Luke 4
Luke 4 (NKJV)

Satan Tempts Jesus

1Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,

2being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.

3And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”

4But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’ ”

5Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

6And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.

7Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”

8And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”

9Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here.

10For it is written:
‘He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you,’

11and,
‘In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ”

12And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ”

13Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.

Jesus Begins His Galilean Ministry

14Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region.

15And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

16So 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 to read.

17And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. 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 has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;

19To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

20Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him.

21And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

22So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”

23He said to them, “You will surely say this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in Your country.’ ”

24Then He said, “Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country.

25But I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land;

26but to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath, in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.

27And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”

28So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath,

29and rose up and thrust Him out of the city; and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff.

30Then passing through the midst of them, He went His way.

Jesus Casts Out an Unclean Spirit

31Then He went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbaths.

32And they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was with authority.

33Now in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon. And he cried out with a loud voice,

34saying, “Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”

35But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him in their midst, it came out of him and did not hurt him.

36Then they were all amazed and spoke among themselves, saying, “What a word this is! For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.”

37And the report about Him went out into every place in the surrounding region.

Peter’s Mother-in-Law Healed

38Now He arose from the synagogue and entered Simon’s house. But Simon’s wife’s mother was sick with a high fever, and they made request of Him concerning her.

39So He stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. And immediately she arose and served them.

Many Healed After Sabbath Sunset

40When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them.

41And demons also came out of many, crying out and saying, “You are the Christ, the Son of God!” And He, rebuking them, did not allow them to speak, for they knew that He was the Christ.

Jesus Preaches in Galilee

42Now when it was day, He departed and went into a deserted place. And the crowd sought Him and came to Him, and tried to keep Him from leaving them;

43but He said to them, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent.”

44And He was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee.

I John 3:5
I John 3:5 (NKJV)

5And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin.

Scripture readings

Devotional 📖

In Luke chapter 4, we see a possessed man who comes into contact with Jesus begging Him to leave their city. He calls Him “the Holy One of God”.

The greek word for holy is “haigos” which means “different”. That which is sacred, physically pure, morally blameless, and religiously consecrated is holy. Jesus being “holy”, means that He is unique, set apart and like God. Only God is holy. To be holy means you operate in that God-class of morality and spiritual likenesses, above the things of this world. 

It’s interesting that in Luke’s storyline, this altercation comes after the temptation of Jesus. We see how detrimental it would have been for Jesus’ mission, authority and identity if He had fallen to the temptation of Satan. It also causes us to realise that small temptations we give into, directly affect our authority in this earth and our ability to walk as God does. 

The fact that demons, who are completely anti-Christ, acknowledge that He is without sin should cuase us confront our unbelief when it comes to the identity of Christ. If even demons, and the pharisees (John 8:46), could not point out one sin in Jesus, then we must too believe He is holy. Why? Because Him being without sin is what makes the cross so powerful. Knowing Jesus lived a holy life makes us so much more confident in the atoning power og the cross.

Jesus took on our sins as the Holy One of God. He didn’t die for His own benefit but for ours. He could not have taken away our sins if He had sinned. You have been set free from the bondage of sin, death, hell and the grave! 

The truth of Jesus is that He is the holy one of God. 

Prayer 🙏

Lord, thank you for living an obedient life so you could die an obedient death. Make me holy as you are holy. Conform me into your image today.

In Jesus name,

Amen