Luke 4:41-44

     Among the healings accomplished were more viewed as demons leaving the suffering. Luke tells us that Jesus rebuked them and wouldn’t let them speak because they knew who he was.
     We live in an era of mass communication where billions are spent in advertising, and many people hope to go ‘viral’ on their blogs, Facebook, twitter, etc. And some of these are not for notoriety, but for good and wholesome causes. One example is a young couple who’s blog recently became overwhelming popular as they share details of their infant daughter’s life—a life that will be cut off within 18 months from a genetic condition. They hope to raise awareness of the condition that is the number one genetic killer of infant children. The Monterey United Methodist Church and most churches on the net would appreciate becoming well-known and expand their witness through the Internet or other modern forms of communication.
     Because of the era in which modern people live, the attempt of Jesus to keep a low profile may seem strange. Although he doesn’t explain it here, we can only presume that his reasons were good and appropriate to the specific circumstances in which his ministry took place.
     He appears to have been talking with the people and responding to their needs throughout the night. At daybreak he went to a deserted place. He did this periodically, for rest and prayer. Not only is this a reminder of his human needs. The importance of taking time for renewal is modeled by Jesus. He took time for rest, for prayer and reflection. Not that he was selfish about it. When people came to him and interrupted the time he had found, he still responded to their needs. The people came to him here also; they must have sensed that he was planning to leave the region and wanted to prevent him from doing so. His response was that he needed to proclaim good news of God to the other cities of Judea also because he was ‘sent for this purpose.”
     Jesus sometimes spoke words that were difficult to hear. He was honest about injustice, about the wrong of some people having enough to eat while others had none. He punctured the pretensions of hypocrisy. Those who were self-righteous and judgmental found themselves unapproved by God.
     If honestly read and applied, no one will find themselves made comfortable by Jesus’ words and example. Yet he declared as his purpose the proclaiming of good news. And who can deny that this is exactly what he proclaimed in his words and in his person, life, death and resurrection? He talked not just about life, but abundant life. He promised a thief that he would be with him that day in paradise. His cross is a sign of love everlasting. The empty tomb shone a light that shines as brightly today as it did twenty centuries ago.

What does this all say about the nature of the good news of God?


To be defined as good news, does it necessarily have to make us feel good all the time?

Luke 4:31-40

     It is unknown how large Nazareth was. Barclay assumes, from the description of it as a polis, that it could be as many as twenty thousand. Other estimates see it as having far fewer inhabitants, perhaps several hundred. Regardless of its size, it may not have been an isolated backwater. But it was not highly regarded by the rest of Israel. This may have made Jesus’ positive comment regarding Gentiles (see last week’s study), even more difficult to take. It’s difficult to be disregarded, but Israelites always had the consolation of being a people in special relationship with God.
     From his visit in Nazareth, Jesus went to Capernaum. The Interpreter’s Bible Commentary reports that it has been identified with a site on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee. In New Testament times it would have been an important point on the trade route from Ptolemais to Damascus. It would also have been a port for maritime trade. This would have made it a strategic location for the ministry of Jesus. Luke reports (7:5) that the synagogue in Capernaum was built by an officer in the Roman army.
     It was the custom of Jesus to teach in the synagogue on the Sabbath. The people were impressed by the fact that he taught with authority.
     Then Jesus is confronted by a man who is afflicted with demon possession. We see little evidence of believe in demon possession in the Old Testament, but it was widespread in the days of Jesus. The modern reader may dismiss such stories because few still believe in demon possession. It is unknown whether Jesus thought demons were real or simply didn’t challenge the belief amongst his contemporaries. In such cases Jesus seemed far more interested in results than in causes. The ‘demon’ came out of the man without causing any harm to him.
     Jesus did not restrict his ministry to calling people to moral or spiritual renewal. He met people where their needs were, and called his followers to do the same.
     The response of the people was again astonishment, for Jesus dealt with ‘demons’ or ‘unclean spirits’ with the same authority with which he had taught. His fame again began to spread.
     The next thing we hear is a simple story about an individual woman. We’re told that he left the synagogue and came to Simon’s (Peter) house. Simon’s mother was ill with a high fever and “they” asked him to do something about it. Many translations tells us that he ‘rebuked’ the fever. The fever left her and she got up to provide the hospitality that would have been so important to a woman of that (and most) eras.
     The word got out that there was a man who could help, so by the time the sun was setting, the sick were flocking in for Jesus to lay his hand upon them and heal them.
     When reading modern descriptions of many mental illnesses, it is not hard to understand why people of Jesus’ day found ‘demons’ to be a logical cause. Perhaps even for some physical illnesses. Illness itself feels foreign to the natural condition. Whether you call a harmful psychological condition, bacteria, fungus, virus or mutant cell by a scientific name or a ‘demon,’ we could still say they are invaders that we want to have ‘cast out’ of us.

Some things to think about:

Although most physical illnesses are no longer considered ‘socially unacceptable,’ the same cannot be said of certain psychological or emotional conditions. Some people of faith find it difficult even to disclose that they suffer from depression. Other conditions become more difficult. A prominent actress in the past few years won admiration for sharing stories of her sister’s struggle with mental illness. Some other actors and actresses have in the past decade or so made public their own bipolar disorders. So, could it be said that a so-called ‘demon’ today is the stigma that some people feel is attached to such illnesses. Are there ways that people of faith can allow Jesus to cast out the inappropriate attitudes and allow healthier and more compassionate ones to take their place? What physical illnesses might have the same need?

In what ways can people of faith meet people at the point of their need?

How can the modern individual respond to stories in the gospels that don’t match a scientific world view? How can the person of faith respond to those who would reject the whole of the bible because it portrays belief in things that science has disproven?

Luke 4:16-30

     In these early days of Jesus’ ministry, everyone began by thinking well of him. He was engaged from the start in a traveling ministry, going to various towns and teaching in the synagogues. During the course of this, he came to his home town of Nazareth. He may not have been living still living there; he seems to have moved to Capernaum. But Nazareth was the place where he’d been known as a child. It was a small place; everyone probably knew each other. Anyone who’s had the experience of being away from the childhood circle and then returning, may be able to sympathize with the circumstances. After all, when Jesus stood up to read in the Nazareth synagogue, he was facing people who’d seen his scraped knees, heard his mother telling him to be sure and get home in time for supper, and who saw his first childhood attempts to handle wood as Joseph taught him the carpentry trade.
     Upon Jesus’ visit to Nazareth, it was the Sabbath and it was his custom to attend synagogue worship on the Sabbath day. This comment frequently goes unnoticed, but prayer and public worship were habits for Jesus, not anomalies.
     It was the custom to stand for reading of the scriptures, then to sit while giving the sermon or commentary. The scroll would have been handed to him by the Chazzan or attendant of the synagogue. Jesus unrolled the scroll (no convenient books at that time), and chose which portion to read from Isaiah. There were no chapters and verses, these were added later to help people find things in the bible. Today we would cite the portions that Jesus read as Isaiah 61:1,2 and 58:6.
     When Jesus sat down after reading from the scroll, Luke says that all eyes were fixed on him. This could indicate an ordinarily attentive congregation, but might equally show the expectation of people who’d heard the rumors about Jesus from neighboring communities. Jesus told them this scripture had been fulfilled in their hearing. This is all that Luke reports, but perhaps there was more. In any case, the people were impressed by the quality of his words. They spoke well of him, but were confounded also. After all, this was the boy they’d seen grow up—Joseph’s son. How could one of their own be something special? (Perhaps they were influenced by their own bad ‘press.’ It seems to have even been something of a proverb, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”
     Again, more may have been said than is recorded by Luke. Jesus’ words show that he was either responding to additional comments, or that he discerned something of their feelings, for Jesus was a master in understanding human beings. He first quotes a proverb to them, that they would say, ‘doctor, cure yourself.’
     Proverbs are often difficult to understand outside the culture in which they originated. For example, the proverb from one African culture says, ‘the Marsh antelope says the marsh is under water.’ This phrase likely means little without its cultural context to explain it. It comes from a story where the Marsh antelope warns that the marsh is under water, but the other animal doesn’t believe him. The proverb intends to advise people to pay attention to those who know what they’re talking about. A modern example would be “dog in a manger.” Growing up hearing it, we know what it means without explanation. Imagine how it would seem to someone who’d never heard it before. Thus, ‘Doctor cure yourself,’ might seem relatively straightforward, but there could be cultural subtext we’re missing. The people could have been saying, ‘you’ve got a problem. You think you’re something special, but you’re as ordinary as the rest of us, so cure yourself of this delusion.” But it could also have been a challenge to prove himself. That seems to be the weight of what Jesus believes they are privately saying or thinking, that he should do in his hometown the same things they’re saying he was doing in Capernaum. There is irony in Jesus’ statement that no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown. Today we might also remember our proverb/saying that familiarity breeds contempt.
     The story Jesus tells about two foreigners receiving help in time of crisis when Israelites did not. This enraged the people in the synagogue. Luke reports that they tried to kill him, but he escaped. Matthew merely says that their unbelief kept Jesus from doing great things in Nazareth. While it seems unlikely that everyone in his home town would participate in mob violence, he clearly won little acceptance there. It is also unknown whether he ever re-visited his hometown before his death.
     The scripture Jesus chose deals with tremendous concerns – good news to the poor, release to the captives, recovery of sight, freedom for the oppressed, and the acceptable year of the Lord. Some of it is reminiscent of his parable of the sheep and the goats where he says feeding and clothing people, giving drink to the thirsty and visiting the imprisoned is the same as doing it for him. From Nazareth, Jesus engaged in an active ministry that included healing and calls to justice. (See also Matthew 11:4,5).

What do you suppose Jesus meant by saying this scripture was fulfilled?


Have your ideas ever been dismissed because people knew you too well?


How can his followers today help to continuing fulfillment of Isaiah’s words?

Luke 4:14-15

     These two verses tell us about the beginning of Jesus' ministry.  He had a great sense of God's spirit and power as he returned to Galilee.  People started talking about him.  Jesus began teaching in the synagogues and Luke tells us that he was praised by everyone.
      A brief interlude before opposition began.  Jesus, of course, was always loved by more people than he was hated.  But those who disliked him had the power and the disposition to work for his death.  At this point, that is three years or so in the future.  He was accepted as a teacher in the synagogues, which might be why some scholars have suggested he was considered a Pharisee.  (The speculation has been that this is why the Pharisees were so angry with him; they felt he'd turned against his own). 
     As this is written, it is the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter.  It seems strange to look back in his ministry and see a time before controversy, before any talk of opposition and crucifixion.  In the musical, Jesus Christ, Superstar, there is a haunting song that Mary Magdalene and the disciples sing after his arrest.  They ask the question, 'could we start again, please?'  No doubt, as the slow weary day after the crucifixion passed, their thoughts did turn back to the time when the reports were all good.  They considered the excitement of getting to know this remarkable man.  How amazing to think he wanted them as disciples!  They thought that, now, it had all come to this...his agonizing death upon a cross.  Judas, who might have found forgiveness for his actions, could only despair and take his life.  The rest of them hid in fear, depression and grief.
      But as it turns out...the good beginning was outshone by the glory of Easter.

What do you feel is important to remember when going through difficult times?

Luke 4:5-13

     This is being posted a day early, due to commitments on Saturday.
      The first temptation Jesus faced was bread – or you could broaden and symbolize that to material advancement. This first temptation isn’t for something dreadful. Everyone needs food. Under normal conditions, Jesus would eat and drink. In fact, he’d be criticized for doing so by people who couldn’t be satisfied that John abstained and that Jesus enjoyed the pleasures of the earth.
     But Jesus knew there is a time and place for everything. He was tempted to use his unique identity for personal enrichment and declined the temptation.
     The second temptation is for power. Worship evil or simply worship power, neither one merits the devotion. Jesus understood that only God deserves that central place and service in our lives.
      Finally, Jesus is offered the temptation to throw himself from the temple for God to rescue. Wouldn’t that have created a stir? Hollywood producers would be panting at the opportunity to get that kind of notoriety.
      It would have been tempting to think of the good that could come of such an event. Surely people would really pay attention to someone who could pull off such a feat. Yet, Jesus declined, saying it was wrong to “test” God.
     Throughout his ministry, Jesus would try to minimize the spectacular. He asked people who were healed to refrain from sharing the news. And it’s undeniable that miracles didn’t seem to be producers of faith. If they had been, then the disciples would have been paragons in that arena and they certainly weren’t. The efforts of Jesus were bent toward changing hearts.
     This story would also seem to indicate that acts of faith are not the same as engaging in reckless behavior in order to prove either human faith or God’s power. The student who fails to study for a test and then asks God to take care of it could be one example. What about medical care? What of risk taking even for good causes? At what point is it faith or bravado? Only the individual can sort that out on his or her own faith journey.
     In summary, it could be said that the temptations Jesus faced were three that are common to many humans: material advancement, power and fame. Jesus didn’t say these were necessarily wrong in themselves. But he was clear that they could not be central priorities, nor could they be acceptable if pursued in the wrong manner or for the wrong reasons.
     The thirteenth verse says that Satan departed to wait for a more opportune time. In essence then, we hear that temptation was not over. Few temptations are dealt with and never faced again. While we hear little about the further temptation that Jesus faced, it is a reminder of his humanity.  He was like us and we can become more like him - humanity not distorted by wrong choices.  As Holy Week begins in a few days, it seems especially important to remember his humanity, that he suffered and died on our behalf.


Where in your life do you experience the types of temptations that Jesus faced?
Can you apply some of the wisdom of Jesus to those temptations?
How easy would it be to rationalize giving into temptation?
How do you recognize the rationalizations?

Luke 4:1-4

     Here we begin looking at the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness.
     First of all we hear that he returned from the Jordan, full of the Holy Spirit.
     For most of us there is often a period of high feelings after a spiritual experience.  Of course, emotion and spirituality are not necesarilly the same thing.  There have been a few evangelists who mistakenly attempted to create an emotional high and thought of it as spirituality and there is sometimes even an implication that this euphoria is a necessary part of faith. The difficulty with this is that it is unrealistic. Human emotions vary for many reasons, some of them are biological. For the same reason, depression, though regarded by some as a failure of faith, is generally unrelated to the strength of our belief. Thus, although the mountain-top spiritual experiences are wonderful, it is rare for the euphoria that comes with it to last. If an individual equates that with faith, when he/she comes down off their “high,” they may assume that their faith has somehow failed. (Take a look at Elijah in the wilderness to see an example of someone whose faith was great, but whose emotions pitched from high to low.) 
     It is interesting that Jesus, coming from his spiritual experience at baptism was immediately led into a much more difficult time in the wilderness.  We don’t know exactly what the emotions of Jesus were after his baptism. The comment that he was full of the Holy Spirit seems to reflect what would have been a deeply moving mountain-top experience with all of the high emotions that can come with it. But then the spirit leads him immediately into the wilderness for a time of fasting. It is as if he was not allowed to bask in the joy of the experience, but had to face the realities of life and humanity.
      The scriptures make it clear that Jesus was as fully human as the rest of us, including the experience of temptation to be less than we should. Here, Jesus is hungry from a prolonged time of fasting, and he’s offered food. In effect, he’s told, if you’re really God’s beloved, if you’re really what you heard God say when you were baptized, then it must come with special powers. Use those powers to turn stones into bread.
     The temptation almost sounds innocuous. After all, there’s nothing wrong or sinful about food. As Luke relates the story, it was his own choice to fast, so eating wouldn’t be wrong. Yet Jesus, weak and hungry, his human body craving the physical sustenance of life, recognized something. The real temptation wasn’t simply to eat or not to eat. It was to use his power, his unique identity, for himself. It would be to choose the route of earthly kings who thought much of themselves and less of the needs of their people.
     In the years past, the Israelites had had no king, but they wanted one. They wanted a traditional king to rule their country just like all other kingdoms around them. The prophet warned them that they’d be sorry, but they insisted anyway. They received a king and were indeed sorry. Even David and Solomon, the kings of golden memory, taxed hard and impressed people into service, and much of it was to support their own pleasures and ambitions.
      Now, here is Jesus, who is reminded of his power and the ability to use it for his own benefit. His response? That it is written that we do not live by bread alone. His “no” was more subtle and thoughtful than some human rejections of temptation. His answer was grounded in the wisdom of tradition and the thoughts shared and written by others. This might be good advice for many of us in facing temptation—not to depend solely upon how we feel or what we want in the present moment, but to seek the wider wisdom available to us.
     Since this was a private experience, and yet is known to us, Jesus must have shared the story with his disciples.


In what way was the temptation of Jesus symbolic of other kinds of human temptations?
What forms of wisdom and support can you seek in the face of temptation?
Why do you think Jesus shared the story of his wilderness experience with his disciples?
How does knowing that Jesus was tempted also help you?

Luke 3:22-37

     We hear that when all the other people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized also. Luke slips the comment in as though it was a subject of no great matter, yet follows with this wonderful story of the Holy Spirit descending like a dove and a voice from heaven commending Jesus as God’s son. Was it something everyone heard? Was it a personal vision Jesus later shared with his friends and family? It is often assumed it must have been witnessed by many, but it is also questioned whether, if many had experienced it, there would have been more “buzz” about it.
     Spiritual experiences are hard to explain, to quantify or objectify. Many people never try to describe theirs, because no matter how genuine and life-changing it might be, it sounds strange when described with limited human words. We are familiar with the story of Jesus and it is described so simply it makes sense to us, whether or not it was experienced by Jesus or by many.
     Especially notable in the story of the baptism is the comment that he was praying. Prayer seems to have been natural and meaningful to Jesus, and so obviously helpful to him, that his disciples would note it and ask him to teach them to pray also.
     Luke goes on to tell us that Jesus was about thirty years old when he began his work. John tells of an occasion when people challenge Jesus saying, “you are not yet fifty years old…” Jesus’ age was approximate. What is clear that he began his work as a mature adult, not as a youth.What was he doing until then? Jesus may have been taking care of his younger siblings. Because Joseph isn’t mentioned, it can be presumed that he had passed away by this time. If there were younger children in the home, Jesus as the eldest son, would have taken on that responsibility for their livelihood. We note that some traditions hold that the siblings of Jesus mentioned in the bible were step-brothers and sisters, from an earlier marriage of Joseph. This is never explained, only that there was a family life and his siblings wanted him back home with them, which seems to indicate they had lived together in strong family relationship.       
     The details of the immediate family of Jesus are probably of greater interest to us than to the writers of the gospels, who were concerned primarily with telling the good news. Luke and Matthew both give genealogies of Jesus. Both trace through Joseph, although giving different lists. Some people assume that Matthew as tracing Joseph’s ancestry, as the legal father of Jesus, and that Luke was actually tracing Mary’s. It matters little whether the lists agree or whether anyone believes that genealogy can actually be traced to Adam. Matthew’s emphasis was apparently to show Jesus’ identity as an Israelite, although it is often noted that he included non-Israelites such as Rehab and Ruth in the list (notable also that they were women). Luke, by tracing it back to Adam seems to be stressing the humanity of Jesus in common with all other humans.

Have you experienced a spiritual moment?
Have you ever tried to describe it?