Luke 4:31-44

Butler's Comments

SECTION 3

Validation of the Son of Man's Authority (Luke 4:31-44)

31 And he went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And he was teaching them on the sabbath; 32 and they were astonished at his teachings for his word was with authority. 33And in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon; and he cried out with a loud voice, 34Ah! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God. 35But Jesus rebuked him, saying, Be silent, and come out of him! And when the demon had thrown him down in the midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm. 36And they were all amazed and said to one another, What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out. 37And reports of him went out into every place in the surrounding region.

38 And he arose and left the synagogue, and entered Simon's house. Now Simon's mother-in-law was ill with a high fever, and they besought him for her. 39And he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her; and immediately she rose and served them.

40 Now when 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, You are the Son of God! But he rebuked them, and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ.

42 And when it was day he departed and went into a lonely place. And the people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them; 43but he said to them, I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also; for I was sent for this purpose. 44And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.

Luke 4:31 Pronouncements: Luke has a different chronology of this early Galilean ministry than that of Matthew and Mark. Matthew and Mark list the healing of the demoniac, Peter's mother-in-law, and the masses after the miracle of the fishes and the call to discipleship of the fishermen (cf. Matthew 4:13-22; Mark 1:14-20). Luke places the healing ministry before the call of the fishermen (cf. Luke 5:1-11) We believe Luke had some reason for varying from the chronological order. Perhaps Luke did so to offer an explanation for the basis of such ready acceptance of Jesus-' call by the fishermen. Whatever the case, after leaving the unbelieving, murderous mob at the hills of Nazareth Jesus went down to the coast of the Sea of Galilee and the city of Capernaum. Jesus followed His custom of going to synagogue services on the Sabbath and finding opportunities there to teach. People were astounded at His teaching. The Greek participle exeplessonto is from the verb plesso which means to be struck. The people were exceedingly mentally stricken with His teaching!

In both manner and content Jesus continually astounded people by His teaching (cf. Luke 2:48; John 4:29; John 7:14-15; John 7:46; Matthew 7:29). Mark 1:21, parallel to Luke 4:31, adds, ... for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. Prophets said, Thus saith the Lord. Rabbis and scribes said, Thus saith the Rabbis and the traditions. Jesus said, I say unto you! The endless human traditions and officious pronouncements of the rabbis, which they elevated above the Scripture (cf. Matthew 15:1-20; Mark 7:1-23), were monotonously and wearily repeated. But rather than bring men the mercy and forgiveness of God such teaching bound on them a burden they were unable to bear. The practical heart-searching words of Jesus were in direct contrast with the pointless minutiae and hair-splitting arguments of the rabbis. When men listened to Jesus, they said: Yes, He is right, that is so! The truth Jesus uttered was authoritative and men knew it. This is still true! Even though this period of the ministry of Jesus is marked by the working of many miracles, it does not seem that His ordinary preaching and teaching needed any such supernatural testimony to enable it to stand on its own merits as being authoritative. Today, take any teaching of Jesus and proclaim it anywhere in the world, and the common consciousness of humanity knows the teaching is true. That is because the teachings of Jesus are absolute truth.

Luke 4:32-41 Powers: This is the first confrontation of Jesus and demons in the record of Luke. There are interesting things to learn from this event. First, it is significant that Luke, the physician, does not question the reality of demon possession. Next, we observe some interesting things about the demon: (a) he was attending synagogue service; (b) he was called an akathartou (unclean) demon which means religiously unclean or unholydemons are beings who wish to have nothing to do with holiness, purity, goodness or righteousness but whose sole desire is evil and hurtfulness; (c) he was compelled to acknowledge the fact that Jesus was God's Holy One; (d) he was terrified of Jesusthe Greek expletive ea (Ah!) is an oath or shriek of fear; (e) he convulsed the man he possessedGreek, rhipto, meaning, throw with a sudden jerking motion (Mark 1:26, Gr. has sparaxan, from which we get the English words spasm and spastic); (f) the demon obeyed Jesus immediately.

Jesus-' actions toward the demon manifest His complete sovereignty over evil spiritual beings: (a) Jesus charged (Gr. epetimesen, meaning literally, exercised His honorship upon) the demon to come out of the man; (b) Jesus forced the demon to be silent (Gr. phimotheti, be muzzled); (c) The people testified that with authority (exousia) and power (dunamei) Jesus commanded (epitasseithe same Greek word which may also be translated, subjected or subordinated) the evil spirit; Mark (Luke 1:27) adds testimony that the evil spirit obeyed Jesus. Reports (Greek, echos) of Jesus-' fame echoed throughout all the surrounding region. The people said, This is a new teaching! (Mark 1:27). Jesus-' absolute authority over demons was so superior to the ineffectual superstitions of the exorcists it was totally unique.

Exorcists of that day believed the air was populated by evil spirits, and that on certain occasions they entered into men through food and drink. The Egyptians held that there were thirty-six parts of the human body, any of which might be entered and controlled by evil spirits. Some of the rabbis believed that since demons were invisible if one put sifted ashes on the threshold of the house, their footprints might be seen in the morning, prints like those that a chicken might leave. One rabbi, in order to protect himself against demons, always took a lamb with him every time he went to the bathroom since they attacked animals as well as human beings. Such superstitions are used by modern critics to attack the credibility of the biblical record of demon possession. They say Jesus was a victim of these superstitions of His day.
One of the following conclusions must be true concerning the reality of demons as mentioned in the Gospel accounts. No other possibilities exist, and only one of these may be true: Either,

a.

Jesus did cast out real demons as the texts represent, or,

b.

Jesus did no such thing and the accounts are entirely false, or,

c.

Jesus did go through the motions and the pretense of casting demons out, while He knew there were no real demonsHe was a charlatan, or,

d.

Jesus was as ignorant and superstitious on this subject as the people and honestly thought He cast out spirits in healing sicknesses.

Which of these views fits the facts and the testimony? Jesus never made a statement in connection with demons which has been discredited by the progress of human knowledge. Modern thought is now not so certain that demon-possession is a mere superstition. There is no apparent organic reason for many illnesses (as attested by psychiatry and psychosomatic medicine). We know far too little about the relationship between the spiritual and physical realms to arbitrarily deny the historicity of the Gospel accounts of demon possession.

The New Testament discusses demons under the following headings: (a) Demons are Satan's messengers (angels), Matthew 25:41; 1 Corinthians 6:3; 2 Corinthians 12:7; 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 1:6; Revelation 9:11; Revelation 12:7; (b) Demons are unclean spirits Matthew 8:16; Matthew 8:28; Matthew 12:45; Matthew 10:1; Mark 5:1-2; Mark 5:13; Mark 1:23-28; Mark 3:11-30; Mark 6:7; Mark 7:25; Mark 9:14-20; Luke 8:27-30; Luke 4:33-36; Luke 10:17-20; Mark 9:17-25 (dumb spirit); Acts 16:16 (spirit of divination). Demons have these personality traits:

a.

They are knowledgeable; Matthew 8:29; Mark 1:34; James 2:19.

b.

They can speak; Luke 4:33-41; Mark 3:11-12; Mark 5:7.

c.

They are fierce; Matthew 8:28; Matthew 17:14-21; Mark 9:14-29; Luke 9:37-43.

d.

They did great harm to people; Matthew 12:27 ff; Matthew 9:32; Mark 9:14-29.

e.

They did no good at all; John 10:21.

f.

They need a body to inhabit; Matthew 8:28 ff; Matthew 17:14-21; Mark 9:14-29; Luke 9:37-43.

g.

They may be many in number; Mark 5:9.

h.

They fear Christ; Mark 1:24; Luke 4:34; Matthew 8:28-33; Mark 5:1-20; Luke 8:26-39.

i.

They often lead men to indulge in speculations about demons and inspire division within Christianity; 1 Timothy 4:1; James 3:13-18; 1 John 4:1-3; 1 Corinthians 10:19-22; Revelation 16:14, etc.

We know from the divine record that demons abide:

a.

In heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12).

b.

In the air (Ephesians 2:2).

c.

In the earth (Job 1:7).

d.

In the sea (Matthew 8:32).

e.

In bodies of men (Matthew 12:43; Ephesians 2:2).

f.

In kings and potentates of the world (Daniel 10:13-20; Revelation 16:14).

g.

In bodies of animals (Mark 5:13).

h.

In waterless places (Luke 11:24).

i.

Reserved in chains under darkness (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 1:6).

j.

In the abyss (Luke 8:31).

Where does the Christian stand in relation to demons? First, Satan and his demons have been conquered by Christ (Luke 10:18; John 12:31; John 16:11; Colossians 2:15; Hebrews 2:14; 1 John 3:8; Matthew 12:29). Satan and his angels have been bound and limited by Christ who brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. But, like an insane army general who is defeated but will not quit until he is slain, Satan and his messengers are still active in the lives of men who love darkness (Acts 10:38; Ephesians 4:27; Ephesians 6:11, 2 Timothy 2:26; James 4:7; 1 Peter 5:8; 1 John 3:8; 1 John 2:13-16; 1 Corinthians 7:5; 2 Corinthians 4:4; 1 Timothy 5:15; 1 John 4:1; 1 Timothy 4:1; James 3:15; Acts 5:16; Acts 8:7; Acts 16:16; Romans 8:15; 2 Timothy 1:7; 1 Corinthians 2:12; Ephesians 6:12; Ephesians 3:10; Romans 8:38). Demons do exist! They cannot live in Christians because the Holy Spirit dwells in them. Christians are engaged in a cosmic struggle with the hosts of wickedness and the kingdom of darkness from which they have been transferred. Christians need the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6:10 ff; 2 Corinthians 10:3-5). Greater is He that is in Christians than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4; 1 John 5:18-19; 1 John 2:14).

The New Testament is quite cleardemon possession was a reality. Ignorance on this matter is not in the mind of God or Christ but in ours.
Immediately after the incident with the demon-possessed man Jesus left the synagogue and went to Peter's home in Capernaum. Peter's mother-in-law lay sick with a great fever (Greek, megalo puretopureto is the word from which we have the English, pyre or pyrotechnic, and means fire). Ancient physicians (including Galen, 130 A.D.) divided fevers into two classeslittle and great. Considering the total lack of insecticides and poor hygienic methods, becoming infected with some great fever (such as malaria, typhus, pneumonia, etc.) was an every day, possibility. Luke's use of the imperfect Greek verb sunechomene (lit., was being seized with) may indicate that her fever had seized her for a long timeperhaps a chronic malady. Doctor Luke watches Jesus through the eyes of a physician and describes Jesus as going in, standing over the patient and taking her by the hand. But there the normal bedside manner ends. Jesus rebukes the fever. He charged the fever (epetimesen, as with the demon) exercising His honorship upon the fever and it left her. Immediately (with no time necessary to recuperate or regain strength) she arose and began to serve the house guests of her son-in-law. It was a miraculous healing.

That evening, as the sun began to set toward the Mediterranean Sea, literally hundreds of people (so many it appeared to be the whole city of Capernaum) gathered outside the door of Peter's house with people ill from all kinds of diseases and those possessed of demons. They wanted Jesus to heal them. Luke uses the Greek adjective hekasto (each) to qualify the noun hen (one). He means to say that Jesus healed each and every single one there who had an illness or was demon-possessed. Christ's healings contrasted with modern pseudo-healers reveals the following:

a.

Jesus did not heal for notoriety; Matthew 8:1-4; Matthew 9:27-31; Mark 3:7-12; Mark 7:31-37; Mark 8:22-26, etc.

b.

Jesus healed all sorts of afflictions. One so-called faith-healer is known to have selected through screening only forty out of seven hundred who came to him for healing.

c.

Jesus never indicated healing was to be universal. Four times He healed many; once He healed ten; three times He healed two at once; twenty-three times He healed one person; often He healed only one of many present who were ill.

d.

Jesus did not use auto-suggestion or hypnotism in His cures.

e.

Jesus did not indicate healing was to be appropriated by all who appropriate the atonement provided by His death,

f.

Jesus healed only Jews with two possible exceptions (Matthew 15:21-28; John 4:46-54).

g.

Jesus never discouraged the use of physicians and medicines.

h.

There was never a question about the affliction of anyone Jesus healed.

i.

There was never any question, even from enemies of Jesus, whether the afflicted were healed or not.

j.

There was never a case of relapse when Jesus healed a person.

k.

Jesus performed no partial healings.

l.

Jesus did not make faith a uniform condition for healing.

m.

There were never any failures by Jesus to heal anyone He intended to heal.

n.

Jesus specialized in extreme cases (even death).

o.

No one ever found Jesus guilty of fraud in His healings.

p.

Jesus never asked patients to ignore their symptoms.

q.

Jesus never failed to heal all in a group when He proposed to heal a group.

r.

Christ's healings were invariably instantaneous.

s.

Compassion was not the ruling motive with the Lord.

Jesus refused to let the demons cry out that He was the Son of God. He did not want and did not need verification from demons that He was God's Holy Son. The Greek text portrays Jesus being very emphatic in silencing the demons. All too soon the enemies of Jesus would be accusing Him of working miracles by the power of the devil.

Luke 4:42-44 Purposes: Mark tells us that after the crowds dwindled away from Peter's door, Jesus slipped away in the very early morning hours (while it was still dark) (Mark 1:35) to a lonely place to pray. He is probably driven to seek solitude and prayer to resist the temptations that would come with such popularity. The crowds kept on seeking (epezetoun, Greek imperfect tense) and kept on trying to detain Him (kateichon, imperfect). It is evident that attending to people's physical necessities made Jesus extremely popular. He could have been crowned king had He exploited. His miraculous power for this end (cf. John 6:14-15). But Christ's primary purpose is not to heal and feed physical bodies which are ultimately doomed to dissolution and death. The primary purpose of His ministry and kingdom is the regeneration of the spiritual man. He makes that plain when He says, I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also; for I was sent for this purpose.

Luke's note, And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea, (Luke 4:44) seems to disagree with Matthew (Matthew 4:23) and Mark (Mark 1:39) who say Jesus went throughout Galilee. This disagreement may be due to scribal error. While the Sinaiticus, Vaticanus, Ephraemi and Old Syriac manuscripts have Judea, the Alexandrinus, Bezae, Vulgate, and Peshitto Syriac (and others) have Galilee, for Luke 4:44.

STUDY STIMULATORS:

1.

Do you think of the devil as a real person? What do you think of the powers he is said to possess? How much time do you think we should devote to studying about him?

2.

Why did God create the human body with certain vulnerabilities?

3.

What was the first vulnerability the devil attacked in Jesus? How did Jesus overcome the temptation? May we overcome the same way?

4.

What human vulnerability did the devil attack next in Jesus? Are you subject to the same vulnerability? Have you ever been tempted in this? How did you overcome?

5.

What human vulnerability did the devil attack last? Have you ever succumbed to the philosophy that the end justifies the means?

6.

Why did Jesus seek out synagogues to proclaim His mission and message? What kind of service would be conducted in a synagogue?

7.

How did Jesus interpret Isaiah 61:1-2 to the people of Nazareth? What kind of interpretation did they expect?

8.

What did Jesus mean by the proverb, Physician, heal yourself.

9.

How is Jesus-' authority demonstrated in His teaching?

10.

Do you believe demons are real? Why?

11.

Why can-'t demons possess Christians?

12.

What are some significant differences between the miraculous healings performed by Jesus and those of pseudo faith-healers today?

13.

Was Jesus-' primary purpose that of compassion in His healings? If not, why did He heal?

Applebury's Comments

His Ministry in Capernaum
Scripture

Luke 4:31-44 And he came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And he was teaching them on the sabbath day: 32 and they were astonished at his teaching; for his word was with authority. 33 And in the synagogue there was a man, that had a spirit of an unclean demon; and he cried out with a loud voice, 34 Ah! what have we to do with thee, Jesus thou Nazarene? are 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 demon had thrown him down in the midst, he came out of him, having done him no hurt. 36 And amazement came upon all, and they spake together, one with another, saying, What is this word? for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out. 37 And there went forth a rumor concerning him into every place of the region round about.

38 And he rose up from the synagogue, and entered into the house of Simon. And Simon's wife's mother was holden 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 rose up and ministered unto them.
40 And 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 demons also came out from many, crying out, and saying, Thou art the Son of God. And rebuking them, he suffered them not to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ.
42 And when it was day, he came out and went into a desert place; and the multitudes sought after him, and came unto him, and would have stayed him, that he should not go from them. 43 But said unto them, I must preach the good tidings of the kingdom of God to the other cities also: for therefore was I sent,
44 And he was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee.

Comments

And he came down to Capernaum.Capernaum became the center of Jesus-' ministry in Galilee (John 2:12). It was located on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. It was thus situated more than six hundred feet below sea level; that's why Luke says He came down to Capernaum. Jesus taught in the synagogues of Capernaum and performed miracles there. It became the object of His wrath because of the stubborn rejection of the evidence that should have led to repentance. He said, And thou Capernaum, shalt thou be exalted unto heaven? thou shalt go down unto Hades: for if the mighty works had been done in Sodom which were done in thee, it would have remained unto this day (Matthew 11:23). See also Luke 10:13.

astonished at his teaching.Matthew calls attention to this same reaction after the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 7:28-29). Jesus was unlike other teachers who had to rely on other sources for their authority; He spoke from His own authority, for He spoke the words of God.

a spirit of an unclean demon.Demons are spiritual beings without bodies. They have all the attributes of personality. They are under the control of Beelzebub, the prince of demons (Luke 11:15). They are unclean. They have a desire to be in a body and did actually take up residence in the bodies of living people. On one occasion, when driven out of the human body, they were permitted to enter the bodies of swine. They are thought by some to be evil angels, and by others, the spirits of the wicked dead.

Demon possession was manifested in at least three forms in biblical times: (1) extreme mental illness (Luke 8:26-27); (2) physical illness such as blindness, inability to speak, epilepsy (Matthew 17:14-18); and (3) soothsaying powers (Acts 16:16-18).

If there is such a thing as demon possession today, it cannot be claimed with real assurance, for no one is equipped to accurately diagnose such a case. Jesus, of course, was able to distinguish between the effects of demon possession and the symptoms of physical or mental illness. It is worthwhile to note the difference between His technique in handling cases of demon possession and in miraculous cures of those who were physically or mentally ill.

he cried out with a loud voice.This may suggest fear or a desire to be let alone. Coupled with the loud voice, this expression may indicate a symptom of mental illness, but there is insufficient evidence in this case of demon possession to classify it accurately.

what have we to do with thee?These spirits or demons knew that they had nothing in common with the Lord, for their prince was the devil. The plural we may suggest that more than one demon was using the speech organs of the possessed man. See Luke 8:30.

I know thee.Demons recognized Jesus of Nazareth. They knew that He, in contrast to their prince, was the Holy One of God. They knew that they were destined for destruction. They knew that Jesus is the Son of God and they knew that He was the Christ (Luke 4:41). It is not strange that there is no record of a demon possessed person confessing that He is the Christ, for that would mean that the demon was acknowledging Him as Lord whereas the prince of demons is the devil.

Jesus rebuked him.He rebuked the demon by saying, Be quiet and come out of him. This is an order given to a being capable of understanding and obeying. When Luke says that He rebuked the fever (Luke 4:39), there is no suggestion that he considered the fever in the same light. It was, of course, by miraculous power that he instantly stopped the fever and caused the temperature to return to normal. But in the case of casting out the demon, He ordered the unclean spirit or demon to leave and it did.

demon had thrown him down.Such convulsions seem to be common effects of demon possession (Luke 9:42). By the order from Christ, the demon came out, having done the man no injury.

amazement came upon all.The use of such divine power was intended to point out the deity of Jesus. In this case, Luke reminds us that those who witnessed the handling of the demon possessed man were amazed at what they saw. It also shows Jesus-' concern for those unfortunate sufferers.

There is no indication that any demon possessed person was responsible for his condition. There was no word of condemnation for this man after the demon left him.

with authority and power.Jesus had defeated Satan in the wilderness temptation by using the Word of God. But by the exercise of His divine power and authority, He defeated Satan's efforts to use demon possessed people to discredit Him before the crowds.

there went forth a rumor.The story of Jesus-' power and authority to heal was repeatedly heard throughout the whole region. This explains why the people brought all their sick and demon possessed to Him to be healed (Luke 4:41).

Simon's wife's mother.Peter's mother-in-law was sick with a very high fever. By placing this account immediately after the miracle of casting out the demon, Luke shows the distinction between a miracle of healing and one dealing with demon possession.

immediately she rose up.Luke was a trained physician. He had investigated these accounts and did not hesitate to show that a genuine miracle had taken place. She was able to minister to those present immediately after Jesus healed her.

when the sun was setting.This was at the close of the sabbath day, and the people were free to bring their sick for Him to heal. But, of course, healing the sick on the sabbath was not breaking the sabbath as Jesus later proved (John 7:23).

he suffered them not to speak.Jesus did not permit the demons to speak for Him. That was what the devil wanted them to do in order to make people believe that Jesus was in league with Satan, and thus discredit Him in their eyes. See Paul's attitude in a similar situation (Acts 16:17-18).

the multitudes sought after him.No wonder they followed Him into the lonely place where He had gone to rest and pray. In their distress, they begged Him to stay with them. But it was necessary that He preach the gospel in other cities also. The purpose of His ministry was to prepare for the kingdom of God.

And he was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee.These providentially prepared places of meeting enabled Jesus to carry on His ministry of preaching the gospel of the kingdom. Luke did not have enough room on one papyrus roll to give all the details of all these incidents, but the ones he does tell about are sufficient to let us see what an important place preaching held in the ministry of Jesus.

Summary

The chapter begins with the account of the complete victory of Jesus over the devil. With it, Luke completes the first part of his Life of Christ. In it he gives sufficient evidence to prove that Jesus is the Son of God and the Son of Man. Not even the devil with his three-fold temptation could destroy this evidence.
The temptations presented a choice between God's instructions and the propositions of the devil. Jesus could have turned the stone into bread, but without hesitation He said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone.
When the devil had completed every temptation, he left Jesus for a season. But it is quite evident that he returned many times during Jesus-' ministry to renew his efforts to defeat Him. One such instance may be seen in the effort of the people to make Him king after the feeding of the five thousand.
God had led Jesus through the Holy Spirit into the wilderness where He was tempted. Then Jesus returned to Nazareth to begin His public ministry in the little village where He grew up. He came with power performing miracles through the Holy Spirit to prove that His message came from God.
In the synagogue at Nazareth, He read from the prophet Isaiah the passage that outlined the ministry He was to undertake. When He finished reading, He said to the people, Today this Scripture is fulfilled before you. But they said, This is Joseph's son, for they didn-'t know the facts in the case. It was for people like them that Luke made a careful research of the facts and reported them to Theophilus that no one may ever need to fall into that error again.
The irate people of Nazareth would not let this One, whom they had known since He was a boy, compare them unfavorably with Gentiles. They took Him to the cliff at the edge of the city to hurl Him down to His death. But He walked through that mob as one would swim through a turbulent stream and went on His way.
Jesus went down to Capernaum which became the center of His activity for the greater part of His ministry. There He taught the people. They were astonished at the authority of His words. There He healed a demon possessed man. The report of His work spread throughout the whole district, He healed Peter's wife's mother. The people brought their demon possessed and sick to Him and He healed them all.
He withdrew to a lonely place, but the crowds followed and begged Him to stay with them. But He said, I must preach good tidings of the kingdom of God to other cities also, for it was for that purpose that I was sent. He continued preaching in the synagogues of Galilee.

Questions

1.

What is meant by full of the Holy Spirit when it refers to John? to Jesus?

2.

What is meant by led in the Spirit?

3.

What is temptation?

4.

What is the difference between temptation and sin?

5.

What did Jesus say about the longing desire for the thing God has forbidden?

6.

Why was changing a stone into bread a temptation to Jesus?

7.

Why did the devil say, If you are the Son of God?

8.

What proof is given to show that Jesus overcame temptations as a man?

9.

What did He use to defeat the devil?

10.

How is the Christian equipped to defeat the devil?

11.

Were other temptations presented to Jesus later?

12.

What does John say about all that is in the world?

13.

What are the three temptations in the wilderness?

14.

What does Matthew say about the ministry of angels after the temptation of Jesus?

15.

What is the significance of the fact that the temptation followed immediately after the baptism of Jesus?

16.

What is the significance of the evidence presented in the first section of Luke's Gospel?

17.

What is meant by in the power of the Spirit as it relates to Jesus-' ministry?

18.

What does Luke say about the fame of Jesus at this point?

19.

Why did Jesus and the apostles preach in the synagogues?

20.

What was the order of service in the synagogue?

21.

Why did He read from Isaiah?

22.

What was the response of the people to His reading? to His explanation?

23.

Why did they say, This is Joseph's son?

24.

Why did they try to kill Him?

25.

How did He escape from the violence of the mob?

26.

What place did Capernaum have in the ministry of Jesus?

27.

What was the response of the people of Capernaum?

28.

What is a demon?

29.

What distinction does Luke show between the technique used by Jesus in casting out a demon and in healing a sick person?

30.

What forms did demon possession take?

31.

Is there demon possession today?

32.

Why is there no record of a demon possessed person confessing that Jesus is the Christ?

33.

What was the response of the people to the reports of His healing ministry?

34.

Why did Jesus withdraw to a lonely place?

35.

What did He say when the people begged Him to stay with them?