Day 140 - Luke 4

From: Chapter-A-Day: Volume 3 By: Norman W. Berry

• 2 min. read • grade level: 7

V.1 Remember, and remember that the Lord Jesus is, at the same time, GOD and a Man. He always was GOD, the Son of God, but He became a Man only when He came to this earth and was born in a stable at Bethlehem in Israel. The Bible is the written Word, He is the Living Word. Read 17 words in John 1:1¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1). Now, as a Man, He felt physically everything that any other man feels: hunger, thirst, tiredness, how people treated Him, and so on. Our first verse tells us that He was “led,” and “tempted” of the devil. Verse 5 says the devil taking (or leading) Him; verse 9 says he (the devil) brought Him, and “set Him” etc. As a Man He depended entirely on God (read Heb. 4:15¹⁵For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:15)).

V.2-13 Adam had been tempted and he failed. The fruit of the tree in Genesis was said to be “good for food” the lust of the flesh, “pleasant to the eye” the lust of the eye and a “tree to be desired to make one wise” the pride of life. This appealed to Adam and he fell. Now the Lord meets the same three temptations “make these stones bread” the lust of the flesh, “all this power will I give thee and the glory” the lust of the eye, “cast thyself down from this pinnacle” the pride of life. But the Lord Jesus did not fail nor could He fail, for He was God manifest in flesh, and He was and ever is, HOLY. The Lord met each temptation with a quotation from the Scriptures (Deut. 8:3; 6:13; 6:16³And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live. (Deuteronomy 8:3)
¹³Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name. (Deuteronomy 6:13)
¹⁶Ye shall not tempt the Lord your God, as ye tempted him in Massah. (Deuteronomy 6:16)). We also have the Word of God to direct and guide us. Use it quickly when you are tempted, by the same devil! But you need to be reading it each day in order to be familiar with it.

V.16-20 In Isaiah 61:1-2,¹The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; ²To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; (Isaiah 61:1‑2) you will see that the Lord stopped reading in the middle of the sentence. Because He would bear that vengeance Himself for us! But if people reject Him, God’s vengeance will surely fall on them (Rev. 19:11-13¹¹And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. ¹²His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. ¹³And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. (Revelation 19:11‑13); John 3:36³⁶He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. (John 3:36)).

V.29 He had just begun to preach and His words were “gracious” (v. 22), yet they tried to get rid of Him, because He mentions blessings to Gentiles (vvs. 25-27).

V.33-34 He keeps on preaching and healing and blessing what a wonderful Savior!

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