In after years the evil spirit cried out, "Jesus I know," Acts 19:15. Evidently our Lord was not only "seen of angels," but closely watched by the fallen spirits, who beheld His every act and listened to every word. What a remarkable verdict was that given in Luke 4:34! Those who know most of evil are most certain of the ultimate woe which awaits its votaries; and they know genuine goodness when they meet it. Our Lord had overcome the prince of demons, and could therefore command His household.
We need to be delivered from the fever of passion, caught in the low-lying marshes of our lives; to have Christ's hands laid upon our sicknesses and wounds; to be delivered from evil things that haunt our hearts. Then we must help Him in similar services to others. But if He must have His quiet prayer times, so must we, Luke 4:42. [source]
Chapter Summary: Luke 4
1The fasting and temptation of Jesus 14He begins to preach 16The people of Nazareth marvel at words, but seek to kill him 33He cures one possessed of a demon, 38Peter's mother-in-law, 40and various other sick persons 41The demons acknowledge Jesus, and are reproved for it 42He preaches through the cities of Galilee
Greek Commentary for Luke 4:32
[] Rest of the sentence as in Mark, which see, except that Luke omits “and not as their scribes” and uses οτι ην hoti ēn instead of ως εχων hōs echōn f0 ). [source]
Mark 1:22They were astonished [εχεπλησσοντο] Pictorial imperfect as in Luke 4:32 describing the amazement of the audience, “meaning strictly to strike a person out of his senses by some strong feeling, such as fear, wonder, or even joy” (Gould). [source]
Mark 1:22And not as their scribes [και ουχ ως οι γραμματεις] Luke 4:32 has only “with authority” Mark has it “as having authority” He struck a note not found by the rabbi. They quoted other rabbis and felt their function to be expounders of the traditions which they made a millstone around the necks of the people. By so doing they set aside the word and will of God by their traditions and petty legalism (Mark 7:9,Mark 7:13). They were casuists and made false interpretations to prove their punctilious points of external etiquette to the utter neglect of the spiritual reality. The people noticed at once that here was a personality who got his power (authority) direct from God, not from the current scribes. “Mark omits much, and is in many ways a meagre Gospel, but it makes a distinctive contribution to the evangelic history in showing by a few realistic touches (this one of them) the remarkable personality of Jesus ” (Bruce). See note on Matthew 7:29 for the like impression made by the Sermon on the Mount where the same language occurs. The chief controversy in Christ‘s life was with these scribes, the professional teachers of the oral law and mainly Pharisees. At once the people see that Jesus stands apart from the old group. He made a sensation in the best sense of that word. There was a buzz of excitement at the new teacher that was increased by the miracle that followed the sermon. [source]
What do the individual words in Luke 4:32 mean?
andthey were astonishedattheteachingof Himforwithauthoritywasthemessage
Greek Commentary for Luke 4:32
Rest of the sentence as in Mark, which see, except that Luke omits “and not as their scribes” and uses οτι ην hoti ēn instead of ως εχων hōs echōn f0 ). [source]
See on Matthew 7:28. [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Luke 4:32
Pictorial imperfect as in Luke 4:32 describing the amazement of the audience, “meaning strictly to strike a person out of his senses by some strong feeling, such as fear, wonder, or even joy” (Gould). [source]
Luke 4:32 has only “with authority” Mark has it “as having authority” He struck a note not found by the rabbi. They quoted other rabbis and felt their function to be expounders of the traditions which they made a millstone around the necks of the people. By so doing they set aside the word and will of God by their traditions and petty legalism (Mark 7:9, Mark 7:13). They were casuists and made false interpretations to prove their punctilious points of external etiquette to the utter neglect of the spiritual reality. The people noticed at once that here was a personality who got his power (authority) direct from God, not from the current scribes. “Mark omits much, and is in many ways a meagre Gospel, but it makes a distinctive contribution to the evangelic history in showing by a few realistic touches (this one of them) the remarkable personality of Jesus ” (Bruce). See note on Matthew 7:29 for the like impression made by the Sermon on the Mount where the same language occurs. The chief controversy in Christ‘s life was with these scribes, the professional teachers of the oral law and mainly Pharisees. At once the people see that Jesus stands apart from the old group. He made a sensation in the best sense of that word. There was a buzz of excitement at the new teacher that was increased by the miracle that followed the sermon. [source]