Luke 4 - Jesus is Tempted in the Wilderness and Begins His Ministry by Teaching, Healing, and Casting Out Demons with Authority and Power!

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Jesus Is Tested in the Wilderness

Jesus is full of the Holy Spirit after His baptism by John, where the Spirit descended on him like a dove. Where does the Spirit lead Jesus first? Into the wilderness to be tempted/tested by the devil. Before Jesus did anything for God, he was tested by God. The devil most of all tested Jesus about who He was. He was trying to get Jesus to reveal His identity before it was time. The devil tried to get Jesus to "prove himself" by saying things like, "If you are the Son of God ..."

He was trying to get Jesus to "go rogue" on His Father. If the devil appealed to Jesus' pride in the wilderness, we know he might use it later when the stakes were higher. But Jesus was able to ward off all of the devil's empty promises. How? Be relying on God's Word, which is the truth. While the devil tried to get Jesus to buy into one of his lies, Jesus quickly shut him down by trusting in God's Word. Jesus' identity was forged in the fire that day. The passage ends on a rather ominous note by saying, 'The devil left him until an opportune time!' 

Walking in the Spirit, Jesus was still led into the wilderness where He was tempted. The Holy Spirit leads us into seasons of wilderness as well as seasons of green pastures. - Guzik

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

Jesus returned to his hometown in Nazareth. Notice he returned "in the power of the Holy Spirit!". The Holy Spirit is consistently emphasized in the gospel of Luke more than any other gospel. Jesus went into the synagogue and read from Isaiah 61. 

The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

    because he has anointed me

    to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

    and recovery of sight for the blind,

to set the oppressed free,

19     to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

Clearly this is one of the first times Jesus alludes to the fact that He is Messiah. But instead of being thrilled at that thought that one of their own might possibly be the Messiah, they were furious with him. This was true especially when he referred to the fact that Elijah was sent to the widows in Sidon. They knew Jesus was indicting them for the fact that just like the Jews rejected the prophets, they would reject him. They were so mad at him they took him to the edge of the cliff and threatened to throw him off. But Jesus walked right through them. 

“I learn, from this incident in our Lord’s life, that it, is not the preacher’s business to seek to please his congregation. If he labors for that end, he will in all probability not attain it; but, if he should succeed in gaining it, what a miserable success it would be!” (Spurgeon)

 In this situation, Jesus could have backed off the cliff and been rescued by angels – as Satan suggested in the third temptation. Instead, Jesus chose a more normal miracle, if there is such a thing. “Like a second Samson; his own arm saved him. This might have convinced his adversaries, but that they were mad with malice.” (Trapp)

Jesus Drives Out an Impure Spirit

While Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, one of his first acts of power was a delivering a man from an impure spirit in the synagogue. When the demon saw him right away he recognized Jesus as the, "Holy One of God". Though the people in the synagogue saw that he taught with authority, the demons were cast out by that same authority. The people again are amazed because they see Jesus' power and authority over the spiritual world. 

As Christians we have been given power and authority though we so often don't use it very effectively. We give the devil authority when we allow him to tempt us, and when we get in sinful patterns that enslave us. We suurender our authority and power, when we give him authority and power in our lives. The devil has some power, but nothing compared to Jesus' power. The devil must submit to Jesus' orders, and we have this same power in us through the Holy Spirit living inside of us. 

The manner of Jesus’ dealings with the demon in this passage is a clear demonstration of His power and authority over the spirit realm. People were amazed at the authority of His word in both teaching and in spiritual living. “This may have distinguished Jesus from the ‘ordinary’ exorcist’s fanfare of incantations, charms, and superstitions.” (Pate)

Jesus Heals Many

Jesus not only had power and authority over evil spirits but also over sickness and disease. Simon's mother in law (apparently Peter was married) had a fever, which in those days it could have been deadly. 

 Simon will later be identified as Peter, the leader among the disciples of Jesus. This shows that Simon Peter was married. Clement of Alexandria, an early Christian writer, said that Peter’s wife helped him in ministry by meeting the needs of other women.

As Jesus rebuked the demon, Jesus rebuked the fever and it left her. Jesus healed many more that day and cast out more demons, many of which shouted that He was the Son of God. But he rebuked them and told them to be quiet because he was not ready for him to reveal himself in the way they wanted him to. 

Finally, Jesus took time out to find a solitary place away from the crowds. Jesus had given himself fully to the ministry of teaching, healing, and delivering people from demons. Since he was human, he had limitations and needed time away. But even more importantly he took the time to "spiritually recharge" by spending time with His Father. When the people did discover him, they tried to persuade him to stay there. But Jesus knew he needed to go to other places to spread the Good News about the Kingdom. Because Jesus spent time alone with God, he was less inclined to be at the mercy of other people's agenda for him. He was a "God pleaser" not a "People pleaser". 

Do you spend time in solitude and silence? If Jesus found it necessary to spend copious amount of uninterrupted time with His Father, how can we afford not to?