Luke 4:1-44
4:1 Jesus' official ministry begins. Jesus was indeed filled with the Holy Spirit, which means that God was with Him because Jesus had God's compassion within his heart and soul. Jesus is led into the wilderness and during this time His faith would be tested... just as we live in the wilderness (the chaotic world) and our souls are tested.
Tested in this way: our souls meet circumstances and experiences where either our compassion or our selfishness is revealed. Our faith is tested because we are constantly faced with choices: to be kind, wise and just or to be mean, deceptive and unfair.
4:2 Jesus was shown the way of all that Satan represents. In explaining that Jesus did not eat, we can understand this metaphorically: Jesus does not partake of the "bad fruit" Satan has to give. Jesus did not give into vengeance, deceptive control, unkindness... which are the qualities Satan represents. We must also reject that which is evil.
4:3 Satan mocks Jesus. Understand these following verses this way: some of the people in the world will mock you, they will tempt you into their ways of greed and unkindness and question your faith. They do not understand the spiritual intelligence you have because they do not have it (they have rejected it). We are supposed to be strong in facing these circumstances. We know of the power and love of God... He fills us with courage, strength and love (three things evil cowards will never understand the value of).
Jesus' responses to this series of mocking will help us in our lives as well.
4:4 Jesus explains that He does not have to beg God to perform a miracle with the bread because He has faith and understanding that God will "feed Him", give Him life, without any measly bread. God is life and the giver of it. Jesus knows that the only thing we NEED is God. Jesus does not need to prove God to this unkind soul because He knows God is true.
4:5 Satan tries to tempt Jesus will all control and wealth of the world. Relate this to yourself: can you be tempted to reject your faith and kindness for material gain? It's easy to become attached and dependent on money. We must only be attached and dependent on God -- He is the entity we can trust, the entity Who loves us eternally, abundantly. What will you trade for the bigger house, car or position at work? Always be humble, kind and compassionate and always understand that God is the true wealth.
4:6 Satan's time is now --- the qualities He represents are rampant in the world. It is our time to be given each -- love or power -- and we must choose while we are here.
4:7 Satan is the representative of tyrant, of wealth and control. He wants to rule with his deception. That's how he works: he flatters a person and then he forces them to become his slave. Likewise money does this -- it tempts people with possibilities and then they become slaves to attain more and more of it without end in the cycle. Likewise with vengeance, selfishness... they are never ending cycles which never satisfy a person.
4:8 Jesus knows who his true God is. Jesus (and we) will never bend to a false, corrupt god. We love our compassionate, true Father... our God who protects us and loves us. We reject that which contradicts His word.
4:9-11 Satan continues to mock and tempt the word of God. God is above temptation. Our protection from God comes in the form of wisdom, guidance and courage. God helps us so selflessly, He gifts us the tools to save and help ourselves (with Him by our side). He makes us strong and intelligent. He gives us eternal life so that we never fear or even have to consider death. Jesus knows that even if He were to jump, a spiritual life with God, eternally would await Him.
Satan mocks by using scripture to show Jesus how protected God claims His children to be. This is something to remember about deceptive people: they often have educated themselves in order to best deceive you. You must know the word of God so that nobody can ever twist it and use it against you.
4:12 Jesus does not fall for Satan's antics. Jesus does not need to prove God because He knows God is there and real and true. Never waste your time being tempted or mocked by someone so evil.
4:13 Satan tried every possible way to corrupt Jesus but he was unsuccessful. Remember that what Jesus faced we also face. The ways of the world are always tempting and mocking us... tempting us away from our kind souls and decisions and mocking us by giving us trouble to get through. But we get through it. We are strong and courageous in God's love.
4:14-15 In the power of the Spirit Jesus returned and taught. Jesus' presence was an amazing, massive effect on all of those around Him because of God's power behind Him. You also have God's power when you are compassionate and purposeful in bringing guidance and love to others.
4:16 This is an amazing moment for the world. Jesus goes to the synagogue and stands to read from scripture, scripture that He is at that time fulfilling...
4:17 Jesus begins to read from Isaiah:
4:18-19 This scripture explains the life of Jesus: a soul come in the Spirit of the Lord to teach to the poor (of spirit and wealth), to heal the brokenhearted and to bring life and love into them, to break the chains of those caught in greedy control and deception, to open the eyes of the lost to God's path, to free those under the control of evil, and teach of the coming of the True God.
4:20 Everyone was amazed at the reading -- likely because they could deduce from being around Jesus they understood the truth of what He was speaking. He had been teaching those very things.
4:21 Scripture was fulfilled before their eyes -- a beautiful moment. Scripture is fulfilled in our lives too, we must be vigilant and firm in our understanding of the word. Jesus' life and all that He accomplished as spread even into our generation.
4:22 The amazement continues, it was a momentous moment. Son of God manifested before them when before they had known Him only as a small boy, Joseph's son.
4:23 Jesus is explaining to them (and us) that it will be difficult for these people who watched Him grow up to accept Him as the prophet of God. They will want to be healed by Him but will not fully believe or understand that He is capable of doing it -- they are too familiar with Him as a boy and not as a prophet.
4:24 No prophet is accepted in His own country because people are too familiar with them and "normal" individuals. Perhaps we can relate this to our own lives: sometimes when we do great things around the people who are most familiar to us, they are less amazed or sometimes unbelieving that we could be capable of so much.
4:25 Throughout the course of the world, there have been especially evil groups of people... Jesus refers to a time when everyone was "widowed." We can understand this metaphorically to mean that people had denied their true union with God. They rejected all of his compassionate advice and therefore led greedy and chaotic lives. The "Famine" was for the word of God. People were hungry for truth without even realizing it.
Famine has been described in scripture as not a hunger but as a lack of God's word in the world:
Amos 8:11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD.
This scripture applies to our generation as well.
4:26-27 Jesus explains that the prophet Elijah was only able to help those who knew him only as a stranger. Those who knew him rejected him and his guidance.
4:28 True to what Jesus was speaking: they were all angered that He would proclaim to be the prophet of God. Likely they were jealous and disagreed with scripture. We should always listen to people's actions, Jesus was kind and wise His entire life... everything He did backed up what He said and yet they rejected Him.
4:29-30 They were angered and disbelieving. They tried to rid of Jesus but Jesus had a mission to complete, with God's love and guidance He easily escaped their wrath and continues on His way. When we are on God's way, we always continue on successfully.
4:31-32 Jesus began to teach elsewhere and He was readily accepted because they understood that He spoke with truth, firmness in the word of God. It was clear that He was the real thing, teaching a true and instructive message.
4:33 We can understand some of the more curious ailments in scripture as medical conditions which were not understood or properly diagnosed at the time. We can also understand them as mental battles of illness and of corrupt. God can heal us all... He works with us no matter our ailment: physical or mental.
4:34 At first, this man rejects Jesus... but Jesus friendship, His love and kindness transforms the man's evil and angered thoughts to understanding and peace. Jesus always works with the people who most need Him. Jesus gets His hands dirty, He goes right into the thick of the trouble and chaos and uses His gifts from God to cure, heal and enlighten.
4:35 Jesus is able to cure/heal/enlighten this man. Everything must respond to the Spirit of God. Everything bends to His commandment. There is nothing we face that God does not have power over. Trust God to come into your life, give Him the faith and trust to realign your life. We must be strong, devoted students in order to learn from His teaching and grow in spiritual maturity. We are participants. God works with us to clear the rubble from our minds and lives.
4:36-37 This is new for the people of the time (and would even impress the people of this time). Jesus is capable of so much because He walks with God.
4:38-39 God created these vessels which carry our souls, He can heal them. We understand Germ Theory now and that is also a gift, an intelligence from God. God leads us to the ways to keep our bodies healthy... we don't often listen or follow His instructive, but He gives us the intelligence to keep a clean and safe world.
4:40 Without discrimination God offers His healing to all people. Any ailment, addiction or difficulty you have in life you will triumph over with God. God gives us the perseverance to face our troubles, the courage against out enemies and the compassion to keep our souls thriving.
4:41 God wants us to know that even our enemies recognize Who He is, when He is before them. He wants us to understand how eternal, how infinite He is. We wants us to know and have faith that all of His love and power is for us. We are cupped inside His hand of protection and love.
4:42 Jesus often departs to pray/communicate with God. You are also capable of this. We can pray and communicate with God whenever we want, wherever we want. Do it often. Develop your relationship with God... always acknowledge and thank Him for His presence in our lives. He is always with us when we ask Him to be. He will help us with every decision, every trouble... we must remember to keep Him with us in happiness and gratitude as well. Talk about the good things in life with Him as well as the bad. He's there for both.
He loves us at all times... we should love Him at all times. He is with us at all times, we should be with Him at all times.
4:43-44 Jesus proclaims the purpose of His life: to preach throughout diverse cities to bring the word, wisdom and love of God to all people.
In the next chapter, Jesus will begin to choose His disciples, another important purpose of His life: to ensure that the word of God would continue to be taught and loved after He went back to God. God wants His word to reach all people, in every generation and place of time and the world. To ensure this, God sent Jesus to strengthen and inform the children of God to spread and love the message.
