Jesus tempted in the wilderness
1 Jesus was now full of Holy Spirit. As he returned from the Jordan, the Spirit led him into the desert
2 where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. He did not eat anything during that time, and in the end he was hungry.
3 The devil then said to him, “If you are son of God, tell this stone to turn into bread.”
4 But Jesus answered, “Scrip ture says: People cannot live on bread alone.”
5 Then the devil took him up to a high place and showed him in a flash all the nations of the world.
6 And he said to Jesus, “I can give you power over all the nations and their wealth will be yours, for power and wealth have been delivered to me and I give them to whom I wish.
7 All this will be yours provided you worship me.”
8 But Jesus replied, “Scripture says: You shall worship the Lord your God and serve him alone.”
9 Then the devil took him up to Jerusalem and set him on the highest wall of the Temple; and he said, “If you are son of God, throw yourself down from here,
10 for it is written: God will order his angels to take care of you
11 and again: They will hold you in their hands, lest you hurt your foot on the stones.”
12 But Jesus replied, “It is written: You shall not challenge the Lord your God.”
13 When the devil had exhausted every way of tempting Jesus he left him, to return another time.
Jesus proclaims his mission at Nazareth
14 Jesus acted with the power of the Spirit, and on his return to Galilee the news about him spread throughout all that territory.
15 He began teaching in the synagogues of the Jews and everyone praised him.
16 When Jesus came to Nazareth where he had been brought up, he entered the synagogue on the Sab bath as he usually did.
17 He stood up to read and they handed him the book of the prophet Isaiah.
Jesus then unrolled the scroll and found the place where it is written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and new sight to the blind; to free the oppressed.
19 and announce the Lord’s year of mercy.”
20 Jesus then rolled up the scroll, gave it to the attendant and sat down, while the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.
21 Then he said to them, “Today these prophetic words come true even as you listen.”
22 All agreed with him and were lost in wonder, while he kept on speaking of the grace of God. Never theless they asked, “Who is this but Joseph’s son?”
23 So he said, “Doubt less you will quote me the saying: Doctor, heal yourself! Do here in your town what they say you did in Capernaum.”
24 Jesus added, “No prophet is honored in his own country.
25 Truly, I say to you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens with held rain for three years and six months and a great famine came over the whole land.
26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow of Zare phath, in the country of Sidon.
27 There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha, the prophet, and no one was healed except Naaman, the Syrian.”
28 On hearing these words, the whole assembly became indignant.
29 They rose up and brought him out of the town,
30 to the edge of the hill on which Nazareth is built, in tending to throw him down the cliff. But he passed through their midst and went his way.
With the power of the spirit
31 Jesus went down to Capernaum, a town of Galilee, and began teaching the people at the sabbath meetings.
32 They were astonished at the way he taught them, for his word was spoken with authority.
33 In the synagogue there was a man possessed by an evil spirit who shouted in a loud voice,
34 “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I recognize you: you are the Holy One of God.”
35 Then Jesus said to him sharply, “Be silent and leave this man!” The evil spirit then threw the man down in front of them and came out of him without doing him harm.
36 Amazement seized all these people and they said to one another, “What does this mean? He commands the evil spirits with authority and power. He orders, and you see how they come out!”
37 And news about Je sus spread through out the surrounding area.
38 Leaving the synagogue, Jesus went to the house of Simon. His mother-in-law was suffering from high fever and they asked him to do something for her.
39 Bending over her, he rebuked the fever, and it left her. Immediately she got up and waited on them.
40 At sunset, people suffering from many kinds of sickness were brought to Jesus. Laying his hands on each one, he healed them.
41 De mons were driven out, howling as they departed from their victims, “You are the Son of God!” He re buked them and would not allow them to speak, for they knew he was the Messiah.
42 Jesus left at daybreak and looked for a solitary place. People went out in search of him and, finding him, they tried to dissuade him from leaving.
43 But he said, “I have to go to other towns to announce the good news of the kingdom of God. That is what I was sent to do.”
44 So Jesus continued to preach in the synagogues of the Jewish country.
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Comments Luke, Chapter 4
• 4.1 THE TEMPTATION
In secular history, people only participate and cope with other people. Sacred history views things from another perspective: God’s plan unfolds hindered by the disturbing devices of the evil spirit, and people are called to take part in this struggle that exceeds their own plans. This is why Jesus had to face the evil one.
We speak of temptation when we feel the pressure of bad instincts or when we feel dragged into doing evil by circumstances. Jesus did not possess our bad instincts but the Holy Spirit led him to be tested into the desert – remember that to tempt and to test have the same meaning – and there he felt the strongest persuasion from the evil one who tried to dissuade him from his mission (see also Mt 4:1).
Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, began his ministry by undergoing a very hard test: forty days of total solitude and fasting. In this situation, Jesus experienced his frailty as he faced a leap into the unknown: he was about to let go of life in Nazareth in surrender to the Father’s will, and begin a mission which would lead him to death within a few years.
The devil, or the accuser, spoke to him; thus is he named in Scripture because he always criticizes. He leads us to accuse God, and when he has made us fall, he then accuses us and tries to convince us that our fall will not be forgiven by God.
If you are the Son of God. Jesus knew who he was, but he had not yet tested his power. Could he not, for a moment, release divine energy when his body was weak from hunger? Could he not, someday, get down from the cross to save himself?
Jesus refuses to be self-serving. He has higher goals: and so the Devil takes him higher. Knowing people as they are, Jesus is tempted to im pose himself on the people and manipulate them. He is tempted to compromise and use weapons of the devil who respects neither the truth, nor free d om of conscience. It would then be easy to reign over the nations “in the name of God,” since the devil gives them to whom he wishes (v. 6).
Jesus has chosen to serve only God. The devil asks, “Why, then, do you not begin your preaching with something spectacular, like dropping from a high place into the midst of the crowd at prayer in the temple? – Do you not believe that God will perform a miracle for you?” – This time the devil uses the very words of Scripture: in reading them, one might think that with much faith, one would always be healthy and successful. Jesus warns against the error of a “faith” which tries to remove the cross. Jesus will not demand miracles from his Father to avoid suffering the humiliation and rejection that are the lot of God’s messengers: this would be to challenge God under the pretense of trusting him.
The devil left him, to return another time (v. 13). In the Passion of Jesus, the devil will turn the people’s wickedness against the Liberator whom he could not lead astray. See John 12:31 and 14:30.
• 14. Jesus returns home in the company of some of John’s followers who become his own disciples (Jn 1:35) and he performs his first sign in Cana (Jn 2:1). This miracle launches his ministry. From Capernaum, where Jesus lives in the house of Simon and Andrew, near the lake, Jesus begins to preach in the synagogues of Galilee (Mk 1:35) and his words impress people because he works with the power of the Spirit, namely, he speaks with authority and his miracles confirm his words.
He began teaching in the synagogues (v. 15). Jesus does not begin by preaching to the crowds who know nothing of him; instead, for months he makes himself known in the synagogues.
• 16. In Israel there was only one Temple, that of Jerusalem, where priests used to offer sacrifices. In every place where at least ten men could meet, there was a synagogue where every Sabbath a liturgical ser vice led by community members was celebrated. It was easy to take part in the read ings and commentaries on them, so Jesus made himself known by participating in the Sabbath services in the synagogues of his area, Galilee.
After some time Jesus, already famous, passed through Nazareth where he was not welcome. In this account Luke shows why Jesus attracted the people and why, particularly in Nazareth, he was rejected.
He found the place where it is written: this paragraph is from Isaiah 61:1-2. The prophet is referring to his own mission: God sent him to the Jews in exile to announce that soon God would visit them. Yet his words prove even more appropriate in the case of Jesus who was sent in order to bring real freedom to a people waiting for it.
The phrase to free the oppressed is not found in Isaiah’s text, but Luke takes it from another text of the same prophet (Is 58:6) and inserts it here because this expression ‘to set free’ summarizes better than any other word the very work of Jesus in his mission.
Today these prophetic words come true even as you listen (v. 21). Jesus has come to inaugurate a new age in which God becomes present and reconciles people. Every fifty years Israel celebrated a jubilee year during which debts were forgiven and slaves recovered their freedom (Lev 25:10). In the same way a year of mercy from the Lord is beginning. Thus the time of promises and prophecies is over. God begins to show himself to humankind as he is: Jesus reveals the Father and the Father reveals his Son through the signs and miracles that he performs.
He has appointed me to free the op pressed (v. 18). Jesus brings real liberation to everyone since his deeds urge each one of us to live in truth: “the Son makes you free… the truth will make you free…” (Jn 8:32). The Jews, obviously, were looking first and foremost for political freedom, which is part of total human liberation. Why did Jesus not bring it? Was he only interested in “souls”?
Actually the Old Testament never promised “the salvation of souls” which is sometimes emphasized these days in various groups. Such believers think they are saving their souls and yet remain silent, or blind accomplices of the daily sins permeating all economic and social life.
The Old Testament foretold that Jesus would be the Savior of his people and of his race. His words and deeds were stirring people who had become helpless and were opening the way for human liberation at all levels, but they were like seeds and could not produce immediate fruits. Jesus had no desire to join the fanatics and vio lent among his people in order to obtain national sove reignty as oppressive as Roman domination. He was witnessing to the truth and laying the foundations for all future liberation movements.
In the same way today, if there is true evan geli zation, liberating deeds are seen and free persons appear, able to liberate others.
He has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor (v. 18). See commentary on Luke 6:20.
Then Luke explains why the people of Nazareth rejected Jesus:
– First, because of their pride: a stranger easily dazzles us, but we fiercely deny that one of us could stand out or be our teacher: who is this but the son of Joseph? See commentary on Mark 6:1.
– Secondly, because of their selfishness: they do not agree that God’s benefits should be shared with others. So Jesus reminds them that the prophets of old did not limit their favors to their compatriots alone (see 1 K 17:7 and 2 K 5).
• 31. See commentary on Mark 1:21.
• 42. Jesus is a model missionary. He no soon er gathers a few believers together than they want to keep him for themselves, either because they see in him a true pro phet, or want to form a true community under his guidance.
Jesus, however, leaves the task of shepherding (in the sense of guiding a specific community) to others, because he has many more people in mind still awaiting the Gospel.