Luke 4:1-15

The Temptation of Jesus

Once again, we find Jesus identifying himself with us sinners. First it was through His baptism and now it is through His temptation. Why does Jesus need to identify with us? Hebrews 4:14-16 gives us the answer; “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens—Jesus the Son of God—let us hold fast to the confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tested in every way as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time.” It is so He can sympathize with our weakness. He is the One who can identify with us. We can look to Him and know He has passed through the tests and temptations without sin. Jesus came to seek and save the lost and He did it without compromising.

Vs 1-2 Then Jesus returned from the Jordan, full of the Holy Spirit, and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for 40 days to be tempted by the Devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over, He was hungry. 

The first thing we find is Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit, and, He was led by the Holy Spirit. Jesus is divine, yet, He does not rely on the resources of His divinity. Instead, he willingly limits Himself to do what can be done by the guidance of God through the Holy Spirit’s leading. There are a few things to note in these first two verses. First, Jesus was led into the wilderness. There will be times when the Spirit will lead us into green pastures and times when we will be led through the valley of the shadow of death. We will go through the wilderness. It is inevitable. There are also going to be times in our life when we are tempted – also inevitable. It is in those times when we need to be aware that God is with us every step of the way. The Holy Spirit will lead us to and through the wilderness. This is where we find Jesus.

The second thing to note, Jesus was fasting for 40 days. He was communing with God. He was walking a deep spiritual path. Yet, during that entire time, he was being tempted. A lot of times we think we will be immune to temptation if we just walk a spiritual enough path. If we just stay close to God, Satan cannot get to us. I find it is quite the opposite. It is during those intense spiritual moments that Satan would like to come at us with everything he’s got. Take humility for instance. When we think we’ve finally come to a place of humility, Satan will try to move us to a place of pride. Here is a quote from the wonderful book The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis: Your patient has become humble; have you drawn his attention to the fact? All virtues are less formidable to us once the man is aware that he has them, but this is specially true of humility. Catch him at the moment when he is really poor in spirit and smuggle into his mind the gratifying reflection, “By jove! I’m being humble,” and almost immediately pride – pride at his own humility – will appear. 

The third thing to note; Jesus was tempted for 40 days while he was fasting. Some would try to say Jesus wasn’t “really” tempted, but, this were the case, then He couldn’t be our high priest who is able to sympathize with our weakness. No, these temptations were very real and the constant barrage of temptation had to wear Jesus down. Think about it. He was tired and hungry. This was Satan’s opportunity to sway Jesus with the right temptations, and he takes great advantage of the circumstances. Let’s look and see what Satan had in store for Jesus that day.

Vs 3-4 The Devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” But Jesus answered him, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone.”

After 40 days of fasting, Jesus was hungry and those little bread shaped rocks probably started to look pretty good. And, just in case you are skeptical, yes, Jesus could have turned the stones into bread. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been a real temptation. We see later in Jesus’ ministry how He takes 5 loaves and 2 fish and multiplies them to feed 5000 men plus women and children with enough baskets left over for each disciple to have one. So, what’s the big deal? Why is this such a bad thing? It’s just bread after all. And that is where this temptation is so very dangerous and like many of the temptations that come to us.

So often, temptation comes in the form of self satisfying rather than doing something for the kingdom. It comes in the form of doing something legitimate in an illegitimate way. It is a shortcut that looks okay from the outside. Businesses come under this temptation all the time. Take that shortcut – what harm would it do? Don’t worry about other people, do something that benefits you. Unfortunately, we see the consequences of these shortcuts. Buildings not up to code, collapsing. Cheaply made clothing and other goods not holding together. Goods made with poor quality, and sometimes, dangerous materials. Food made with inferior ingredients just to make an extra buck. In my own business it would be tempting to buy an inferior honey like sugar to make my product instead of the real thing. But, that would be cheating my customers and lying on my ingredient list all for a couple extra bucks. PT Barnum says it all in this quote: “The public very properly shun all whose integrity is doubted. No matter how polite and pleasant and accommodating a man may be, none of us dare to deal with him if we suspect ‘false weights and measures.’” Jesus chose to deny Himself this shortcut. He chose, instead, to follow the righteous path.

We find throughout His temptations, Jesus countering Satan with Scripture. Her is the first one: “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone.” Here is the fleshed out source for this quote – “You must carefully follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase, and may enter and take possession of the land the Lord swore to your fathers. Remember that the Lord your God led you on the entire journey these 40 years in the wilderness, so that He might humble you and test you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commands. He humbled you by letting you go hungry; then He gave you manna to eat, which you and your fathers had not known, so that you might learn that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” Deuteronomy 8:1-3. No, Jesus refused to take this shortcut. He knew God would sustain Him, even in His time of hunger.

Vs 5- 8 So he took Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. The Devil said to Him, “I will give You their splendor and all this authority, because it has been given over to me, and I can give it to anyone I want. If You, then, will worship me, all will be Yours.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.”

The second major temptation we have is another shortcut; “I will give You their splendor and all this authority, because it has been given over to me, and I can give it to anyone I want. If You, then, will worship me, all will be Yours.” Satan knew exactly why Jesus had come to earth. He tried desperately to destroy Jesus as a young child and now he wants to destroy His future ministry with this next temptation. So, what is this temptation? He is tempting Jesus to forgo the hardships that await Him. Instead of going to the cross, Satan is tempting Jesus, by saying, “I’ll just give you the kingdoms of the world. All you have to do is worship me” To understand this temptation, we must first understand Satan did have the authority to do this, otherwise, it wouldn’t have been a real temptation. In John 8:31-33 Jesus says, “Now is the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world will be cast out. As for Me, if I am lifted up from the earth I will draw all people to Myself.” He said this to signify what kind of death He was about to die.” Here, Jesus shows us that Satan did have the authority to do what he said. He also reminds us that He chose to go to the cross for us instead of taking Satan’s shortcut. In Ephesians 2:2, Paul reminds us Satan is the “ruler who exercises authority over the lower heavens.” So yes, Satan had the authority to give all this to Jesus. The temptation – avoiding all the hardships he was going to endure.

We all, at one time or another, deal with this temptation. It’s shortcut to the top without having to work for it. Instead of studying for the test, we can take the answer sheet offered us. Instead of hard work, we cheat, lie and take advantage of others to get ahead. Anytime we circumvent the hard path to gain the upper hand, we have succumbed to this temptation. This is why Jesus, in His sermon on the mount, said, “Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the road is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who go through it. How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it,” Matthew 7:13-14. As a runner and a former track coach, I love to watch track meets. It doesn’t matter to me – high school, college, professional – and I am glued to the TV during the Olympics! To be able to get to the top levels of this sport you have to work hard and sacrifice a lot. But there are always those who want to take the shortcut path. Throughout the years, we have read or heard about athletes fall to the temptation of doping. It is disheartening to see. One athlete that never took this shortcut is Usain Bolt. He was one of the most exciting runners to ever hit the track and he did it the right way, showing the world you can be great without cheating. This is what he said in an interview once about doping. “I’ve always been strong on doping,” he said. … If you go out of your way to cheat to be a better athlete I feel you should get life bans, that’s a fact. We hit rock bottom last year or the year before and now we’re on our way back up. … I’ve proven to the world you can do it. You can be great without doping, that’s one of the things I want to preach to the younger kids.” The amazing thing to me is when we do take this particular shortcut, we actually hurt ourselves. We forgo important experiences and lessons. We miss out on relationships and the benefits of doing something without knowing we cheated. But mostly, we miss out on true worship.

This is Jesus’ counter and the WHY we must run from this shortcut. Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.” This time the Scripture comes from Deuteronomy 6:13; “Fear Yahweh your God, worship Him, and take your oaths in His name.” Jesus knows and understand it wasn’t about His wants. It was all about God. This is why He says in the garden of Gethsemane, “Father, if You are willing, take this cup away from Me—nevertheless, not My will, but Yours, be done.” As we navigate this temptation to take shortcuts in our jobs, school, home, etc., let us remember, it is God whom we should fear and worship. He is the One who we must set our eyes on. If we are to truly worship God, we have to go through the narrow gate and travel down the difficult road.

Vs 9-12 So he took Him to Jerusalem, 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 give His angels orders concerning you, to protect you, and they will support you with their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” And Jesus answered him, “It is said: Do not test the Lord your God.”

The third major temptation Jesus went through was the temptation to show the world who He was in a spectacular way. “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. For it is written: He will give His angels orders concerning you, to protect you, and they will support you with their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” Once again, Satan offers Jesus a shortcut. This time it is a shortcut to show Himself in a spectacular fashion. If He did this, everyone would see it and “have” to believe in Him. No need to endure the hardships of traveling around and preaching. No need to select disciples. Just a spectacle that would be recounted throughout Judea. Satan even throws in a bit of Scripture of his own coming from Psalm 91:11-12. This should give us pause. We must realize, Satan does know God’s Word – sometimes better than the average person – and this can be a dangerous thing. Satan knows Scripture well enough to know how to twist it to make his point. He knows how to manipulate it and use just enough of it to seem godly. In this way, he can point us in the wrong direction, all the while using Scripture. In 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 Paul says, “Don’t stifle the Spirit. Don’t despise prophecies, but test all things. Hold on to what is good. Stay away from every kind of evil.” Again in 1 John 4:1, “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to determine if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” Jesus warns to beware of false prophets and false Messiah’s in Matthew 24:23-28. Anytime we are shown a shortcut, we should beware and test the person’s words with Scripture.

Throughout my life, I have seen, encountered, and read about many “preachers of the gospel” who want us to take this “spectacular” shortcuts – just send them $10 or touch that TV screen and you will be healed of every known affliction. Charlatans who prey on people’s needs so they can advance themselves and their “ministries”. They will use and twist scripture to their own advantage. Psalm 91 is indeed a passage about how God will protect us – He is our refuge and fortress. But – Satan tried to use this beautiful passage to tempt Jesus to take the easy road. Interestingly, when we study the life and ministry of Jesus, we find many miracles and spectacular things (the rising of Lazarus for one), yet these did not sway everyone.

In John 10:31-39 we find Jesus confronting a crowd wanting to stone Him. He has shown them many amazing things, yet they still do not believe He is the Messiah. Again, in John 12:37-40, it says, “Even though He had performed so many signs in their presence, they did not believe in Him. But this was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet, who said: Lord, who has believed our message? And who has the arm of the Lord been revealed to? This is why they were unable to believe, because Isaiah also said: He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so that they would not see with their eyes or understand with their hearts, and be converted, and I would heal them.” The spectacular is a shortcut that does not have lasting benefits. I find that people who seek after spectacle, will only want more. We see this in our competition shows. You can be the most talented person in the world, but, unless you can have fireworks and pull out all the stops, your act will not be noticed. Simple talent or a simple message, often seems boring in comparison to the flashy spectacle.

Jesus’ counter to this shortcut is Scripture in the right context. This time it is Deuteronomy, 6:16-17, “Do not test the Lord your God as you tested Him at Massah. Carefully observe the commands of the Lord your God, the decrees and statutes He has commanded you.” To understand this passage, we must go back and find out how the people tested the Lord at Massah. Exodus 17:1-7 gives us the story. As the people were traveling to the Promised Land, God has provided for them over and over again through the spectacular. They saw firsthand the 10 plagues of Egypt. They have traveled through the Red Sea on dry land. God is guiding them by day with a cloud and by night with fire. He has given them manna from the heavens to eat. Neither their shoes nor their clothes are falling apart. Yet, with all this, the people still complain. In the chapter preceding this, they are tired of the manna, so God gives them quail. Finally, we have come to Massah and they are complaining once again. This time, about the lack of water. I have to shake my head and ask, “How can a people who have witnessed so many amazing things of God not trust Him to provide for them?”, knowing all the while I can be just like them. And now we see why Jesus quotes this passage. It doesn’t matter how many miracles He performs, or how spectacular things are, this will not move people to belief. When things do not live up to people’s expectations, they will doubt. When things don’t go their way, they will forget and turn against the One who gave them the amazing spectacle.

Vs 13-15 After the Devil had finished every temptation, he departed from Him for a time. Then Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread throughout the entire vicinity. He was teaching in their synagogues, being acclaimed by everyone.

And so, Jesus has passed the test. He has turned away from using the shortcuts offered Him by Satan. He has stood against the easy way out. Instead, He continues to make the slow, steady walk toward the cross. He uses the narrow gates and walks down the rough and difficult roads. He chooses to train and teach His disciples, even though He knows one will betray him and all the rest will desert Him when He needs them the most. He goes from town to town and synagogue to synagogue teaching and preaching knowing some of these people will go from shouting “Hosanna to the King” to screaming “Crucify Him” in a mere week. He chooses to walk the road His Father has for him, even as he knows the temptations we continue – After the Devil had finished every temptation, he departed from Him for a time. Yes, Jesus would be tempted throughout His ministry to take shortcuts, but He never did.

Jesus is our high priest who understands what temptation is. He knows what we are going through, because He endured it His entire ministry. He has given us a marvelous example of faith and endurance. He has shown us how we can overcome the temptations that WILL come. God has gifted us with His Word, with which we can counter Satan’s attack. God has empowered us with His Holy Spirit, who will guide and direct us in the way of the Lord. God has also given us His promise; “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humanity. God is faithful, and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will also provide a way of escape so that you are able to bear it,” 1 Corinthians 10:13.