Luke listened, saw, and believed in the Lord of the kingdom Paul was proclaiming. Luke then listened more, interviewed witnesses, collected words, and sorted what he heard; then he organized and wrote it. I believe that like the prophets before him the Holy Spirit led this Greek, this Gentile, as he proclaimed Jesus. He gleaned from Matthew, Mark, Mother Mary, and countless others the narratives he writes to build faith in people for centuries. Thank you, Luke.
Chapters 1 – 3 are the formal introduction of Jesus with some background history. Luke 4 is the beginning of His ministry; it also has some connections to Israel’s past when they were in the wilderness after being called from Egypt. His baptism connects with the journey through the Red Sea and the forty days in the desert mirrors the forty years it took for Israel to get to the Promised Land. This is the first of two special forty-day periods in Jesus’ life. This story is also in Mark 1 and Matthew 3-4.
Our Lord’s return to Nazareth is interesting. (Luke uses Nazareth more than any other Gospel writer.) His return to Galilee (the Northern Kingdom) is important. Matthew quotes Isaiah twice about these locations: Isaiah 9:6 is in Matthew 4:15-16 about the land of Zebulun and Naphtali and an obscure mention to Him being called a Nazarene. The root word for Nazareth/Nazarene is netzer which means branch. So, Isaiah 11:1, Zechariah 3:8, and Jeremiah 23:5 are those prophetic announcements. (See post below.) Second, I think there were safety issues; not only staying away from Herod, but the rulers in Jerusalem. Third, this is the land of the Northern Kingdom. Think of the promises to Israel in the writings of the prophets who lived in the shadow of Assyria; this is the fulfillment of many of those, like Nahum 1:15a. Forth, massa, like Isaiah 53:3 had to happen, Luke records the rejecting starting in Nazareth.
The Holy Spirit is a key figure in Luke 1-4; He is part of the action 12x. When Jesus is baptized, Luke 3:21,22, the Trinity is all there; the Father speaks and the Holy Spirit physically lands on Jesus in the form of a dove. Why? Luke 4:1 has Jesus “full” of the Holy Spirit at the Jordan and then the Spirit led Him into the desert; verse 14 Jesus returns “in the power” of the Spirit to Galilee. Luke 4:1-30 has four displays of the Spirit’s gifts that I will point out.
- When Jesus took control of the questions from Satan, He had a logos of wisdom and used God’s Word to answer.
- In verse 23, He had a logos of knowledge about the people and their thinking.
- Verse 24-27 was a prophetic message about things He was going to do. He went to the region of Sidon and helps a woman with her child, Mt 15:21 and Mk 7: 24-30. In verse 27 is story of a leper, who was the enemy; Jesus healed a leper in Luke 17:15 from Samaria. Elijah and Elisha had done the first miracles.
- Jesus walked through an angry crowd and ‘went on His way’! Walking through an angry crowd that liked to throw rocks, untouched, is miraculous. That gift is not listed in 1 Corinthians 12 or Romans 12; okay, maybe the gift of miraculous powers. It was not the only time He did this, John 8:59 and 10:39. Peter was escorted out of prison by an angel, the Apostles were released from jail in Acts 5:19, and Philip was taken from the eunuch by the Spirit in Acts 8:39.
Luke records more workings/gifts of the Holy Spirit and the offices of the five-fold ministry in the rest of Chapter 4 and 5; not a bad way to start a world changing ministry.
Nazirite, Nazareth, and Grapevines | Mark’s Bible Study
The Root, The Branch, The Fruit – The Christmas Story | Mark’s Bible Study
