Jesus' first preaching tour of Galilee 4:42-44 (cf. Mark 1:35-39)

Again Luke stressed the wide ministry that Jesus purposely carried on. This pericope records what happened the morning following the previous incident (cf. v. 40). The people of Nazareth had wanted Jesus to leave, but the people of Capernaum begged Him to stay. Jesus wanted to reach as many people as possible with His message. "Judea"(v. 44) evidently refers to the whole Roman province that included Galilee, not just to southern Palestine. The words "must,""kingdom of God,"and "sent"are all unique to Luke's narrative here.¹⁷²

"Along with preach,' these words constitute a programmatic statement of Jesus' mission and also of Luke's understanding of it."¹⁷³

This section (4:31-44) contains representative incidents from Jesus' Galilean ministry that illustrate what He did and the reactions of people to Him (cf. Acts 10:38). Note that Jesus' teaching ministry was primary and His healings were secondary. His miracles served to authenticate His message. This was true of the apostles' preaching and miracles in Acts too.