Luke 4a: HG Bishop Youssef

Outline of the Chapter

00:00-02:28

• 1-13: Temptation of the Lord
• 14-15: The Lord Starts His Ministry in Galilee
• 16-30: The Lord preaches in Nazareth
• 31-37: The Lord casts out unclean spirits
• 38-39: Healing of St Peter's Mother in Law
• 40-41: Many are healed after the Sabbath Sunset
• 42-44: The Lord continues His ministry and teaching in Galilee

Temptation of the Lord

02:29-43:03

¹ Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, ² being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.

• The Lord was anointed by the Spirit in baptism, when the Spirit descended upon Him like a dove
  • Messiah means "the anointed one" and He was anointed, Chrismated, Consecrated - to be our High Priest, King of kings and the Prophet.
  • After His consecration, He went to the wilderness where Satan tempted Him for forty days
  • Following this tradition, a new priest spends forty days fasting in the monastery after his ordination
• Wilderness
  • Most likely the wilderness of Judea near the Jordan
  • Some scholars say that He went to the desert of Horeb or Sinai where the Israelites were tried for forty years and Moses/Elijah fasted forty days
• The Lord began His ministry immediately after His baptism - not by going to Jerusalem to preach, but by retiring to the wilderness
  • We need to prepare ourselves for any ministry by spending some time with God
  • Before I teach in Sunday School or do visitations, I need personal time with God
  • In Egypt, all the servants would meet half an hour before the beginning of Sunday School to pray and prepare themselves before Sunday School started. Before going to visitations, the servants going to visitations would meet at the church and pray together before going to visitations.
  • This is important because it means I am relying on God for the work of ministry, not relying on myself.
  • The Lord prepared Himself for ministry by fasting, prayer, meditation and resisting temptation
  • This is why His journey to the wilderness is said to be "driven by the Spirit" (Mark 1) or "led by the Spirit" (Luke 4, Matthew 4)
• Order of Temptations
  • Matthew:
    • Three Temptations Mentioned 
      • Bread
      • Pinnacle of the Temple (Throw Yourself down)
      • High Mountain (Kingdoms of the world)
    • After the 40 Days
  • Luke:
    • Three Temptations Mentioned
      • Bread
      • High Mountain (Kingdoms of the world)
      • Pinnacle of the Temple (Throw Yourself down)
    • After the 40 Days
  • Mark: 
    • Brief mention without details
    • During the 40 Days
• Fasting 40 Days
  • Moses fasted 40 days twice (Deuteronomy 9:9-25, 10:10)
  • Elijah fasted 40 days (1 Kings 19)
• Humanity of the Lord
  • The Lord was hungry after 40 days - a sign of His Humanity
• "For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted." (Hebrews 2:18)
  • Through our unity with the Lord Jesus Christ, we can get support from the Holy Spirit in His name in times of trouble, suffering, temptation
• Contrast with the Temptation of Adam and Eve
  • Three Temptations
    • "Good for food" - "Turn this stone into bread" - The Lust of the flesh
    • "Pleasant to the eyes" - "All these kingdoms I will give to you" - The Lust of the eyes
    • "You will be like God" - "Throw yourself and the angels will catch you" - The Pride of life
  • "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever." (1 John 2:15-17)

³ And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”

⁴ But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’ ”

• If You are the Son of God
  • This question was very important for Satan, to know whether Jesus is the Son of God or not
  • Satan continues to ask this question throughout the gospels (see Luke 4:40 when Satan cries out "You are the Christ, the Son of God" and the Lord rebukes them
  • Satan was not sure until the Lord died on the Cross and when he came to capture His soul as he did with all human beings, the Lord bound him and Satan realized that Jesus is, indeed, the incarnated Son of God
• Temptation of Food
  • Adam, the son of God (Luke 3:38), is tempted with food
  • Israel, whom God called His firstborn, is tempted in the wilderness with the desire to eat meat - the temptation of food.
  • Christ, the second Adam (1 Cor 15:21-22), is tempted by food also
  • Satan was expecting that the second Adam, Jesus, would do the same as the first Adam
• Am I tempted by food?
  • Many times when fasting, Satan makes us feel that we have a headache, we are drowsy, we need some food, we just need a drink of water... and many times we take the easy way and break our fast
• Respond with Scripture
  • Christ responded by quoting Scripture: "Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God" (Deuteronomy 8:3)
  • Christ is showing the devil His faith in the Scripture
  • Christ is showing the devil that He has faith in God and not in food
  • Christ is laying down the Old Testament Scripture as authoritative and the route to Himself
  • We should respond to temptation with Scripture... but to do that, we must know the Scripture
• Rejection of Evil Spirits
  • Christ did not yield to the temptation even though He was hungry.
  • Do not accept anything from Satan
  • Even when Satan said to Christ "You are the Christ, the Son of God", the Lord rebukes him and doesn't accept it from him
  • "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God" (1 John 4:1)
  • Not every thought that comes to your mind is from God. Examine and test it and if it's from Satan, reject it completely.
• Miracles were done for the confirming of faith
  • The Lord did miracles for the approval of His doctrine, so until He began preaching, He did not do miracles
  • "But that you may know that the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins, Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house." (Matthew 9:6)
  • The devil had no faith to be confirmed, so there is no reason for the Lord to do a miracle here
  • He would not do miracles for Himself or for His own supply
    • He would rather turn water into wine for the credit and convenience of His mother and His friends, than stones into bread for His own needs
    • He would rather be rebuked by Satan with being weak and not able to do it, than to be persuaded by Satan to do so
    • He chose not to save Himself from the Cross, in order to save all of us

⁵ Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. ⁶ And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. ⁷ Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”

⁸ And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”

• St Matthew lists this as the third temptation, but St Luke as the second
  • Perhaps St Luke saw the third temptation, about pride, as stronger and more intense than the temporal ambition
  • St Luke is using the order that happened with Adam and Eve
• Satan is a liar
  • He never had authority over the kingdoms of the world
  • Genesis 1:26 - God has given authority over the world to man, and not to angels or fallen angels
  • Job 1 - Why would he have to ask to attack Job?
  • He could not even enter the swine without permission from the Lord Jesus Christ
• Satan demands from all of us to worship him, and he dared to demand it of the Lord Jesus Christ
• An angel would never allow someone to worship them
  • Revelation 19:10 - St John fell at the feet of an angel and the angel said "See that you do not do that" and directed him to worship God only
  • Fallen angels seek to be worshipped by men, but also wants the Son of God, Himself, who is worshipped by all the heavenly hosts, to worship him
  • This is why Satan fell from his rank as archangel - because he assumed deity and sought the divine to worship him. And Satan grows worse and worse in this sin.
• The Lord's Assertiveness
  • The Lord rejected without any rage and with all assertiveness! There is no compromise. There is no discussion.
  • Such a temptation should not be reasoned with
  • He responds again with Scripture (Deuteronomy 6:13)

⁹ Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, 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 shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you,’

¹¹ and,

‘In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ”

¹² And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ”

• St Matthew lists this as the second temptation, but St Luke as the third
• Satan deceives by quoting the Scripture
  • Satan is challenging Him now - do you trust God? Do you trust those words of Scripture? Show me if You really trust God.
  • Through the deceit of Satan, the very means we use to repel one temptation may be used by him as the groundwork for another
• The devil can place us in temptation, but can never make us sin.
  • St Augustine: "The devil's part is to suggest, it is ours not to consent."
• The Lord's Response
  • Deuteronomy 6:16 - You shall not tempt the Lord your God
  • Psalm 90 is talking about the Lord's protection when something happens to us... not when we intentionally do something to harm ourselves... this is testing the Lord!

¹³ Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.

• The Lord defeated Satan, that we too may defeat Satan
• "opportune time" probably refers to the time of His passion, when he entered the heart of Judas
• "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever." (1 John 2:15-17)

Galilean Ministry

43:04-1:02:09

¹⁴ Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. ¹⁵ And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

• Jesus came from His time of testing stronger than ever in the power of the Spirit
  • In Luke 4:1, Jesus is already filled with the Spirit, but He continued to walk in the power of the Spirit after the Temptation
• Why did Jesus start His ministry in Galilee and not in Jerusalem
  • The region of Galilee was highly populated - two international trade routes passed through Galilee. People were coming from everywhere through Galilee.
• Synagogue
  • The Temple is in Jerusalem but there were synagogues everywhere
  • Synagogue was a place for public worship, for praying and reading Scripture. The Temple was needed for offering sacrifices.
• The Lord gained a great reputation in a very short time
  • He was admired and praised publicly by everyone
  • Slander and rejection started when He went to His specific city in Nazareth

¹⁶ So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. ¹⁷ And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:

¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
¹⁹ To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

²⁰ Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. ²¹ And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” ²² So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”

• It was His custom to go to the synagogue on Saturday and to keep the Sabbath law.
  • Until this time, He would go to the Synagogue and read, but did not yet preach. Because He had not started His ministry yet. But now He is starting so He will read and then preach
• Isaiah Reading
  • Isaiah 61:1-2
  • Isaiah 42:7
  • Everybody understood these verses to be referring to the Messiah
    • Messiah means "anointed one"
    •  
  • Anointed for what?
    • To preach the good news to the poor: in spirit
    • To heal the brokenhearted: of their sin
    • To proclaim liberty to the captives: those who are in Hades, who will be set free and taken to the Paradise of Joy
    • To give recovery of sight to the blind: those who were sitting in darkness and the shadow of death
    • To set at liberty those who are oppressed: who are captives of sin
    • To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord
      • Can also be translated the "Year of acceptance" of the Lord 
      • The year of Jubilee (Leviticus 25) was celebrated every fifty years by the Jews (after seven sets of Sabbatical years). All captives were released, and all debt was released
      • Prophetically, the acceptable year of the Lord is the year that the Messiah comes because all those in captivity of Satan will be released
  • The Lord read this passage from the Septuagint Greek Translation
  • There is a reference for the Holy Trinity in this passage: The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me
    • Spirit = Holy Spirit
    • Lord = God the Father
    • Me = God the Son
• Preaching
  • He was absent from Nazareth for some time, but now returned with a new power and some fame in Galilee
  • If someone comes to the synagogue and was known to be competent, they would ask him to explain the passage from the Law or the Prophets
• Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing
  • I am He
  • I am the Messiah
• Surprise and admiration gave birth to a spirit of disbelief
  • They admired His preaching but... to say that He is the Messiah was too much for them...
  • They knew Him from their village as the son of Joseph the Carpenter and they saw Him growing... so they could not believe that He is the Messiah.
  • Would the Messiah really come from Nazareth?
    • And Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" (John 1:46)
  • Would the Messiah come from such a poor family?
  •