👨🏽 Luke – Chapters 3 and 4

🙏 Heavenly Father, we return to Your Word today and look at the Words spoken by Jesus as well as the people He met. You have told us that it is our words that reveal what is in our hearts. Open our eyes to see ourselves as we study your Word and open our ears to hear your wisdom revealed. We ask for this in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.

In these chapters we will see Jesus and John the Baptist begin their ministries.

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

3 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene— ² during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. ³ He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁴ As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:

“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
    make straight paths for him.
⁵ Every valley shall be filled in,
    every mountain and hill made low.
The crooked roads shall become straight,
    the rough ways smooth.
⁶ And all people will see God’s salvation.’”

Points to Ponder: Remember, Luke has carefully investigated so we can have certainty. Here we have the historical year and both the political and religious rulers specified.  He is telling his readers, “if you don’t believe me, look it up!!!”   (Look up Isaiah 40:3-5 as well.)  John’s is a message of repentance. It’s a ‘preparation’ message.  Think about it, if you cannot admit you’re a sinner, then you don’t need a savior.  If you can admit you’re a sinner, then repentance prepares you to receive a savior.

⁷ John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? ⁸ Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. ⁹ The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰ “What should we do then?” the crowd asked.

¹¹ John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”

¹² Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?”

¹³ “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them.

¹⁴ Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?”

He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.”

¹⁵ The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. ¹⁶ John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷ His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” ¹⁸ And with many other words John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to them.

¹⁹ But when John rebuked Herod the tetrarch because of his marriage to Herodias, his brother’s wife, and all the other evil things he had done, ²⁰ Herod added this to them all: He locked John up in prison.

Points to Ponder: We have a summary of John the Baptist’s life here. His message is true, the timing is difficult to accept. He seems to imply ‘imminence’ like something important is about to happen.  What does ‘soon’ mean to an infinite, eternal God?  The crowd listens to John and are baptized, including tax collectors and soldiers.  (Many people are hungry for God; but neither Jewish tax collectors or Roman soldiers would have been welcomed in the Jerusalem temple.)

The Baptism and Genealogy of Jesus

²¹ When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened ²² and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

²³ Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry. He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph,

the son of Heli, ²⁴ the son of Matthat,

the son of Levi, the son of Melki,

the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph,

²⁵ the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos,

the son of Nahum, the son of Esli,

the son of Naggai, ²⁶ the son of Maath,

the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein,

the son of Josek, the son of Joda,

²⁷ the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa,

the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel,

the son of Neri, ²⁸ the son of Melki,

the son of Addi, the son of Cosam,

the son of Elmadam, the son of Er,

²⁹ the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer,

the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat,

the son of Levi, ³⁰ the son of Simeon,

the son of Judah, the son of Joseph,

the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim,

³¹ the son of Melea, the son of Menna,

the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan,

the son of David, ³² the son of Jesse,

the son of Obed, the son of Boaz,

the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon,

³³ the son of Amminadab, the son of Ram,

the son of Hezron, the son of Perez,

the son of Judah, ³⁴ the son of Jacob,

the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham,

the son of Terah, the son of Nahor,

³⁵ the son of Serug, the son of Reu,

the son of Peleg, the son of Eber,

the son of Shelah, ³⁶ the son of Cainan,

the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem,

the son of Noah, the son of Lamech,

³⁷ the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch,

the son of Jared, the son of Mahalalel,

the son of Kenan, ³⁸ the son of Enosh,

the son of Seth, the son of Adam,

the son of God.

Points to Ponder: Genealogies, based on either biological or responsible parents, were records kept by the Hebrew nation. Here a lineage of Joseph is provided, showing Jesus in the line of David. (There are discrepancies from Matthew’s Gospel… don’t sweat it. Ask yourself if in the records of Esther, would/should Mordecai be recorded?)  The listing of these names tells us a few things: (1) individual people matter to God, (2) family lines matter to God, (3) these people and their stories are pointers back to how God works through history for all nations and all mankind, and (4) God’s redemption plan is fulfilled first through Jesus, a descendent of David, then through us…. Perhaps, the last genealogy, is the Lamb’s Book of Life, where the names match the full guest list at the wedding banquet for the Lord! 💕

Jesus Is Tested in the Wilderness

4 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, ² where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.

³ The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”

⁴ Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”

Points to Ponder: The genealogy is sandwiched between Jesus’  baptism and his wilderness testing. Our minds are taken back to remember God’s nation Israel in the wilderness for 40 years.  Jesus’ first temptation from the devil is flesh/comfort/pleasure related. Jesus is hungry and the devil tempts Him by questioning His identity and power with a great opportunity to make bread! See Deuteronomy 8:3.  Jesus was hungry, they were hungry.  We remember that first generation did not leave the wilderness to reach the promised land.  (Maybe, we get uncomfortable about the things we complain about… are any of them being prioritized in our lives over the words that come from the mouth of the LORD?)  The genealogy give us a glimpse into the timing of God’s redemptive plan and takes our eyes off of the brevity of our own short lives.  We also know that Jesus, at a different time, makes a great deal of bread!  (It’s not about the bread; It’s about the timing and the motivation for the act. We always pray for wisdom and discernment to know the difference. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)

⁵ The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. ⁶ And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. ⁷ If you worship me, it will all be yours.”

⁸ Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”

Points to Ponder: Jesus did not address His identity in the last response, the devil now asserts his. This  temptation asserts the devil’s authority to grant status and prosperity to Jesus here on earth, if Jesus would worship him.  This is a temptation to idolatry motivated by our pride and greed.  An evil whisper that says, if you do this, you will be somebody. Jesus responds with Deuteronomy 6:13  As Christians we don’t ask ‘What Would Jesus Do?’ and then invent what we think is a good answer, we study His Word and learn ‘What Did Jesus Do?’ Here we see that Jesus turns the temptation down with a focus on obedience – we worship and serve God only.

⁹ 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 is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

¹³ When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.

Points to Ponder: The devil knows Scripture too.  Since Jesus always responded with the Word of God, Satan uses Psalm 91:11-12 as a weapon for temptation as well.  There is value in reading, rereading, studying, and meditating on Scripture.  We see this in current culture today, where verses are taken out of context and weaponized.  Here we see Jesus, seeing through the hypocrisy of weaponizing the Word and dismissing the devil with such a powerful one-liner… Jesus is Lord!  (Deuteronomy 6:16)

Go back and read the words the devil uses with Eve in the garden in Genesis.  Look for the same markers of temptation… flesh, desire, pride, greed.  Throughout history the same unholy trinity of money/sex/power… greed/lust/pride… are used by the devil to destroy individuals, families, communities, nations… humanity. We pray for discernment and wisdom to see these lies for what they are and His strength to overcome and endure to bring Him glory.

We know from Ephesians 6:10-18 who we are fighting.  We also learn how to fight this enemy by following Jesus and knowing His word.

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

¹⁴ Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. ¹⁵ He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.

¹⁶ He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, ¹⁷ and 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 proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
    and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
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 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.

²³ Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’”

²⁴ “Truly I tell you,” 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.”

²⁸ 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 off the cliff. ³⁰ But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.

Points to Ponder: And so it begins… the tough-teachings (TT) of Jesus.  Many believe ‘in Jesus’, but do they believe is who Jesus claimed to be?  Jesus reads from the prophet Isaiah 61:1-2.  The messianic prophecies in Isaiah were known to the Jewish people, here Jesus is claiming to fulfill them.  Their response to minimize or dismiss Him by the stating the ordinariness of His birth… ‘He’s just a man.’

Jesus, as the book of Hebrews details, is our Prophet, Priest, and King. Jesus now claims His role of ‘Prophet’ by alluding to Elijah and Elisha… no minor prophets, indeed!  The stories of these amazing prophets are used to remind Jesus’ listeners how dismissive they have been throughout their history of God’s prophets.  See 1 Kings 17:9-16 and 2 Kings 5:1-10

People are furious and want to kill Hill.  What is the root of their fury when He speaks the truth?   

Jesus Drives Out an Impure Spirit

³¹ Then he went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath he taught the people. ³² They were amazed at his teaching, because his words had authority.

³³ In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an impure spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice, ³⁴ “Go away! 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!” Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him.

³⁶ All the people were amazed and said to each other, “What words these are! With authority and power he gives orders to impure spirits and they come out!” ³⁷ And the news about him spread throughout the surrounding area.

Points to Ponder: People were amazed because His Words had authority.  It makes me wonder what the other rabbis were teaching in the synagogue… perhaps it wasn’t Scripture. Notice the demons know who Jesus is. He demonstrates His authority by casting them out of a man. Here we see Jesus as our ‘King – the one with authority.

Jesus Heals Many

³⁸ Jesus left the synagogue and went to the home of Simon. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Jesus to help her. ³⁹ So he bent over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up at once and began to wait on them.

⁴⁰ At sunset, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them. ⁴¹ Moreover, demons came out of many people, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Messiah.

⁴² At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them. ⁴³ But he said, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.” ⁴⁴ And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.

Points to Ponder: When we are tempted to ask, ‘what would Jesus do?’ we see ‘what Jesus did.’ Jesus shows His compassion by attacking demons and healing sickness.  But His primary mission is the will of God.  He prays and keeps moving to find some more lost sheep!

Summary:  Luke continues to show Jesus as the fulfillment of the messianic prophecies by demonstrating how Jesus conducted His ministry.  He is not tempted to stay where He has found success. He is not a people-pleaser.  He is on a mission to announce the Kingdom of God.

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🙏 Heavenly Father, let Thy will be done. Thank You for your Word in guiding us in the wisdom and knowledge of Your will.  Stay near us and we grow in faith and learn to love so that we may bring others to the saving knowledge of your grace.  And thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus, our Lord, our Savior, our Prophet, our Priest, and our King.  It is in His name we pray. Amen.