Luke 4

Jesus is tested in the wilderness and wins by trusting God’s Word. He then returns to Galilee in the Spirit’s power. In Nazareth He announces that Isaiah’s promise of good news for the poor is being fulfilled in Him, and His own townspeople turn on Him. In Capernaum His authority over demons and sickness shows what that good news looks like.

Luke 4:1

Right after His baptism, Jesus is filled with the Holy Spirit. The same Spirit then leads Him into a barren place. Being full of the Spirit does not spare Jesus hard testing. It is the very thing that prepares Him for it.

BSA: led (“guided, directed”): The Spirit is not dragging Jesus away; He is guiding Him on purpose into this time of testing.

Greek: ἤγετο (ēgeto, G71) — “was being led.” The tense suggests ongoing leading. The Spirit stays with Jesus all through the forty days, not just at the start.

See also: Matthew 4:1-11.

Luke 4:2

For forty days Jesus fasts and is tested by the devil. The hunger is real; He is truly human. Israel spent forty years in the wilderness and often failed there. Here the Son stands where they stood and does not fall.

BSA: tempted (“tested, tried”): The same word means both tempt and test: the devil hopes Jesus will fail, while the Father’s purpose is to prove Him faithful.

Greek: πειραζόμενος (peirazomenos, G3985) — “being tempted, being put to the test.” The word looks at the whole forty days as one long process of pressure, not a single moment at the end.

See also: Hebrews 4:15.

Luke 4:3

The devil aims at Jesus’ hunger and His identity. ‘If You are the Son of God’ invites Him to prove it by using His power for His own comfort. The temptation is to meet His need His own way, apart from the Father’s timing.

BSA: bread (“food, sustenance”): A basic, good need is turned into a lever to pull Jesus away from trusting His Father.

Luke 4:4

Jesus answers with Scripture, not with a miracle. Life is more than food; it depends on what God says. He will not act on His own while the Father has not spoken, and He shows us the way to resist.

BSA: alone (“by itself, without anything else”): Bread is not wrong, but it cannot sustain a person by itself; God’s Word is needed too.

See also: Deuteronomy 8:3.

Luke 4:5-7

The devil offers a shortcut: all the kingdoms of the world without the cross. His claim that authority has been handed to him contains a grain of truth, since he is called the ruler of this world. But the price is worship of him. It is a counterfeit of what the Father will give the Son.

BSA: relinquished (“surrendered or yielded”): The devil admits he holds this authority only because it was yielded to him. It is not truly his own.

See also: John 12:31; Philippians 2:9-11.

Luke 4:8

Jesus refuses flatly. Worship and service belong to God alone, with no rival and no partner. Jesus will receive the kingdoms in the Father’s way and time, not by bowing to the enemy.

BSA: Worship (“bow down, show reverence to”): The devil wanted a bow of the body and heart; Jesus says that bow is owed to God only.

See also: Deuteronomy 6:13.

Luke 4:9-11

Now the devil quotes Scripture himself. He sets Jesus on the highest corner of the temple and says God’s angels will catch Him if He jumps. The words come from a psalm of trust, but he bends them into a stunt to force God’s hand.

BSA: pinnacle (“the highest point, the peak”): The scene is meant to be dramatic: a public leap from the peak of God’s own house.

See also: Psalm 91:11-12.

Luke 4:12

Jesus shows that Scripture must be read as a whole. Trusting God is not the same as daring Him to prove Himself. Real faith obeys and waits; it does not demand a sign.

BSA: test (“tempt or try, to prove or challenge”): To put God to the test is to challenge Him to prove Himself on our terms, which is unbelief dressed up as faith.

See also: Deuteronomy 6:16.

Luke 4:13

The devil runs through every kind of temptation and then withdraws, but only for a while. The battle is not over. It returns in Gethsemane and at the cross, and Jesus stays faithful.

BSA: opportune time (“a season, the right moment”): The enemy waits for a season when Jesus may seem weaker or more exposed.

Greek: καιροῦ (kairou, G2540) — “a fitting moment, a season.” This is not clock time but a moment with opportunity in it. The devil is watching for the right moment to strike again.

See also: Luke 22:3.

Luke 4:14-15

Jesus returns to Galilee still in the Spirit’s power, and word about Him spreads. He teaches in the synagogues, the local Jewish meeting places, and people praise Him. Luke shows the ministry beginning in the same Spirit who led Him through the wilderness.

BSA: power (“miraculous ability, divine strength”): The Spirit gives Jesus real ability to act, not just a message to speak.

Luke 4:16

Jesus comes to Nazareth, the town of His boyhood. Even as the Son of God, He keeps the habit of weekly worship with God’s people. When He stands to read, He takes up the role of a teacher in the synagogue.

BSA: custom (“usual practice, according to his habit”): Gathering with God’s people was a settled rhythm of His life, not an occasional choice.

Luke 4:17

The attendant hands Him the scroll of Isaiah, and He unrolls it to a chosen passage. Scrolls were long rolls of parchment, so finding the place took a moment. Jesus picks out the very words that describe His own mission.

BSA: scroll (“book, written document”): The Scripture was a handwritten roll, read aloud in public worship.

See also: Isaiah 61:1-2.

Luke 4:18

Isaiah’s words describe one anointed by God’s Spirit to bring good news to the poor, freedom to captives, sight to the blind, and release to the crushed. Jesus applies these promises to Himself. His mission reaches both the body and the soul.

BSA: anointed (“smeared or rubbed with oil”): Kings and priests were set apart by oil; Jesus is the one set apart by the Spirit Himself. liberty (“freedom or pardon”): The word covers both release from bondage and the forgiving of what is owed.

Greek: ἔχρισεν (echrisen, G5548) — “anointed.” It is the verb behind the title Christos, ’the Anointed One.’ Jesus is saying that He is the Christ.

See also: Isaiah 61:1; Isaiah 58:6.

Luke 4:19

The ‘year of the Lord’s favor’ echoes Israel’s jubilee, when debts were cancelled and slaves went free. It is a time when God shows grace openly. Jesus stops reading before the next line of Isaiah, which speaks of judgment. His first coming is about mercy.

BSA: favor (“acceptable time, good pleasure”): This is a time when God receives people gladly, not a time of reckoning.

See also: Leviticus 25:10.

Luke 4:20

Jesus rolls up the scroll, hands it back and sits down, the usual posture of a teacher. Every eye is on Him. The silence is full of expectation, because everyone senses that something unusual is about to be said.

BSA: fixed (“fastened, gazing intently”): Their stare was not casual; they were locked onto Him, waiting.

Luke 4:21

His whole sermon, in one sentence: the promise has arrived, and it is standing in front of them. The age that Isaiah looked forward to has begun in Jesus. Scripture is not only about the past or the far future; it has a ’today.’.

BSA: fulfilled (“completed, made full”): The promise is not just echoed but brought to its full measure in Jesus.

Greek: πεπλήρωται (peplērōtai, G4137) — “has been fulfilled.” The tense describes something completed whose effect continues. The promise has come to fullness and it stands.

Luke 4:22

At first the crowd is impressed by His gracious words. But the question ‘Isn’t this the son of Joseph?’ shows doubt creeping in. They cannot believe that the carpenter’s son from their own town could be the promised one.

BSA: gracious (“full of divine favor, charming”): His words carried the warmth of God’s favor, not just good speaking.

Greek: χάριτος (charitos, G5485) — “of grace.” The words are literally ‘words of grace.’ It is the same word used for God’s undeserved favor.

Luke 4:23

Jesus knows what they are thinking. They want Him to prove Himself with the same wonders He did in Capernaum, as if His hometown had a claim on Him. ‘Physician, heal yourself’ means: first do for your own people what you do for strangers.

BSA: hometown (“fatherland or native country”): Their sense of belonging to Him as His own people became a sense of entitlement.

Luke 4:24

Jesus states a hard truth: the people closest to a prophet often refuse him. Familiarity breeds contempt. They think they know Him already, so they do not listen.

BSA: accepted (“acceptable, pleasing to God”): The word means welcomed with favor; the prophet is not welcome among those who think they know him.

See also: John 4:44.

Luke 4:25-26

Jesus recalls Elijah’s day. During a long drought, with many widows in Israel in need, God sent the prophet to a foreign widow in Zarephath. God’s mercy goes where it is welcomed, not where it is assumed. This stung proud hearers.

BSA: widows (“women who have lost their husbands, in a state of bereavement”): These were among the poorest and most helpless people, yet God’s care went to a foreigner.

See also: 1 Kings 17:8-16.

Luke 4:27

A second example: Elisha healed Naaman, a Syrian army commander, while many lepers in Israel stayed unhealed. Leprosy made a person unclean and cut off. God’s grace was never limited to those with the right family line, and Jesus is telling them that it is still not.

BSA: cleansed (“purified, made clean”): Leprosy was not just a disease but a state of uncleanness, so healing meant being made fit to rejoin God’s people.

See also: 2 Kings 5:1-14.

Luke 4:28-29

Their praise turns to rage in a moment. They cannot bear being told that outsiders may receive what they take for granted. The mob drags Jesus to the edge of the hill to kill Him, a sign of how the rest of the story will go.

BSA: enraged (“filled with wrath, intensely angry, full of hostility”): This was not mild irritation; the whole synagogue was swept up in murderous anger.

Luke 4:30

Jesus simply walks through the crowd and leaves. Luke does not explain how. His time has not yet come, and no mob can end His mission before the Father’s hour.

BSA: passed (“walked right, went”): He moves through them calmly, not in flight, and in full control.

Luke 4:31-32

Jesus moves to Capernaum, a lakeside town in Galilee, and teaches on the Sabbath. People are amazed, because He does not merely repeat what others have said. His words carry weight of their own.

BSA: authority (“power, the right to command”): His teaching came with a right to speak, not borrowed opinions.

Greek: ἐξουσίᾳ (exousia, G1849) — “authority, right to act.” It combines the right and the power to act. Jesus speaks as one who has both.

Luke 4:33-34

A man with an unclean spirit cries out in the synagogue. The demon recognizes Jesus as the Holy One of God and fears destruction. The spirits know exactly who Jesus is, even when many people do not.

BSA: unclean (“impure”): The spirit is called unclean because it is the opposite of the holiness that Jesus carries.

See also: Mark 1:23-24.

Luke 4:35

Jesus orders the demon to be quiet and to leave the man. He will not accept testimony from this source. The spirit obeys at once, throws the man down, and leaves without hurting him.

BSA: silent (“hold thy peace, muzzle”): The command is strong, like putting a muzzle on an animal.

Greek: φιμώθητι (phimōthēti, G5392) — “be muzzled.” It is the word for muzzling an animal. Jesus shuts the demon’s mouth with a single command.

Luke 4:36-37

The crowd is stunned. A word from Jesus, with authority and power, drives out evil spirits. His words do what they say. The report spreads across the district.

BSA: authority (“power to act, divine permission”): He acts as one with the right to command, and even spirits must obey.

Luke 4:38-39

In Simon’s home, Jesus meets a human need close at hand. Simon’s mother-in-law is very sick, and her family asks for help. Jesus stands over her and speaks to the fever, and it leaves. She gets up and serves them, a sign of full healing.

BSA: serve (“minister, attend to the needs of”): Her first act after healing is to give back; restored life becomes service.

See also: Matthew 8:14-15.

Luke 4:40

When the Sabbath ends at sunset, the town brings all its sick to Jesus. He lays His hands on each one and heals them. His care is personal and unhurried; nobody is lost in the crowd.

BSA: laying (“placing, putting”): He touched people one by one rather than healing them from a distance.

Luke 4:41

Demons shout out that He is the Son of God, and He silences them. They speak the truth, but He does not want testimony from them, and He will make Himself known in His own way and time.

BSA: Christ (“the Anointed One, Messiah”): The demons knew Him as God’s promised, anointed King, even while many people still doubted.

Luke 4:42

At daybreak Jesus goes off alone, likely to pray. The crowds find Him and try to keep Him in Capernaum. People want the blessings He brings, but they want to hold Him for themselves.

BSA: solitary (“deserted, uninhabited”): He regularly withdrew to quiet places to be alone with the Father.

See also: Mark 1:35.

Luke 4:43

Jesus will not stay in one place. His purpose is to carry the good news of God’s kingdom to other towns too. He knows that He was sent for this, and He does not let popular demand redirect Him.

BSA: must (“it is necessary for me to”): He speaks of a divine necessity, not a preference.

Greek: δεῖ (dei, G1163) — “it is necessary.” Luke often uses this little word for what must happen in God’s plan. Jesus lives under that sense of mission.

Luke 4:44

The chapter closes with Jesus still preaching in synagogues. ‘Judea’ here may mean the land of the Jews in a broad sense, so Galilee is included. The good news keeps moving from town to town.

BSA: preach (“proclaim, herald the gospel”): He is not just teaching but announcing news, like a herald.