Sermon Notes for August 31, 2003
Jubilee, Luke 4:1-44
INTRODUCTION
At His baptism, Jesus is filled with the Spirit (Luke 3:21-22). As any Jew would know, the next thing that’s going to happen is a battle. Depend on it: When the Spirit comes, somebody’s gonna get hurt. Like Othniel (Judges 3:10), Gideon (Judges 6:34), Jephthah (Judges 11:29), Samson (Judges 13:25; 14:6; 15:14), and Saul (1 Samuel 11:6), Jesus receives the Spirit to prepare Him for war. Filled with the Spirit, Jesus proves Himself the “stronger man” by triumphing over Satan and demons (Luke 4:1-13, 33-36, 41).
THE TEXT
“Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil . . . .” (Luke 4:1-44).
IN THE WILDERNESS
Jesus enters the wilderness and encounters Satan as the “Son.” According to Luke 3:38, “son of God” means “Adam.” Like Adam, Jesus is tempted; unlike Adam, He resists the temptation and keeps the fast that Adam broke. Jesus as “Son” is also like Israel spending “forty days” in the wilderness (see Exodus 4:22). Every time Jesus quotes Scripture, He quotes something Yahweh spoke to Israel in the wilderness (compare Luke 4:4 with Deuteronomy 8:3; Luke 4:8 with Deuteronomy 6:13; Luke 4:12 with Deuteronomy 6:16). Like Israel, Jesus is tested; unlike Israel, Jesus resists Satan and passes the test.
Each of the temptations challenges Jesus’ mission as Son (“if you are Son,” vv. 3, 9). Satan tempts Jesus to use His power for His own benefit and to seek life apart from the will of God. But being Son means to live by the Word of God. Satan offers Jesus an “empire” by becoming Satan’s vassal (Greek is oikoumene , same word as in Luke 2:1). But being Son means receiving the kingdom from the Father (Psalm 2:8; see Luke 3:21). In the final temptation, Satan quotes Scripture to tempt Jesus to escape harm. But being Son means going to the cross in obedience to the Father. Satan returns later in Luke (22:3), but Jesus has won the definitive victory and is ready to plunder the strong man’s house.
JUBILEE
Once Jesus has triumphed over the “ruler of this world,” He begins a victory tour around Galilee, proclaiming release to those under Satan’s rule. The passage from Isaiah He reads in the synagogue summarizes His entire ministry, just as the quotation in 3:4-6 is a summary of John’s ministry.
The phrase “acceptable year of the Lord” (v. 19) refers to the Jubilee year, the “year of release” (Leviticus 25:10). According to Leviticus 25, Israel was supposed to have a Jubilee year every fifty years. During this mega-Sabbath year, land that had been sold during the previous fifty years would return to its previous owner, and anyone who had become a slave or bond-servant would be freed. Isaiah uses this legal institution to describe what is going to happen when Israel is released from Babylonian exile: The land of Israel will be restored to its original owners (Israel), and the Jews who have been captive in Babylon will be liberated (see Isaiah 61:4-11).
For Jesus, the favorable year of the Lord means that those who are “downtrodden” by the Herods and Pilates are going to be set free. And, more importantly, those who are in bondage to Satan and under the dominion of the curse are going to be released. The land, the whole earth, will be restored to those who become disciples of the Anointed One. Jesus’ message of release depends on His prior victory over Satan.
A PROPHET’S HOMETOWN
At first, everyone responds favorably to Jesus, and claims him as a hometown hero (v. 22). Jesus discerns a problem with this response, and clarifies His mission with the proverb (Greek, “parable”) “Physician, heal thyself” (v. 23). In the ancient world, this proverb meant “Do the same favors for your own relations and country men that you do for others.” Jesus explains and paraphrases this proverb in the following statement about repeating miracles done in Capernaum (v. 23).
In response, Jesus explains what it means for Him to “preach the gospel to the poor” (v. 18). The “poor” included not only those who were without economic resources, but untouchables who were outcasts from decent society — the unclean, Gentiles, tax collectors. Specifically, the “poor” include Gentile widows and lepers (vv. 25-27), who will receive the good news of release when the Jews refuse. Jesus is making a clear parallel: He is a prophet like Elijah/Elisha; Nazareth is like Israel; Capernaum is like the widow and Naaman. As Simeon predicted, Jesus’ words reveal the thoughts of men’s hearts (2:35). The Nazarenes turn on Jesus, cast Him out of the synagogue and city, and are ready to kill Him as a false prophet (cf. Deuteronomy 13).
Jesus’ first public act is a microcosm of His life: He provokes rage and opposition by proclaiming good news to the wrong people, and they seek to kill Him.
DEMONS IN THE SYNAGOGUE
Jesus’ authority over demons is all intertwined with His work within Israel, for the synagogues are demon-possessed (4:31-36). Jesus exorcizes the demons, and, equally importantly, He sets up an alternative house of healing at Simon’s (vv. 40-41). Jesus’ ministry is taking off, and in the next chapter He will be ready to incorporate disciples into His anointed, Messianic mission.
For Further Study
- Compare Jesus’ response to Satan’s first temptation in Luke 4:4 with Matthew’s quotation in Matthew 4:4. What is missing from Luke’s version? Now look at Luke 4:22, and compare to Matthew 4:4 and Deuteronomy 8:3. What is Luke saying about the words of Jesus in 4:22?
- Jesus announces that the blind will receive sight (4:18), and the next verse tells us that “the eyes of all” were on Him. Given the rest of the story, what is Luke telling us about the people of Nazareth?
- Note the repetition of the word “acceptable/accepted” in 4:18, 24. What does Luke mean by repeating this word?