Luke chapter 4
King James Version

1 And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered. 3 And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. 4 And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. 5 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. 7 If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. 8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 9 And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: 10 For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: 11 And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 12 And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. 13 And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.
14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about. 15 And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all. 16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. 17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, 18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. 20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. 22 And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph's son? 23 And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country. 24 And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country. 25 But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; 26 But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. 27 And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian. 28 And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, 29 And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. 30 But he passing through the midst of them went his way,
31 And came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days. 32 And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power. 33 And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice, 34 Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God. 35 And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and hurt him not. 36 And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What a word is this! for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out. 37 And the fame of him went out into every place of the country round about. 38 And he arose out of the synagogue, and entered into Simon's house. And Simon's wife's mother was taken with a great fever; and they besought him for her. 39 And he stood over her, and rebuked the fever; and it left her: and immediately she arose and ministered unto them. 40 Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them. 41 And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking them suffered them not to speak: for they knew that he was Christ. 42 And when it was day, he departed and went into a desert place: and the people sought him, and came unto him, and stayed him, that he should not depart from them. 43 And he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent. 44 And he preached in the synagogues of Galilee.

What does Luke chapter 4 mean?
Before starting His public preaching and healing ministry, Jesus goes alone into the wastelands near Judea. He spends forty days fasting—nearly the limit of what a human body can survive without food. This experience is driven by the Holy Spirit, but also includes temptation. Satan appears, enticing Jesus in several ways. All three temptations involve turning away from God's plan, seeking something easier or quicker. In one instance, the Devil even cites Scripture, twisting the meaning. Jesus resists these attempts. He maintains obedience to God and quotes the book of Deuteronomy. Parallel accounts of this experience are found in Matthew 4:1–11 and Mark 1:12–13. Having failed, Satan leaves Jesus and goes elsewhere. (Luke 4:1–13).

After enduring temptation and starvation, Jesus comes back to Galilee. This is the area north of Jerusalem, around the Sea of Galilee. There He teaches in synagogues, to great acclaim. At least one town does not approve His message: Nazareth, Jesus' childhood hometown. While visiting there, Jesus reads aloud from Isaiah. The prophecy indicates that Messiah will bring rescue, healing, and good news. When Jesus claims to be the fulfillment of this prophecy, His former neighbors react with skepticism. In their eyes, Jesus is nothing more than another Nazarene—He can't possibly be anything special (Luke 4:14–22).

Jesus knows where the Nazarenes' skepticism will lead. Critics who knew about Jesus' miracles often responded to His teaching by demanding a supernatural sign. Such ultimatums are insincere; those who won't accept the proof they've already been given aren't likely to respond to even more (John 2:18; 6:30; Mark 8:11; Luke 11:16). Jesus predicts the people want Him to repeat the same miracles He's done elsewhere. Instead, Jesus criticizes their stubbornness. He notes that at times God would withhold miracles from Israel, and instead perform them for Gentiles: non-Jewish persons (Luke 4:23–27).

At the time Jesus speaks these words, Israel was bitterly angry over being occupied by the Roman Empire. The Jewish people were deeply resentful of their national captors. When Jesus implies that the Lord is willing to speak to Gentiles—those outside of God's chosen people—the Nazarenes react with violent anger. A mob physically ejects Jesus from the synagogue and takes Him to a nearby cliff. Their intent is lethal, but Jesus can "pass through" the crowd. This is likely a miraculous escape (John 8:59; 10:39); similar events happen at other times in Jesus' ministry (Luke 4:28–30).

Luke's account is not always in order of occurrence—ancient writers often grouped events by topic rather than by timeline. At some point in Jesus' early ministry, He encounters a demon-possessed man in a synagogue. The demon recognizes Jesus as the Son of God, reacting in fear. Jesus issues a direct command, and the demon immediately leaves. The people have already been impressed by the authority of Jesus' words. Now they see the strength of His divine power. This adds even more publicity to His ministry (Luke 4:31–37).

Leaving directly from the synagogue, Jesus visits the home of Simon Peter (Mark 3:16; John 1:42). Peter's mother-in-law is so sick that she's bedridden. Luke, who knows something about medicine (Colossians 4:14), describes her fever as intense. Just as Jesus exorcized a demon with authority, He commands the woman's illness. She is instantly made well. There is no recovery process: she immediately attends to hosting duties. Since this happens on a Sabbath, people wait until sundown—which marks the start of the next day—to bring sick and afflicted people to Jesus. As Jesus heals, He explicitly forbids the demons from proclaiming Him as Christ (Luke 4:38–41).

Being fully human, Jesus needed occasional rest and refreshment. When He attempts to take a break from His ministry, the people living near Simon Peter follow Him. Though healing and preaching are good things, God's plans for Jesus involve much more than one small area. He recognizes the need to choose what is "best" over what is merely "good." Jesus plans to travel around the region, so He politely refuses to stay in one place for long (Luke 4:42–44).