The Gospel of Luke 4:1-13 Temptation

Good morning. This was a moment when I wish I had the skill of projecting my voice. That way I could read and you could think he was doing it, right? Anyway, thanks, Brad. We're here in Luke chapter 4 now, beginning the fourth chapter, and just to come back again to the first couple of verses, Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, he became hungry.

I bet he was. So one of the things, just look at this name Jesus. Jesus is the name that the angels told both Mary and Joseph to give him. It means God is Savior. If Jesus, however, were to fail in this test by the devil, which I'll say is hypothetical, then Jesus would be disqualified from being our Savior. From Satan's standpoint, that's probably what he was hoping to do, right? To disqualify him. So, but he is the Savior, and of course we've cheated here. We all know how this turns out, right? Okay.

Jesus is the Son of God and the Son of Man, being fully deity and fully man. Now it says here, and this is interesting, this full of the Holy Spirit only occurs, that set of words only occurs in Luke's writings, in Luke and Acts. It says also, led around by the Holy Spirit, a little farther on there in verse 1, So we're going to again see all three persons of the Trinity just as we did in the baptism of Jesus in last Sunday's passage. So it's interesting that as Dr. Luke writes we see here's the Trinity at the end of chapter 3 or the middle of chapter 3 just before the genealogy and now again all three members of the Trinity become present. So the Son of God in eternity past was of the same essence in eternity past as the Holy Spirit.

In fact, that's one way you can say it. The Trinity is all three persons of the Trinity, one essence. Three persons, one essence. Now that kind of blows our circuits, because we're used to one person, one essence, right? But three personal beings, one essence.

That's how the Bible describes it. So he was of the same essence as the Holy Spirit, but now as Jesus, having been born of Mary, which was added, not somehow replaced, as Jesus, He was also full of the Holy Spirit and led by the Holy Spirit as well. So He's of the same essence with the Holy Spirit, also full of the Holy Spirit, and also led by the Holy Spirit, which happens uniquely because He is Jesus.

Again, it's sort of mind-boggling to us. We're not used to that. Now, we have this kind of illustration here of the Trinity, and it consists of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We have between those names, is not, that is, the Son is not just the same as the Father, or some other emanation. The Father is not the same as the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is not the same as the Son. There are three personal beings, one essence.

And we have several different scripture references backing that up on that little table off to the right. Now says in there from the Jordan so this is talking about if is having come from the place where he was baptized We saw last Sunday the following that was the genealogy so This is looking back to his baptism at that time God the Father spoke Okay, you are my beloved son in you. I am well pleased so God the Father testified that regarding the Son, and speaking directly to Him, and others heard that. From there, the Holy Spirit actually led Jesus out into the wilderness where He would be tempted by the devil.

Now, try to reconcile this. This is a little bit mind-boggling. How does the prayer, lead us not into temptation, fit into this hike into the wilderness? That's a little curious, isn't it? Lost my backup. Thank you. Yeah, we'll just leave it there because it came off. All right. Now, he is tempted by the devil. There are a few things for us to ponder and consider here. This is not the first time that the devil and the Son of God have crossed paths, is it? Not at all. They had crossed paths before in heaven. Before Satan fell. Before Satan fell. As the son of God, he was the one who created the devil, when the devil was not yet head of the hierarchy of the fallen angels. This is kind of mind-boggling. Okay. Hey, I've seen you before, right? I know you. As a matter of fact, I created you. So here is a fallen, created being trying to turn the tables on the Son of God. I think you call that audacity.

And it says he became hungry, which I think I would be, long before 40 days was up. In fact, I'm not sure I could do 40 days. You should know that Jesus became hungry, just so you know. Until then, The Greek text actually uses a double negative about Jesus eating. In English, double negatives are improper. If I said, I am not not speaking to you, you would say, what? But in Greek, they're actually acceptable, and they're a way of saying something with emphasis. So it says, he ate absolutely nothing, is really what it's talking about. He did not not eat. essentially is what it says there.

So we're soon going to see a few details regarding the temptations that Jesus faced. We're also going to see in each case how Jesus dealt with those temptations. I'm surprised in some cases that Jesus didn't break out into laughter at what Satan had proposed.

But we'll take a look there. So here's Luke four, three and four, and it says, and the devil said to him, if you are the son of God, tell this stone to become bread. And Jesus answered him, it is written, man shall not live on bread alone. So let's take a look at that.

What I have here is the literal meaning of the way that comes across. It's not as smooth in the English, but if son you are of the God. If son you are of the God. The above is a literal translation, and what kind of if is this? This is if, and it is assumed to be true.

What the devil said in the first part of the sentence is true. Can you imagine the devil saying something that's true? But that's what he did here. If son, and the other thing there with no definite article, son refers to his character. If by character, son you are of the God, If by character, son you are of the God, and, and if, with a Greek construction that says if, and it's assumed to be true. So that part of the sentence, the devil spoke truth.

So everything the devil has said so far is true. But, the devil then, he uses the imperative and gives Jesus a command. Can you imagine that? Again, audacity. He commands Jesus to turn the stone into bread, appealing for him to use his high standing to relieve his human hunger. So that's Satan's challenge.

One of the passages that we need to take a look at here is Philippians 2, 5 through 8, because that talks about what the Son of God did when he became incarnated as a man. Paul is exhorting the Philippians and keep in mind here in the pagan culture Humility was looked at as a personality defect Okay, so Paul frequently had to exhort those out in the Gentile world To be humble because the culture was not telling them to be humble So he says in Philippians 2, 5-8, have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus. Although he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped.

Let me explain this word grasped. It really needs more words. It's to be held on to at all costs. To be held on to at all costs. So he didn't hold on to his equality with God, his deity, and all the privileges and powers that went along with that. But he emptied himself, taking the form of a bondservant and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. So Christ set aside the powers that he had a right to claim in order to become a man and he set aside all the privileges that went along with that voluntarily to the end that he would become obedient to the point of death even death on a cross Satan was wanting to derail what's expressed right here in Philippians 2, 5-8 Jesus grab hold of that power and privilege that you have and use that here and here and here and if you'll do that if you'll do that that's and he makes various promises or make statements consistent with who he is he is the son of God but he stepped aside from all the power and privileges that he had in order that he might ultimately die on the cross for you and me.

Satan wanted to derail that. So the appeal was for Jesus, the devil's appeal, was for Jesus to use his authority for Jesus to avoid human discomfort. But the devil didn't understand something very well. That's not the only thing he doesn't understand.

Jesus came to earth setting aside his privileges of deity in order to die. That's what I'm here for, right? And that death would not be an easy death. It would be unimaginably painful for ours on the cross for us. A growling stomach and low blood sugar does not begin to compare to death on the cross for our sins. The devil didn't get it. Jesus didn't come down here to be comfortable. He aimed for death on the cross. And just turning a piece of rock into bread is not going to get in his way. A little growling stomach and a little blood sugar, eh, no biggie.

Here you have Jesus' response out of Deuteronomy 8, 1-3. And many times, okay, many times Moses said words similar to verse 1. All the commandments that I am commanding you today, you shall be careful to do. By the way, how many of them? All of them. And anytime somebody says, oh, we just got these 10 or 12 or 11 or whatever number they come up with, all 613. 365, same as the number of days in the year, are things that you're not supposed to do. All the commandments I'm commanding you today should be careful to do that you may live and multiply and go in and possess the land which the Lord swore to give to your forefathers.

You shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these 40 years. So this is the generation that is finally going to be able to go into the promised land. Because the previous generation has now died off. that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. He humbled you and let you be hungry and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord."

That's where Jesus got the response. Strike one. Okay, it's not gonna work. Okay Luke 4 5 through 8 and he led him up and showed him all the kingdoms in the world of the world in a moment of time and the devil said to him I will give you all this domain in its glory for it has been handed over to me and I will give it to whomever I wish Therefore if you worship before me, it should all be yours Jesus answered him it is written you shall worship the Lord your God and serve him only. Alright, so let's take a look at that.

Does Satan have specific powers here on this planet? Yes, he does. Ephesians 2, 1 and 2 puts it this way, and you were dead, referring to the believers before they believed, You were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit now working in the sons of disobedience." So the devil had indeed been granted his elsewhere called the God of this world, with certain authority and power on the earthly domain. That, however, would be diminished by Christ's death, Hebrews 2, 14 and 15, which we looked at some time ago. takes away from the power of the devil and a day will come could be as close as seven years from now when he will be bound for a thousand years and shortly thereafter be irreversibly delivered into the lake of fire so he does have a certain power his power is also terminal it's terminal he could grant power over certain kingdoms, but it's not going to be forever. There will be a time when that will be taken away, and Satan himself will be taken away.

So Satan says, let's make a deal. His deal was to have his Creator worship him, the fallen created being, in exchange for a place in his temporarily granted domain. Sound like a good deal? Jesus didn't think so. That would mean that the coming millennial kingdom would not come about at all. Christ's second coming? Nuh-uh. Not happening. But the devil never has anyone else's best interest in mind. And keep that in mind, right? Any deal he's got is a bad deal. Always. Then there's another problem. You've got this guy making a promise to you, who's a chronic liar, right? Hmm. Hmm. Okay.

Jesus responds, taking words out of actually a couple of different passages, Deuteronomy 6.13 and Deuteronomy 10.20. 6.13 reads, You shall fear only the Lord your God, and you shall worship Him and swear by His name. Deuteronomy 1020, you shall fear the Lord your God, you shall serve him and cling to him, and you shall swear by his name. Jesus drew words from these verses in Deuteronomy. Under the law of Moses, worshiping any other God but the one true God brought death. Forced to study rocks up close. That's the way they did it.

Here is the perspective we get out of Ephesians 1, 9, and 10, and this is expanded and explained, so it says more than a lot of our English translations say directly. It says, He, the Father, made known to us in the church through the apostles and prophets the previously unrevealed mystery of His will according to His kind intention, which He, the Father, purposed in Christ from the plan and perspective of God's administration of all things which we now know includes the church, toward the full completion and final stage of the earthly times.

That is, the summing up and bringing into submission of all things in Christ in that coming millennial kingdom, including all the things in heavens and all the things on the earth. God is managing history to the end that everything will be summed up in Christ. Don't worry about the next election or the one we just had. It will not thwart God summing up everything in Christ.

And so what Satan was wanting to do is to derail that. You can have your kingdom now, Jesus. All you've got to do is worship me. You can have your kingdom now. But of course he could make that promise and then go, eh, sorry. Pull it. Strike two. Okay.

Luke 4, 9 through 12, and he led him, that is, the devil, led him to Jerusalem. Alright, I'm going to take you to the holy city, to the temple, right? And had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, if you are the son of God, and by the way, that's the exact same construction as he used previously, okay? exact same construction as used previously, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, he will command his angels concerning you to guard you, and on their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. And Jesus answered and said to him, it is said, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test.

Now, where is the pinnacle of the temple? Some have suggested it might be here. This is the high point. That's 15 stories high. But another suggestion, I think it holds better support, is right here at the corner. It's more than 15 stories down. And one of the reasons why is there's two words for temple. And the word for temple that's used here in Luke's writing is the one for the larger temple area, not this one in the middle. So very likely it's this one off in the corner.

And so here's the devil taking Jesus to a place where there's a large drop, right? And if Jesus jumps off that, he's going to get very badly hurt, maybe killed. And so he proposes, hey, just jump off and the angels, they'll take care of you, right? So what's Jesus' response? Why? Amazing. Satan actually quotes from Psalm 91 11. He quotes scripture. Whoa. That's amazing.

Now, The testing here, and this was, Massa was the place of testing in which God graciously provided water to the Israelites, even though they grumbled against Moses and expressed doubts about the Lord leading them out of Egypt. You shall not put the Lord your God to the test as you tested him at Massa. You should diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God and his testimonies and his statutes, which he has commanded you. So this is where the Lord says, do not put your God to the test. One of the things that we can do is presume upon God.

Oh, God will take care of this and that. Well, are we sure? There was no real reason for Jesus to cast himself off, right? See, Satan just proposed, oh, if you do that, then the angels will bear you up. But was there good reason for him to do that? No, there was not. It would be fruitless, which is exactly why the devil would propose that for Jesus to do. Believers today can do various things that presume upon God's mercy, grace, and providence, claiming something for God that God did not promise in His Word.

I was talking, this was a few years back, I was talking to a pastor over in Africa, in Uganda, and he was trying to get together a platform and speakers and a generator and all that to have some kind of a big year-end rally. So I was talking to him, and he had that all in mind, and he was telling the people in his church, you know, God's going to do this. God's going to get all this stuff together, and we're going to get the money to do it. God will do it. I'm claiming it for the Lord.

And I told him, I said, you're being presumptuous. And what you're doing is actually sinful and going to damage your congregation. He was looking for me to give him the money to do it. And I said, I particularly won't do it because you're being presumptuous. and you're leading you and your congregation into sin. That really floored him. And by the way, they never did get the money. They never did have this.

Sterike three. You're right. And that's the end of the three temptations. It says, when the devil had finished every temptation, he left him, that is, Jesus, until an opportune time, which tells you he's an opportunist. Right? Alright. One of the things to keep in mind here is the devil is spiritually insane. The devil somehow hopes he's going to end up with a favorable outcome out of all this. The devil doesn't understand that he can't get any traction with Jesus.

Why not? With other human beings there was and is a sin nature to appeal to. So Jesus can be tempted in an external sense, but there's no sin nature to respond to Satan's appeal. Jesus internally had no sin nature to appeal to. Therefore, while Jesus responded, In each case, there's no sin nature to respond to Satan's appeal. The sin nature in human beings cooperates with Satan's lies.

Each response, all three of his responses, were from Deuteronomy, the book of Deuteronomy. Since each one of Jesus' responses was from the book of Deuteronomy, is that where we should go to deal with the devil? You and me. Does Deuteronomy have the answers for you and me to deal with the devil? I mean, that's what Jesus did, right? What would Jesus do? You know exactly what he would do. He'd go to Deuteronomy. The Israelites were under the law of Moses. Jesus himself was born under that law, Galatians 4, 4 and 5, so that he might redeem us from under the law. So what Jesus would do is not what we should do.

We in the body of Christ have other means to deal with spiritual warfare. Ephesians 6, 10-18 is a good place to start. We've been given other equipment to deal with Satan's and the world's and the sin nature's actions. The believer has three enemies, the world, the devil, and the flesh, which is the sin nature as it acts through the body. That's what the flesh is, the sin nature as it acts through the body. While the sin nature in the believer is a deposed monarch, It's a good way to characterize it.

The Bible tells us how to deal with it, Romans 6 through 8. That's not like Jesus' temptation at all. Does Jesus have to deal with us in nature? No. There is nothing in the world, the flesh of the devil, however, that can touch our position. The issues are all about our condition, day to day. our eternal position is untouchable in the heavenlies. So, questions for this Sunday. We put these forth last Sunday.

Was it against the will of God for Jesus to be tempted by the devil? Hmm, I see a few puzzled looks. Who led him out in the wilderness? The Holy Spirit. Can Satan do anything without God's permission? No. So it was not against the will of God for Jesus to be tempted by the devil. We can say, in fact, it was God's will. Wow. That's kind of amazing.

Were all of the temptations of Christ by the devil of the same nature? No. Some were an appeal for him to use his power inappropriately in other situations. And he would say, if you're the son of God, and of course it's true, right? then Satan would put some kind of challenge in front of him.

In one case, it's take care of your growling stomach and your low blood sugar. In another case, it's do this and the angels will make sure you're safe. So they weren't. Should all fast be for 40 days? Try it and then let me know. Right? Probably not. That's a bit much.

And again, if you say, Jesus is my example, then you've got to say, well, it must be 40 days, right? When we say, what would Jesus do? The reality is there are a great many things Jesus did that aren't necessarily what we should do, because he had different purposes for coming and a different ministry than we do.

He went only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. That's where he sent the disciples two by two. That's where in Matthew 15 he says, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. He had a particular ministry. Are you assigned to the lost sheep of the house of Israel? Probably not. Probably not.

Which Bible books did Jesus quote from in order to counter the temptations of the devil? Deuteronomy every time. Deuteronomy every time. Oh, here's a fun one. Why didn't Jesus just bind Satan and be done with him? That's a very popular and common thing these days. He could have done it, right? A couple of things. One is 2 Peter, which the 1st and 2nd Peter electorate will be getting into, and the book of Jude.

Both warn against reviling angelic majesties. Even Michael the archangel says the Lord rebuke you. There's no evidence anywhere, and there's even warning against, No evidence anywhere that Christians should be going trying to bind Satan. There will be a time when he will be bound. He will be bound for a thousand years and one angel on God's command will do it. One angel will do it. As far as binding Satan, not even Christ did it here. Questions for next Sunday.

When Jesus visited his hometown of Nazareth, were all of them speaking well of him? Or, when Jesus read in the book of Isaiah, why did he stop in the middle of a sentence and then roll up the scroll and hand it back? Third question, when in the end the townspeople wanted to kill him, why didn't Jesus just let them do it so that he could die for our sins like he planned? I mean, he had an opportunity to die for our sins right there, right?

Anyway, we'll take a look at that. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you. As we look at this, we certainly learned some lessons, and we also see some real distinctions between our temptations and the temptations that the Lord was given. And we thank you that the Word of God, when we look at it overall, makes those distinctions clear. And we thank you, too, that Christ was of such a character that He didn't succumb to any of them, and He could be our Lord and our Savior, and we could be with Him forever. We thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.