Kingdom of God on earth. Perhaps this was the most reverent obedience the Jews granted to God in all history of the world. The new rabbi came with a reputation of John the Baptist’s testimony: John 1:29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” For a short time, many Jews rejoiced in the hope that God was fulfilling the prophecies of old. Jesus’ words were heard and praised. People were eager for a change. Or were they? 

Luke 4:13 When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left Jesus until an opportune time.
 
THE battle was won, but the war wasn’t done. The Prince of Darkness was attacking the Light of the World to defeat the Father’s saving plan for mankind. Satan knows God. He knows God’s righteousness and holiness. He knows God keeps his Word. Satan understands his own destruction is sure. But he still dangerously works to do as much damage as he can while he can. During Jesus’ ministry, Satan will often tempt Jesus and wok to close the Jews’ minds against their Messiah’s grace, love, sacrifice and salvation. Demonic activity, hostile crowds, unrepentant sinners and self-serving religious leaders are some of Satan’s tools.  
   In those “opportune times” as Luke described these moments of attacks, Jesus could be vulnerable to disappointment and frustration. As fully man, experiencing mankind’s overwhelming conditions of illness, immorality and religious superiority could have caused Jesus to say, “Enough. I’m not sacrificing my life for such a sinful people. I’m tired. I’m feeling my time is wasted here. I’m ready to go home.”
   Satan wanted Jesus’ heart and mind. But the Righteous One fought each spiritual battle with a steadfast focus on God’s Word. He pursued the Father’s will and found the Father’s strength in times of prayer recorded to have lasted hours into and through the night. Jesus kept his teachings always true to the Word. Instead of being frustrated about mankind’s broken lives, he submitted to serve them with mercy and goodness. He worked the miracles to negate sin’s awful consequences. Jesus forgave the sins against him to show God’s power to transform. He gave life to the words, “The Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10)
   This, of course, is a true model for us. We can look around to see so many sad, sick and sinful people. It is difficult to minister, especially if you love people. You want them to be well. You long for them to live into the love God promised and demonstrated to them through Jesus. Being weary in ministry is easy when we attempt it without God’s Living Word.
   Jesus commands us to action. “Go and make disciples of all nations.” (Matthew 28:19a) is a war command, an order from the King. The war is on, and we must get out of ourselves and get into Jesus to fight the battles. The more we become as he is, the more we can withstand Satan’s ongoing assaults on our hearts, souls and minds. The more we become as Jesus is, the greater is our love and the deeper is our confidence that God wins the war.
   One of our sure lessons from Jesus resisting Satan’s temptation is this: Keep your eye on the Word of God. Whatever sin comes against you, you can defeat it with God’s Word. Be wise. Be true. Be constant. Jesus has shown you how. Follow him.
 

Luke 4:9-12 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. 10 For it is written: ‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; 11 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’ 12 Jesus answered, “It says: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
 
SATAN used God’s Word to tempt Jesus, the Word of God: Psalm 91:11-12 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. Sometimes when I read this I quietly urge Jesus to jump, so the angels do catch him. What a put-down to the devil that would be!
   But then I realize this would be exalting the devil above Jesus. You see, the devil wanted Jesus to jump, so the Son of God would place the Devil’s temptation above his trust and faith in God’s Word. This is always his method to turn our eyes from God. Note Satan said, “If you are the Son of God.” as if to challenge Jesus’ identity. “Prove yourself, Jesus!” That was a constant cry from the Pharisees, who refused to believe in Jesus. But Jesus doesn’t need to prove who he is to anyone. He knew any testing of the LORD God is a sin, so he quickly rejected Satan’s temptation with the Word, “Do not put your LORD God to the test.” (Deuteronomy 6:16)
   Jesus also knew this Scripture is about God’s ministering angels who attend to God’s own. We read it this way in Hebrews 1:14 Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation? There are numerous ways we can see God’s care for us. Many Christians testify of times they have seen and felt God’s extraordinary protection in times of need.
    We are often prone to test God, aren’t we? The test can occur when we pray with great desire and expectation for the prayer to be answered. Doesn’t it make sense for God to quickly heal my friend’s disease, to feed the thousands of people starving today or to fill his churches with true worshipers each Sunday? Praying for such good things, we surely expect God to immediately say, “Yes. Right now.” But what do we think when he doesn’t respond? What if he doesn’t minister to these people in need? Do you doubt his love? Do you lose faith in his mercy? Do you stop praying? Did God fail your test? Or do you trust him to submit to and to pray, “Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” (Matthew 6:10) You’ve prayed that prayer, haven’t you? Do you trust God’s will as Jesus did? 

Luke 4:5-8 The devil led him up to a high place and showed Jesus in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And Satan said to Jesus, “I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 So if you worship me, it will all be yours.” 8 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”
 
WE have many temptations, don’t we? Perhaps one of the most consistent is a desire to rule. Whether it be to rule over our own lives, in our family, on the playground, in a workplace, at church or in some other relationship, our first focus is often, “How can I control this situation, so it benefits me?”
   Satan is essentially attacking this element of Jesus’ humanity. Satan knows of mankind’s prideful intent to rule. He knew how Adam and Eve had been discontented with even the extraordinary authority God had given them to rule over the earth: Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”  Somehow that wasn’t enough! They succumbed to the devil’s temptation to control their own relationship with God, to rule above Gods’ commands: Genesis 3:5 “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” If they were as God, they could rule as they desired, not as God commanded. In their self-rule they could even eat from that forbidden tree. Sadly, their “I” focused minds subjected them only to sin’s slavery and death. Ruling equates with authority. Authority is control. Control is having things the way one wants them. Seeing the world through “I” narrows and darkens our vision of God’s rule. The “I” view leads us to remove God’s Word and replace it with our desires.
   Jesus was tempted with the immediate rule of all the kingdoms of the world. But with his “I” fixed on the Father, Jesus kept his purpose in focus. Jesus’ worship of the Father remained steadfast to fulfill the Father’s written words, Exodus 20:3 “You shall have no other gods before me. 4 You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them.” This is the way of truth. Truth is the pathway to Jesus’ rule over your life to judge and to save.
   Keep your “I” on God. See your sin. See his eternal promises. See his love. See his Son. See the cross. See his salvation. See Jesus obey the Word of God. See the Father, Son and Spirit worthy of all your worship.