PT-3 “The Message” (Luke 4:16-21)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/13/2026 7:28 PM

My Worship Time                                                                            Focus:  PT-3 “The Message”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                Reference:  Luke 4:16-21

            Message of the verses:  “And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. 17And the scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to Him. And He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

18“THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME,

BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO BRING GOOD NEWS TO THE POOR.

HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO CAPTIVES,

AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND,

TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED,

19TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.” 20And He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all the people in the synagogue were intently directed at Him. 21Now He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’”

            I will continue with MacArthur’s commentary from where I left off this morning.

            I begin looking at the second point that MacArthur speaks of, “Messiah will proclaim spiritual release to the captives.  Lost sinners imagine that they are free, and see Christianity as infringing on their right to be and do what they want to.  But that is a tragic deception; sinners are not free.  All sinners owe God an unpayable debt for violating His law (James 2:10; cf. Matt. 18:23-35), and are in bondage to ‘Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell’ (Matt. 10:28).  The lost are also in bondage to Satan (Eph. 2:1-2), ‘held captive by him to do his will’ (2 Tim. 2:26).  Satan uses their fear of death to enslave them (Heb. 2:14-15).  They are also slaves of sin (Rom. 6:6, 16-20), since ‘everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin’ (John 8:34).

            “The good news of the gospel is that God has sent His Son to free those who are in spiritual bondage.  In Isaiah 42:5-7 (God said to the Messiah,

⁵ This is what God the Lord says,

Who created the heavens and stretched them out,
Who spread out the earth and its ^[a]offspring,
Who gives breath to the people on it
And spirit to those who walk in it:
⁶ “I am the Lord, I have called You in righteousness,
I will also hold You by the hand and watch over You,
And I will appoint You as a covenant to the people,
As a light to the nations,
⁷ To open blind eyes,
To bring out prisoners from the dungeon
And those who dwell in darkness from the prison.

            Aphesis (release) means ‘forgiveness’ (it is so translated in 1:77; 3:3; 24:47; Matt. 26:28; Mark 1:4; Acts 2:38; 5:31; 10:43; 13:38; 26:18; Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:14; Heb. 9:22).  Messiah will set the prisoners free by paying the penalty for their violation of God’s law.  Through His sacrificial death God has ‘canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross’ (Col. 2:14).  As Charles Wesley expressed it in his magnificent hymn ‘O For a Thousand tongues,”

He breaks the power of cancelled sin,

He sets the prisoner free.

            “Third, Messiah’s mission was to provide recovery of spiritual sight to the blind.  Spiritual blindness is the natural condition of fallen man.  ‘They do not know nor do they understand; they walk about in darkness’ (Ps. 82:5); they ‘have eyes but do not see’ (Jer. 5:21).  ‘This is the judgment,’ Jesus declared, ‘that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.  For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed’ (John 3:19-20).  In addition to their natural blindness, God judicially blinds the minds of unrepentant sinners.  The apostle John wrote, ‘He has blinded their eyes and He hardened their heart, so that they would not see with their eyes and perceive with their heart, and be converted and I heal them’ (John 12:40; cf. Rom. 11:8).  Satan also ‘has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God’ (2 Cor. 4:4).

            “But the Messiah came ‘to open blind eyes’ (Isa. 42:7).  He is the ‘Sunrise from on high’ (1:78) who will ‘shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death’ (v. 79).  Since He is ‘the light of the world (John 8:12; 9:5; cf. 3:19; 12:46) those who follow Him ‘will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life’ (John 8:12).  Paul reminded the Corinthians that ‘God, who said, ‘Light shall shine out of darkness,’ is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ’ (2 Cor. 4:6).  ‘You were formerly darkness,’ Ephesians 5:8 says, ‘but now you are light in the Lord’ (cf. Col. 1:13).  Paul was sent to the Gentiles ‘to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in [Jesus]’ (acts 26:18).

            “Finally, Messiah came to set free those who are spiritually oppressed.  These are people overwhelmed by life’s painful circumstances, especially the wearying burden of sin and the inability to keep God’s law (cf. 11:46; Matt. 23:4; Acts 15:10).  Jesus promises such people ‘Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light’ (Matt. 11:28-30).  ‘For this is the love of God,’ John wrote, ‘that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome’ (1 John 5:3).

            “Because Jesus had already been ministering for many months, these things were already happening.  For the spiritually bankrupt, imprisoned by their sin and awaiting sentence by the Judge of all the earth (Gen. 18:25), blind to the truth, and oppressed by the heavy burden of their sins, the favorable year of the Lord had come.  The ‘day of salvation’ (Isa. 49:8) and the ‘year of redemption’ (Isa. 63:4) had arrived.

            “Stopping His reading of Isaiah 61:2 in the middle of the verse, Jesus closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down.  It was a dramatic moment, and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him wondering what His message would be.  What He said was shocking, unexpected, and unprecedented: He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Other teachers had spoken of a future fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy, but Jesus told them that they were witnessing its fulfillment before their eyes.  Salvation had come; the messianic era had begun; the Messiah was present that day in the synagogue in the person of Jesus, a man from that very village.”

5/13/2026 9:46 PM

 

 

 

 

 

 

PT-2 “The Message” (Luke 4:16-21)

 

MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/13/2026 9:43 AM

My Worship Time                                                                            Focus:  PT-2 “The Message”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                Reference:  Luke 4:16-21

            Message of the verses:  “And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. 17And the scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to Him. And He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

18“THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME,

BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO BRING GOOD NEWS TO THE POOR.

HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO CAPTIVES,

AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND,

TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED,

19TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.” 20And He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all the people in the synagogue were intently directed at Him. 21Now He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’”

            I will continue with MacArthur’s commentary from where I left off last evening.

            “As stood up to read, the book (scroll) of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him by the chazzan.  It evidently was not unrolled to any text, so Jesus opened the book and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.  He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”  He read from two passages in Isaiah, 61:1-2 and 58:6.  What Jesus read was, as His hearers were well aware, messianic prophecy.  The phrase the Spirit of the Lord is upon Me reflects the reality again that Messiah would be empowered by the Holy Spirit (cf. the expositions of 3:22; 4:1, 14 earlier in this volume).  He would be anointed by the Spirit , set apart, and empowered for special service, as Isaiah 11:2 reveals: ‘The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him [Messiah; cf. v.1], the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and the strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord’ (cf. 48:16).

            “Verse 18 succinctly summarizes the Messiah’s ministry.  Four metaphors depict the desperate condition of needy sinners whom God speaks to rescue from hell.  Though the religious in this world may imagine themselves to be rich, free, healthy, and unhindered, until receiving the salvation that Christ brings, they are in reality poor, prisoners, blind, and oppressed.  Those metaphors graphically depict their utter lack of any spiritual resources to extricate themselves from their deadly dilemma.  Only through the Messiah’s work of salvation can they be rescued from eternal punishment in hell.”

            Now I am going to add something here that I believe goes along with what we have been writing about from above.  It is a parable that Jesus told in Luke 18:9-14.

“9 ¶  He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10  "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11  The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12  I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13  But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.’”

            MacArthur then goes on:  “First, Messiah would preach the gospel to the poor.  The good news of the gospel is that the spiritually impoverished can find salvation. Ptochos (poor) derives from a verb that means, ‘to cringe,’ ‘to shrink back,’ or ‘to cower.’  It conveys the idea of a beggar cringing in the shadows, cowering in shame.  In contrast to another Greek word, penes, which describes the working poor, ptochos describes those in extreme depravation who are reduced to begging, such as the beggar Lazarus (16:20).  In spiritual terms, the poor are those who recognize that they have nothing by which to commend themselves to God (cf. 6:20; Matt. 5:3).”

(cf. 6:20; Matt. 5:3)

20 ¶  And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.”

“3 ¶  "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

“They acknowledge their moral bankruptcy, that all their righteousness deeds are nothing but a filthy garment (Isa. 64:6).  Messiah can only bring salvation to those who acknowledge that they are spiritually destitute and that only God can supply their needs.”  In other words you have to realize that you are sick so you can seek out a doctor, and Jesus is who you must seek after you realize that you are a sinful person who on his own can do nothing.

            “Spiritual poverty is not an act; it is not false piety or humility, but genuine.  The spiritually poor are ‘humble and contrite of spirit’ (Isa. 66:2); they are ‘brokenhearted’ and ‘crushed in spirit’ (Ps. 34:18).  Possessing a ‘broken spirit’ and a ‘broken and contrite heart’ (Ps. 51:17), they are like the repentant tax collector, who was ‘unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’’(Luke 18:13).”  I don’t read ahead in MacArthur’s commentary and so I can see that we were on the same page with the reference of the tax collector.  He goes on “It is such people, Jesus declared, whom God justifies (v. 14).  In contrast the Lord rebuked the members of the Laodicean church for thinking that  they were ‘rich, and [had] become wealthy, and [had] need of nothing,’  while in reality they were ‘wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked’ (Rev. 3:17).”

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I remember very well when the Lord saved me, January 26, 1974, and I was truly a sinful person who could not say a sentence without swearing.  It was on July 5, 1969 that I was drafted into the US army, during the Vietnam war, and I knew it was my duty to go but did not really want to.  During my physical they found albumin in my urine and made me go to my doctor to find out about it.  He just said the same thing that it was in my body.  After reporting to Ft. Benning I found out I had a medical hold and my prayer to the Lord was actually a deal that if He got me out of the army I would stop my constant swearing.  Well three days after getting there I was to go home because of the albumin in my urine.  After reporting back to Ford Motor Company they asked me why I  was back so soon.  I told them and they tested me again, but it was all gone, never to have it again.  My deal with God did not last too long.  I want to visit a friend in Orlando Florida who gave me some tapes by Hal Lindsey and it was through those end times tape message that the Lord saved me.  How do I know that the Lord saved me?  Well that deal I made with the Lord about stop swearing He took that away and I have not sworn again.  Praise the Lord who saved me and then put me to work writing Spiritual Diaries that He is using as His Spirit sends them around the world through the internet.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I am trusting the Lord to guide my wife to a place where they can get rid of her cancer.

5/13/2026 10:55 AM

 

 

PT-1 “The Message” (Luke 4:16-21)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/12/2026 7:36 PM

My Worship Time                                                                             Focus:  PT-1 “The Message”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                 Reference:  Luke 4:16-21

            Message of the verses:  “And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. 17And the scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to Him. And He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

18“THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME,

BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO BRING GOOD NEWS TO THE POOR.

HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO CAPTIVES,

AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND,

TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED,

19TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.” 20And He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all the people in the synagogue were intently directed at Him. 21Now He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’”

            This evening I begin what is a fairly long section from John MacArthur’s commentary on these verses.  We are beginning to look at Jesus ministry as the first three gospels deal with it, but we have learned that the gospel of John actually speaks of the first things that Jesus did after coming back from fasting in the wilderness and being tempted by Satan, and in that first section of John’s gospel we saw the first of the miracles that Jesus did, which was at a wedding in Canna where He turned water into wine. Now we will begin looking at the verses seen above and some of the things that MacArthur has to say about them.

            I know that it is the Holy Spirit that led the Bible authors to write what He wanted them to write, and so as we look at the events that Luke, through the Spirit wrote here we see that he had chosen to begin his account of Christ’s ministry, by picking out His visit to Nazareth.  Luke did so because what Jesus said on this occasion which identifies Him as the Messiah and perfectly defines His ministry.  This first of two recorded visits  by Jesus to the city where He grew up too place near the beginning of His Galilean ministry; and the other visit, recorded by Matthew (13:54-58) and also Mark (6:1-6), took place near its end.

            Nazareth was located in a hollow in the Galilean hills, just north of the plain of Esdraelon, which is about half way between the Sea of Galilee and the Mediterranean Sea.  It was an insignificant village in Jesus’ day (this city or town was not mentioned in the Old Testament, the Talmud, or by Josephus), overshadowed by the larger city of Sepphoris just to the North.  This out of the way town was where Jesus had grown up in, and I think that God picked this city out because it was out of the way so that people would not notice Jesus before His ministry had begun.  Now we know that Jesus was born in Bethlehem and later made Capernaum His hometown (Matt. 4:13), Jesus remained associated with Nazareth throughout His ministry.  (4:34; 18:37; Matt. 21:11; 26:71; Mark 1:24; John 1:45; Acts 10:38; 26:9), being scornfully called, “Jesus of Nazareth.”

            MacArthur writes “As was His custom, Jesus entered they synagogue on the Sabbath.  Wherever He was during His ministry, the Lord attended a synagogue on the Sabbath (cf. 6:6;13:10; Mark 1:21; 3:1-2; 6:2).  On this Sabbath, He was chosen to read from the Old Testament Scriptures.  Out of respect for the Scriptures Jesus, as was customary, stood up to read.  Alfred Edersheim captures the drama of the moment:

As the lengthening shadows of Friday’s sun closed around the quiet valley, He would hear the well-remembered double blast of the trumpet from the from the Synagogue-minister’s house, proclaiming the advent of the holy day.  Once more it sounded through the still summer-air to tell all, that work must be laid aside.  Yet a third time it was heard, ere the ‘minister’ put it aside close by where he stood, not to profane the Sabbath by carrying it; for now the Sabbath had really commenced, and the festive Sabbath-lamp was lit.

Sabbath morn dawned, and early He repaired to the Synagogue where, as a Child, a Youth, a Man, He had so often worshipped in the humble retirement of His rank, sitting, not up there among the elders and the honored, but far back.  The old well-known faces were around Him, the Old well-remembered words and services fell on His ear.  How different they had always been to Him than to them, with whom He had thus mingled in common worship!  And now He was again among them, truly a stranger among His own countrymen; this time to be looked at, listened to, tested, tried, used or cast aside, as the cause might be.  It was the first time, as far as we know, that He taught in a Synagogue and this Synagogue that of His own Nazareth.  (The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah [Grand Rapids; Eerdmans 1974], 1:430-31)

I think that I will end this SD here and begin with a new paragraph in tomorrow morning’s SD.

5/12/2026 8:15 PM

 

PT-3 “The Setting” (Luke 4:14-15)

 

MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/12/2026 9:36 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                Focus:  PT-3 “The Setting”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                 Reference:  Luke 4:14-15

            Message of the verses:  “And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through all the surrounding district.  And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all.

            I want to pick up where I left off this morning, as we were talking about the synagogues found in the New Testament time.  These synagogues had no full-time pastors or teacher; the policy known as the “freedom of they synagogue” and this allowed for anyone approved by the ruler of the synagogue to teach.  Thus, if a noted teacher was available, he would likely be invited to preach, as was Paul seen in Acts 13:14-15; “14 ¶  but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. 15  After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, say it.’”  Now in the absence of a guest teacher, any of the men in attendance who were approved to do so might teach.  The synagogues were ruled by elders as seen in Mark 5:22, “22  Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet.”  Now the chief of which was the archisunagogos, or ruler of the synagogue (Luke 13:14; Acts 18:8).  It was his responsibility to conduct the worship service and to approve the teachers.  There was another officer besides the ruler of the synagogue and the elders, the chazzan. He was the keeper of the scrolls of which the Scriptures were written, and was responsible for getting the proper scrolls out for each day’s reading and returning them to the chest where they were stored.  In addition to serving as places of worship, the synagogues also provided instruction for children, much like today’s elementary schools, and served as local courts.

            John MacArthur writes “The order of worship in a typical synagogue of Jesus’ day may be reconstructed as follows:

1.      Thanksgivings or ‘blessings’ spoken in connection with (before and after), the Shema: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.’

2.      Prayer, with response of ‘Amen’ by the congregation.

3.      Reading of a passage from the Pentateuch (in Hebrew, followed by translation into Aramaic)

4.      Reading of a passage from the Prophets (Similary translated)

5.      Sermon or word of exhortation

6.      The Benediction pronounced by a priest, wo which the congregation responded with ‘Amen.’  When no priest was present a Closing Prayer was substituted for the Benediction. (William Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary: The Gospel of Mark [Grand Rapids; Baker, 1975], 75-76)

 

            “Luke’s account of Jesus’ visit to the synagogue in Nazareth began with Him reading a passage from the prophets (in this case Isaiah), and then giving the exposition.”

 

Spiritual Meaning for my life today:  In reading sections like this I am happy to learn the things that were done during the time Jesus was on the earth, so that I can learn and grow in the Lord.

 

My Steps of faith for today. I am trusting in the Lord that He will guide my wife in choosing a new doctor to help her defeat this cancer in her body.

 

5/12/2026 9:59 AM

 

PT-2 “The Setting” (Luke 4:14-15)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/11/2026 11:14`PM

My Worship Time                                                                                Focus:  PT-2 “The Setting”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                 Reference:  Luke 4:14-15

            Message of the verses:  “And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through all the surrounding district.  And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all.

            I want to pick up where I left off this morning, and I believe that it will take at least one more SD after the one that I do this evening.

            “The Lord’s reply to Nathanael displayed another attribute of God, transcendence: ‘Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe?  You will see greater things than these.’  And He said to him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man’’(vv. 50-51).  Jesus’ divine transcendence provides access to heaven for those who believe in Him.”

            Now before leaving Judea, we see that Jesus made a brief detour back into Galilee in order to attend a wedding (John 2:1-11).  The site for the wedding was the village of Cana, not far from His hometown of Nazareth.  It was during the celebration the wine ran out, a glaring breach of etiquette that could have stigmatized the couple for the rest of their lives.  Jesus’ mother, Mary came to him to ask for help, so Jesus miraculously created wine, thus displaying another attribute of deity, omnipotence.  This would have been His first miracle in the book of John, and to my thinking that would have been His very first miracle. 

            Now after a brief stay in Capernaum (2:12), Jesus went to Jerusalem in order to celebrate the Passover (2:13).  This marked the start of His ministry in Judea.  Now the first recorded event of that ministry, the cleansing of the temple as seen in (2:14-17, introduced yet another of Christ’s divine attributes, His holiness.  His supernatural insight into those who expressed a shallow, false nonsaving faith in Him once again revealed Jesus’ omniscience (2:23-25).

            MacArthur continues to look at John’s gospel by writing “John’s account of the Judean ministry also focused on the message Jesus proclaimed.  That message had two essential elements.  First, He taught the necessity of regeneration, or the new birth.  In His conversation with the prominent Jewish teacher Nicodemus, Jesus declared, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God’ (3:3).  Then in verses 11-21, Jesus taught that regeneration is appropriated through believing in Him.  The familiar words of verses 16-18 summarize that truth:

¹⁶ “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him. ¹⁸ The one who believes in Him is not judged; the one who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”

            “Finally, John reveals Christ’s mission.  His encounter with a Samaritan woman showed that Jesus came to be ‘the Savior of the world’ (4:42; cf. 1 John 4:14), not merely of the Jews.  After staying ‘two days [in the Samaritan village Jesus] went forth from there into Galilee’ (v. 43).

            “Because of His extended ministry in Judea, ‘when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things that He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they themselves also went to the feast’ (v. 45).  They had been exposed to Jesus’ teaching and the miraculous signs He preformed when they went to Jerusalem for Passover.  They were ready for more.”

            MacArthur now seems to go back to Luke as he writes “Luke’s note that He began teaching in their synagogues introduces the pattern and the priority of the Lord’s ministry.  The priority for Jesus was teaching God’s Word, (cf. Mark 1:38), and throughout Luke’s gospel He is constantly portrayed as a teacher of God’s truth (cf. 4:31; 5:3, 17; 6:6; 11:1; 13:10, 22; 19:47; 20:01; 21:37; 23:5).  He is also frequently referred to as the Teacher (7:40; 8:49; 9:38; 10:25;11:45; 12:13; 18:18; 19:39; 20:21, 28, 39; 21:7; 22:11).

            “The numerous synagogues that existed in Galilee provided the perfect venue for Jesus’ teaching.  Since the minimum number of Jewish men required to form a synagogue was ten, most, if not all, of the 240 cities and villages in Galilee would have had at least one.  Some of the larger cities may have had dozens of them (according to the Jerusalem Talmud there were 480 in Jerusalem, though that number is disputed).  Synagogues were usually built out of stone, and typically faced Jerusalem.  They existed primarily for instruction in the Scriptures.  In a synagogue Sabbath service, a passage from the Old Testament would be read, followed by a teacher explaining its meaning to the congregation.”

            “The synagogues were by no means considered a replacement for the Jerusalem temple, which was the heart and soul of Judaism.  Only at the temple could the sacrifices prescribed in the law of Moses be offered and the feasts and ceremonies celebrated, not in the synagogues (there are no Old Testament references to synagogues).  But after the Babylonians destroyed the temple when they sacked Jerusalem in 586 B. C., the Jewish exiles began gathering in small groups to hear the teaching of God’s Word (cf. Ezekiel 8:1; 14:1; 20:1; 33:31).  Those informal gatherings eventually developed into the synagogues of Jesus’ time.  The Jews of the Diaspora (those who lived outside of Palestine) lacked ready access to the rebuilt Jerusalem temple.  Thus they too built synagogues, as the book of Acts indicates (9:2, 20; 13:5, 14; 14:1; 17:1, 10, 17; 18:4, 19).  The apostle Paul, like Jesus, frequently preached the gospel in those synagogues (Acts 17:17; 18:4, 19:19:8).”

5/12/2026 12:01 AM

 

               

 

PT-1 "The Setting" (Luke 4:14-15)

 

MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/11/2026 10:14 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                         Focus:  “The Setting”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                 Reference:  Luke 4:14-15

            Message of the verses:  “And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through all the surrounding district.  And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all.

            John MacArthur uses the following colorful language to begin this section in his commentary:  “Like a small door that leads into a vast art gallery, verses 14 and 15 are the entrance to a new section of portraits of Jesus in Luke’s gospel.”  Yes we are beginning a new section that Luke has written in his gospel, and this section begins the preaching and teaching of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, and Luke begins looking at Jesus’ teaching in the region of Galilee, which is the northern part of Israel, which the Lord would be engaged in for about a year and a half, which when you think about it was one half of the time that Jesus had left before He would go to the cross to die for the sins of the world.  Now let us focus in on the phrase “in the power of the Spirit” from verse 14.  MacArthur brings the following verses to help us better understand this statement:  “(cf. Acts 10:38 and the discussion of 3:22 in chapter 20 and 4:1 in chapter 22 of this volume).”

(cf. Acts 10:38)

“38  how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.”

Now as far as the discussion of Luke 3:22 you can go back to my Spiritual Diary’s dated May 1-May 2^nd of this year as there are three Spiritual Diaries written on verse 3:22.  The SD on 4:1 was written on May 6^th.

            Now “[there were 240 cities and villages in Galilee according to the first-century Jewish historian Josephus (Life] to another, proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God’ (8:1).”

(8:1)

“1 ¶  Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him,”

            MacArthur continues “Jesus’ powerful preaching and the miracles He performed created a huge sensation, so that news about Him spread through all the surrounding district (cf. 5:15), and even south into Judea (7:17).”

(cf. 5:15)

“15  But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities.”

(7:17)

“17  And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.”

“At this early stage in His ministry Jesus was praised by all.  Galilee was not a large region, and Jesus would have thoroughly blanketed it in the year and a half of His ministry there.  Perhaps that is why, as some have speculated, the Lord’s commission of the apostles in Acts 1:8 refers to Judea and Samaria, but not to Galilee.  The Galilean ministry will be the focus of Luke’s gospel from verse 14 through verse 50 of chapter 9 (cf. Matthew 4:13-18:35; Mark 1:14-9:50).

            “It might appear from reading Luke’s account, as well as the parallel histories of Matthew (4:12) and Mark (1:14), that the Lord’s ministry in Galilee began immediately after His baptism.  That was not the case, however.  There was an interval of about a year between Jesus’ baptism and the beginning of His Galilean ministry.  While the Synoptic Gospels are silent about that year, which Jesus spent ministering in Judea, the gospel of John describes in in detail (chapters 1-4).”

            MacArthur then goes on to write about John’s gospel in a fairly long paragraph which I will quote as I finish this morning’s SD.

            “In keeping with John’s purpose in writing his gospel (John 20:31), his account of Jesus’ Judean ministry focuses on revelations that Jesus is God.”

(John 20:31)

“31  but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

“After His baptism and temptation, Jesus returned to the vicinity of the Jordan where John was continuing his baptizing ministry.  When he saw Jesus, John exclaimed, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’ (1:29).  On the following day John pointed out Jesus to two of his disciples (Andrew and John) and repeated his declaration, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God!’ (v. 36).  ‘Two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus’ (v. 37).  Later in that same section Philip introduced Nathanael to Jesus.  Nathanael was startled by His greeting, ‘Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!’  (v. 47).  To Nathanael’s question, ‘How do You know me?” Jesus gave an even more astonishing reply, one that revealed His omniscience:  ‘Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you’ (v. 48).  Overwhelmed by Jesus’ supernatural of him, ‘Nathanael answered Him, ‘Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel’’(v. 49).”

Spiritual Meaning for my life today:  Knowing that Jesus is God, and knows everything it gives me confidence that He is leading my life to do the things that pleases Him.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I am trusting the Lord to show my wife where He wants her to go to receive better cancer treatment as things are getting worse by the day.

5/11/2026 11:25 AM

           

 

Introduction to “Jesus Returns to Nazareth” (Luke 4:14-30)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/10/2026 11:07 PM

My Worship Time                                         Focus:  Introduction to “Jesus Returns to Nazareth”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                 Reference:  Luke 4:14-30

            Message of the verses:  “¹⁴ And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through all the surrounding region. ¹⁵ And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all.

¹⁶ And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. ¹⁷ And the scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to Him. And He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He anointed Me to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent Me to proclaim release to captives,
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set free those who are oppressed,
¹⁹ To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”

²⁰ And He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all the people in the synagogue were intently directed at Him. ²¹ Now He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your ^[e]hearing.” ²² And all the people were ^[f]speaking well of Him, and admiring the ^[g]gracious words which were coming from His ^[h]lips; and yet they were saying, “Is this not Joseph’s son?” ²³ And He said to them, “No doubt you will ^[i]quote this proverb to Me: ‘Physician, heal yourself! All the miracles that we heard were done in Capernaum, do here in Your hometown as well.’” ²⁴ But He said, “Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown. ²⁵ But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a ^[j]severe famine came over all the land; ²⁶ and yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to ^[k]Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. ²⁷ And there were many with leprosy in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was ^[l]cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” ²⁸ And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things; ²⁹ and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and brought Him to the ^[m]crest of the hill on which their city had been built, so that they could throw Him down from the cliff. ³⁰ But He passed through their midst and went on His way.”

            I will now quote from John MacArthur’s introduction on the verses from above.

            “Through the first thirty years of His life, Jesus had lived in obscurity in Nazareth.  The only recorded incident from those silent years is His visit to Jerusalem and dialogue with the teachers in the temple when He was twelve.  Apart from that, nothing is known about His childhood years except for the general statement that He ‘kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men’ (2:52).  The next recorded event in Jesus’ life was His appearance at the Jordan River to be baptized by John the Baptist.  After His baptism Jesus, at the direction of the Holy Spirit, spent forty days in the wilderness being tempted by Satan.

            “All that happened in His life up to this point in Luke’s gospel—the testimony of Gabriel, the angels who appeared to the shepherds, Zacharias, Elizabeth, Mary, Joseph, Simeon, Anna, John the Baptist, Jesus’ affirmation at age twelve that He was the Son of God, and His public attestation by the Father and the Holy Spirit at His baptism—had established His messianic credentials.  The time had now come for Jesus to step onto the stage of His full public ministry.

            “This introductory scene in Luke’s account of Jesus’ public ministry takes place in His hometown of Nazareth.  It may be divided into three sections: the setting, the message, and the reaction.”

5/10/2026 11:18 PM