On Line Bible Study - For the week February 15-21, 2010

Lesson 427

Luke 4: ¹⁴Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. ¹⁵He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.

The three Synoptic Gospels (Mark, Matthew and Luke) offer few details with regard to Jesus' early ministry. Matthew tells us he went to Galilee to fulfill Isaiah's prophecy (Matthew 4:12-13); Mark tells us he went to Galilee proclaiming the good news of God (Mark 1:14); Luke gives us the most information, scanty as it is. Jesus

• Moves in the power of the Spirit
• Has a growing celebrity status about him
• Is praised by everyone.

The "Spirit" is a mainstay of Luke's writing; it is absolutely essential that every component of the ministry of Jesus (and later, in Acts, the ministry of the church gathered in his name) be inspired, empowered and guided by the Spirit.

It is interesting to read the King James translation of Jesus' growing reputation:

Luke 4:14b and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.

The Greek word translated report in the New International Version (quoted at the beginning...) is translated fame in the King James. The King James translation is awkward - it is both a translation and something of a transliteration of the Greek word. A transliteration is a spelling in one language of a word from another language that enables us to pronounce the word correctly, apart from telling us what the word means. In this case, the Greek pheme is the source for our English word - fame. Jesus became "famous" because of the "fame" spread about him. The NIV does us a favor by translating pheme with the word "report".

What is the source of Jesus' fame?

Luke 4: ¹⁵He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.

While miracles would certainly contribute to Jesus' reputation, initially it was his teaching. We can speculate that his teaching was compelling both for its content as well as its delivery. The parables and sermon segments that we read later in Luke attest to Jesus' ability to relate to his listeners. Jesus had something to say - good news of God! And he knew how to say it - or was gifted by the Holy Spirit to say it, and to say it powerfully.

What did he have to say? We'll talk about that next time.