Gospel of Luke Study – Chapter 4

Following Jesus’ Baptism we know of Jesus’ parentage in two ways. First, we know he was the son of Joseph & Mary, and in the line of David, which is the line of the Messiah. Second, we know that this is God’s son, conceived through the Holy Spirit coming upon Mary, named at birth by the name given by the Angel Gabriel, at his Baptism the Holy Spirit descends upon him (God’s Spirit) and the voice of God is heard proclaiming that Jesus is HIS son!! This is the final step towards our understanding of Jesus as God’s son. In the world then the main way people knew you were the father of a child is by your naming the child, and by your public confirmation that this is your son/daughter. Otherwise, it was impossible to really confirm parentage of the father. No DNA tests back then.

Luke 4:1-13 – Temptation in the Wilderness
Now Jesus is sent off for training. He is old enough to go into his mission. He has been commissioned by God. He now needs to be toughened up, or we need to see that Jesus can handle everything that Luke has built up for him to this point. Jesus, as a figure in a story, has been lauded beyond our imagination. He has big shoes to fill. How is he going to be able to do everything everyone has said he is going to do?? He needs to learn to rely on the Holy Spirit, to trust in this Spirit that is with him. We will see Jesus relying on the Spirit in sparing with the enemies of God, and even while these enemies are cunning in themselves Jesus with the Spirit will easily overcome their temptations. This part of the story is crucial for us as readers to get the sense that Jesus can do what has been said about him, and that his life is one that his followers can follow, but in following we must learn to rely on that same Spirit rather than being overcome with our own emotion, fear, and anxiety in the face of sin and evil!! We will see starting with this story that Jesus never shirks away from sin/evil, but rather always engages it, and almost befriends it (while never condoning), and transforms it in people’s lives so that the sin/evil is separated from the humanity. Luke begins with this story to show the role of the Messiah to usurp the kingdom of the Devil/sin/evil in the world. Jesus is here to usher in a New Age, where God’s reign is active and alive (through the agency of the Holy Spirit, which will continue and explode in the sequeal, Acts).

“40” days is obviously paralleled in many places biblically: The story of Noah and the rain that fell on the earth 40 days and 40 nights, with a sense of purification of the earth for the evil deeds of the inhabitants. Moses spent 40 days up on Mount Sinai as he was receiving instructions from God, seeing God face to face, returning to the people with the commandments of God. Israel spent 40 years wandering in the desert, a way of testings, purification of a people (having a generation die off) before entering the promised land. It is during the 40 days that Jesus fasts, eating nothing. In Luke, the temptations don’t start until these 40 days are over, which means that Jesus is quite weak (physically) at this point, thus the devil strikes when Jesus is at his most vulnerable point. In fact, since the 40 days are over, Jesus probably could eat now. If this was his time of purification, this would be the opportune time for him to eat, to “break the fast.” As the temptations are presented there really isn’t a dialog between the devil and Jesus. It seems rather one sided. The only thing Jesus speaks is scripture, the word of God.

The first temptation then is for food to satisfy hunger. A most basic, human need that we all have each and every day!! Most of us fail at such discipline when if comes to something this basic (gluttony is probably one of the most widespread sins of our age, and one most often accepted and condoned). The bread image also evokes for us the images of Israel wandering in the desert and God providing Manna from above to eat. Jesus response (Deut 8:3) comes from this time in Israel’s history when the purpose was teaching Israel that our sustenance comes by God’s hand, not by our own!! As the temptations begin the devil wants Jesus to “prove” who he is; Though in Luke the ones who really do know who Jesus is are the devil, and the other demons. The temptation is for Jesus to use his powers and his position for personal gain. This is a typical temptation for those in power, and we see this one succumbed to all too often. This is a prime human failing for which there is only one way out! Jesus’ lack of succumbing to this temptation gives all the more power to the “miracle” of his feeding the 5,000 in chapter 9. Do you love satisfying your hunger more than you love God?

For the second temptation the devil takes Jesus “up.” In Matthew its up on a mountain (Matthew likes mountains). This is the temptation of MORE POWER than you currently have. Here the concept of “authority” starts, and it will be a major them, and the exercise of that authority, and from where we get authority. The Son of God has authority, for sure, but it is an authority that comes from God. The devil is offering something that looks appealing on the outside. Jesus’ authority and from where it comes will be witnessed throughout the gospel. The devil is claiming to have vast authority. But who has the greater authority? Jesus response is Deut 6:13. Do you love power, authority, how people view you more than you love God?

For the third temptation the devil takes Jesus to the pinnacle of the Temple. To this point Jesus has given up satisfying a personal human need, has given up personal gain in terms of power and authority, and so now the devil attempts to play with Jesus’ concept of who he is. Does Jesus really think he is the Son of God? Is there a shred of doubt the devil can play against? Wouldn’t Jesus want to be sure if he is going to go spend his life following God’s ways? Why not test it out? This is a good scientific experiment. Since Jesus has been using scripture to combat the devil, the devil now uses scripture and suggests this experiment (Psalm 91:11-12). Again the devil tries to combat Jesus’ self-image as the Son of God, and to put God’s promises to the test. The temptation here was to see if God would really keep Jesus from dying. Jesus will die in Jerusalem later, and this prefigures what will happen, and the reason Jesus allows it to happen. Jesus response (Deut 6:16) gives the reason for Jesus’ submitting to God’s will, and not testing God’s promises. Do you love your life more than you love God? Jesus answers this question more intensely at the end of the Gospel!!

The scripture Jesus uses are for all of us as well. Submission to the will of God is important in our lives, even when we don’t understand what is going on, or why things are happening the way they are. God is in charge, the goal of life is not our physical needs (or wants), the goal of life is not power and prestige, the goal of life is worship of God. Two of Jesus’ responses come directly after the Jewish “shema” (Deut 6:4-9) in Deuteronomy, which was to be recited by Jewish people in the morning and the evening, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.* 5You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.” Through his responses Jesus shows himself to be a faithful follower, a faithful Jewish person, the ultimate in submission to God’s will. Jesus does love God with all his heart, sould and might!! The temptations begin in the wilderness and end in Jerusalem. This is the same progression of Jesus’ ministry in Luke.

Chapter 4:14 -9:50 – Jesus’ Ministry in Galilee
Now Jesus’ ministry can begin. He has been fortified with the Holy Spirit, and shown that he can withstand the evil forces that he will face, and remain faithful relying on the Spirit and God’s Word.

Luke 4:14-30 – Jesus in Nazareth (Hometown)
As chapter 4 began we heard that Jesus was “full of the Holy Spirit,” we again hear this similar refrain. Here Jesus is “filled with the power of the Holy Spirit.” He begins to teach, and “everyone” praises his teaching, so much so reports are spread and people gather to hear Jesus. In Nazareth Jesus does what he usually does. He has been teaching and continues to do the same here. The scroll was given to Jesus, but it seems like he chose where he was going to read. The verses chosen are from Isaiah 61:1-2. Luke adjusts this a bit, omitting “bind up the brokenhearted,” adding “let the oppressed go free (Isa 58:6),” and stops the quote short leaving out, “and the day of vengeance of our God,” thus staying very positive.

Jesus has been anointed by God, we have witnessed that in the story already, so it is easy for the reader to connect these verses with Jesus now. The “year of the Lord’s favor,” is a connection to the Jubilee (Lev 25:10), the fiftieth year, following seven sevens, when everything was restored to the way God had originally set it up for Israel. This would be seen by everyone who is oppressed (oppressed here can include those who have not fared well economically so that they have had to become servants of others, at the Jubilee all of this is reversed) as really good news.

For Luke this is the key event of Jesus proclaiming himself to be the Messiah, and this will be evidenced by everything he does falling in line with the prophet Isaiah. At the beginning those who have listened to him don’t really understand that he is doing this, and are thinking well of him, however, this will change quickly!! The people are amazed at first, and wonder about him being Joseph’s son. This is his hometown. Their question can be taken several ways. One, fascination that a hometown boy has grown up and become such a great teacher!! Two, unbelieving that this hometown boy has made good. Jesus seems to push them to their worst possible and quickly. They were speaking well of him, but then he starts to push their buttons with proverbs. They may have wanted to see Jesus do the things he was doing elsewhere. They wanted some benefit from the hometown boy made good, or made famous. The proverb, v24, appears in various forms in all the Gospels. Jesus lets them know that he is not going to do any of these things and he expects them to reject him, and they oblige!! In doing this Jesus aligns himself with Elijah & Elisha, two of the greatest prophets. However, to do this he is showing his hometown that he hasn’t really come just for them, but for others who aren’t even Israelite. Elijah is the example of Jesus helping those who respond in faithfulness, not too different from John’s rebuke to the crowds at the beginning of his ministry. Rage seems to be an emotion that gets the best of us sometimes. At Jesus words the people are filled with rage, and want to throw him off a cliff. However, even they cannot stop what God is doing in Jesus, and he continues on his way.

The group that reacts this way is reading scripture differently than Jesus. They understand that the covenant is exclusively theirs, and no one else’s. Here Jesus is extending the covenant towards those who are in the Isaiah prophesy: the poor, the oppressed, etc. Like John the Baptist, it doesn’t matter who your father was, or that you lived in the same town as the Messiah!! Because they were not open to the possibilities that God was doing through Jesus, they became unable to receive anything Jesus had to give.

Luke 4:31-44 – Jesus in Capernaum
Jesus moves on to Capernaum, and continues teaching in the Synagogue like he had been doing, and the reaction is the same, people are amazed at his teaching. This time we hear a reason, he teaches as one with authority. We already know what authority Jesus has, his authority is from God, so the people are definitely correct! As readers we may wonder if the same thing is going to happen here as happened in Nazareth?

Exorcism
Here Jesus meets a demon possessed man, and we will experience the power and authority of Jesus’ words! The demon recognizes Jesus as a threat, calls him by name, mentioning the town that just tried to kill Jesus (possibly a slur, knowing Jesus was not treated well in his hometown). The demon knows exactly who Jesus is, “the holy one of God,” knows that Jesus has power over the demon. Demon possession was known to throw people to the ground injuring them, so it is notable that as Jesus exorcises the demon the man is thrown to the ground, but is not injured. The people wonder about the power and authority in the words of Jesus, and they began spreading the news. It is important here to note that the response to Jesus here is amazement and questions, not praise and submission. Therefore, the crowds treat Jesus as a rock star, rather than the Son of God. They are seeing him have power and authority, they aren’t connecting that to God.

Healing
Jesus leaves the synagogue and goes to a friends (Simon) house, whose mother is ill. The understanding of illness then was more along the lines of being possessed (similar to a demon) of this illness that needs to be eradicated (viruses, bacteria, etc. today also could be considered similar). Note what happens to the sin/evil each time Jesus speaks. They go away; Jesus doesn’t go away from them. Being cured Simon’s mother begins to serve them, which is the correct response to healing, and to the Son of God. This is a submission to the Son of God!

As word got out many others came with illnesses and demons, they come after sundown because that was the end of the Sabbath day, and they could carry someone around then, and Jesus laid hands on them and healed them. Again, the demons know who Jesus is! In this Jesus heals with laying on of hands, and casts out demons (including illness of fever) with words.

Jesus then tries to get away, but the crowds find him, and want him to stay with them. They want him to themselves, which was also part of the problem in his hometown. They want to keep Jesus’ powerful words to themselves. The word of God cannot be contained, and is not limited to only a select few. Jesus stresses his purpose is to proclaim the good news in other places also!! In Luke Jesus’ ministry is spreading out. And the good news obviously includes freeing people from debilitating, and dehumanizing ways of life that God did not intend for us!

Chapter 3 - Gospel of Luke Study

Chapter 3 – 4:13 – Preparation for Jesus’ Ministry
Here now begins the set up for what the book is really going to be all about. Chapters 1 & 2 we can count almost as prelude, and now begins the story of Jesus’ ministry. The separate stories of John the Baptist and Jesus will once again come together at the end of this chapter, and then one of the threads will disappear, while the other thread will gain prominence and continue.

Proclamation of John the Baptist – Chapter 3:1-20

3:1-6 – John’s Ministry Begins
Luke begins the description of John’s preaching with numerous notes indicating when this took place within Greco-Roman history, and within the Jewish religious community. These are two of the two foils for Luke’s Jesus: Roman rulers & Jewish religious rulers; and we note here in this intro that at times these two are mixed together as is the case with Herod a Jewish ruler appointed to a Roman position within Jewish lands, done obviously to appease the Jewish people who were being occupied by a foreign government.

Precise dating is difficult because of the uncertainties of ancient calendars. There were numerous calendars in use (Julian, Jewish, Syro-Macedonian, Egyptian) and we don’t know which Luke is referring to, and how Luke is counting years would make a difference. Lysanius is the only one that scholars can’t link to a known ruler in other historical sources. Of the rulers mentioned Pilate, Herod, and Caiphas (High Priest) will be important in the story later on. The others show how the Kingdom of God is coming in relation to the reign of human rulers. The only one of these who has contact with John is Herod, so bringing all these up at this point is linking together the stories of John and Jesus, who will indeed face similar fates.

This opening is also typical in stories of the “call of a prophet.” Here John “as prophet” is being introduced, and so we hear how: the word of the Lord came to John; his family background (son of Zechariah); at a certain time set within history, location and king’s name(s). It is also fitting that we hear of all these powerful people, and then we hear that the Word of the Lord doesn’t come to any of these powerful people, but comes to the one who is in the wilderness. The wilderness was not a pleasant place to be, and respectable people are not in the wilderness. We hear John is still in the wilderness, which is were we left him in 1:80, and here is his public appearance! Here Luke uses material found in Mark & Matthew also, with a few adjustments. Luke expands the use of Isaiah to include not only v.3, but also vs.4-5. This expansion seems to continue Luke’s theme that this is God’s salvation for ALL PEOPLE, which will carry through Luke-Acts. Luke’s focus is that God salvation breaks down all the barriers and boundaries we create. Jesus in Luke, and the Apostles in Acts are continually reaching out to those who are outside the norms of what we normally consider to be God’s concern. For Luke God is concerned with ALL!!

Luke seems to take out the matter about John eating locusts and wild honey wearing a leather belt, which seems odd, because it seems like it would fit into his description of John as prophet.

John’s message was a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Thus John is fulfilling the words of the prophet Isaiah. This is the message of preparation for the “way of the Lord.”

3:7-9 – Warnings of the Coming Judgement
Here we have a classic example of prophetic speech, and an example of why prophets are not usually liked too well (Isaiah, Amos, Zephaniah). John is addressing the crowds here in Luke (in Matthew it’s the Pharisees & Sadducees). John is calling everyone in the crowd to repentance, true repentance, which has evidence in our lives (fruit). Lutherans have long focused on God’s gift of forgiveness being GRACE, and thus unearned, and given freely, this of course is given in Jesus Christ; here, however, John is focused on a repentant heart that turns to God and for such humility of life there is evidence in how we live, our lives bear fruit of our obedience to God’s way. Our lives show forth LOVE. The brood of vipers is only out for themselves, and may be approaching John with hearts that are selfish; they want to be cleansed not in humility to God, but out of selfish concerns. For John repentance leads to a changed life, one focused on God and God’s ways rather than our own.

John seems to perceive the people who are placing their hope on their lineage, rather than their faithfulness. John doesn’t like that. How do we rationalize ourselves, and not seek true repentance? The reference to stones goes to Isaiah 51:1-2 where the people of Israel are stones hewn from the rock of Abraham. John reverses this and says God can raise people from stones if necessary (lots of stones in the wilderness). The image of the people of God as growth on a tree, or a vine is common imagery. Good fruit is always expected, otherwise what is the point of the tree or vine? In that day fasting was an outward sign of repentance and mourning. John seems to have fasted to the extreme, and probably expects this of those who are coming for Baptism as a sign of their repentance.

John’s baptism was different than the regular baptism for making one clean. John was saying that his was a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. This means that his baptism not only cleansed from ritual impurities but removed sin also. This is what the sacrifices in the temple did. Thus John was pitting himself up against the financial system of the religious authorities. John provided ritual cleansing, and freedom for Judgment Day in a guilt-free cleansing. If you were poor you may already be fasting, but couldn’t afford the animal for acrifice!! John provides a way, and people flock to him.

3:10-14 – Call for Ethical Reforms
The people seem taken aback by John’s outburst, and appeal to him as to what can they do. John certainly is suggesting there are concrete expressions of repentance that we are called to perform, and he will give us some examples of what these concrete expressions would look like. John’s examples are responding to three groups. John suggestions are to actually live out loving your neighbor.

The first response is to the crowds. His first example seems straight out of the kindergarten handbook! Ask a young child, what would you do if you had two coats and your friend didn’t have any and you were both about to go outside in the cold?? DUH!!! Sadly John is absolutely right, as adults we don’t do this, and we need to remember that God’s kingdom is for everyone; therefore we are called to look into our closets and our wallets and our bank accounts, etc.!!!! Jesus will have his own version of this in chapter 6. John’s version sounds very equitable. Share what you have when its not in use (you can’t wear 2 coats!). Stop being selfish!!

The second response John is talking to the tax collectors. These are Israelites in positions of power within the Roman government, called to collect taxes from their own people. The tax collecting system was somewhat complicated and had many levels. The wealthy would buy the contract from the government, and then manage that contract adding on to the tax whatever profit they could collect. The larger the system the more taxes there were to sustain the system. John is talking to the front line people in this system. There are two possibilities to what John says and both may be accurate and meant by John. First, John tells them to only collect what they are supposed to collect. Meaning they aren’t to gouge their fellow countrymen for their own gain! However, John could be going further and suggesting that not only should they not gouge, but they should only collect what the Romans are requiring, not all the additions, which would mean that no one would want that job when you don’t get paid!! In this second scenario John would be taking on the whole taxing system of the Roman government and going above and beyond the first response he has to the crowds above. Jesus will transform a tax collector later who shows us what real fruit worthy of repentance is, a changed life (Zacchaeus). Stop cheating others!!

The third response is to the soldiers. Again these are probably Israelites who have been recruited for service to the Roman government in keeping the peace in these lands. Soldiers typically would use their power to get what they wanted whenever they wanted it, similar to the way armies would invade a city and plunder its goods. If an army would occupy a city, they would need provisions, and those provisions came from the people you were occupying. Similar things happened in the US during the Civil War, and probably all wars. John tells the soldiers to live with what they are paid, be satisfied (which is a strong rebuke for us today!!), and do not extort more from the people you are supposed to be protecting!! Stop abusing your power!!

3:15-17 – Announcement of the Messiah
Given his proclamation John has given the people lots to think about. His preaching is prophetic, and leads the people to wonder if John is the Messiah. This is something that the reader may have pondered already given the birth narratives, but each time you think the story is about John the next part of the story says, NO, it is about someone else. “The People” are the ones who are wondering, not “the crowds”. “The crowds” are the ones who are the wishy-washy group. “The People” on the other hand are expectant, and open to the workings of God here in the person of John the Baptist. It is “the people” who are baptized by John.

John is very faithful to his placement as the forerunner, and deflects the questions away from himself. He is clear that he is not the Messiah. The Messiah is coming! But John never says the word Messiah. He always talks about one who is coming. John shows his place in relation to “the coming one” in that he isn’t worthy to untie His sandals. Untying sandals was a job for slaves, not even for disciples, thus John is comparing himself to be even lower than a slave when compared with “the coming one.”
John’s baptism is different from the baptism of the coming one. John’s is water. He will baptize with the Holy Spirit & fire! Two-fold description of this baptism, in a sense a blessing to receive God’s Spirit, but with that Spirit comes the fire of destruction to remove all stain of sin and evil!! This coming one will harvest, and will gather the grain, and burn the chaff!! A thresher would pitchfork the grain/chaff and throw up in air. The wind would blow the chaff away, and the grain would fall to the ground to be gathered up. John’s baptism helps by removing the chaff from your life, and leaving the grain so the Messiah can harvest YOU!!

3:18-20 – Conclusion of John
John has 3 emphases: 1) a prophetic warning about the judgment; 2) call for justice and compassion (love); 3) confession of “the coming one” (Messiah), a pointing away from himself to Jesus. Now, John’s work is complete, he has prepared the way for “the coming one.” Herod is fed up with John’s preaching, and doesn’t want to hear anymore, because he is “evil,” he puts John in prison (shuts him up).

3:21-22 – The Baptism of Jesus
The actual baptism is not reported, rather only the events following the baptism are reported. Did John baptize before going to prison? Was everyone Baptized and John wisked away to prison while they were praying? Jesus’ baptism seems to serve as his taking on the mantel that was John’s; similar to Elijah/Elisha. After the baptism Jesus was praying, the heavens open, this happened before with the angelic choir. Now the Spirit descends in bodily form. This body sounds similar to the resurrection accounts of Jesus later in Luke. This bodily form is like none other on earth, it can be touched and felt, but it has other peculiarities as well. This Spirit is very important for Jesus’ ministry, and in Acts it is extended to the Church. It is what empowers God’s people to do God’s work. It was taught by the rabbi’s that the Spirit of God departed with the last of the prophets, but occasionally there was a voice from heaven. Luke doesn’t tell us the voice was heard by all, or only Jesus, but it doesn’t seem to matter. For Luke we have Spirit and Voice!!! This is God’s acknowledgement of His Son!! The mantel has been passed, and this one has the Spirit of God and God’s pleasure!!!

3:23-38 – Jesus’ Genealogy
The only gospel to give us Jesus’ age. This genealogy goes backwards, which is unusual. There are some differences with Matthew’s version, and in Luke there are a lot of persons who are unknown. One biggy is tracing through David’s son Nathan, rather than Solomon, and the Davidic Kings. Also, unknown are the names from Joseph to Zerubbabel. From Joseph to God there are 77 names. 21 before Abraham; 14 Abraham to Jesse; 21 from David to Neri; 21 from Shealtiel to Joseph. Jesus is the culmination of God’s plan to redeem the world, 77 reflecting perfection.