Day 79
Luke 4:1-13
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”
The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will all be yours.”
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”
The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you
to guard you carefully;
they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.
We see here in today’s passage that Jesus was empowered and led by the Holy Spirit when he encountered Satan’s temptation. And one aspect of Jesus’ temptation revolved around what kind of Messiah, or Savor, Jesus would be and how he would use his anointing from God. In fact, many Jews would reject Jesus because he did not filfill their expectation of a political “savior” who would step forward with military might and free them from Roman rule. To that end Satan tempted Jesus to use his power to serve his own self-interest to gain glory and power over the nations instead of accepting the humility and suffering that was ahead for him. This was an opportunity for Jesus to satisfy the people’s expectations for a charismatic Messiah. And we must understand the Satan still tempts Christian leaders to use their spiritual authority, position and ability for their own self-interest, to establish their own reputation and power and to please people rather than God. And those who selfish compromise with Satan have actually surrendered to his control. And finally Jesus turned away every one of Satan’s temptations by properly referring to God’s Word. And we must remember that if this was an effective strategy for Jesus, then we must certainly know and rely on God’s Word as revealed to us in the Bible.
We are told that Jesus fasted for forty-days and that after this Jesus was hungry. So Satan’s first temptation took advantage of Jesus’ physical hunger for food, however this does not just suggest that Jesus went without water but that he only went without food. And since hunger is one of the basic and strongest human drives, this was certainly a difficult test for Jesus. However, in order to relate to our human struggles and overcome temptation in the same way we must, Jesus had to rely on the same power that is available to any Spirit filled Christian. During this forty-day fast, it is reasonable to assume that Jesus, through prayer and mediation on God’s Word, was strengthening and preparing himself for the works his Father had sent him to do.
Jesus responded to Satan’s temptation with these words from Scripture, “Man shall not live on bread alone.” What we must remember is that while it may have seemed reasonable to perform a miracle to eat, Jesus would not be tempted to use his power for selfish reasons. Jesus meets and resists Satan’s temptations by declaring that he will live by God’s Word above all else, thus pointing out two very important things.
- Jesus is saying that everything truly important in life depends on God and his plans and purposes (John 4:34). And to strive for success, happiness or material things apart from God’s way and purposes will lead to disappointment and end in failure.
- Jesus emphasized the truth that we just discussed when he taught that we must seek God’s kingdom above anything and everything else. And if we do, God promises to take care of all our needs and give us all other necessary things just the way he intends.
Satan then offers Jesus “all the kingdoms of the world” on one condition, if Jesus will bow down and worship him. This temptation was an offer of rulership over all the kingdoms of the world and it was a proposal that Jesus roundly rejected. In fact this proposal/temptation could and should be viewed as an appeal for material wealth, possessions and power. And it is through this second temptation and Jesus’ response to it that we see three things.
- Jesus kingdom in this age is not a world kingdom.—Throughout his ministry, Jesus would refuse to seek a kingdom for himself by the worldly methods fo compromise, earthly power, political maneuvering, external violence or personal popularity.
- Jesus’ kingdom is a spiritual one, established in the hearts of his people, who have also refused to follow the ungodly ways of the world. And as a heavenly kingdom it is gained through suffering, self-denial, humility and meekness—the polar opposite of how worldly people pursue power. It requires surrendering ourselves as living and holy sacrifices—completely devoted and obedient to God and his purposes. It involves a battle against Satan, sin, temptation and evil using spiritual weapons. And lastly it means resisting conformity to the beliefs, behaviors and lifestyles that are common in the world.
- Satan’s appeal to worship him was an attempt to get Jesus to take a quick route to world domination—to avoid the humility and suffering that would lead to Jesus’ death on the cross. That is to say, the devil was trying to get Jesus to lay aside his entire purpose for coming to earth. Christ’s willingness to face all that difficulties that lay ahead is an example to all believers. He taught us that there are no shortcuts to fulfilling God’s perfect purposes for our lives, no matter how tempting the options may seem.
Satan’s third and final temptation of Jesus dealt with pride in regards to the Lord’s identity and authority. And this is exactly what Satan told Jesus and how Jesus responded to Satan.
The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you
to guard you carefully;
they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.—Luke 4:9-13
It is significant that selfish pride—something that God hates—was the very issue that caused Satan to defy God and lead a rebellion in heaven, which ultimately led to his own downfall.
The last and final thing that we must discuss is the phrase “It is written” that keeps coming up throughout today’s passage. In fact Jesus used the phrase to counter all three of Satan’s temptations and Satan himself used it to try and justify his third and final temptation of Jesus. And there are two hugely important things we must understand about this pivotal phrase from today’s passage.
- The Greek verb “gegraptai,” literally meaning “it is written,” is in the perfect tense. This tense reflects that God’s command is both a completed action and a continuing state that results from the action. The full force of this statement in Greek in this: “It has been written and it still stands written.” This points to the ongoing authority and unchanging nature of God’s Word.
- Jesus used God’s Word as an effective weapon against temptation, while Satan tried to misuse God’s Word in order to tempt Jesus to sin.—At times people who oppose God will also misuse the Bible in an attempt to persuade believers to do something they know is wrong or unwise. Some Bible passages when taken out of context or not compared with other parts of the God’s Word, may even seem to allow or support sinful behaviors. And as followers of Christ we must know God’s Word thoroughly and beware of those who try to misuse Scriptures in order to support their own opinions or satisfy their own selfish desires, which is the whole point of our journey through the Bible together this year.
Tomorrow’s Bible Readings:
Numbers 32:1-33:39, Luke 4:31-5:11, Psalm 64:1-10 and Proverbs 11:22