Satan Tempts Jesus
After the baptism, Jesus is led by the Holy Spirit to the wilderness [Luke 4:1-13]. He spent a 40 day period fasting, and during this time He was tempted by the devil. The wording suggests that the devil was tempting Him during the entire duration, but only the three major temptations at the end are recorded. Others believe that the temptations came at the end after He was already weakened by His fast.
The important reality is that the Holy Spirit asked Jesus to take time after the baptism to draw close to the Father. What He was going to go through was more than most any Christian leader will be called on to do today. Even the majority of the missionaries called to remote parts of the world won't face torture and crucifixion although some have definitely been tortured and killed for the name of Jesus.
Every Christian, seeking to embark in serving God, should take time to pray and seek His will for your part of the ministry He has for you. That is true whether you are in college seeking to be a pastor or worship leader or whether you are a lay person who wants to get involved in a church ministry. Rest assured that God has a ministry for you or a service for you to perform. It is also true that what He wants you to be doing may change once or many times over the course of your life. It is a good idea to take time whenever the Spirit leads you to decide if you are still walking in the path He wants you to be on or if He wants you to make a change of course and minister or serve in a different way.
Seeking the direction of God for your part of His kingdom's work is important no matter what you are doing now. You may have your eye on some job that looks good to your eyes, and God may have a completely different plan for you. Take the time to find out at the start and be prepared to revise that plan as God works throughout your life.
Realize that just like Christ had attacks by His enemy while He was seeking to get close to God to find out how to go about what God was asking of Him, it is likely that you will as well. No matter who you are, Satan doesn't want any more people working directly on God's side doing anything that God wants them to do. There will be opposition, if not by Satan himself, then by forces loyal to him. While it's true that Jesus walk would lead to Satan's defeat, Satan doesn't want any soul to chose God. He's out to destroy anyone who is trying to make a difference. May the grace of God and mercy of God pour through everyone who is in a battle with demonic forces right now to set them free and make God's path clear.
Satan first tempted Jesus with food, since He'd been fasting for 40 days and was hungry. Jesus replies with scripture that the words of God are equally important as food to live by. That doesn't get as much credit as an answer as it should. The human body, of course, requires food to live. You can't go without it for too long, or you will die. And you'll lose your strength before that point. But the word of God is equally important.
How often do you read the Bible? Do you read it several times a day, once a day, once a week, or just a few verses that are shown on a screen during a sermon? Or have you read it since your parents read it to you when you were a child? Or have you ever cracked its physical or virtual cover? Jesus, quoting the Old Testament [Deuteronomy 8:3], said that God's word was just as important to life as bread itself. It is even more important to eternal life.
This life is but a drop in the bucket compared with the eternity that stretches beyond you this moment. Will you spend it in the presence of God in heaven or without God in torment in hell? You may be watching every calorie and trying to eat in the healthiest way possible here on earth, but if you aren't giving your mind, soul, and spirit the food it needs from the word of God, you are starving your spiritual self. Satan wants every possible soul to join Him against God.
The devil then showed Jesus all of the world's kingdoms, and promised Jesus all power and glory from them if only Jesus would worship Him as God. He knew that eventually, it was prophesied that Christ would reign over the entire earth. He would also return to His place in Heaven and take back up the powers of God that He had set aside when He came to earth to be born as a human. But in between, it was prophesied that He would go through an excruciating death on the cross. Just worship Satan, and you could skip that bad stuff and I'd put you in power right now.
If Satan couldn't have done that, it wouldn't have been a temptation at all. But Jesus again replies that only God should be worshiped [Exodus 20:5 and many others throughout the Old Testament]. The sad thing is that this commandment was the one the Israelites broke most often that caused God to punish them, and it was the one which they were warned of the most times. When you look at Satan's ability to influence governments and rulers to do his will then, do you doubt that he is doing that today?
Even countries that have started out founded on Christian principles and by Christians like the United States must continually fight against Satan's work to destroy us. Realize that the battle for Christianity is still going on and Satan is still trying to wipe it away both by causing lawlessness and weakening the civil structure and by polluting Christianity to increase the desire for atheism and agnosticism and by creating His own false religions where he and his fellow fallen angels are held up and worshiped.
Finally, Satan brought Jesus to a high place at the temple in Jerusalem and suggested He demonstrate who He was to the people below by throwing Himself off so that the angels would protect Him [Psalms 91:12]. Jesus replied to not tempt the Lord thy God. None of us are Jesus, of course, and many are called into places that are dangerous to be as Christians. This could be in Islamic countries or others where Christianity is actively suppressed. Or it could be in any big city slum where it is dangerous to just be, regardless of your Christian status. Wherever you are called, the reply of Jesus is relevant. Don't do stupid things intentionally, depending on God to see you through.
After that, Satan stopped the initial temptation and went to Plan B which was oriented to having Jesus killed.
Home Town Preaching
In Luke 4:14-22, the gospel records Jesus work immediately after the temptation was complete. The most important point is that He returned in the power of the Holy Spirit. It was the power of God, working through Jesus by the Holy Spirit that enabled His ministry to prosper and grow.
All too often, people go into Christian ministry and try to be successful on their own. Some do succeed. I don't want to cast any aspersions. Even Jesus cautioned His disciples when some were preaching in His name who He hadn't called that they should be left alone [Luke 9:49-50]. But preaching with the guidance and power of God through the Holy Spirit will get people's attention in a way that flowery oratory, repackaging other pastor's sermons off of the internet, flashy power point presentations, and snappy music never will. We all need to pray for God's anointing on our paths above whatever efforts we make.
Jesus fame went out by word of mouth all around the region, and Jesus came and taught in synagogues around the area. Everyone praised Him for His speaking ability and works.
Finally, He returned home to Nazareth and did what He had been doing in other towns. He was given a scroll of Isaiah to read, and He chose a prophecy about Himself to read to the gathered people. It was what we would call today the mission statement of His earthly ministry. It could be summarized as being called to preach and do good works like healing or ministering to the downtrodden.
After He was seated, all eyes were on Him. Keep in mind this is His home town. Everybody there had heard the word of mouth going around the area about what Jesus was doing. They'd probably all heard tell of the comments of the shepherds and angels, of Joseph and Mary, of Elisabeth, of the prophets in the temple, about who Jesus was. It had been many years, and I'm sure people would have perhaps forgotten some things. But as Jesus fame grew, some older person would have surely launched into "When I was a kid, I heard..." and dredged it up again.
Jesus declared that this was the time that the scripture He had just read was fulfilled. So far so good. They couldn't deny what He had been doing in the surrounding villages and towns. But they had also grown up with Jesus. He was a local in their eyes - literally Joseph's son - even if His father was actually God. To take this next step to recognize Him as the Messiah, the one they had been waiting for, was a big thing to ask. Local son exceeds all expectation is a headline that the parents might push for, but the common person in the town wasn't ready to go that far. Why should we think He is so special? He grew up with us.
Home Town Rejection
Luke 4:23-30 records their response to His teaching. It wasn't very positive.
Their problem with Christ is a problem that we all have today. We become familiar with the people around us who might not have been being used by God much or at all. Then God calls them to a purpose. But to us, they are still the people we once knew. Although the analogy breaks down with Christ since He was really sinless, people who know us know all our warts and wrinkles. They know our failures and mistakes and sins - or at least some of them. When God starts using us, the people who know us are the least likely to admit that truth. So it was with the people from Jesus' home town.
Jesus' reply didn't make Him any friends. He said quite plainly that people didn't give the honor that a prophet was due at home. That seems to be one of those historical lessons that has remained true through time. But then Jesus laid it on the line. He said that when Elijah was around there was an instance of famine and everyone was running short of food. But only the widow at Zarephath (Sarepta) was blessed by Elijah's presence.
When Elisha (Eliseus) took up Elijah's mantle, there were many who needed cleansing from leprosy, but Naaman was the one who received the touch of God. Just as then, there were many needy in the country, but God sent the prophets to only particular individuals. He was going to likewise go where God directed Him.
The people who heard this were filled with wrath. I think they were simultaneously filled with jealousy that God had picked one of their number both to bear and be the Messiah, and it wasn't them. They were also probably hoping that Jesus would stick around Nazareth so that people would come from all over to receive His blessings. By declaring that He would be moving on, He deprived them of the income they thought they could make off of Him. I say this from the prophesy He gave in verse 23 that some would say to Him to do all the works that were being done round about locally as well.
And there were a large percentage who probably simply refused to believe this person they grew up with was the fulfillment of scripture. They were beaten down by the Romans. They had an idea that God was going to send them a conquering King from heaven to drive out the Roman empire from their midst. A carpenter's son didn't fit the bill at all. He wasn't going to stand up to the Romans. They were looking for relief from their suffering rather than salvation from their sins that was God's purpose. How often do we want something from God right now, and get mad at God or His chosen servants today because God doesn't act the way we want Him to?
Only a careful view of history from an eternal perspective will make it clear why they were angry. Jealousy and taking away income streams are big wrath builders today, and I suspect they were then as well. At any rate, they were so mad that they took Jesus to the crest of a hill to throw Him down it headfirst, but He simply passed through their midst. This was probably the first attempt to kill Him, and significantly it came from the home team.
Power Over Unclean Spirit
In Luke 4:31-37 Jesus travel from Nazareth to Capernaum is recorded. He taught them there for several weeks as multiple sabbaths are mentioned. The people who came to listen were astonished at the teaching because He taught with authority and power.
A man came to the synagogue one day who had an unclean devil abiding in him and cried out to be let alone. The devil knew who Jesus was and didn't want to be destroyed. He cried out with a loud voice to be sure to be heard both pleading for mercy and identifying Christ as the Holy One of God.
Jesus ordered the devil to be quiet and come out of him. The devil threw the man down and came out. It doesn't say what the devil then did. Perhaps it found another willing host in the group and silently entered into that person or maybe it left the area completely. But the man was in all likelihood known by the people, and they could see the change in the man that was immediate. They were all amazed and confounded that Jesus was able to command the devil to leave and the devil left. That caused Jesus' fame to expand even further.
Healing of Peter's Mother
Luke 4:38-39 then is inserted as an aside that after Jesus left the synagogue He went to Simon Peter's house whose mother was incapacitated by a high fever. Jesus was called to help and He went. He rebuked the fever and she immediately had strength to rise and take care of them. This seems to be out of sequence to another account in the gospels, but it still records an act of healing that Jesus performed.
Early Ministry
The rest of the chapter [Luke 4:40-44] continues Jesus early ministry. The things that He did after His fasting at the first of the chapter continued. After healing Simon's mother, it declares that many came who had various ailments and diseases and Jesus laid His hands on them and every one was healed. I'm reminded of old books and movies about old times that I've read and seen where someone with medical training shows up in a town and when one person is treated, the word spreads and suddenly the dusty road is filled with people who need to see a doctor.
The power of God draws people in. The New Testament church was formed in Acts by the power and in dwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. Over and over, Paul told people to be saved and baptized, but also to seek that filling of the Holy Spirit to give the power to witness and back up the words of Christ they were testifying to.
That need for the power of God hasn't changed, just because modern medicine is better than it was 2,000, 4,000, 6,000 years or more ago. Seek the filling of the Holy Spirit in your life, regardless of whether or not you are in a position of leadership in a Christian organization. God has work that He wants you to do. The Holy Spirit is the enabling entity to bridge the power of God to man. Don't leave home without it, to throw a religious slant to an old ad campaign.
He continued setting people free from demonic forces. As they left, they identified Christ, knowing Him, and He commanded their silence. But you have to know that the people who were around were hearing the forces of Satan who had been destroying people's lives for perhaps years identifying Jesus as the Messiah. Find the work that God has for you to do and once you have the Holy Spirit's indwelling presence, do it. Stand on the promises of God and give God the glory and lift up the name of Jesus with everything that God does through your ministry. Be like Paul, encouraging every person whose life you touch to accept Christ, be baptized, and be filled with the Holy Spirit. God needs workers because the harvest fields are still white.
His fame was so great that every group He ministered to tried to get Him to stay. They knew that others would be sick and they wanted a healer around who could take care of them. But Jesus replied that He had to preach the gospel kingdom message as that was His purpose and other cities needed Him as well. And so He went, preaching throughout Galilee.
It may be a scary thought to pray to be used like Jesus was. But remember that God never expected there to be another situation where there was just one person to minister. Jesus wants to fill all believers with the Holy Spirit and work through all to prove God is and Jesus is. The bigger the base of Christians who are filled with the Spirit and letting God work through them, the less work for each. That was God's purpose in pouring out the Holy Spirit. He didn't want anyone to be overwhelmed. He still doesn't want that.
If nobody in your church is baptized in the Holy Spirit, pray to be the first. If nobody in your family has been baptized in the Holy Spirit, pray to be the first. And when God baptizes you, seek what He wants you to do, just like Christ did in the first of the chapter and then do it. Trust in Him to help you. The thing about those books and old movies is that nobody generally mobbed the doctor. They knew that the doctor would get to them when he or she could and were just thankful to have a doctor. Trust in God to keep the peace and don't be afraid. Get a solid Biblical foundation by reading His word so you can draw on it when the enemy attacks. Help to share the load.