Chapter # 4 Paragraph # 2 Study # 1
July 30, 2006
Lincolnton, NC
(267)
AV Translation:
14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.
15 And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.
1901 ASV Translation:
14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and a fame went out concerning him through all the region round about.
15 And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.
Luke's Record:
- I. Jesus' "Return" Into Galilee.
- A. Of 35 uses of the word translated "returned", 32 are in Luke/Acts. This would make it an almost exclusive "Lukan" term and indicates a particular interest by Luke in the idea of "going back to a previous location".
- 1. The first time Luke records anyone "going back to a previous location" is 1:56, where we are told that Mary "returned to her own house" after being with Elizabeth for "about three months."
- 2. The next time such a thing is recorded, Mary and Joseph "returned into Galilee (Luke used the same words here as in the text before us): 2:39.
- 3. In just five verses (2:43), Luke tells us "as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem..." and then two verses later (2:45) Joseph and Mary "turned back again to Jerusalem" (the same syntax as in # 2 above).
- 4. Then, in Luke 4:1, Jesus is reported to have left the site of His baptism to "return from Jordan". No mention is made of His destination, but, since Luke has used the word to indicate a "prior place" and Nazareth/Galilee is the last place he told of Jesus' presence, we would automatically assume He was going to Galilee (which we are specifically told in the text before us).
- 5. In the remainder of Luke/Acts, the word is used in the historical narrative whenever a person or group of persons "returned to a former place."
- 6. A most natural question arises: what is the significance of Luke's regular reporting of "returning"?
- a. What is it about "returning" that is significant?
- 1) "Returning" invariably indicates movement back to a previous setting.
- 2) Typically, the prior setting is one that is more the "norm" than the setting from which one "returned".
- 3) The word translated "return" is an intensified form of a verb that is used 18 times in the New Testament, 10 of which are Lukan. This word does not signal a "re" turn as much as a "turn in another direction" (which may, or may not, be one taken earlier).
- 4) "Returning" seems to contain the notion of "going back from a kind of aberration to the norm"...but with some kind of "progress" having been made. The "will of God" seems to come to pass by means of a kind of "cyclical development" in which people are pulled out of the "norm" for a season so that certain things can develop so that they can "return" with the result that the "setting of the former norm" is recreated as a different "norm."
- b. What is Luke's point is attempting to capitalize upon that significance?
- 1) His larger perspective is that of "another" Adam coming into God's creation to "return" that creation to its "former norm with some new and better elements."
- 2) At Luke's first reference to Jesus "returning" (4:1), the issue was Jesus' baptism and the "return" was not "accomplished" (He didn't get back to Galilee). In this case, He was "full" of the Holy Spirit and was being "led" by that Spirit -- and the "leading" was into a major conflict with the devil.
- 3) Now, however, Jesus actually accomplishes His "return", and it is characterized as "Spiritually powerful". He is still being "led", but there is a new dimension to His "presence" as there has come to be a "greatness of power" that was not mentioned previously.
- a) Before the record of Jesus' baptism and human origins, Luke had left off his record of His life with the comment that He was "increasing in wisdom and stature" as a 12-year-old growing into a 30-year-old (an 18 year process).
- b) When Luke returns to the record of Jesus' activities, He is "about 30" and He is "baptized" and identified by Father and Holy Spirit as "Son". At this point He is "led" directly into a very fundamental "test" of His loyalty to Father and Spirit as their expectations are revealed by their words. This loyalty-test was accomplished as "Son", both of God and man, and it was heavily prejudiced to "failure" by 40 days and nights of physical starvation, though it is possible that the "fast" had developed a kind of spiritual feasting that comes when one's "meat" is not physical, but spiritual (John 4:31-34). It may well be that the "physical starvation" actually so empowered Jesus that the devil had no real power in the confrontation. When "man" is "weak", God is powerful (2 Corinthians 12:9). The "devil" has never realized this -- and the "Church" may not have either, as we seem to be so attracted to the appearances of "power" that we completely dismiss the real power that only shows up in "weak" men.
- 4) Clearly, the record of Luke is that Jesus "returned" to Nazareth to bring His new "condition" (the empowered Son) into the "old norm". But, just as clearly, He neither expected, nor achieved, a "restructuring of that old norm". It was volatile and hateful...and it "developed" that hatefulness to a frenzied and murderous pitch as He addressed its "weaknesses". This was Luke's last reference to Nazareth in the totality of his record of Luke/Acts.
- B. Jesus' return to Galilee was full of fame and acceptance -- until He went to Nazareth.
- II. The Power of the Spirit.
- A. The issue of power is the issue of the ability to accomplish an objective.
- 1. In respect to Jesus, the newly qualified Second Adam, the issue of "power" has, in this context, the ability to "do" things that created a "fame" that spread through all of the Galilean region.
- a. Luke does not elaborate.
- b. John, on the other hand, tells us of Jesus' first "powerful" action in Cana of Galilee, the result of which was to "manifest His glory" and cause His disciples to "believe in Him." The point in John's record is that Jesus' "power" was a "revelation" of His character (a manifestation of His glory) so that people could "believe".
- 2. That it is a "power of the Spirit" indicates the most fundamental realm of power and the most fundamental issue of power.
- a. The most fundamental realm of power is that realm that transcends our material world. God is a Spirit; the angels are spirits; and men are indwelt by spirits. The most significant issues of "Life" are "spiritual". Thus, the realm of power is most fundamentally the realm of the spirit.
- b. The most fundamental issue of power is the ability to reveal Truth in such a way that all who observe It are compelled to acknowledge It as Truth. They may not embrace It, but they cannot "deny" It (Acts 4:16).
- B. That Jesus is characterized by Luke as "returning in the power of the Spirit" seems to signal a progression in Jesus' "presence".
- 1. As a youth growing to adulthood, He was characterized by "wisdom".
- 2. When He was baptized, the "Spirit" visibly descended upon Him from the third heaven.
- 3. After His baptism, He was "filled with the Spirit" and was "led" by the Spirit into conflict with the devil.
- 4. After His testing in the wilderness, He "returned in the power of the Spirit."
- 5. This seems to automatically lead us to the conclusion that Luke was deliberately pressing Theophilus to recognize how absolutely crucial the "Spirit" is for human beings (Acts 1:8). There is little doubt in the New Testament that all good things come from the "Spirit", and "Life" is "by" Him (Galatians 5:25).
- III. His "Fame" Spread.
- A. The issue of the word "fame" (used only twice in the entire New Testament) is fundamentally the issue of having folks hear a report of things accomplished.
- 1. It does not automatically indicate a "good"; it simply indicates a "broad awareness."
- 2. The issue for Luke is that Jesus became an "issue" with which people had to deal.
- B. The inclusive reach of His "fame" is important in that, as Paul once said, "this thing was not done in a corner" (Acts 26:26).
- 1. The point of Paul's words has to do with the king's awareness of the facts so that he is not able to simply ignore the implications for the decisions he has to make.
- 2. Luke's point seems to be very similar: the people are aware and now they cannot simply ignore the facts when it comes to decisions they must make.
- IV. The Result: He Taught in Their Synagogues and "All" Were Coming to Recognize His Importance.
- A. Significantly, Luke runs immediately from the "power" to the "teaching".
- 1. "Power" can get one's attention, but it does not necessarily do any more than that.
- 2. "Teaching" confronts the hearers with claims of facts that insist upon some kind of reaction.
- B. Also, significantly, Luke claims that "all" were "glorifying" Him.
- 1. This is "initial stage" stuff. This is not an indication of what will happen downline, but it is a telling indication that, at the beginning -- when folks do not know enough of the details to really understand -- Jesus was highly regarded for His "teaching".
- 2. Though this is how "deception" almost always creeps in, in the case of our text, Luke is telling us of the "general" reception that Jesus' "power" and "doctrine" received.
- a. This is an "intro" to the verses to follow which make the reaction in Nazareth an anomaly -- and an inexcusable one, at that.
- b. The issue between "deception" and "truth" is often the objective of the speaker: what is he attempting to get the hearer to do? It is sometimes the words that are not true, but more often it is the intention that compromises the truth of the words.
