At the end of Luke 3 we see Jesus having just been baptised and full of The Holy Spirit. The first part of this chapter will be familiar to many of us. The account of Jesus being tempted by the devil over a period of forty days. Each time the devil offers Jesus a worldly prize, Jesus’ response is to quote from the bible. Thus, He thwarted the devils' feeble attempts to cause Our Lord to stumble and be sinful. We should never feel that we have been disobedient to God when we are tempted, as we all surely will be or have been. The sin only occurs if we give in to the temptation before us. The other thing to note from this account is that it could only have come from Jesus himself. There were no others present during this time so he must have recounted it to his disciples personally.

From this wilderness experience Jesus begins His ministry proper. He visits Nazareth, where he had been raised.  But rejection follows swiftly after he reads from the scroll of Isaiah, and announces to His listeners that the scripture he had read was fulfilled at that moment.  Announcing His divinity was too much for the listening Nazarenes and they take Him to a cliff top, intending to throw Him off of it. He walks through them supernaturally and leaves, having earlier stated ‘no prophet is accepted in his hometown’ (v.24).

Next stop is Capernaum, where He drives out an impure spirit and as a result many with afflictions are presented to Him and He heals time after time. His mercy was endless and remains everlasting. What a wonderful saviour we have.

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Thought: 

When we are tempted, can we reject it with the words of Jesus?  Do we know God’s word well enough to be able to do this?  Do you read your bible and learn from it?

Prayer: 

Dear Lord Jesus. Thankyou Lord for your willingness to heal your people throughout the ages. Please help me to learn as I read your word, and when temptation comes, help me to use what I have learned from you and about you, to resist that temptation. Amen.