Devotions

The Holy One of God

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Luke introduces the genealogy of Jesus because the messiah was to come from the lineage of David and the savior of the world had to come from the lineage of Adam. Jesus is fully man, but by virgin birth, in Luke 1:35 “holy, the Son of God”. Jesus went to his home town and was rejected. Then teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum, he was recognized by a demon in Luke 4:34 “Ha! Leave us alone, Jesus the Nazarene! Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”” The people began to hear and came for healing and pressed him with their needs. Jesus pulled away in Luke 4:43 “But he said to them, ‘It is necessary for me to proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because I was sent for this purpose.’” There are times when need presses on us but we must choose purpose. 

The Son of Adam, The Son of God

Luke 3:23-38
This is the genealogy of Jesus and the reading of genealogies is daunting even for the most dedicated. And, in fact, there are some differing opinions about the details between this account and Matthew 1:1-17. So we will summarize here with a few commentary notes that show Jesus is fully man, born flesh and blood as we all are and born of God without the seed of sin from Adam, holy. As the angel said to Mary in

Luke 1:35 “And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore also the one to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.

  • “Some commentators suggest that Matthew gives the royal line of descent from David, while Luke names the priestly descent, for Jesus is King and Priest.”1
  • “On comparing the two genealogies, it will be found that Matthew, writing more immediately for Jews, deemed it enough to show that the Saviour was sprung from Abraham and David; whereas Luke, writing more immediately for Gentiles, traces the descent back to Adam, the parent stock of the whole human family, thus showing Him to be the promised “Seed of the woman.””2
  • “It (Luke) stresses the real humanity of Jesus. It stresses the fact that he was truly one of us. He was no phantom or demigod. To save humanity he became in the most real sense a human.”3
  • “to Luke, he (Jesus) was the possession of all peoples, because his line is traced back not to the founder of the Jewish nation but to the founder of the human race. Luke removes the national and racial boundaries even from the ancestry of Jesus.”3
  • “(Luke) is speaking of a virgin birth, and we have no information as to how a genealogy would be reckoned when there was no human father. The case is unique.”4

For a full treatment see “The Atonement” and search sinless: https://books.logos.com/books/1738

Being Tempted by the Devil

Luke 4:1-13

He Began To Teach

Luke 4:14-15

The Spirit of the Lord Is Upon Me

Luke 4:16-21

Truly I Say to You

Luke 4:22-30 

The Holy One of God!

Luke 4:31-37
Jesus had just been in his home town and they had rejected him. Now, he is in Capernaum in Luke 4:31 “teaching them on the Sabbath”. In Luke 4:32 “they were astounded at his teaching, because he spoke with authority”. This wasn’t the norm because “When the Rabbis taught they supported every statement with quotations. They always said, ‘There is a saying that …’ ‘Rabbi so and so said that …’ They always appealed to authority. When the prophets spoke, they said, ‘Thus saith the Lord.’ Theirs was a delegated authority. When Jesus spoke, he said, ‘I say to you.’ He needed no authorities to buttress him; his was not a delegated authority; he was authority incarnate”.5

But though the people in the synagogue were “astounded”, they didn’t recognize him as the son of God. Instead, in

Luke 4:33-34 “a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, 34 “Ha! Leave us alone,l Jesus the Nazarene! Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”

How is it that this demon recognized Jesus for who he was? This isn’t the only place where demons recognized him, see “what. Luke 4:41; Luke 8:28. Matthew 8:29. Mark 1:24, 34; 5:7. James 2:19”.6

Here is a truth of the kingdom of God, we are naturally spiritually blind, separated from God. But there is a spirit realm where God resides with his heavenly creatures (Revelation 5:11). We are also told in

Ephesians 6:12 “our struggle is not against blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

These spiritual forces do have a place in the spirit realm so could immediately see and understand the authority of Jesus Christ who simply said in Luke 4:35 “Be silent and come out of him!”. There is an authority we have as the sons and daughters of God because in

Colossians 2:15 “When he had disarmed the rulers and the authorities, he made a display of them in public, triumphing over them by it.”

 

The Crowds Were Seeking Him

Luke 4:38-44
This may have started like any other Sabbath with a visiting Rabbi (teacher) who after the synagogue in Luke 4:38 “he went to Simon’s house” where they would share a meal together. But this wasn’t any other Sabbath, Jesus had cast out a demon at the synagogue and now, “Simon’s mother-in-law was inflicted with high fever”. They didn’t have anti-biotics or medical treatments like we have today but in Luke 4:39 “he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. And immediately she got up and began to serve them”. This was unheard of, she was healed and the people all around heard and in

Luke 4:40–41 Now as the sun was setting, all who had those who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and placing his hands on every one of them, he healed them. 41 And demons also were coming out of many, crying out and saying, “You are the Son of God!” And he rebuked them and did not permit them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ.

The crowds pressed in Luke 4:42 “And the crowds were seeking him”. But Jesus broke away from the pressing need because he had a different purpose in

Luke 4:43 “But he said to them, ‘It is necessary for me to proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because I was sent for this purpose.’”

Study Verses

Today’s Reading

  • Luke 3:23-38
  • Luke 4:1-44

References

  • 1. Just, A. A. (Ed.). (2005). Luke (p. 69). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
  • 2. Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 2, p. 102). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
  • 3. Barclay, W. (2001). The Gospel of Luke (p. 50). Louisville, KY; London: Westminster John Knox Press.
  • 4. Morris, L. (1988). Luke: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 3, p. 119). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
  • 5. Barclay, W. (2001). The Gospel of Luke (p. 61). Louisville, KY; London: Westminster John Knox Press.
  • 6. Blayney, B., Scott, T., & Torrey, R. A. with Canne, J., Browne. (n.d.). The Treasury of Scripture knowledge (Vol. 2, p. 43). London: Samuel Bagster and Sons.