Introduction
Luke chapter 4 begins immediately after Jesus’s baptism, describing His forty-day fast in the wilderness and His temptation by the devil. Full of the Holy Spirit, Jesus is tested in three specific ways: to satisfy physical hunger through His own power apart from God’s provision, to gain worldly authority through worshiping Satan, and to prove His identity through a reckless display of power. In each case, Jesus responds with Scripture, demonstrating perfect obedience and trust in God’s word, succeeding where Adam had failed.
Following the temptation, Jesus begins His public ministry in Galilee. He returns to His hometown of Nazareth and, in the synagogue, reads from Isaiah 61, applying the prophecy of the Spirit-anointed servant directly to Himself, declaring that the promised day of salvation has arrived. Initially the people marvel, but their attitude quickly turns to anger when Jesus points out, using examples from Elijah and Elisha, that God’s grace often extends beyond Israel to outsiders. This provokes such fury that the crowd attempts to kill Him, but Jesus miraculously passes through them unharmed.
Jesus then moves to Capernaum, where His authoritative teaching astonishes the people. He casts out an unclean spirit from a man in the synagogue, demonstrating His power over the demonic realm. He then heals Simon’s mother-in-law of a fever and continues healing many others who are sick or possessed by demons throughout the evening. Despite the crowds seeking to keep Him there, Jesus withdraws to a solitary place to pray, and then declares His mission to preach the good news of the kingdom of God throughout other towns as well, since that is the purpose for which He was sent.
This chapter establishes Jesus as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, the one anointed to bring salvation, and reveals His authority over both spiritual forces and physical illness, expanding His ministry’s scope from a single village to the whole region of Galilee.
Chapter 4 (BBE)
1 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, came back from the Jordan, and was guided by the Spirit in the waste land
2 For forty days, being tested by the Evil One. And he had no food in those days; and when they came to an end, he was in need of food.
3 And the Evil One said to him, If you are the Son of God, give orders to this stone to become bread.
4 And Jesus made answer to him, It has been said in the Writings, Bread is not man’s only need.
5 And he took him up and let him see all the kingdoms of the earth in a minute of time.
6 And the Evil One said, I will give you authority over all these, and the glory of them, for it has been given to me, and I give it to anyone at my pleasure.
7 If then you will give worship to me, it will all be yours.
8 And Jesus in answer said to him, It has been said in the Writings, Give worship to the Lord your God, and be his servant only.
9 And he took him to Jerusalem and put him on the highest point of the Temple and said to him, If you are the Son of God, let yourself go down from here; for it is said in the Writings,
10 He will give his angels orders to take care of you:
11 And, In their hands they will keep you up, so that your foot may not be crushed against a stone.
12 And Jesus made answer and said to him, It is said in the Writings, You may not put the Lord your God to the test.
13 And when all these tests were ended the Evil One went away from him for a time.
14 And Jesus came back to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and the news of him went through all the country round about.
15 And he was teaching in their Synagogues and all men gave him praise.
16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been as a child, and he went, as his way was, into the Synagogue on the Sabbath, and got up to give a reading.
17 And the book of the prophet Isaiah was given to him and, opening the book, he came on the place where it is said,
18 The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because I am marked out by him to give good news to the poor; he has sent me to make well those who are broken-hearted; to say that the prisoners will be let go, and the blind will see, and to make the wounded free from their chains,
19 To give knowledge that the year of the Lord’s good pleasure is come.
20 And shutting the book he gave it back to the servant and took his seat: and the eyes of all in the Synagogue were fixed on him.
21 Then he said to them, Today this word has come true in your hearing.
22 And they were all giving witness, with wonder, to the words of grace which came from his mouth: and they said, Is not this the son of Joseph?
23 And he said to them, Without doubt you will say to me, Let the medical man make himself well: the things which to our knowledge were done at Capernaum, do them here in your country.
24 And he said to them, Truly I say to you, No prophet is honoured in his country.
25 Truly I say to you, There were a number of widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up for three years and six months and there was no food in the land;
26 But Elijah was not sent to one of them, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.
27 And there were a number of lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and not one of them was made clean, but only Naaman the Syrian.
28 And all who were in the Synagogue were very angry when these things were said to them.
29 And they got up and took him out of the town to the edge of the mountain on which their town was, so that they might send him down to his death.
30 But he came through them and went on his way.
31 And he came down to Capernaum, a town of Galilee; and he was giving them teaching on the Sabbath.
32 And they were full of wonder at his teaching, for his word was with authority.
33 And in the Synagogue there was a man who had an unclean spirit; and he gave a loud cry,
34 Saying, Let us be, you Jesus of Nazareth; have you come to put an end to us? I see well who you are, the Holy One of God.
35 And Jesus said to him sharply, Be quiet, and come out of him. And when the evil spirit had put him down on the earth in the middle of all the people, he came out of him, and did him no damage.
36 And fear came on all of them, and they said one to another, What are these words? for with authority and power he gives orders to the evil spirits and they come out.
37 And the story of his power went out through all the places round about.
38 And he got up, and went out of the Synagogue and went into the house of Simon; now Simon’s wife’s mother was very ill with a burning heat; and they made a request to him for her.
39 And he came and stood by her side, and gave orders to the disease, and it went away from her: and she got up straight away, and took care of their needs.
40 And in the evening, all those who had any who were sick with different diseases, came to him and he put his hands on every one of them and made them well.
41 And evil spirits came out from a number of them, crying out, and saying, You are the Son of God. But he gave them orders and did not let them say anything, because they had knowledge that he was the Christ.
42 And when it was day, he went out and came to a desert place; and great numbers of people came looking for him and came to him where he was, stopping him from going away from them.
43 But he said to them, I have to give the good news of the kingdom of God in other towns, because that is why I was sent.
44 And he was teaching in the Synagogues of Galilee.
Important Verses
Luke 4:1 13 This passage records the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness, showing His victory over the devil through Scripture, contrasting with Adam’s failure and establishing Jesus’s identity as the obedient Son of God.
Luke 4:18 19 This citation of Isaiah’s prophecy declares Jesus’s mission as the Spirit-anointed one who brings good news, freedom, healing, and the arrival of God’s favor, fulfilling Messianic expectation.
Luke 4:21 Jesus’s declaration that “this word has come true” marks a pivotal claim of Messianic fulfillment spoken directly in the presence of those who knew Him as a child.
Luke 4:24 The statement about a prophet not being honored in his own country reflects a recurring biblical pattern of rejection experienced by God’s messengers, including Jesus Himself.
Luke 4:32 36 These verses demonstrate Jesus’s authority both in teaching and in power over evil spirits, confirming His divine authority through both word and action.
Luke 4:43 Jesus’s statement about His purpose reveals the broader scope of His mission, extending His ministry beyond a single town to proclaim the kingdom of God everywhere He was sent.
