The Temptation of Jesus

Luke 4

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days, he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing in those days, and when they had ended, he was very hungry.

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

Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘A human must not live by bread alone.’”+Deut 8:3

Then the devil led him up to a high place and showed him all the empires of the world in an instant. The devil said to him, “I will give you all their power and glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I can give it to anyone I want. So then, if you worship me, it will all be yours.”

Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘You are to worship the Lord [YHWH] your God, and you are to serve ʜɪᴍ only.’”+Deut 6:13

Then the devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here. For it is written,

‘He will command his angels concerning you, to carefully guard you,’

and,

‘They will lift you up with their hands, so that you won’t strike your foot against a stone.’”+Psa 91:11-12

Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You must not test the Lord [YHWH] your God.’”+Deut 6:16

When the devil had finished every temptation, he left him until an opportune time.

Jesus Praised Everywhere But Nazareth

Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread throughout the whole countryside. He began teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.

Then he went to Nazareth where he had been brought up. As was his custom, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

“The Spirit of the Lord [YHWH] is on me, because ʜᴇ has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. Hᴇ has sent me to proclaim freedom for the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s [YHWH] favor.”+Isa 61:1-2

He rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant, and then sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, “Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in y’all’s hearing.”

All were speaking well about him and marveling at the gracious words that came from his mouth. Yet they said, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”

Jesus said to them, “No doubt y’all will quote to me this proverb, ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ and say, ‘Do here in your hometown what we heard you did in Capernaum.’” He continued, “Truly I tell y’all, no prophet is accepted in his hometown. But in truth, I tell y’all that there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut for three and half years and there was a great famine came over all the land. Yet Elijah wasn’t sent to any of them, but only to a widow in Zarephath, in the land of Sidon. And there were many people with leprosy in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet none of them were cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.”

When they heard this, all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage. They got up and drove him out of the city, leading him to the edge of the hill on which their city was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. But he passed right through them and went on his way.

Jesus Heals Throughout Capernaum

Then he went down to Capernaum, a town of Galilee. He was teaching them on the Sabbath day, and they were struck with amazement at his teaching, because his words had authority. In the synagogue there was a man possessed by an unclean demonic spirit who cried out with a loud voice, “Go away! What do we have 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, “Be silent and come out of him!” Then the demon threw the man down in the middle of them and came out without injuring him.

Stunning wonder came over them all, and they said to one another, “What is this message? For he commands the unclean spirits with authority and power, and they come out!” So news about him spread to every place in the surrounding region.

Jesus left the synagogue and went to Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they begged him to help her. He stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up immediately and began to serve them. As the sun was setting, the people brought all those who were sick with various diseases to Jesus, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. Demons also came out of many people, crying out, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and didn’t allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Christ.

The next morning, Jesus left and went to a secluded place. The crowds were looking for him, and when they came to him, they tried to keep him from leaving them. But he told them, “I must proclaim the good news of the Empire of God to the other towns also, because this is why I was sent.” So he continued preaching in the synagogues of Judea.