The big picture
Filled with the Holy Ghost, God's Spirit, Jesus leaves Jordan, the river where he was baptized. Forty days of hunger and testing come before his public teaching in Galilee, the northern region. In his home town he reads a promise of freedom and help, then says it is being fulfilled. The welcome turns hostile when he speaks of mercy reaching outsiders. Elsewhere his words release a man from an evil spirit and heal sick people. He continues onward because his task reaches more than one town.
In this chapter
- Jesus Refuses Three Temptations Luke 4:1-13
The Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness, where the devil, God's enemy, tempts him for forty days.
- A Promise Is Fulfilled in Their Hearing Luke 4:14-21
Jesus teaches through Galilee with the Spirit's power and receives praise.
- His Home Town Rejects Mercy for Outsiders Luke 4:22-30
People admire Jesus' words but know him as Joseph's son, the man from their town.
- An Unclean Spirit Must Leave Luke 4:31-37
Jesus teaches in Capernaum on the sabbath, and people are amazed at his forceful words.
- Healing Continues but the Mission Moves on Luke 4:38-44
At the house of Simon, a man who welcomes him, Jesus finds Simon's mother-in-law with a high fever.
Central truth
Jesus resists using his calling for self-serving power and brings God's freeing message despite rejection from his own neighbours.
Scripture beside the summary
Luke · King James Version · 44Luke 4:1-13
Jesus Refuses Three Temptations
The Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness, where the devil, God's enemy, tempts him for forty days. After fasting, Jesus is hungry. The devil urges him to turn a stone into bread, then offers the world's kingdoms in exchange for worship. Finally he places Jesus high on the temple in Jerusalem, the worship city, and urges him to jump. He uses Scripture about angelic protection to support the demand. Jesus answers each test with Scripture: life depends on God's word, worship belongs to God alone, and God must not be tested. The devil leaves for a time. Jesus refuses shortcuts that would turn his sonship away from trust.
In everyday life
A mountain-guide trainee refuses a sponsor's demand for a reckless leap to prove the safety rope works. She has already declined extra money tied to false claims about her skill. A promise of support is not permission to manufacture danger. Jesus rejects the devil's tests of divine sonship, not only an unsafe promotional stunt.
Notice
Luke 4:13 The devil leaves for a season rather than being described as gone forever. This victory does not mean Jesus' path will contain no further pressure.
Luke 4:1-13
King James Version1And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
2Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.
3And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.
4And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.
5And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
6And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.
7If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.
8And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
9And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence:
10For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee:
11And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
12And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
13And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.
Luke 4:14-21
A Promise Is Fulfilled in Their Hearing
Jesus teaches through Galilee with the Spirit's power and receives praise. In Nazareth, his home town, he attends the synagogue, a place for worship and Scripture, on the sabbath, the holy rest day. He reads from Esaias, an earlier prophet. The words describe God's Spirit appointing someone to bring good news to the poor, healing to broken hearts, freedom to captives, and sight to the blind. They also announce God's time of favour. Jesus returns the scroll, sits, and tells the watching people that this Scripture is fulfilled as they hear him. The promise is no longer only something read about a distant future.
In everyday life
A public-health nurse reads the notice for a long-promised visiting service. She tells the waiting residents that the first appointments begin with her today. The words on the page now refer to someone present and ready to act. Jesus claims fulfilment of God's prophetic promise, not the launch of a planned health service.
Notice
Luke 4:21 Jesus uses the present day to describe fulfilment. The hearers must respond to a claim about the person in front of them, not only admire old words.
Luke 4:14-21
King James Version14And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.
15And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.
16And 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 for to read.
17And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
18The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
19To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
20And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
21And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
Luke 4:22-30
His Home Town Rejects Mercy for Outsiders
People admire Jesus' words but know him as Joseph's son, the man from their town. Jesus expects them to demand deeds like those reported from Capernaum, a nearby town. He says prophets often lack welcome at home. He recalls Elias, a prophet sent during famine to a widow in Sarepta, a town in Sidon's coastal region. He also names Eliseus, another prophet, through whom Naaman, a man from Syria, was cleansed of leprosy. God's help reached foreigners despite need within Israel, his own people. The crowd grows furious, drives Jesus to a cliff, and intends to throw him down. He passes through them and leaves.
In everyday life
A flood-aid donor hears that relief from her town has also gone to families across a district border. She had welcomed the appeal until she learned the help was not reserved for her neighbours. Her anger reveals a claim of ownership over mercy. Jesus' neighbours attempt to kill a prophet, not merely dispute the reach of donated aid.
Notice
Luke 4:28 Their anger follows the examples of help reaching outsiders. Familiarity with Jesus does not give his home town a claim to control God's mercy.
Luke 4:22-30
King James Version22And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph’s son?
23And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country.
24And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.
25But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land;
26But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow.
27And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian.
28And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath,
29And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.
30But he passing through the midst of them went his way,
Luke 4:31-37
An Unclean Spirit Must Leave
Jesus teaches in Capernaum on the sabbath, and people are amazed at his forceful words. In the synagogue a man has an unclean devil. It cries out, naming Jesus as God's Holy One and fearing destruction. Jesus commands silence and tells it to leave. The spirit throws the man down before the crowd but leaves without harming him. People ask what kind of word has such authority over spirits. Reports spread through the area. The announcement of freedom in Jesus' earlier reading now has a concrete expression: something that held a man in its grip must obey and release him.
In everyday life
The harbour safety officer gives a clear order that stops a dangerous loading operation. Crews who had ignored warnings put down their equipment because she has authority to halt the work. The change is visible at once. Jesus speaks directly to an evil spirit and frees a man, not to workers obeying an official role.
Notice
Luke 4:35 The spirit's final act throws the man down, but Luke states that he is not harmed. Its display does not defeat Jesus' command or damage the rescue.
Luke 4:31-37
King James Version31And came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days.
32And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power.
33And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice,
34Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God.
35And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and hurt him not.
36And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What a word is this! for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out.
37And the fame of him went out into every place of the country round about.
Luke 4:38-44
Healing Continues but the Mission Moves on
At the house of Simon, a man who welcomes him, Jesus finds Simon's mother-in-law with a high fever. He rebukes it, and she rises well enough to serve. At sunset people bring those with many illnesses, and he lays hands on each one and heals them. Devils leave too, crying out that he is God's Son, but he silences them. At dawn he goes to a lonely place. The crowd finds him and tries to keep him there. Jesus says he must preach God's kingdom in other towns because that is why he was sent. He continues teaching in the region's synagogues.
In everyday life
A regional dental volunteer finishes a long day's appointments and checks the route to another isolated settlement. Residents ask her to stay, but people farther away have waited without any visit. She keeps the wider need in view. Jesus' mission announces God's kingdom and heals by command, not through a limited volunteer clinic schedule.
Notice
Luke 4:40 Jesus lays hands on each sick person brought to him. The account describes individual care within a large crowd rather than treating people as an unnamed mass.
Luke 4:38-44
King James Version38And he arose out of the synagogue, and entered into Simon’s house. And Simon’s wife’s mother was taken with a great fever; and they besought him for her.
39And he stood over her, and rebuked the fever; and it left her: and immediately she arose and ministered unto them.
40Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them.
41And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking them suffered them not to speak: for they knew that he was Christ.
42And when it was day, he departed and went into a desert place: and the people sought him, and came unto him, and stayed him, that he should not depart from them.
43And he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent.
44And he preached in the synagogues of Galilee.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
Luke 4:1 begins with “And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,”
Where the chapter turns
Luke 4:22 forms a natural hinge: “And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph’s son?”
The final note
Luke 4:44 leaves the reader with “And he preached in the synagogues of Galilee.”
A word trail through the chapter
The words devil, Jesus, synagogue, city, days, Lord help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
KJV words made clear
- pinnacle
- A high point or projecting part of a building.
- minister
- Here, the attendant who receives the Scripture scroll after the reading.
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
