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Luke Chapter
Four
Luke 4
The unknown Son of God on earth, Jesus, is led (chap. 4)
into the wilderness by the Holy Ghost, with whom He had been sealed, to undergo
the temptation of the enemy, beneath which Adam fell. But Jesus endured this
temptation in the circumstances in which we stand, not those in which Adam
stood; that is to say, He felt it in all the difficulties of the life of faith,
tempted in all points like as we are, sin excepted. Take notice here that it is
no question of bondage to sin, but of conflict. When it is a question of
bondage, it is a question of deliverance, not of conflict. It was in Canaan
that Israel fought. They were delivered out of Egypt; they did not fight there.
In Luke the temptations are arranged according to their moral order:
first, that which bodily need required; second, the world; third, spiritual
subtlety. In each the Lord maintains the position of obedience and of
dependence, giving God andHis communications to man-His word-their true place.
Simple principle, which shelters us in every attack, but which, by its very
simplicity, is perfection! Nevertheless let us remember that this is the case;
for raising ourselves to marvellous heights is not the thing required of us,
but the following that which applies to our human condition as the normal rule
for its guidance. It is obedience, dependence-doing nothing except as God wills
it, and reliance on Him. This walk supposes the word. But the word is the
expression of the will, the goodness, and the authority of God, applicable to
all the circumstances of man as he is.-It shews that God interests Himself in
all that regards him: why then should man act of himself without looking to God
and to His word? Alas! speaking of men in general, they are self-willed. To
submit and be dependent is precisely that which they will not. They have too
much enmity to God to trust in Him. It was this, therefore, which distinguished
the Lord. The power to work a miracle God could bestow on whom He would. But an
obedient man, who had no will to do anything with respect to which the will of
God was not expressed, a man who lived by the word, a man who lived in complete
dependence upon God and had a perfect trust, which required no other proof of
God's faithfulness than His word, no other means of certainty that He would
intervene than His promise of so doing, and who waited for that intervention in
the path of His will-here was something more than power. This was the
perfection of man, in the place where man stood (not simply innocence, for
innocence has no need of trusting God in the midst of difficulties, and
sorrows, and questions raised by sin, and the knowledge of good and evil), and
a perfection which sheltered one who possessed it from every attack Satan could
make upon him; for what could he do to one who never went beyond the will of
God, and to whom that will was the only motive for action? Moreover, the power
of the Spirit of God was there Accordingly we find that simple obedience
directed by the word is the only weapon employed by Jesus. This obedience
requires dependence on God, and trust in God, in order to accomplish it.
He lives by the word: this is dependence. He will not
tempt (that is, put God to the test) to see if He is faithful: this is trust.
He acts when God wills, and because He wills, and does
that which God wills. All the rest He leaves with God. This is obedience; and,
remark, not obedience as submission to God's will where there was an adverse
one, but where God's will was the one motive for action. We are sanctified to the
obedience of Christ.
Satan is overcome and powerless before this last Adam,
who acts according to the power of the Spirit, in the place where man is found,
by the means which God has given to man, and in the circumstances in which
Satan exercises his power. Sin there was none, or it would have been to yield,
not to conquer. It was shut out by obedience. But Satan is overcome in the
circumstances of temptation in which man is found. Bodily need, which would
have become lust if self-will had entered into it, instead of dependence on the
will of God; the world and all its glory, which, so far as it is the object of
man's covetousness, is in fact the kingdom of Satan (and it was on that ground
that Satan tried to bring Jesus, and shewed himself to be Satan in so doing);
and, lastly, self-exaltation in a religious way through the things which God
has given us-these were the points of the enemy's attack. But there was no
self-seeking in Jesus.
We have found, then, in these things which we have been looking at, a
man filled with the Holy Ghost, and born of the Holy Ghost on earth, perfectly
well-pleasing to God and the object of His affection, His beloved Son, in the
position of dependence; and a man, the conqueror of Satan amid those
temptations by which he usually gains advantage over man-conqueror in the power
of the Holy Ghost, and by making use of the word, as dependent, obedient, and
trusting in God in the ordinary circumstances ofman. In the first position,
Jesus stood with the remnant; in the second, alone-as in Gethsemane and on the
cross. Nevertheless, it was for us; and, accepted as Jesus, we have in a
certain sense the enemy to overcome. But it is a conquered enemy whom we resist
in the strength of the Holy Ghost, who is given unto us in virtue of redemption.
If we resist him, he flees; for he has met his conqueror. The flesh does not
resist him. He finds Christ in us. Resistance in the flesh does not lead to
victory.
Jesus conquered the strong man and then spoiled his
goods; but it was in temptation, obedience, having no will but that of God,
dependence, the use of the word, abiding in subjection to God, that Jesus
gained the victory over him. In all this the first Adam failed. After Christ's
victory, we also as servants of Christ gain actual victories, or rather the
fruits of the victory already gained in the presence of God.
The Lord has now taken His place, so to speak, for the
work of the last Adam-the man in whom is the Spirit without measure, the Son of
God in this world by His birth. He has taken it as the seed of the woman
(nevertheless, conceived of the Holy Ghost); He has taken it as the Son of God
perfectly well-pleasing to God in His Person as man here below; and He has
taken it as the conqueror of Satan. Owned to be the Son of God, and sealed with
the Holy Ghost by the Father, heaven being open to Him as man, His genealogy
is, however, traced up to Adam; and, the descendant of Adam, without sin, full
of the Holy Ghost, He conquers Satan (as the obedient man, having no motive but
the will of God), and sets Himself to accomplish the work which God His Father
committed to Him in this world, and that as man, by the power of the Holy
Ghost.
He returns, in the power of the Spirit, into Galilee, [1] and His fame spreads through all the region
round about.
He presents Himself in this character: "The Spirit
of Jehovah is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the
poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, ... to preach the acceptable
year of Jehovah." Here He stops. That which follows in the prophet,
respecting the deliverance of Israel by the judgment which avenges them of
their enemies, is omitted by the Lord.
Now Jesus does not announce promises, but their
fulfilment in grace by His own presence. The Spirit is upon this man, full of
grace; and the God of grace in Him manifests His goodness. The time of
deliverance is come; the vessel of His favour to Israel is there in their
midst.
The examination of the prophecy renders this testimony so
much the more remarkable, that the Spirit, having declared the sin of the
people and their judgment, in the chapters that precede these words, speaks
(when introducing the Christ, the Anointed) only of grace and blessing to
Israel: if there is vengeance, it should be executed upon their enemies for the
deliverance of Israel.
But here it is grace in His Person, this man, the Son of
God, full of the Holy Ghost, in order to proclaim the mercy of a God who is
faithful to His promises, and to comfort and lift up the bruised and the poor
in spirit. Blessing was there, presenting itself before them. They could not
misunderstand it, but they do not recognise the Son of God. "Is not this
Joseph's son?" We have here the whole history of Christ-the perfect
manifestation of grace in the midst of Israel, His land, and His people; and
they knew Him not. No prophet is accepted in his own country.
But this rejection opened the way to a grace which went
beyond the limits that a rebellious people would set to it. The woman of
Sarepta, and Naaman, were testimonies of this grace.
Wrath fills the heart of those who reject grace.
Unbelieving, and incapable of discerning the blessing that had visited them,
they will not have it go elsewhere. The pride which rendered them unable to
appreciate grace would not hear of its communication to others.
They seek to destroy Jesus, but He goes on His way. Here
is the whole history of Jesus among the people traced beforehand.
He went His way; and the Spirit preserves to us the acts
and the cures which characterise His ministry in the aspect of the efficacy of
grace, and of its extension to others besides Israel.
Power was in Him whose grace was rejected. Acknowledged
by devils, if not by Israel, He expels them by a word. He heals the sick. All
the power of the enemy, all the sad outward effects of sin, disappear before
Him. He heals, He withdraws; and when entreated to remain (the effect of His
works that procured Him that honour from the people which He did not seek), He
goes away to labour elsewhere in the testimony committed to Him. He seeks to
accomplish His work, and not to be honoured.
He preaches everywhere among the people. He casts out the
enemy, He removes sufferings, and proclaims the goodness of God to the poor.
[1] And
here note, as anointed with the Holy Ghost and led by Him He goes to be
tempted, and returns in the power of it. None was lost, and this power was as
much shewn in the apparently negative result of overcoming, as in the
miraculous manifestation of power afterwards on men.
── John Darby《Synopsis of Luke》
Luke 4
Chapter Contents
The temptation of Christ. (1-13) Christ in the synagogue
of Nazareth. (14-30) He casts out an unclean spirit and heals the sick. (31-44)
Commentary on Luke 4:1-13
(Read Luke 4:1-13)
Christ's being led into the wilderness gave an advantage
to the tempter; for there he was alone, none were with him by whose prayers and
advice he might be helped in the hour of temptation. He who knew his own
strength might give Satan advantage; but we may not, who know our own weakness.
Being in all things made like unto his brethren, Jesus would, like the other
children of God, live in dependence upon the Divine Providence and promise. The
word of God is our sword, and faith in that word is our shield. God has many
ways of providing for his people, and therefore is at all times to be depended
upon in the way of duty. All Satan's promises are deceitful; and if he is
permitted to have any influence in disposing of the kingdoms of the world and
the glory of them, he uses them as baits to insnare men to destruction. We
should reject at once and with abhorrence, every opportunity of sinful gain or
advancement, as a price offered for our souls; we should seek riches, honours,
and happiness in the worship and service of God only. Christ will not worship
Satan; nor, when he has the kingdoms of the world delivered to him by his
Father, will he suffer any remains of the worship of the devil to continue in
them. Satan also tempted Jesus to be his own murderer, by unfitting confidence
in his Father's protection, such as he had no warrant for. Let not any abuse of
Scripture by Satan or by men abate our esteem, or cause us to abandon its use;
but let us study it still, seek to know it, and seek our defence from it in all
kinds of assaults. Let this word dwell richly in us, for it is our life. Our
victorious Redeemer conquered, not for himself only, but for us also. The devil
ended all the temptation. Christ let him try all his force, and defeated him.
Satan saw it was to no purpose to attack Christ, who had nothing in him for his
fiery darts to fasten upon. And if we resist the devil, he will flee from us.
Yet he departed but till the season when he was again to be let loose upon
Jesus, not as a tempter, to draw him to sin, and so to strike at his head, at
which he now aimed and was wholly defeated in; but as a persecutor, to bring
Christ to suffer, and so to bruise his heel, which it was told him, he should
have to do, and would do, though it would be the breaking of his own head, Genesis 3:15. Though Satan depart for a season,
we shall never be out of his reach till removed from this present evil world.
Commentary on Luke 4:14-30
(Read Luke 4:14-30)
Christ taught in their synagogues, their places of public
worship, where they met to read, expound, and apply the word, to pray and
praise. All the gifts and graces of the Spirit were upon him and on him,
without measure. By Christ, sinners may be loosed from the bonds of guilt, and
by his Spirit and grace from the bondage of corruption. He came by the word of
his gospel, to bring light to those that sat in the dark, and by the power of
his grace, to give sight to those that were blind. And he preached the
acceptable year of the Lord. Let sinners attend to the Saviour's invitation
when liberty is thus proclaimed. Christ's name was Wonderful; in nothing was he
more so than in the word of his grace, and the power that went along with it.
We may well wonder that he should speak such words of grace to such graceless
wretches as mankind. Some prejudice often furnishes an objection against the
humbling doctrine of the cross; and while it is the word of God that stirs up
men's enmity, they will blame the conduct or manner of the speaker. The
doctrine of God's sovereignty, his right to do his will, provokes proud men.
They will not seek his favour in his own way; and are angry when others have
the favours they neglect. Still is Jesus rejected by multitudes who hear the
same message from his words. While they crucify him afresh by their sins, may
we honour him as the Son of God, the Saviour of men, and seek to show we do so
by our obedience.
Commentary on Luke 4:31-44
(Read Luke 4:31-44)
Christ's preaching much affected the people; and a
working power went with it to the consciences of men. These miracles showed
Christ to be a controller and conqueror of Satan, a healer of diseases. Where
Christ gives a new life, in recovery from sickness, it should be a new life,
spent more than ever in his service, to his glory. Our business should be to
spread abroad Christ's fame in every place, to beseech him in behalf of those
diseased in body or mind, and to use our influence in bringing sinners to him,
that his hands may be laid upon them for their healing. He cast the devils out
of many who were possessed. We were not sent into this world to live to
ourselves only, but to glorify God, and to do good in our generation. The
people sought him, and came unto him. A desert is no desert, if we are with
Christ there. He will continue with us, by his word and Spirit, and extend the
same blessings to other nations, till, throughout the earth, the servants and worshippers
of Satan are brought to acknowledge him as the Christ, the Son of God, and to
find redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Luke》
Luke 4
Verse 4
[4] And
Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread
alone, but by every word of God.
Verse 6
[6] And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the
glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give
it.
I give it to whomsoever I will — Not so, Satan. It is God, not thou, that putteth down one, and setteth
up another: although sometimes Satan, by God's permission, may occasion great
revolutions in the world.
Verse 8
[8] And
Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written,
Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
Verse 10
[10] For
it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee:
Verse 12
[12] And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the
Lord thy God.
Verse 13
[13] And
when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.
A convenient season — In
the garden of Gethsemane, Luke 22:53.
Verse 14
[14] And
Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a
fame of him through all the region round about.
Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit — Being more abundantly strengthened after his conflict.
Verse 15
[15] And
he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.
Being glorified of all — So God usually gives strong cordials after strong temptations. But
neither their approbation continued long, nor the outward calm which he now
enjoyed.
Verse 16
[16] And
he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he
went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.
He stood up —
Showing thereby that he had a desire to read the Scripture to the congregation:
on which the book was given to him. It was the Jewish custom to read standing,
but to preach sitting. Matthew 13:54; Mark 6:1.
Verse 17
[17] And
there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had
opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
He found — It
seems, opening upon it, by the particular providence of God.
Verse 18
[18] 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,
He hath anointed me —
With the Spirit. He hath by the power of his Spirit which dwelleth in me, set
me apart for these offices.
To preach the Gospel to the poor — Literally and spiritually. How is the doctrine of the ever-blessed
trinity interwoven, even in those scriptures where one would least expect it?
How clear a declaration of the great Three-One is there in those very words,
The Spirit - of the Lord is upon me! To proclaim deliverance to the captives,
and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised -
Here is a beautiful gradation, in comparing the spiritual state of men to the
miserable state of those captives, who are not only cast into prison, but, like
Zedekiah, had their eyes put out, and were laden and bruised with chains of
iron. Isaiah 61:1.
Verse 19
[19] To
preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
The acceptable year —
Plainly alluding to the year of jubilee, when all, both debtors and servants,
were set free.
Verse 21
[21] And
he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
To-day is this scripture fulfilled in your
ears — By what you hear me speak.
Verse 22
[22] And
all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of
his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph's son?
The gracious words which proceeded out of his
mouth — A person of spiritual discernment may find
in all the discourses of our Lord a peculiar sweetness, gravity, and
becomingness, such as is not to be found in the same degree, not even in those
of the apostles.
Verse 23
[23] And
he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal
thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy
country.
Ye will surely say —
That is, your approbation now outweighs your prejudices. But it will not be so
long. You will soon ask, why my love does not begin at home? Why I do not work
miracles here, rather than at Capernaum? It is because of your unbelief. Nor is
it any new thing for me to be despised in my own country. So were both Elijah
and Elisha, and thereby driven to work miracles among heathens, rather than in
Israel.
Verse 24
[24] And
he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.
No prophet is acceptable in his own country — That is, in his own neighbourhood. It generally holds, that a teacher
sent from God is not so acceptable to his neighbours as he is to strangers. The
meanness of his family, or lowness of his circumstances, bring his office into
contempt: nor can they suffer that he, who was before equal with, or below
themselves, should now bear a superior character.
Verse 25
[25] But
I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when
the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was
throughout all the land;
When the heaven was shut up three years and
six months — Such a proof had they that God had sent
him. In 1 Kings 18:1, it is said, The word of the Lord
came to Elijah in the third year: namely, reckoning not from the beginning of
the drought, but from the time when he began to sojourn with the widow of
Sarepta. A year of drought had preceded this, while he dwelt at the brook
Cherith. So that the whole time of the drought was (as St. James likewise
observes) three years and six months. 1 Kings 17:19; 18:44.
Verse 27
[27] And
many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them
was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian.
Verse 28
[28] And
all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with
wrath,
And all in the synagogue were filled with
fury — Perceiving the purport of his discourse,
namely, that the blessing which they despised, would be offered to, and
accepted by, the Gentiles. So changeable are the hearts of wicked men! So
little are their starts of love to be depended on! So unable are they to bear
the close application, even of a discourse which they most admire!
Verse 30
[30] But
he passing through the midst of them went his way,
Passing through the midst of them — Perhaps invisibly; or perhaps they were overawed; so that though they
saw, they could not touch him.
Verse 31
[31] And
came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days.
He came down to Capernaum — And dwelt there, entirely quitting his abode at Nazareth. Mark 1:21.
Verse 34
[34]
Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art
thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God.
What have we to do with thee — Thy present business is with men, not with devils.
I know thee who thou art — But surely he did not know a little before, that he was God over all,
blessed for ever; or he would not have dared to tell him, All this power is
delivered to me, and I give it to whomsoever I will.
The Holy One of God —
Either this confession was extorted from him by terror, (for the devils believe
and tremble,) or he made it with a design to render the character of Christ
suspected. Possibly it was from hence the Pharisees took occasion to say, He
casteth out devils by the prince of the devils.
Verse 38
[38] And
he arose out of the synagogue, and entered into Simon's house. And Simon's
wife's mother was taken with a great fever; and they besought him for her.
Verse 40
[40] Now
when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases
brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed
them.
When the sun was set — And consequently the Sabbath ended, which they reckoned from sunset to
sunset. Matthew 8:16; Mark 1:32.
Verse 42
[42] And
when it was day, he departed and went into a desert place: and the people
sought him, and came unto him, and stayed him, that he should not depart from
them.
── John ‘Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Luke》
Chapter 4. Filled with the Holy Spirit
All Kinds of
Temptation
Depart Temporarily
I. Jesus
Triumphs over temptation
II. Jesus
Begins His Ministry
III. Jesus'
Three Kinds of Authority
── Chih-Hsin Chang《An Outline of The New Testament》