Luke 4

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness

for forty days, being tempted by the devil. He ate nothing in those days. Afterward, when they were completed, he was hungry.

The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”

Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’”

The devil, leading him up on a high mountain, showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

The devil said to him, “I will give you all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I want.

If you therefore will worship before me, it will all be yours.”

Jesus answered him, “Get behind me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall serve him only.’”

He led him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, cast yourself down from here,

for it is written, ‘He will put his angels in charge of you, to guard you;’

and, ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest perhaps you dash your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus answering, said to him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’”

When the devil had completed every temptation, he departed from him until another time.

Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee, and news about him spread through all the surrounding area.

He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

He came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. He entered, as was his custom, into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.

The book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. He opened the book, and found the place where it was written,

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim release to the captives, recovering of sight to the blind, to deliver those who are crushed,

and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fastened on him.

He began to tell them, “Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

All testified about him and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth; and they said, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”

He said to them, “Doubtless you will tell me this proverb, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we have heard done at Capernaum, do also here in your hometown.’”

He said, “Most certainly I tell you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown.

But truly I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land.

Elijah was sent to none of them, except to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.

There were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed, except Naaman, the Syrian.”

They were all filled with wrath in the synagogue as they heard these things.

They rose up, threw him out of the city, and led him to the brow of the hill that their city was built on, that they might throw him off the cliff.

But he, passing through the middle of them, went his way.

He came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. He was teaching them on the Sabbath day,

and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word was with authority.

In the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon; and he cried out with a loud voice,

saying, “Ah! what have we to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are: the Holy One of God!”

Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent and come out of him!” When the demon had thrown him down in the middle of them, he came out of him, having done him no harm.

Amazement came on all and they spoke together, one with another, saying, “What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!”

News about him went out into every place of the surrounding region.

He rose up from the synagogue and entered into Simon’s house. Simon’s mother-in-law was afflicted with a great fever, and they begged him to help her.

He stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. Immediately she rose up and served them.

When the sun was setting, all those who had any sick with various diseases brought them to him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them.

Demons also came out of many, crying out and saying, “You are the Christ, the Son of God!” Rebuking them, he didn’t allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ.

When it was day, he departed and went into an uninhabited place and the multitudes looked for him, and came to him, and held on to him, so that he wouldn’t go away from them.

But he said to them, “I must preach the good news of God’s Kingdom to the other cities also. For this reason I have been sent.”

He was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee.

Chapter overviewAI-generated

Overview.
This chapter presents Jesus’ triumph over temptation and the inauguration of his public ministry, marked by authoritative teaching, miraculous healings, and a decisive break with unbelief in his hometown. It reveals Christ’s identity as the Spirit-anointed Messiah who resists satanic opposition and fulfills Scripture, while setting the tone for his mission to bring good news to the marginalized and provoke both wonder and rejection.

Flow.

Jesus, led by the Spirit, endures forty days of temptation in the wilderness, repudiating each of Satan’s advances with Scripture.
Returning in the Spirit’s power to Galilee, he reads from Isaiah in the Nazareth synagogue and declares the prophecy fulfilled in his person, provoking initial wonder.
When Jesus confronts their unbelief by citing examples of God’s mercy to Gentiles, the crowd turns hostile and tries to kill him, but he escapes.
In Capernaum, his authoritative teaching and power over demons and disease confirm his divine mission, though he redirects acclaim toward his broader mission to proclaim the kingdom.

Connections.
Following chapter 3, which establishes Jesus’ divine sonship through his baptism and genealogy, this chapter tests and displays that sonship in the face of diabolical challenge. The Spirit who descended at the Jordan now leads Jesus into conflict, affirming his messianic vocation. The rejection at Nazareth anticipates growing opposition, which chapter 5 takes up in the calling of disciples and escalating tension with religious authorities, as Jesus’ mission expands beyond hometown expectations to all who will hear.

What it teaches.
Christ, as the obedient Son, triumphs where Adam and Israel failed, relying on Scripture and the Spirit to resist the devil (WCF 8.4; LC 43). His quotation of Deuteronomy affirms that divine word sustains life more than physical provision. By declaring Isaiah 61 fulfilled, he reveals himself as the promised Anointed One, embodying the Spirit’s mission to bring salvation and liberation (WCF 7.5; HC LD 12). His rejection by those who demand signs prefigures the pattern of unbelief, while his authority over demons and sickness manifests the inbreaking kingdom, confirming his divine identity—yet he restrains premature confession, for his messiahship must be understood according to Scripture, not popular expectation (CD I.12; Apostles’ Creed, "He suffered under Pontius Pilate").

Apply.
The one who withstands every temptation and heals the broken brings the kingdom near through the word spoken and enacted in power.

AI-generated. Not a substitute for Scripture, your pastor, or the confessions.