Unshaken: Chapter a Day

Luke 4 Discussion

• Pastor Plek

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Tempted in the wilderness, nearly thrown off a cliff by his hometown, and swarmed by crowds in need—Luke 4 is a fast-moving portrait of Jesus that exposes our deepest pressures and reveals a larger, braver grace. We walk through the chapter’s turning points to show how Satan’s stale playbook still targets the same three fault lines—lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—and how Jesus answers each with Scripture instead of spectacle.

From Nazareth’s synagogue to Capernaum’s streets, we trace why public faith is polarizing, why Jesus silences demons who speak true words at the wrong time, and how authority without compassion is not his way. The stories of the widow of Zarephath and Naaman the Syrian push the boundary wider, confronting our tribal reflexes and reminding us that God’s mercy is not a private club. Along the way, we explore practical tools for resisting temptation, living with Scripture-shaped reflexes, and embracing a mission that includes the people we’re tempted to exclude.

If you’re wrestling with hunger for relief, craving status you can see, or the urge to control outcomes, this conversation offers clarity and courage. Hear how Jesus wields the Word, frees the oppressed, heals the sick, and keeps the mission moving to those who need it most. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs hope today, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway or question—we’d love to hear where Luke 4 meets your life.

Text us at 737-231-0605 with any questions.

Pastor Plek:

And welcome back to a chapter day. Keeps the devil away. I'm Pastor Plack, along with Jacob Lawland, our favorite DTS student, and he is sharing with us wisdom that he's been gleaning as we look at Luke chapter four. We're gonna outline it. We're gonna find some uh uh some observations and then get some interpretations and finally land the plane with some application. All right, so uh verses one through thirteen, we look at the temptation in the wilderness of Jesus. Classic story. Then Jesus starts his ministry and is rejected in Nazareth in verses 14 through 30. Then we see his authority that just wows people in verses 31 through 37, and then he has a his healing and then a missions focus that he is gonna go to those whom he was sent to in verses 30 through 44. All right, now let's look at some of this and what observations can you make?

Jacob Laldin:

Yeah, the first observation that I see is just Jesus was tempted, right? We see that in in Hebrews 2. Uh, and I'm, you know, how was he tempted? And man, I see it right here. It's pretty clear. Uh, being tempted by the devil, right?

Pastor Plek:

Yeah, I uh he's tempted by the devil, and then how about this? Uh the devil leaves him for an opportune time, which means he's coming back, which I was like, what's that about? Um, and uh that would be frustrating if the devil departs and I have to battle him again. But apparently, our life is gonna be uh consisting of a lot of battling the evil forces in darkness.

Jacob Laldin:

And it's cool to, and so like that's kind of the second thing I see. It's like all throughout chapter four, uh, Jesus is constantly rebuking and casting out demons. Like there's a lot of demons with the main one himself, or starting with the main one himself, Satan in this chapter.

Pastor Plek:

Right. No, you think it's wild. He's always telling the demons to be quiet. I would think it'd be like kind of cool publicity to have demons, you know, here's the son of God. But then as the more I think about it, if only demons are championing you as a son of God, I'd probably want them to be quite quiet.

Jacob Laldin:

Yeah, that's fair. Yeah, and so it wasn't his time.

Pastor Plek:

Yeah, how about this one? The rage and murder is what fills people's hearts when Jesus preaches. And so when you see people publicly preaching or sharing gospel truth in a public forum, it's gonna cause some people to repent, bow down, and worship. It's gonna cause others to want to kill you.

Jacob Laldin:

Yeah, I think that that is fascinating. Like, I think about like street preachers and stuff like that, and a public worship and like a public reading of scripture, and it's super polarizing. Anytime that you're out there worshiping, reading scripture, preaching publicly, you're gonna see some crazy things.

Pastor Plek:

Right. And because remember, Jesus isn't just a good teacher, he's claiming to be the son of God, which makes you choose a side. Either he's a son of God, a liar of the worst kind, or a Looney Tunes wacko. All right. All right. That's where you have to draw the line, or he's the Lord who is king of all. Uh, what else do you see here?

Jacob Laldin:

Yeah, I see these three temptations uh diving into the interpretation side. Each of them seemed to be relating to us in a way, or like we can draw something from them. They're each distinct in their own way. I think this first one here um is like the lust of the flesh. Like Jesus, he was human just like we were. He got hungry. I mean, 40 days fasting without food, and he ate nothing during those days. Like he's fully human. Yeah. It it says he was hungry. Like, I'd be hungry too. I'd I would be dead. Um and so like his flesh uh is super attempted uh in the same way like ours is like Jesus, he gets it. And then in the second one, uh like he's tempted to put God to the test, like as if you know he's he's tempted to uh control God, to make God do what he wants it to do in the same way we think that we can we are tempted to be God, like we want to be the one who's uh who's running the show, we want to be in charge, and like that's our pride. Yeah, I've heard it said all sin comes from pride, thinking that like we know better or we can do better than God. Right.

Pastor Plek:

And I love what you brought up the lust of the flesh for the for the bread, the lust of the eyes of worship. If he just worships uh Satan, he'll get all that he can see, and then the pride of life, like putting God to the test. And we all do that, but that's also from 1 John 2, 16. These are uh everything the world, the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, pride of life, comes not from the Father, but from the world, and who's the prince of the power of this world? Satan. Boom. And we see it right here in Luke 4. Yeah, okay. Let's talk about uh some other things that we're seeing. How about uh some just the nature of man that we're getting here? How about people are easily enticed by power and provision? Like I love that the you know, the Jesus is being tempted, he's tempted in every way, just like we are. So Satan isn't trying to bring in something specific to Jesus, he's going to the very thing that every human being is tempted by. And I appreciate that. So the lust of the eyes, or lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life are what every person deals with. And Satan doesn't have a more complicated playbook for us. It's the same stuff repackaged over lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes. Like you should get pleasure in this way, lust of the flesh. You should have control, you should have more stuff, lust of the eyes. Pride of life. Everyone should recognize that you're just a little bit better than everybody else.

Jacob Laldin:

Yeah. And you know, it makes me think of uh Ecclesiastes, there's nothing new under the sun. Like we think, like, man, like we have it so much harder today as if 2,000, 4,000, however many years ago, that uh humans weren't dealing with the same temptations, they just look different.

Pastor Plek:

How about this? We have a natural distrust of outsiders, and here's what I mean by that. When Jesus brings up uh that Elijah went to um uh he went the the widow that he went to was not of Jewish context, that they made them lose their minds. Like, and this happens with Paul whenever he's you know in Acts 22 and he's he's sharing you know the gospel, and then this is made known to all the Gentiles, they all the Jewish people lose their minds that the gospel, the good news of God, would be accessible to the rest of the world and all in all their heathenness. And I and I know none of us like if you're listening to this, you're not coming from a Jewish context, most likely, but there is a part of it we don't want other people that are different than us to experience the life of Christ, or there's a little bit of like what them? I don't think you understand how bad they are, and and I think that's what's really helpful about the gospel.

Jacob Laldin:

Yeah, it's it's interesting how he talks about uh the widow and Naaman right after uh he he brings up this this or he he reads from the scroll that's like Isaiah's uh a prophecy, uh, or God's prophecy through Isaiah that he sent me to proclaim uh a liberty to the captives, uh, to give sight to the blind and give a freedom to those who were oppressed. Like it wasn't just for the Jews, even though he came first for the Jews, and then he like exemplifies that in the old testament, which is it's like a cool foreshadowing.

Pastor Plek:

All right, let's get into some um uh truths about the character of God. First one for me, God empowers against evil. In other words, Jesus was fully equipped, even as a human being, obviously fully God, fully man, that never changes, but he was fully equipped as a human to triumph over Satan with simply God's word, which is the sword of the spirit.

Jacob Laldin:

Yeah. I love that. I think not only does he triumph in that way, but like he triumphs over our flesh. Like Jesus goes and he heals Mary, like she probably wasn't a demon possessed here. She just has a a fallen body and she gets sick. Yeah, and Jesus, he's he's bigger than that as well.

Pastor Plek:

I love it. How about God extends grace the most inclusive way for people all over the world? Everyone has an opportunity to repent and come and experience the goodness and grace of God. Even if you're uh a Syrian like Naaman, even if you're like the widow that Elijah ministered to, Old Testament, and Jesus takes Old Testament Testament references of God working in the past to show how God is working in the contemporary, to even how God is working today, that God would that we are called to make disciples of all nations, baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe everything that Jesus commanded. Uh, what about some application here?

Jacob Laldin:

Yeah, I think place our hope in Jesus. He is against evil, he is about uh casting out demons and bringing us healing. Like he is here to uh give those who are poor a good news that uh a savior has come. Is that what we used to call it?

Pastor Plek:

Sin to avoid, a promise to claim, example to follow, command to obey, or knowledge to believe. Knowledge to believe. That Jesus is who he says he is.

Jacob Laldin:

Yeah.

Pastor Plek:

I like that. Um, how about example to follow? Use scripture to defeat temptation and the lies of Satan.

Jacob Laldin:

Yeah, I love that's exactly.

Pastor Plek:

I think if we know God's word, which is why we're listening to a chapter a day, we are going to be empowered to defeat Satan at every turn. So let's keep reading his word, keep praying alongside the Spirit and watch him work in our lives. Hey, thanks so much for uh watching and listening. We'll see you next time on a chapter a day.

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