Luke 4:1-13 NASB
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. 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.’"
And he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, "I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. "Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours." Jesus answered him, "It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’"
And he led Him to Jerusalem and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, 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.’"
When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time.
My thoughts -
I have heard people say before that the devil tempted Jesus here because he was physically weak. He was fasting. If you've never fasted I suggest that you do. Some of my biggest spiritual "highs" have come while fasting. And yet you don't see me jumping at the opportunity to do another fast or to make regular fasting a part of my Spiritual discipline. I also recommend that if you fast you do not bike everywhere as I am wont to do.
I don't know about the "Jesus was weak" thing here. I guess it makes sense on the surface. His blood sugar would have been low. But in his weakness Jesus was forced to rely completely on the Father. It is hard to argue that the devil caught him at a "good" time, as the temptation here didn't work. Also, verse 13 tells us that the devil left Jesus to come back at a more "opportune" time. Of course we know the rest of this story. There was no "opportune" time. Jesus didn't fall.
Let's look at how the devil tempted Jesus. As we go through Luke you're probably going to get sick of me writing about "power". But I'm going to do it again here. The devil tempted Jesus to abuse his power.
In the first temptation here Jesus is tempted to turn rocks into bread. Jesus hasn't eaten in forty days. He must be starving. But is he hungry enough to alter the fabric of the universe to fill his stomach? No. Jesus clearly had the power to do so. He performed several miracles with food so he can't be squeamish about using that power, either.
Look at Jesus's response. He tells the devil that "man can not live on bread alone". Jesus was fasting. He chose not to eat. He was preparing himself for his ministry. It seems odd that God incarnate would need this for Spiritual growth, but he did. And if even Jesus needed to fast to prepare himself for ministry then maybe I should reconsider the practice for myself.
In the next temptation the devil offers Jesus "more" power. The devil offers Jesus everything in the world. This may seem like a stupid offer. What good is everything in the world to the Author of Existence? But Jesus, although fully God, was also fully human. And we humans have fallen for much less than everything in the world. We'll fall for just a little bit of shiny junk.
Jesus knows that worship belongs to God and to God alone and he quotes scripture again to tell the devil so.
Maybe the devil is catching on. For the next temptation, which is also the last, the devil quotes scripture to Jesus regarding the Messiah, whom they both know that Jesus is. The devil tells Jesus that he can't be harmed. He says that scripture says so. He says that angels will come to his rescue. Why doesn't Jesus just throw himself off of the temple to show who he is?
That would be a heck of an entrance wouldn't it? Talk about a great way to kick off Jesus's public ministry. Show your power to these people, the devil says. Let them see who you are. Let them see how God will lift you up and send angels to guard and protect you. It will be an awesome event. Then you'll really have their attention. Show them who you are.
Jesus isn't buying any of this crap. He knows that throwing himself off the temple to be guided by angels would just be some cheap parlor trick. He doesn't need to test God's commitment to him in this way. In fact, scripture says that he should not be testing God at all. So he quotes scripture right back at the devil.
So Jesus avoided falling in this time of temptation. Having resisted the devil the devil turns and leaves. Jesus isn't in love with himself and his own power. He doesn't need to abuse it to get his own way. He doesn't need to acquire more of it in a worldly manner. He doesn't need to show it off to impress others.
How unlike Jesus are we? I'm pretty sure I would have fallen for each of those, especially the last. If I can do something I need everyone to see it. I am not secure in who I am in Christ. I would like to be, but I need to impress the world, too. I like power. I like approval. I like stuff. I like all of the shiny junk here in this place.
I need to be more like Christ.
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. 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.’"
And he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, "I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. "Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours." Jesus answered him, "It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’"
And he led Him to Jerusalem and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, 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.’"
When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time.
My thoughts -
I have heard people say before that the devil tempted Jesus here because he was physically weak. He was fasting. If you've never fasted I suggest that you do. Some of my biggest spiritual "highs" have come while fasting. And yet you don't see me jumping at the opportunity to do another fast or to make regular fasting a part of my Spiritual discipline. I also recommend that if you fast you do not bike everywhere as I am wont to do.
I don't know about the "Jesus was weak" thing here. I guess it makes sense on the surface. His blood sugar would have been low. But in his weakness Jesus was forced to rely completely on the Father. It is hard to argue that the devil caught him at a "good" time, as the temptation here didn't work. Also, verse 13 tells us that the devil left Jesus to come back at a more "opportune" time. Of course we know the rest of this story. There was no "opportune" time. Jesus didn't fall.
Let's look at how the devil tempted Jesus. As we go through Luke you're probably going to get sick of me writing about "power". But I'm going to do it again here. The devil tempted Jesus to abuse his power.
In the first temptation here Jesus is tempted to turn rocks into bread. Jesus hasn't eaten in forty days. He must be starving. But is he hungry enough to alter the fabric of the universe to fill his stomach? No. Jesus clearly had the power to do so. He performed several miracles with food so he can't be squeamish about using that power, either.
Look at Jesus's response. He tells the devil that "man can not live on bread alone". Jesus was fasting. He chose not to eat. He was preparing himself for his ministry. It seems odd that God incarnate would need this for Spiritual growth, but he did. And if even Jesus needed to fast to prepare himself for ministry then maybe I should reconsider the practice for myself.
In the next temptation the devil offers Jesus "more" power. The devil offers Jesus everything in the world. This may seem like a stupid offer. What good is everything in the world to the Author of Existence? But Jesus, although fully God, was also fully human. And we humans have fallen for much less than everything in the world. We'll fall for just a little bit of shiny junk.
Jesus knows that worship belongs to God and to God alone and he quotes scripture again to tell the devil so.
Maybe the devil is catching on. For the next temptation, which is also the last, the devil quotes scripture to Jesus regarding the Messiah, whom they both know that Jesus is. The devil tells Jesus that he can't be harmed. He says that scripture says so. He says that angels will come to his rescue. Why doesn't Jesus just throw himself off of the temple to show who he is?
That would be a heck of an entrance wouldn't it? Talk about a great way to kick off Jesus's public ministry. Show your power to these people, the devil says. Let them see who you are. Let them see how God will lift you up and send angels to guard and protect you. It will be an awesome event. Then you'll really have their attention. Show them who you are.
Jesus isn't buying any of this crap. He knows that throwing himself off the temple to be guided by angels would just be some cheap parlor trick. He doesn't need to test God's commitment to him in this way. In fact, scripture says that he should not be testing God at all. So he quotes scripture right back at the devil.
So Jesus avoided falling in this time of temptation. Having resisted the devil the devil turns and leaves. Jesus isn't in love with himself and his own power. He doesn't need to abuse it to get his own way. He doesn't need to acquire more of it in a worldly manner. He doesn't need to show it off to impress others.
How unlike Jesus are we? I'm pretty sure I would have fallen for each of those, especially the last. If I can do something I need everyone to see it. I am not secure in who I am in Christ. I would like to be, but I need to impress the world, too. I like power. I like approval. I like stuff. I like all of the shiny junk here in this place.
I need to be more like Christ.
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