Luke 4
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Important: This is not a translation or paraphrase, but a story based on Luke 4.
[Note: In the word pronunciations I have made the vowels with a Long Sound bold while the vowels with a short sound are in normal print. Academic Associate students know that the "u" has 3 long sounds. These sounds are separated from each other with a 1, 2 or 3. Sometimes a vowel does not have a sound in a syllable. In dictionaries this is usually shown with a "ə" but I have chosen simply not to show it since it has no sound. Also, when the "r" says it name instead of its normal sound, I have put it in bold. Academic Associate students, of course, know why and when it says its name instead of its sound.]
Satan Tempts Jesus
God, the Holy Spirit, fully lived in Jesus. When Jesus returned from His baptism, the Holy Spirit told Him to go into the desert. There, for forty days, He was tempted by the devil. During that time He ate nothing. When the forty days were finished He was very hungry.
The devil said to Him, "If you are the Son of God, as You claim, tell this stone to be made into bread so you can eat it and not be hungry."
Jesus answered, "The Word of God says 'Man shall not live by bread alone."
The devil then led Him up to a high place and showed Him in an instant all the countries of the world. The devil said, "These all belong to me, because Adam gave them to me. I can give them to anyone I want to. I will give them to You and You can rule them however You like and enjoy all their glory and riches. All You have to do is worship me and it is all Yours."
Jesus answered, "The Word of God says, 'Worship the Lord your God and only serve Him."
Then the devil took Him to Jerusalem [Ju ru2 su lum] and had Him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If You are the Son of God, as You claim, throw Yourself down from here. After all, the Word of God says, 'God will command His angels about You to carefully guard You. The angels will lift you up in their hands, so that You will not hit Your foot against a stone.'"
Jesus replied, "The Word of God also says, 'Do not test the Lord your God."
After that the devil left Jesus and went to wait for a better time to tempt Him again.
Jesus Rejected In His Hometown
Full of the Holy Spirit, Jesus went back to Galilee [Gal u le]. The news about Him excitedly spread through the entire countryside. Jesus taught in their synagogues [sin u gogs] and everyone liked Him.
Jesus went to His hometown of Nazareth [Naz u ruth]. On the Sabbath day He went into the synagogue as He did every Sabbath. While there He stood up to read from the Word of God. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah [I za u] was handed to Him. He unrolled it and found the place where it is written:
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because He has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to tell the prisoners they are free,
the blind that they can have their sight back,
the oppressed that they are released from their burdens,
and to tell everyone that now is the time of the Lord's favour as He smiles on them."
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Then Jesus rolled the scroll up, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. Everyone in the synagogue was watching Him closely. He said to them, "Today this Scripture [skrip chr] has come true. It has happened even as You were listening to Me read." All spoke well of Jesus and were amazed at the gracious words He spoke, but they whispered among themselves, "Isn't this just Joseph's son?" |
Jesus, knowing what they were whispering, continued speaking, "I know you will quote this proverb to Me: 'Doctor, heal yourself.' You will want Me to do here what you have heard I did in Capernaum [Ku pr ne um]. I tell you the truth, no prophet is accepted in His hometown. Consider the fact that there were many widows in Israel [iz re ul] in Elijah's [I li ju's] time, when it did not rain for three and a half years causing a severe famine in the entire land. Yet Elijah was not sent to anyone in Israel, but to a widow in Zarephath [zer u fath] in the region of Sidon [Si dun]. And remember, there were many people in Israel with leprosy [lep ru se] during the time of Elisha [I li shu] the prophet. Not one of them was healed. The only one healed was the foreigner [for u nr] Naaman the Syrian [Sir e un]."
Now all the people in the synagogue were furious [fu1 re us] at Him. They were so angry that they grabbed Him and took Him out of town to the top of a hill. They intended to kill Him by throwing Him off the cliffside. But the Holy Spirit protected Him and Jesus was able to slip into the crowd and leave.
An Evil Spirit Recognizes Jesus
After the scene in Nazareth, Jesus returned to Capernaum, a town in Galilee. There on the Sabbath He began to teach the people again. His message had such authority and power that the people were amazed.
In the synagogue that day there was man who was allowing a demon to live in him. While Jesus was speaking the demon yelled out through the man, "Hey! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know Who You are - the Holy One sent by God!"
"Be quiet!" Jesus responded sternly. "Come out of him now!" The demon caused the man to collapse on the ground in front of everyone, but came out without hurting the man.
The people had never seen anything like that before and they were stunned. They said to each other, "What kind of teaching is Jesus giving? He speaks with authority and power. He can even give orders to demons and they come out!" The reputation of Jesus spread quickly throughout the surrounding area.
Jesus Heals Many People
Jesus left the synagogue and went to the home of Simon. Now Simon's mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever. They asked Jesus to help her. He bent over her and rebuked the fever. It instantly left her and she was healed. In fact, she felt so good she got up right away and went back to being the hostess to her guests.
When the sun was setting, people brought to Jesus all kinds of sick people. Jesus laid His hands on each one and healed them. Even demons came out of people shouting, "You are the Son of God!" But Jesus rebuked the demons and would not let them speak because they knew He was the Saviour of mankind.
Early in the morning, just as it was getting light, Jesus went to a lonely place. The people began looking for Him. When they found Him they tried to keep Him from leaving because they saw He wanted to go elsewhere. But Jesus told them,"I must preach the good news about the country of God in other towns, too. That is why I was sent here." And He went on preaching in the synagogues of Judea [Ju2 de u].
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