14 Feb - Luke 4

Happy Valentine’s Day. Today for the Tattoo Church Reading Plan we are in Luke chapter 4. Here are some thoughts:

1. Luke starts out by talking about how Jesus went out in the desert for forty days and was tempted by the devil. If that story sounds familiar it’s because you read it back in January when we were reading Mark 1 but here we get a more detailed account of it. Also Luke tells us during this time Jesus did not eat. The Bible tells us in other places that we should fast to draw closer to God and since Jesus was being tempted by the devil himself it would make sense that he needed to be extra close to God. I know that sounds a little strange but honestly that’s not that weird.
2. Then we read of Jesus going back to his hometown of Nazareth and went into the synagogue to teach the people. The synagogue was the name of the building for Jewish religious meetings, kind of like a church building is today.
3. Jesus clearly tells them his purpose in being born; “to preach the good news to the poor . . . to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed . . .” I’m sure many were thinking Jesus was speaking of physical things but I think it is more likely that Jesus was speaking of spiritual things; the poor in spirit, prisoners of religious systems that hinder true relationship with God, those who cannot see the truth and those oppressed by religious leaders who misused the system for their own benefit. The Bible does not say explicitly but the life of Jesus shows us that he did come for all of these things.
4. Finally, Jesus told the people he would not be welcomed in his hometown because he refused to do miracles for them. Then the people took Jesus to a cliff to throw him off and kill him. Obviously Jesus was correct in the whole “I wont be accepted in my hometown” speech. 
5. After this we read of Jesus liberating a man who was oppressed by an evil spirit and then Jesus went on healing many people.
6. The interesting thing is in verse 42 we read that Jesus went off early in the morning to be alone with God. Jesus had a practice of often going out to get alone with God. This should be a clue for us to do the same. If Jesus took time to be alone with God, how much more do we need to?

Do you think Jesus was talking about physical or spiritual needs of the people in verses 18 and 19? What about Jesus’ practice of getting solitary time? Is this something you practice? If not how do you think it would help you and your relationship with God? Time alone to refocus has application even if you don’t believe in God. Do you think it would help improve your relationship with others? If so how? Finally, if you do not practice this how can you start doing so?