The Temptation of Jesus, Luke 4:1-13
Introduction
Charles Haddon Spurgeon, commenting on the depth and power of preaching in his day, which I believe reverberates in our own, made the following comment:
“I know a minister whose shoe laces I am unworthy to unloose, whose preaching is often little better than a sacred miniature painting—I might almost say holy trifling. He is great upon the ten toes of the beast, the four faces of the cherubim, and the mystical meaning of badger’s skins; but the sins of the businessmen, the temptations of the times, and the needs of the age, he scarcely ever touches upon. Such preaching reminds me of a lion engaged in mouse-hunting.”
Transition
This morning it is not my aim to hunt mice. What follows is not 5 points to avoid temptation, 3 steps to better marriage, or 10 reasons God wants you to tithe.
The account of the temptation of Christ in the dessert is a window into the person of Jesus like none other. It is His final stage in preparation for earthly ministry and offers tremendous insight into the nature of that ministry.
What follows is the exposition of this passage of Scripture which offers great insight into who Jesus is and what He came to do. When get a hold of who Jesus is, when we become a part of the fulfillment of what He came to do; then we will be equipped to avoid temptation, have better marriages, and live generously.
When we become consumed by who Jesus is, when we grasp the fulness of Christ then our marriages are changed because we are changed; our hearts abound with generosity because they abound with Christ! We avoid temptation because we are too busy following after our Lord to muse with such matters of this world!
Such sermons merely trim the hedges; holy trifling about peculiar matters. Today, let us chop at the root, by considering who Jesus actually is; for the immeasurable weight of His greatness far outweighs the burden of my need.
The blazing fire of His love is enough to melt away the encasing around my sin-frozen heart and awaken the slumber of my weary soul!
Exposition
The first record of the Lord’s work in Luke’s gospel, after His baptism, is Jesus temptation in the desert. Luke moves us immediately from a time of glory and rejoicing, when the Lord had been blessed of the Father, to a time of suffering.
This theme is recurrent in the life of Christ; the blessing of the Father and a willingness to suffer on our behalf in accordance with the Father’s will. At His baptism came the words of the Father “Thou art my beloved Son.” Then in the desert came the words of the tempter, “If Thou be the Son of God.”
The life of Christ, during His earthly ministry is one of contrast; violence and grace; that He might win for us a grace born of violence; mercy purchased by the shedding of holy blood; innocence regained through the corruption of the Cross.
This is the paradox of grace; it is given freely to us, by the sacrifice of Christ!
The Cross is for us beauty because it at it redemption was won, but it is also a place or horrible shame; where the Son of the Most High allowed Himself to endure suffering and pain on our behalf; just as He allowed Himself to be tempted in the wilderness by the adversary, Satan.
The picture that we may have in our minds of Jesus being tempted by the enemy may be one of Jesus being dragged off to the wilderness to be tempted by the might of the Devil, but that it is not so.
The biblical portrayal of this event is one of Jesus being led off by the Spirit, the Bible says, into the desert for 40 days of fasting to be tempted by the Devil. God is sovereign and though He is at war with the Devil in a very real spiritual sense, He is not bound by the Devils decrees as though they are equals.
The devil is crafty, he is a beguiler, a liar, though he is shrewd and cunning; an enemy to be taken seriously. We see that He tempted Christ at a time of perceived weakness, after forty days of fasting he offered Jesus food. When he was weary, he offered him great prestige and power over earthly kingdoms.
It seems plain that the devil, at this point, didn’t fully understand who Jesus was; the prince of this earth offering the prince of peace, power; how absurd.
The devil, while he is the prince of this earth, as the Bible refers to him does not have all authority. His offer of power to Jesus belies his own arrogance and pride as he envies the power of God. To say that he had the power to give the kingdoms of the earth is a half-truth. God allows a measure of freedom the devil to test believers in the present age but God alone raises and destroys kingdoms.
Interestingly, the Roman Emperor, Nero once boasted that had the power to take away kingdoms and bestow them. That power is reserved for God alone.
The devil is not a powerful knight who stands to fight his enemy face to face with honor. He is a sneaky fraudulent imposter who is at work in the dark the evening prior to the battle removing the bolts, mesh, and dulling the sword of his enemy.
It is his aim to tempt when we are weak, in times of distress, or in times of distraction. That is why the Bible admonishes us, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8 NIV) [Devil: diabolos (G1228), "an accuser, a slanderer"]
Charles Baudelaire wrote that “Anything the devil does is always done well!” The things with which the enemy entices us always look appealing and always ensnare; the lure of riches which hold the power to trap us in greed; the lusts of the eyes which always lead to heartache.
All that glitters is not gold. All that shines is not precious. Riches entice but they do not make good on their promises. I am reminded of the fortune-teller who studied the hand of a young man and said, “You will be poor and very unhappy until you are thirty-seven years old.” The young man responded, “Well, after that, what will happen? Will I be rich and happy?” The fortune-teller said, “No, you’ll still be poor, but you’ll be used to it after that.”
The Bible also tells us “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7 NIV) John writes that “the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4 NIV)
Three times we see Jesus refute the Devil, each time by using the word of God. He was the ultimate fulfillment of the promises of the word of God and we have the same power through its use. (Ephesians 6:17)
The Devil is a slanderer and an accuser and the Bible speaks in concrete terms with regard to his actual existence. It was the devil who literally tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden. We needed a savior because we had fallen into sin.
I submit to you, here and now, that he is not a metaphor for human weakness or worldly corruption, but he is the bringer of corruption.
This idea is central to what Jesus was doing in the desert. Whereas the first Adam had failed the test of temptation by the serpent, the Devil, the liar, in the Garden, the second Adam, the new man, the one whom God sent to restore humanity, passed the test of temptation by the Devil.
In I Corinthians 15:45-47 Paul writes, “So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven.” (NIV)
Whereas sin and corruption came through the first Adam, life and redemption have come in Jesus Christ! Whereas all were lost in Adam, all are found in Christ!
Likewise, though national Israel had time and again failed to obey God and trust Him fully in their 40 years of wondering in the desert, Jesus, Yeshua Ha-Mashiach, their Messiah, in parallel fashion, was tempted for 40 days and remained completely faithful to the Father.
National Israel was tested by hunger but failed to be content and dependent upon God. They were commanded to worship the Lord alone but fell into idolatry.
Jesus brings redemption to our brokenness. Where we have failed, Jesus brings deliverance. Where we were slaves to sin Jesus brings freedom and victory!
This is the Gospel message. This is who Jesus is and this truth has the power to transform your life completely. Dear Saints of God, the Christian message is not a drop of water on a warm day. It is the power of God to transform our souls; to completely renovate our lives; from the inside out. God was in Christ reconciling us to Himself… what is our response? What is our reply to His offer of reconciliation and grace?
Conclusion
The question is: do we believe this Jesus to be worthy of adoration? I did not say respect, not admiration, not even deep appreciation; adoration and dependence.
In Daniel 4:30 the words of the great Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar are recorded, where it says, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built?” (4:30)
This boast seems strange, considering that Babylon had existed in one form or another for fifteen centuries or more. But, like many other things in Scripture about which historic doubts have been entertained, it is illustrated and confirmed by the discoveries which have been made in our own times. Nine-tenths of the bricks which have been dug up on the plains whereon once stood Babylon are stamped with the name of Nebuchadnezzar, proving that he so completely renovated the entire city that it might well be called his own.
Yet, the empire of the great king lies in ruin. What are we building? Are we building our lives, like the great king, with the bricks stamped with the symbols of our own esteem? Or are we like the wise man in Jesus parable who build his house on the foundation of the word of God; the teaching of Jesus.
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” (Matthew 7:24-27 NIV)
Jesus is worthy. Let us build on the solid foundation of Christ that what we build might stand. Amen.
