Luke 4

http://www.esvbible.org/Luke+4/

Following His baptism, the Holy Spirit filled Jesus, and led Him in the desert. Matthew said the Sprit led Him into the desert, and Mark says that immediately after the Holy Spirit filled Jesus, the devil took Jesus out to the desert. While Jesus is out there for forty days, He eats nothing. When the devil comes to tempt Jesus, Jesus is very hungry. The devil tells Jesus to turn a stone into bread, but Jesus quotes Scripture against the devil. This example is one reason it is important to memorize Scripture. When life comes to tempt you, throw Scripture at it not only to put it at bay but also to remind yourself what you need to do and who you serve. Next, the devil shows Jesus great kingdoms and tells Him that the kingdoms are under the devil's command, and if Jesus bows down to him, the devil will hand them over to Jesus. Jesus remembers He only bows down to God, and He uses Scripture again against the devil. Another interesting note about this part is that the world is the devil's domain. He has command over the things of this world, and that is why Paul says that when we have our Salvation, we are no longer part of this world. Jesus breaks the devil's hold on us, and we are Jesus' domain. This is why immediately after baptism, the tempting becomes the worst, even for Jesus. After we are filled with the Holy Spirit, the devil comes trying to break that bond, but we must remember that God is stronger, and God is our strength. We must remember the promise we made Him that He is the only one we will worship. No other name shall be higher than His. Finally, the devil takes Jesus to the top of a temple and tells Him to jump because Scripture says the angels will come and protect Him. That's right. The devil knows Scripture, and he will take it out of context and out of place to tempt us. Jesus uses a different Scripture against the devil saying that we should not tempt or test God. Luke says that the devil tempted Jesus in every way but did not succeed. He left Jesus until another time. The devil won't leave you alone after round one. He will be after you as long as you stand with God. If you have no struggles with sin in your life, that means you are already in the devil's pocket.

Jesus traveled around teaching in synagogues for a while. Then, He returned home. On the day of worship, He went to the synagogue and read Scripture. He read from Isaiah where the prophet speaks of  one who has the Spirit of the Lord to tell Good News. He is sent to heal and forgive. Then, Jesus closed the book and handed it back to the attendent. Everyone watched Him, so He told them that the passage came true on the day they heard Him read it. The people were amazed. They asked each other if that was Joseph's son. Jesus told them that prophets are always rejected in their hometowns. Elijah lived in a time of many widows, but God sent Elijah to a widow outside of Israel. Elisha lived in a time of skin disease, but God only used him the cure a Syrian. This made the people in the synagogue angry, so they took Jesus to the edge of the cliff, where they intended to throw Him over, but He simply walked past them because it wasn't His time. Everything has to happen according to God's time, and if it looks like it's not, God will fix it so that it stays on track. Jesus knew this, so He spoke the truth to the people, and God blessed Him for it.

Jesus spoke in a synagogue on a day of worship when a demon possessed man came up to Him and asked Him what He wanted. The demon said he knew who Jesus was and called Him the Holy One. Jesus ordered the demon to stay quiet and leave the man. Then, it happened, and the man remained unharmed. The people who witnessed this were amazed that Jesus could give a command to a demon, and the demon would obey. News about Jesus spread to nearby villages.

Jesus went to Simon's (who later becomes Peter) house. There, he sees Simon's sick mother-in-law. The family asked Jesus to help her, and He cured her. She got up and made a meal for them. Then, everybody brought their sick to Jesus to be healed. The faith of Simon's family is amazing because they may have heard stories from the nearby regions, but Jesus had not been in action where they lived yet. Still, they had faith that He could heal the sick. Then, as soon as the woman is better, she gets up and serves Jesus. That is what we all should do. When we find our salvation, and Jesus brings us to life, we should immediately serve Him. Later, demons come to Jesus and shout that He is the Son of God, but Jesus commands them to be silent.

In the morning, Jesus went to be alone. It is important to be alone with just God. It refreshes the soul. Then, the people searched for Him. When they found Him, they tried to keep Him from leaving, but He told them He had to go spread the Good News in other cities.