Division 4:14–9:50

Jesus ministered in Galilee

Much of Jesus’ public ministry took place in the province of Galilee. Luke described this part of Jesus’ ministry in 4:14–9:50. Jesus began his work in Nazareth, went on to the town of Capernaum, and then spread his message throughout the region. He did many miracles and taught many things. Jesus often used parables when he taught the people. He showed clearly that God had given him power and authority. Even though Jesus so amazed the people that they praised God, many of the religious leaders began to oppose him. As Jesus was ending his ministry in Galilee, he foretold that he would be killed and come back to life.

Section 4:14–30

The people rejected Jesus at Nazareth

In the synagogue in Nazareth, Jesus read a text from Isaiah that refers to the Messiah. Jesus said that what this scripture talked about was happening as he read it. By saying this, Jesus was claiming to be the Messiah. He used examples from the history of Israel to show that the Israelites did not believe and obey God well. He implied that people from other countries were ready to believe and obey God more than the people of Israel were. So the people of Nazareth tried to kill Jesus, but they could not.

Some other possible headings for this section are:

The People of Nazareth Turn against Jesus (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
Jesus Rejected at Nazareth (English Standard Version)

There is a parallel passage for this section in Mark 6:1–6.

Paragraph 4:14–15

This verse begins with a Greek conjunction that is often translated as “and.” Some English versions, such as the English Standard Version, translate it that way. The Berean Standard Bible has not translated this conjunction, and some other versions such as the New International Version and NET Bible also do not translate it here.

However, the events in this paragraph occurred soon after the events in 4:13. In some languages, it may be natural to begin this paragraph by using a time word or phrase to translate this conjunction. For example:

Then (Good News Translation)
-or-
After that

Connect 4:14a to 4:13b in a way that is natural in your language.

4:14a

Jesus returned to Galilee: Galilee was the name of a province in the northern part of the land of Israel. Galilee was where Jesus had lived when he was a boy. In this passage, Jesus left the province of Judea and went north to return to Galilee.

in the power of the Spirit: The phrase in the power of the Spirit means “guided by the Spirit” or “with the Holy Spirit’s power.” God’s Holy Spirit guided Jesus and gave him the power to do all that God wanted him to do. (The phrase “full of the Holy Spirit” in 4:1a has a similar meaning.)

Some other ways to translate this are:

and the power of the Holy Spirit was with him (Good News Translation)
-or-
filled with the Holy Spirit’s power (New Living Translation (2004))

4:14b

the news about Him spread throughout the surrounding region: Here are some other ways to translate the phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the news about Him spread throughout the surrounding region:

people told other people about Jesus all over the province of Galilee
-or-
Soon he became well known throughout the surrounding country. (New Living Translation (1996))

surrounding region: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as surrounding region can also be translated as “countryside” (New International Version) or simply “area” (New Century Version). It is a general term that here refers to the towns and villages throughout Galilee.

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