Hey friends, welcome back! It’s December 4th, and we’re walking straight into Luke chapter 4 today. Buckle up… this is the chapter where the battle lines are drawn and Jesus starts throwing punches in the spiritual war we’re all born into.
The chapter opens with Jesus full of the Holy Spirit, led out into the Judean wilderness to be tempted by the devil for forty days. Luke 4:1-13 is the heavyweight fight of the ages. Satan comes with the exact same three-punch combo he used on Adam and Eve in the Garden, the same three the Bible later calls “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (1 John 2:16).
- Lust of the flesh → You’re starving, Jesus; just turn these stones into bread.
- Lust of the eyes → Look at all the kingdoms of the world—I’ll give You the shortcut if You just bow to me.
- Pride of life → Jump off the temple. Force God’s hand. Make a spectacle so everyone has to believe.
Where the first Adam crumpled in a perfect garden, the Second Adam stands tall in a wilderness, hungry, tired, alone; and every single time He answers with Scripture: “It is written… It is written… It is written…” Boom. Victory. The devil leaves him… for now.
Jesus then returns to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and the news about Him is spreading like wildfire. He’s teaching in synagogues, everyone’s praising Him—until He walks into His hometown synagogue in Nazareth. They hand Him the scroll of Isaiah, and He unrolls it to the exact spot we know as Isaiah 61: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” He rolls the scroll back up, hands it to the attendant, sits down, and drops the bombshell of the ages: “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
At first they’re impressed: “Is not this Joseph’s son?” But Jesus knows their hearts. He basically says, You want Me to do here what you heard I did in Capernaum? Sorry, prophets aren’t accepted in their hometown. Then He reminds them that God once sent Elijah to a Gentile widow and Elisha to a Syrian leper while Israel went hungry. And just like that, the mood flips. The same crowd that was marvelling now drags Him out of town to throw Him off a cliff. But Luke says Jesus, “passing through the midst of them went his way.” His time had not yet come.
From there He heads to Capernaum, His new ministry base, and the victories keep coming. A man with an unclean spirit screams, “Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us?” Jesus tells him to be silent, and the demon obeys instantly. The whole town is freaking out that a man can command unclean spirits with such authority and power, and they come out!
That evening at sunset, the entire town shows up at Simon Peter’s door. Sick people, demon-possessed people, Jesus heals them all, and the demons keep shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But He shuts them up. He won’t take testimony from hell.
Early the next morning He slips away to pray, and when the crowds come looking, He says, “I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent.”
So here’s the big picture of Luke 4: Jesus has come to enemy-occupied territory, and the conquest has begun.
- He defeats Satan in the wilderness.
- He defeats unbelief and murderous rage in Nazareth.
- He defeats demons and disease in Capernaum.
- And He will not be rushed, diverted, or applauded into the wrong kind of Messiahship.
My favourite verse today has to be verse 18-19 (the Isaiah quote Jesus reads): “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”
Friends, that mission statement is still in effect. Jesus came the first time to rescue, to heal, to forgive, to set prisoners free, and He’s still doing it right now through His Word and His Spirit. But Luke 4 also ends with a quiet, haunting question that hangs in the air: When He came to His own hometown, they tried to kill Him because He didn’t fit their expectations.
So let me ask you the question this chapter leaves ringing in my heart: When Jesus shows up in your life, speaking through His Word, moving by His Spirit, calling you to faith and your need of Him, will He find the faith and welcome He’s looking for… or will He have to pass through the crowd and go on to someone else?
He’s still the victorious King on a rescue mission. Let’s make sure our hearts are wide open when He walks into the room.
See you tomorrow for Luke 5. Grace and peace! 🙏