Luke 4 Study Notes

4:22 The immediate response to Jesus’s message in the synagogue was mostly positive, as it had been elsewhere in Galilee (see note at vv. 14-15). But knowing Is 61 was a messianic prophecy, it greatly troubled the people that the young preacher whom they thought of merely as Joseph’s son (see note at 3:23-38) was claiming to be the long-awaited Messiah.

4:23-24 The people in Jesus’s hometown of Nazareth, motivated by curiosity rather than genuine spiritual interest, expected to see him heal, as they had heard about him doing in nearby Capernaum. Instead of satisfying them, Jesus illustrated a principle that often proved true in OT times: A prophet (see 4:18; Is 61:1) is not accepted in his hometown.

4:25-27 Jesus’s first example of a prophet being rejected by his own people was Elijah, who was so unpopular in Israel during the three years and six months of a drought that he had to seek refuge in the home of a widow in the Gentile town of Zarephath in Phoenicia, on the Mediterranean coast, northwest of Galilee (1Kg 17:1-24). The second example was the prophet Elisha, who skipped over all the lepers of Israel in his time and only cleansed . . . Naaman the Syrian, a Gentile general (2Kg 7:1-19).

4:28-30 The crowd in the synagogue was enraged because Jesus’s examples implied God’s acceptance of Gentiles and his rejection of Israel. Jesus foiled their attempt at mob violence by walking right through the crowd, an odd circumstance that may imply a miracle. Alternatively, it may only indicate that Jesus’s presence was so forceful that the people, though angry, willingly stepped aside and let him through.

4:31-32 Luke does not elaborate on the exact nature of the authority that Jesus demonstrated through his teaching in Capernaum on the Sabbath. Most likely the authority derived from the fact that Jesus’s message was directly from God, not merely from the religious authorities of earlier generations whom Jewish teachers typically cited.

4:33-36 This is an example of the far-reaching authority Jesus displayed in Capernaum. He cast out an unclean demonic spirit that had possessed a man in the synagogue. Jesus did this simply by the rebuke, Be silent and come out of him. The crowds wondered about Jesus, his message, and his power over the demonic realm, but the demon knew exactly who Jesus was—the Holy One of God—a title that Simon Peter also used of Jesus (Jn 6:69).

4:38-40 Jesus’s authority also extended to physical illness. As he had done with the demon, Jesus rebuked the fever, and Simon Peter’s mother-in-law was immediately healed. As a result, word of Jesus’s authority over sickness spread through Capernaum. He laid his hands on many people with various diseases, healing all of them.

4:41 As he healed the physical diseases of many people in Capernaum, Jesus also cast out more demons. This leaves the strong impression that demons were able to cause some diseases. As with the demon in the man in the synagogue (vv. 33-36), the demons identified Jesus as divine. Jesus rebuked the demons for revealing that he was the Christ because they were attempting to assert control over him by revealing who he was before the appropriate time.

4:42-44 This is the first of more than thirty times that the kingdom of God is mentioned in Luke’s Gospel. A full-blown concept of the kingdom includes: (1) the King (ruler), (2) the rule itself (sovereignty to rule), (3) the realm being ruled (this world), and (4) those ruled (individuals who believe the good news of Jesus Christ). In addition, some passages in the Gospels present the kingdom of God as already present in at least some senses (Mt 12:28) while others speak of it as being still future (Mt 6:10).