The Astonishing Authority of Jesus
Luke 4:31-37 As we see, this is typical ministry for Jesus. But what was typical for him—what was normal and routine for his life and ministry—was far from ordinary. He is nothing short of extraordinary, as every page of Scripture reveals. But we’re going to see that all the more as we read this text. Look at verse 31 there—we’ll start there in reading and read to the end of the chapter: And he [that’s Jesus] went down to…
The Messiah Confronts His People
Luke 4:22-30 You’ll notice there, if you’re in Luke 4 verses 14 to 16, the scene is set there in the synagogue. The synagogue was the place of weekly Jewish worship and instruction. And we spent some time last time describing the synagogue because really it features so often in the synoptic Gospels. The synagogue is mentioned 9 times in Matthew, 11 times in Mark, 16 times in Luke, and in another 22 times the synagogue is set as the…
The Messiah Announces His Mission
Luke 4:16-22 If you’re not already there, we’ll start there in Luke chapter four, and we’ll start reading in verse 14. “And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and…
Jesus Gets to Work
Luke 4:14-15 We finished a long section on Jesus’ origins, the story of where he came from and what qualifies him, that began with Luke 1:5, there after the prologue. And we ended with last week’s sermon in Luke 4:13. Luke’s Gospel, as we’ve seen, provides the most in-depth treatment of Jesus’ beginnings as Luke prepares his readers to meet the Savior and to see the significance of his ministry. We see, we saw in that section that we studied,…
Love Never Puts God to the Test
Luke 4:9-13 By the virtue the two natures one divine, one human joined together, mysteriously in this one person. Jesus is proving to be the impeccable man. That is, a man who does not sin, will not sin, because of his divine nature, not able to sin. When tested, as we see here, these three times and tested, I think more than that as well. Also, as we’ll see tested throughout his life and ministry, he did not sin. Instead,…
Loyal to God Alone
Luke 4:5-8 We should never doubt God’s care and concern. He takes care of the most insignificant of the creatures. How much more will he care for us? But the devil tempted Jesus, nonetheless, to turn from faith in God and to turn to himself to provide for himself. Jesus answered there, confirming God’s intent to provide for all of our needs. He said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’” The clear implication from the…
Finding True Peace and Rest
Matthew 11
Not by Bread Alone
Luke 4:1-4 Starting in Luke 4:1, and we’ll read all the way through verse 13. “And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led up by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. The devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.’ And Jesus answered him,…
The Devil’s Temptation of Jesus
Luke 4:1-2 So here in Luke’s gospel, fourth chapter, let’s enter the passage together, just starting with reading the passage about the devil’s temptation of Jesus Christ. Says there in Luke chapter four, verse one. “And Jesus full of the Holy Spirit returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for 40 days, being tempted by the devil, and he ate nothing during those days, when they were ended, he was hungry. The devil said…
The Power of Gospel-Driven Ministry
1 Thessalonians 1:5-10 Turn in your Bibles to 1 Thessalonians. At the beginning of the month, I preached from 1 Thessalonians chapter 1, and I’d like to return to that text and finish the chapter. I’m going to begin by reading the passage, and then we’ll have just a short bit of review to kind of go over what we covered in that last sermon. So if you’re in 1 Thessalonians chapter 1, let’s read that chapter together. “Paul, Silvanus,…